# Saturday Night Live season 28

The twenty-eighth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 5, 2002 and May 17, 2003.

## Cast

Prior to the start of this season, longtime cast members Will Ferrell, who had been of the show for seven seasons since 1995, and Ana Gasteyer, who was on for six seasons since 1996, both left the show. In Gasteyer's case, she was on maternity leave during the break and decided not to return. In the wake of their departures, two new featured players were added: comedian and musician Fred Armisen and Will Forte of The Groundlings.
This season would be the last for longtime cast members Chris Kattan and Tracy Morgan, who had been on the show for eight and seven seasons, respectively, since 1996. Featured player Dean Edwards, who was hired to the cast the previous season, was let go following the end of this season.

### Cast roster

Repertory players
* Rachel Dratch
* Jimmy Fallon
* Tina Fey
* Darrell Hammond
* Chris Kattan
* Tracy Morgan
* Chris Parnell
* Amy Poehler
* Maya Rudolph
* Horatio Sanz
Featured players
* Fred Armisen
* Dean Edwards
* Will Forte
* Seth Meyers
* Jeff Richards
Bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

## Writers

With the John McCain-hosted episode, T. Sean Shannon (who had been a writer since 1998) is named as a co-writing supervisor, alongside Paula Pell and Harper Steele.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Host | Musical guest(s) | Original release date |
| 526 | 1 | Matt Damon | Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band | October 5, 2002 (2002-10-05) |
| Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band perform "Lonesome Day" with Soozie Tyrell for the first musical segment; Springsteen performs "You're Missing" alone on a piano in the second musical segment. Earlier in the day, Springsteen rehearsed but ultimately did not play "My Hometown" alone on a piano. Jim Cummings performed voiceover work in the "Smurfette Show" TV Funhouse sketch. Fred Armisen and Will Forte's first episode as cast members. |||||
| 527 | 2 | Sarah Michelle Gellar | Faith Hill | October 12, 2002 (2002-10-12) |
| Faith Hill performs "Cry" and "Free" and appears during the "No Wrestling" sketch. |||||
| 528 | 3 | John McCain | The White Stripes | October 19, 2002 (2002-10-19) |
| The White Stripes perform "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" and "We're Going to Be Friends". Re-aired in tribute to McCain on September 1, 2018, the Saturday following his death |||||
| 529 | 4 | Eric McCormack | Jay-Z | November 2, 2002 (2002-11-02) |
| Jay-Z performs "Guns N' Roses" with Lenny Kravitz and "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" with Kravitz and Beyoncé. |||||
| 530 | 5 | Nia Vardalos | Eve | November 9, 2002 (2002-11-09) |
| Eve performs "Gangsta Lovin'" and "Satisfaction", and appears during the "Dropping The L.B.'s With Missy E" sketch. Tina Fey's mother Jean appears during the opening monologue. |||||
| 531 | 6 | Brittany Murphy | Nelly | November 16, 2002 (2002-11-16) |
| Nelly performs "Dilemma" with Kelly Rowland and "Hot in Herre", and appears in the "Astronaut Jones" sketch. Former cast members Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider appear during the cold open to perform "The Chanukah Song". Garrett Morris appears during the "Astronaut Jones" sketch. |||||
| 532 | 7 | Robert De Niro | Norah Jones | December 7, 2002 (2002-12-07) |
| Norah Jones performs "Don't Know Why" and "Come Away with Me". Harvey Keitel appears during the "Very Versace Christmas" sketch. |||||
| 533 | 8 | Al Gore | Phish | December 14, 2002 (2002-12-14) |
| Phish performs "46 Days" and "Chalk Dust Torture", and appear in the "Jarret's Room" sketch. Animated versions of the band members appear in the "Peanuts Christmas" cartoon, which is partly soundtracked by their song "You Enjoy Myself". Phish's performance was their first in over two years, ending the hiatus period they had embarked on in October 2000, the longest break from performing they had taken up to that point. Tipper Gore appears during the cold open and the Daily Affirmation With Stuart Smalley sketch. The West Wing cast members Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, John Spencer, Martin Sheen, and Richard Schiff appear during the pre-recorded "The West Wing Set" sketch. Al Franken appears during Daily Affirmation With Stuart Smalley, reprising his role as Stuart Smalley. Brad Pitt performs a voice role during the "Peanuts Christmas" cartoon. |||||
