# Saturday Night Live season 31

The thirty-first season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 1, 2005, and May 20, 2006. 19 episodes were produced (rather than the usual 20) due to the 2006 Winter Olympic Games and network budget cuts.

## History

This season is notable for the people who hosted the show. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, an SNL cast member from 1982 to 1985 under Dick Ebersol, became the first former female cast member to come back and host the show (and also the third cast member from Seinfeld to host). Gilda Radner was originally supposed to host in 1988, but could not due to the Writers Guild of America strike and then Radner's death the following year. This season is also known for the return of such frequent hosts as Alec Baldwin (who last hosted in season 29 with musical guest Missy Elliott in 2003), Tom Hanks (who last hosted the first episode of season 22 with musical guest Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 1996), and Steve Martin (who last hosted the first episode of season 20 with musical guest Eric Clapton in 1994).
This season saw the seventh death of a former cast member, Charles Rocket (a cast member during the notoriously lackluster 1980–1981 season), who committed suicide six days after the premiere. Rocket's suicide is the first death of an SNL cast member who never worked under Lorne Michaels and is the first death of a Weekend Update anchor until Norm Macdonald in 2021.
This season was the first to broadcast in high-definition (HD), after 30 years of broadcasting in standard definition.

## Cast

Before the start of the season, featured player Rob Riggle was let go from the show after one season. Finesse Mitchell and Kenan Thompson were both promoted to repertory status, while Jason Sudeikis remained a featured player.
The show added three new cast members: Los Angeles-based improviser Bill Hader, Andy Samberg (the show also hired his two friends Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone as writers, all members of The Lonely Island sketch group) and Kristen Wiig of The Groundlings. Wiig debuted on the show in November, in the episode hosted by Jason Lee. Samberg, Schaffer, and Taccone would be a notable force for creating SNL Digital Shorts. One such short was "Lazy Sunday".
Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph missed episodes due to maternity leave. Fey's place on Weekend Update was briefly taken over by Horatio Sanz until her return in the episode hosted by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Fey returned to the show before her maternity leave time was up. Rudolph, however, appeared on the first episode of the new season, and then went on maternity leave and returned in February, in the episode hosted by Steve Martin.
This would be the final season for Fey, Rachel Dratch, Mitchell, Chris Parnell, and Sanz, as well as the last for longtime director Beth McCarthy-Miller. Dratch and Fey both left the show to focus on 30 Rock. McCarthy-Miller left on her own terms and was replaced by Don Roy King. Parnell, Sanz, and Mitchell were let go due to NBC budget cuts.

