Saturday Night Live (season 22)

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.

Saturday Night Live
Season 22
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes20
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 28, 1996 (1996-09-28) 
May 17, 1997 (1997-05-17)
Season chronology

This season is notable for the host selection. Seven of the 20 hosts were former cast members. They included Dana Carvey, Robert Downey, Jr. (the second of three season 11 cast members to come back and host the show, joining Damon Wayans [who hosted during the show's 20th season] and, later in season 23, Jon Lovitz), Phil Hartman, Chris Rock, Martin Short (who hosted before with Steve Martin and Chevy Chase on the show's 12th season, and the only cast member out of the seven to not have worked under Lorne Michaels, as Short was a Dick Ebersol cast member), Chevy Chase, and Mike Myers. This would mark Chase's final time hosting before getting banned (returning much later for numerous guest appearances).

Cast

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 David Koechner and Nancy Walls.

Chris Kattan was promoted to repertory status, while Colin Quinn and Fred Wolf remained as featured players.

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. Also, this is the final season to show the Dolby Surround and NBC captioning during the opening montage.

Cast roster

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

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

Episodes

No.
overall
No. in
season
HostMusical guestOriginal air date
4071Tom HanksTom Petty & the HeartbreakersSeptember 28, 1996 (1996-09-28)

4082Lisa KudrowSheryl CrowOctober 5, 1996 (1996-10-05)

4093Bill PullmanNew EditionOctober 19, 1996 (1996-10-19)

4104Dana CarveyDr. DreOctober 26, 1996 (1996-10-26)

4115Chris RockThe WallflowersNovember 2, 1996 (1996-11-02)

4126Robert Downey, Jr.Fiona AppleNovember 16, 1996 (1996-11-16)

4137Phil HartmanBushNovember 23, 1996 (1996-11-23)

  • Bush performs "Swallowed" and "Insect Kin".
  • Rodney Dangerfield appears on Weekend Update.
  • Cliff Robertson appears in the pre-filmed "Lux 420SL" commercial parody.
  • Hartman once again brings back his impersonation of Frank Sinatra on "The Joe Pesci Show" sketch.
  • This was Hartman's second and last hosting appearance on SNL before his death on May 28, 1998.
4148Martin ShortNo DoubtDecember 7, 1996 (1996-12-07)

  • No Doubt performs "Don't Speak" and "Excuse Me Mr."
  • Chevy Chase makes a cameo appearance during a sketch featuring Short's Ed Grimley character.
  • First appearance of the Celebrity Jeopardy! sketch. The episode re-aired in November 2020 following the passing of Alex Trebek, with a clip of Trebek in a Celebrity Jeopardy sketch from a future season following the original sketch
4159Rosie O'DonnellWhitney HoustonDecember 14, 1996 (1996-12-14)

41610Kevin SpaceyBeckJanuary 11, 1997 (1997-01-11)

41711David Alan GrierSnoop Doggy DoggJanuary 18, 1997 (1997-01-18)

41812Neve CampbellDavid BowieFebruary 8, 1997 (1997-02-08)

41913Chevy ChaseLiveFebruary 15, 1997 (1997-02-15)

42014Alec BaldwinTina TurnerFebruary 22, 1997 (1997-02-22)

42115StingVeruca SaltMarch 15, 1997 (1997-03-15)

  • Veruca Salt performs "Shutterbug".
  • Sting performs "My One & Only Love".
  • Sting's wife Trudie Styler appears during the "Audition" sketch.
  • Mark Hamill appears during the "Shopping at Home Network" sketch.
42216Mike MyersAerosmithMarch 22, 1997 (1997-03-22)

42317Rob LoweSpice GirlsApril 12, 1997 (1997-04-12)

42418Pamela AndersonRollins BandApril 19, 1997 (1997-04-19)

  • Rollins Band performs "Starve".
  • Anderson's then-husband, rocker Tommy Lee, appeared as himself in the "Movie Shoot" sketch and "Hey, Remember The 80s" sketch.
42519John GoodmanJewelMay 10, 1997 (1997-05-10)

42620Jeff GoldblumEn VogueMay 17, 1997 (1997-05-17)

References

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