| 534 | 9 | Jeff Gordon | Avril Lavigne | January 11, 2003 (2003-01-11) |
| Avril Lavigne performs "I'm with You" and "Complicated". |||||
| 535 | 10 | Ray Liotta | The Donnas | January 18, 2003 (2003-01-18) |
| The Donnas perform "Take It Off" and "Who Invited You". |||||
| 536 | 11 | Matthew McConaughey | Dixie Chicks | February 8, 2003 (2003-02-08) |
| Dixie Chicks perform "Travelin' Soldier" and "Sin Wagon", and appear during the "Jarret's Room" sketch. |||||
| 537 | 12 | Jennifer Garner | Beck | February 15, 2003 (2003-02-15) |
| Beck performs "Lost Cause" and "Guess I'm Doing Fine". |||||
| 538 | 13 | Christopher Walken | Foo Fighters | February 22, 2003 (2003-02-22) |
| Foo Fighters perform "All My Life" and "Times Like These", with Jim Carrey appearing during their second performance. Steve Martin, Will Ferrell, and Britney Spears appear during Weekend Update. Additionally, Ferrell appears during the "Lovers" sketch. |||||
| 539 | 14 | Queen Latifah | Ms. Dynamite | March 8, 2003 (2003-03-08) |
| Ms. Dynamite performs "Dy-Na-Mi-Tee". Dan Aykroyd appears during the "60 Minutes" cold open, reprising his impression of Bob Dole. Jeff Bergman and Tom Kenny provide the voices of Bugs Bunny and SpongeBob SquarePants respectively during the "X-Presidents" cartoon. Horatio Sanz pays tribute to Mr. Rogers who died of stomach cancer nine days earlier. |||||
| 540 | 15 | Salma Hayek | Christina Aguilera | March 15, 2003 (2003-03-15) |
| Christina Aguilera performs "Beautiful" and "Fighter", and appears during the "Versace Oscar Fashion Preview" sketch. Edward Norton appears during the opening monologue. |||||
| 541 | 16 | Bernie Mac | Good Charlotte | April 5, 2003 (2003-04-05) |
| Good Charlotte performs "The Anthem" and "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous". |||||
| 542 | 17 | Ray Romano | Zwan | April 12, 2003 (2003-04-12) |
| Zwan performs "Lyric" and "Settle Down". |||||
| 543 | 18 | Ashton Kutcher | 50 Cent | May 3, 2003 (2003-05-03) |
| 50 Cent performs "In Da Club" with G-Unit and "21 Questions" with G-Unit and Nate Dogg. |||||
| 544 | 19 | Adrien Brody | Sean Paul Wayne Wonder | May 10, 2003 (2003-05-10) |
| Sean Paul performs "Get Busy". Brody introduces Sean Paul while wearing a dreadlocks wig and imitating a Jamaican accent. Wayne Wonder performs "No Letting Go". Brody's parents Sylvia Plachy and Elliot Brody appear during the opening monologue. |||||
| 545 | 20 | Dan Aykroyd | Beyoncé | May 17, 2003 (2003-05-17) |
| Beyoncé performs "Crazy in Love" with Jay-Z and "Dangerously in Love". Jim Belushi appears during the opening monologue. Chris Kattan's father Kip King appears during the "Rialto Grande" sketch. John Goodman appears during "The Falconer" sketch, the "Donatella Versace Backyard Barbeque" sketch, and the "La Cuisina Canina" sketch. Aykroyd brought in Tom Davis, one of the show's original writers, to help write this episode. Aykroyd becomes the first SNL cast member to have a long gap between leaving the show as a cast member and returning to host at nearly 24 years (and, as of 2019, is the third and most recent cast member from the show's "Not Ready for Primetime" era [1975-1980] to come back and host). Dean Edwards, Chris Kattan and Tracy Morgan's final episode as cast members. |||||

## Specials

| Title | Original release date |
| "The Best of Will Ferrell" | September 28, 2002 (2002-09-28) |
| Sketches include: "Alta Dena Mandatory Drug Assembly", "Cow Bell", "Dissin' Your Dog", "Spartan Cheerleaders", "The Coconuts Bangers Ball: It's A Rap!", "Celebrity Jeopardy", "Inside The Actors Studio", "Space, The Infinite Frontier with Harry Caray", "Luvahs at the Welshly Arm Motel", "Roxbury Guys", "The Replacement Nude Model", "Tension Dinner" and "Jacob Silj". ||
| "SNL Christmas 2002" | December 17, 2002 (2002-12-17) |
| Holiday-themed sketches from past episodes are aired. Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey host. ||
| Weekend Update Halftime Special | January 26, 2003 (2003-01-26) |
| Weekend Update Halftime Special, timed to compete with the Super Bowl XXXVII halftime show. ||