### Cast roster

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

## Writers

There were three head writers for the 31st season: Harper Steele, Tina Fey, and Seth Meyers.
Meyers (who had been a cast member since 2001) was initially named as the sole writing supervisor at the start of the season, and was named as co-head writer with the Scarlett Johansson-hosted episode.
Future cast member Colin Jost joined the writing staff this season. As do Samberg's Lonely Island cohorts Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, as well as future head writer/Senior Writer Bryan Tucker.
Paula Pell returned to the show mid-season, after leaving at the end of the previous season, due to her sitcom Thick and Thin failing.
Longtime writer Jim Downey skipped this season, but would return with the next season.
Lastly, in addition to Fey (who had been a writer for nine years since 1997 and head writer since 1999), this was also the final season for fellow writers T. Sean Shannon (a writer for eight years since 1998), Frank Sebastiano (a writer overall for 8½ accumulative years from 1995-1998; and had been back since 2001), J.B. Smoove (who joined the writing staff in 2003, and departed after three seasons), and Liz Cackowski (who joined the writing staff in 2004, and departed after 2½ years). It is unknown if Shannon, Sebastiano, Smoove, and/or Cackowski left on their own, or if they were let go due to the budget cuts.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Host | Musical guest | Original release date |
| 586 | 1 | Steve Carell | Kanye West | October 1, 2005 (2005-10-01) |
| Kanye West performs a medley of "Gold Digger" and "Touch the Sky", and "Heard 'Em Say" with Adam Levine. Mike Myers appears before West's first performance, spoofing their joint appearance in A Concert for Hurricane Relief. Horatio Sanz's first of two episodes substituting for Tina Fey as Weekend Update co-anchor Bill Hader and Andy Samberg's first episode as cast members. This is the first SNL episode to broadcast in high-definition (HD). |||||
| 587 | 2 | Jon Heder | Ashlee Simpson | October 8, 2005 (2005-10-08) |
| Ashlee Simpson performs "Catch Me When I Fall" and "Boyfriend". |||||
| 588 | 3 | Catherine Zeta-Jones | Franz Ferdinand | October 22, 2005 (2005-10-22) |
| Franz Ferdinand performs "Do You Want To" and "Take Me Out". A still photo of former Jean Doumanian-era cast member and Weekend Update anchor Charles Rocket, who had committed suicide the week before this episode premiered, is shown in his memory after Weekend Update. Tina Fey's first episode back as Weekend Update co-anchor. |||||
| 589 | 4 | Lance Armstrong | Sheryl Crow | October 29, 2005 (2005-10-29) |
| Sheryl Crow, Armstrong's then-fiancé, performs "Good Is Good" and "Strong Enough". Additionally, Crow appears in the opening monologue, the "Harmonies" sketch, and the "Lance's Song" sketch. Chicago White Sox outfielder Scott Podsednik appears on Weekend Update. |||||
| 590 | 5 | Jason Lee | Foo Fighters | November 12, 2005 (2005-11-12) |
| Foo Fighters perform "DOA" and "Best of You". Kristen Wiig's first episode as a cast member. In reruns, the Butt Pregnancy sketch is replaced by a dress rehearsal sketch featuring the cast singing a song about the office cafeteria dessert counter. |||||
| 591 | 6 | Eva Longoria | Korn | November 19, 2005 (2005-11-19) |
| Korn performs "Twisted Transistor" and "Freak on a Leash". |||||
| 592 | 7 | Dane Cook | James Blunt | December 3, 2005 (2005-12-03) |
| James Blunt performs "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover". |||||
| 593 | 8 | Alec Baldwin | Shakira | December 10, 2005 (2005-12-10) |
| Shakira performs "Don't Bother" and "La Tortura" with Alejandro Sanz. Tim Meadows appears during the opening monologue. A clip of the "Word Association" sketch from the first season's Richard Pryor/Gil Scott-Heron episode is shown after Weekend Update, commemorating Pryor's death earlier that day. |||||
| 594 | 9 | Jack Black | Neil Young | December 17, 2005 (2005-12-17) |
| Neil Young performs "It's a Dream" and "He Was the King". Additionally, Young appears in the "Appalachian Emergency Room" sketch. Johnny Knoxville appears in the "Appalachian Emergency Room" sketch. Darlene Love provides vocals for TV Funhouse cartoon "Christmastime For The Jews" and performs "White Christmas" with the SNL Band. Tracy Morgan appears on Weekend Update. Black's Tenacious D partner Kyle Gass appears during the "Spelling Bee" sketch. |||||
| 595 | 10 | Scarlett Johansson | Death Cab for Cutie | January 14, 2006 (2006-01-14) |
| Death Cab for Cutie performs "Soul Meets Body" and "Crooked Teeth". An excerpt from the night's TV Funhouse cartoon "The 700 Gang" was used as the cold open, marking the only time a cartoon was used as an SNL cold open. |||||
| 596 | 11 | Peter Sarsgaard | The Strokes | January 21, 2006 (2006-01-21) |
| The Strokes perform "Juicebox" and "You Only Live Once". Drew Barrymore (Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti's then-girlfriend) appears on Weekend Update. A number of technical issues plagued the "Fairmount Suites Inn" sketch, such as Sarsgaard accidentally disabling the television and visible stagehands. During the parody of the film Shattered Glass centered on a cat magazine journalist (Peter Sarsgaard) getting fired for publishing misinformation, Seth Meyers' character mentions a magazine called Parrot Companion Quarterly. In the NBC reruns of this sketch, a lower-third caption was added that says Parrot Companion Quarterly was a real publication and not something made up by the show writers. |||||
| 597 | 12 | Steve Martin | Prince | February 4, 2006 (2006-02-04) |
| Prince performs "Fury" and "Beautiful, Loved and Blessed" with Támar. Alec Baldwin and Kelly Ripa appear in the pre-filmed cold open. Baldwin also appears in the "Backstage" sketch. Jimmy Fallon appears in the "Backstage" sketch. Scarlett Johansson, Conan O'Brien, Brian Williams and Gideon Yago appear in the SNL Digital Short. Cast member Finesse Mitchell did not appear in this episode. This episode was the highest rated episode of the season, drawing 9.3 million viewers. |||||
| 598 | 13 | Natalie Portman | Fall Out Boy | March 4, 2006 (2006-03-04) |
| Fall Out Boy performs "Dance, Dance" and "Sugar, We're Goin Down". Dennis Haysbert appears in the "Belated Black History Moment" sketch. |||||
| 599 | 14 | Matt Dillon | Arctic Monkeys | March 11, 2006 (2006-03-11) |
| Arctic Monkeys perform "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "A Certain Romance". Lead singer Alex Turner became visibly frustrated with the audience reaction during the latter performance, at one point pointing into the crowd and singing "That man just yawned!" to the music. |||||
| 600 | 15 | Antonio Banderas | Mary J. Blige | April 8, 2006 (2006-04-08) |
| Mary J. Blige performs "Be Without You" and "Enough Cryin". Chris Kattan appears on Weekend Update. |||||
| 601 | 16 | Lindsay Lohan | Pearl Jam | April 15, 2006 (2006-04-15) |
| Pearl Jam performs "World Wide Suicide" and "Severed Hand". Lohan's brother Michael Lohan Jr. appears in the opening monologue. |||||
| 602 | 17 | Tom Hanks | Red Hot Chili Peppers | May 6, 2006 (2006-05-06) |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers perform "Dani California" and "Give It Away". |||||
| 603 | 18 | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Paul Simon | May 13, 2006 (2006-05-13) |
| Paul Simon performs "How Can You Live in the Northeast?" and "Outrageous". Al Gore appears in the cold open and on Weekend Update, the latter written by his daughter and former SNL writer Kristin Gore. Louis-Dreyfus' former Seinfeld co-stars Jason Alexander and Jerry Seinfeld appear in the pre-filmed portion of the opening monologue. SNL writer and future cast member Colin Jost makes his first appearance on the show appearing as an extra in The Morning Show sketch. A photo of former SNL cameraman Al Camoin who had died two days earlier was shown before the goodnights. |||||
| 604 | 19 | Kevin Spacey | Nelly Furtado | May 20, 2006 (2006-05-20) |
| Nelly Furtado performs "Promiscuous" and "Maneater" with Timbaland. Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Finesse Mitchell, Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz's final episode as cast members. Fey's final episode as Weekend Update co-anchor. Beth McCarthy Miller's final episode as director. |||||

