Saturday Night Live (season 22)

Saturday Night Live (season 22)

Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	20
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 28, 1996 (1996-09-28) – May 17, 1997 (1997-05-17)
Season chronology

The twenty-second season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 28, 1996, and May 17, 1997.

This season is notable for the host selection. Seven of the 20 hosts were former cast members. They included Dana Carvey, Robert Downey, Jr., Phil Hartman, Chris Rock, Martin Short, Chevy Chase and Mike Myers. This would mark Chase's final time hosting before getting banned (returning much later for numerous guest appearances).

Cast

Changes and notes

Many changes happened before the start of the season. David Koechner and Nancy Walls were both let go after one season with the show. David Spade left the show on his own terms.

Ana Gasteyer and Tracy Morgan were hired to replace Koechner and Walls. Gasteyer and Morgan would both go on to have long tenures on the show.

Chris Kattan was promoted to repertory status while Fred Wolf stayed as a featured player.

This would be the final season for Mark McKinney and Fred Wolf. Wolf would leave his position as featured player and co-head writer after the season's first three episodes.

Cast roster

Repertory players

Featured players

Colin Quinn
Fred Wolf (final episode: October 19, 1996)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § Season 22

Robert Carlock and Stephen Colbert join the writing staff in this season.

Episodes

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Host	Musical guest	Original air date
407	1	Tom Hanks	Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers	September 28, 1996
Olympic athlete Kerri Strug makes a cameo appearance on Weekend Update alongside Chris Kattan, who would often imitate her on the show Ana Gasteyer and Tracy Morgan's first episode as cast members This is the first appearance of Robert Smigel's "Saturday TV Funhouse" segment and the first installment of "The Ambiguously Gay Duo", which originally debuted on the sketch program "The Dana Carvey Show" earlier that year This is the first episode to feature Chris Kattan's character Mr. Peepers – the man/ape who shreds through apples Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers performed "Walls (No. 3)" and an electric version of "Angel Dream (No. 2)"
408	2	Lisa Kudrow	Sheryl Crow	October 5, 1996
David Lander makes a cameo appearance during the cold open as Squiggy. Sheryl Crow performed "If It Makes You Happy" and "Love is a Good Thing."
409	3	Bill Pullman	New Edition	October 19, 1996
Fred Wolf's final episode as a cast member. New Edition performed "Hit Me Off" and "I'm Still in Love with You."
410	4	Dana Carvey	Dr. Dre	October 26, 1996
The "Tom Brokaw/Gerald Ford" sketch was originally performed on The Dana Carvey Show earlier that year. Dana Carvey (as Tom Brokaw) and Robert Smigel (in a voice-over role as the director) reprised their roles from the original sketch. Dr. Dre performed "Been There, Done That."
411	5	Chris Rock	The Wallflowers	November 2, 1996
Dana Carvey makes a cameo appearance, most notably as George H. W. Bush, who tells Norm Macdonald's Bob Dole to give up hope on the 1996 election. Carvey also appearedas Charles Grodin in a parody of "The Charles Grodin Show," which features a cameo appearance by Abe Vigoda. The Wallflowers perform "One Headlight."
412	6	Robert Downey, Jr.	Fiona Apple	November 16, 1996
Fiona Apple performed "Shadowboxer." Bob Dole makes an appearance in the cold opening in which he and his wife, Elizabeth, ask Norm Macdonald to stop impersonating him after Dole's loss in the 1996 presidential election. Evander Holyfield makes a cameo appearance as himself.
413	7	Phil Hartman	Bush	November 23, 1996
Rodney Dangerfield appearedon Weekend Update. Bush performed "Swallowed" and "Insect Kin."
414	8	Martin Short	No Doubt	December 7, 1996