## Specials

| Title | Original release date |
| "The Best of David Spade" | October 15, 2005 (2005-10-15) |
| The special presented material featuring David Spade during his stint on the show. Sketches include "Dick Clark's Receptionist", "Gap Girls", "Total Bastard Airlines", "Spade in America", "Stewart Release", "Salon", "Stunt Double", Sean Penn's Celebrity Roast", "Peer Pressure at Valley High", "Dirtball and Burnout Convention", "Karl's Video", "NCI Long Distance", "The Road to Self-Improvement", and "Hollywood Minute". ||
| "The Best of SNL Commercial Parodies" | November 5, 2005 (2005-11-05) |
| The special presented commercial parodies featured on the show. ||
| "Lost & Found: SNL in the '80s" | November 13, 2005 (2005-11-13) |
| Topics of the special include: the Jean Doumanian era as one of SNL's many critical and ratings low points, the cancellation, retooling, and reviving of SNL courtesy of Dick Ebersol and Doumanian-era stand-outs Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo, Murphy and Piscopo emerging as the driving force behind Ebersol's 1981-1984 seasons, Ebersol picking a new cast for season 10 after the departure of Murphy and Piscopo, Lorne Michaels returning to the show and hiring a young cast of semi-famous actors and actresses and the harsh critical response from that decision leading to yet another threat of cancellation, and the second golden age of SNL with season 11 survivors Nora Dunn, Jon Lovitz, A. Whitney Brown, and Dennis Miller and new cast members Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Victoria Jackson, Jan Hooks, Kevin Nealon, and Mike Myers. James Belushi, A. Whitney Brown, Dana Carvey, Billy Crystal, Denny Dillon, Robin Duke, Nora Dunn, Dick Ebersol, Al Franken, Gilbert Gottfried, Mary Gross, Victoria Jackson, Tim Kazurinsky, Gary Kroeger, Neil Levy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jon Lovitz, Gail Matthius, Lorne Michaels, Kevin Nealon, Conan O'Brien, Joe Piscopo, Martin Short, Robert Smigel, Terry Sweeney and Bob Tischler gave insight for the special. ||
| "The Best of TV Funhouse" | April 29, 2006 (2006-04-29) |
| The special presented TV Funhouse material featured on the show. The special was hosted by The Ambiguously Gay Duo, Ace and Gary. Jimmy Fallon cameos near the end of the show. Sketches include "The Ambiguously Gay Duo", "The All-New Adventures of Mr. T", "Fun With Real Audio", "E! Cartoons' The Smurfette Show", "The X-Presidents", "The Religetables" (DVD version only) and "Conspiracy Theory Rock" (DVD version only). ||