Chevy Chase makes a cameo appearance during a sketch featuring Short's Ed Grimley character. First appearance of the Celebrity Jeopardy! sketch. No Doubt performed "Don't Speak" and "Excuse Me Mr."
415	9	Rosie O'Donnell	Whitney Houston	December 14, 1996
O'Donnell's co-star in Kmart TV commercials, director/actress Penny Marshall, makes an appearance during the monologue and in a Mary Katherine Gallagher sketch. Whitney Houston performed "I Got You Babe" with O'Donnell and Marshall, "Sleigh Ride" with Mary Katharine Gallagher, "I Believe in You and Me" and "I Go to the Rock." Mike Judge appeared as Beavis and Butt-head on Weekend Update.
416	10	Kevin Spacey	Beck	January 11, 1997
Beck performed "Where It's At" and "Devils Haircut." Monty Python cast members Michael Palin and John Cleese have cameos, appearing in the cold opening as well as in select sketches (at one point, Palin announces that he is "the star of TV's Home Improvement, Tim Allen"). Near the end of the show, Cleese and Palin took over the show for one segment to perform their classic "Dead Parrot" sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus.
417	11	David Alan Grier	Snoop Doggy Dogg	January 18, 1997
Daz Dillinger and Charlie Wilson made cameo appearances. Snoop Dogg performed "Snoop's Upside Ya Head" and "Vapors."
418	12	Neve Campbell	David Bowie	February 8, 1997
David Spade makes guest appearances during the monologue, "The Hollywood Minute" during Weekend Update, and as Woody Allen in a 60 Minutes sketch. David Bowie performed "Little Wonder" and "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)."
419	13	Chevy Chase	Live	February 15, 1997
Live performed "Lakini's Juice" and "Heropsychodreamer."
420	14	Alec Baldwin	Tina Turner	February 22, 1997
Special guest appearance by Howard Stern. Tina Turner appeared in the cold opening and performed "In Your Wildest Dreams" and "Proud Mary."
421	15	Sting	Veruca Salt	March 15, 1997
Veruca Salt performed "Shutterbug." Sting performed "My One & Only Love." Guest appearances by Mark Hamill and Trudie Styler.
422	16	Mike Myers	Aerosmith	March 22, 1997
Aerosmith performed "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)" and "Nine Lives."
423	17	Rob Lowe	Spice Girls	April 12, 1997
Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro make cameo appearances during the "Joe Pesci Show" sketch. Colin Quinn portrays De Niro, alongside Jim Breuer's Pesci. Spice Girls perform "Wannabe" and "Say You'll Be There."
424	18	Pamela Anderson	Rollins Band	April 19, 1997
Anderson's then-husband, rocker Tommy Lee, appeared as himself in two sketches. Rollins Band performed "Starve."
425	19	John Goodman	Jewel	May 10, 1997
Mike Myers makes a guest appearance as Ron Wood in a sketch featuring Chris Kattan's gibberish speaking "Suel Forrester" character as a talk-show host. Jewel performed "Who Will Save Your Soul" and "You Were Meant for Me."
426	20	Jeff Goldblum	En Vogue	May 17, 1997
Mark McKinney's final episode as a cast member. En Vogue performed "Don't Let Go (Love)."

References

Saturday Night Live

Seasons

History

Related lists

Commercials
Cast members
Writers
Guests
- A–D
- E–H
- I–L
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- Q–T
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Awards
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Recurring characters
and sketches

Characters
and sketches

Political impersonations	Donald Trump Hillary Clinton Sarah Palin

Digital Shorts

Films based
on sketches

Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1979)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures (1986)
Bob Roberts (1992)
Mr. Saturday Night (1992)
Wayne's World (1992)
Wayne's World 2 (1993)
Coneheads (1993)
It's Pat (1994)
Stuart Saves His Family (1995)
A Night at the Roxbury (1998)
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Superstar (1999)
The Ladies Man (2000)
A Mighty Wind (2003)
Harold (2008)
MacGruber (2010)

Anniversary
Specials

15th (1989)
25th (1999)
40th (2015)