Saturday Night Live (season 21)

The twenty-first season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 30, 1995 and May 18, 1996.

Saturday Night Live
Season 21
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes20
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 30, 1995 (1995-09-30) –
May 18, 1996 (1996-05-18)
Season chronology

History

SNL once again dodged cancellation from season 20's low ratings and scathing reviews about the show's decline in quality. The cast was mostly overhauled. new writers were brought in, and Beth McCarthy Miller took over as director.

The season was home to the Rage Against the Machine incident. On April 13, 1996, the band was the musical guest, and was scheduled to perform two songs. The show was hosted that night by ex-Republican presidential candidate and billionaire Steve Forbes. According to RATM guitarist Tom Morello, "RATM wanted to stand in sharp juxtaposition to a billionaire telling jokes and promoting his flat tax by making our own statement."[1] To this end, the band hung two upside-down American flags from their amplifiers. Seconds before they took the stage to perform "Bulls on Parade", SNL and NBC sent stagehands in to pull the flags down.[2] Following the removal of the flags during the first performance, the band was approached by SNL and NBC officials and ordered to immediately leave the building. Upon hearing this, bassist Tim Commerford reportedly stormed Forbes's dressing room, throwing shreds from one of the torn down flags. Morello noted that members of the Saturday Night Live cast and crew, whom he declined to name, "expressed solidarity with our actions, and a sense of shame that their show had censored the performance."[1]

A new logo was used starting this season, consisting of the words SATURDAYNIGHTLIVE in a sans-serif typeface, and was used until 2006.

Cast

Only five cast members returned to the show from the previous season: Norm Macdonald, Mark McKinney, Tim Meadows, Molly Shannon and David Spade.[3] Although Spade returned to the show, he had more of a diminished role, very rarely appearing in sketches except for Spade in America, a "Weekend Update" segment hosted by Spade that debuted at the start of the season and was featured in all but five episodes.

Molly Shannon was upgraded to repertory status.

Chris Kattan and newly hired writer Colin Quinn also joined as featured players for the final six episodes of the season. Fred Wolf was hired later in April as a featured player.

Cast roster

bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor

Writers
Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § season 21

Steve Higgins, Adam McKay, Paula Pell, Frank Sebastiano, and Colin Quinn join the writing staff.

Episodes
Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		HostMusical guestOriginal air date
3871Mariel HemingwayBlues TravelerSeptember 30, 1995 (1995-09-30)

3882Chevy ChaseLisa Loeb & Nine StoriesOctober 7, 1995 (1995-10-07)

3893David SchwimmerNatalie MerchantOctober 21, 1995 (1995-10-21)

3904Gabriel ByrneAlanis MorissetteOctober 28, 1995 (1995-10-28)

3915Quentin TarantinoThe Smashing PumpkinsNovember 11, 1995 (1995-11-11)

3926Laura LeightonRancidNovember 18, 1995 (1995-11-18)

3937Anthony EdwardsFoo FightersDecember 2, 1995 (1995-12-02)

3948David Alan GrierSilverchairDecember 9, 1995 (1995-12-09)

3959Madeline KahnBushDecember 16, 1995 (1995-12-16)

  • Bush performs "Comedown" and "Glycerine".
  • Sam Waterston appears in the pre-recorded "Old Glory Insurance" sketch.
39610Christopher WalkenJoan OsborneJanuary 13, 1996 (1996-01-13)

39711Alec BaldwinTori AmosJanuary 20, 1996 (1996-01-20)

39812Danny AielloCoolioFebruary 10, 1996 (1996-02-10)

39913Tom ArnoldTupac ShakurFebruary 17, 1996 (1996-02-17)

40014Elle MacphersonStingFebruary 24, 1996 (1996-02-24)

  • Sting performs "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" and "You Still Touch Me".
  • Darrell Hammond filled in for Don Pardo as announcer, since he was sick. Hammond would later take over permanently as announcer following Pardo's death in 2014.
  • No Spade in America sketch
40115John GoodmanEverclearMarch 16, 1996 (1996-03-16)

40216Phil HartmanGin BlossomsMarch 23, 1996 (1996-03-23)

  • Gin Blossoms performs "Follow You Down" and "Memphis Time".
  • Hartman brings back his impersonation of Frank Sinatra.
  • This episode marked the first appearance of Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan's "Roxbury Guys" characters.
40317Steve ForbesRage Against the MachineApril 13, 1996 (1996-04-13)

  • Rage Against The Machine performs one song, "Bulls on Parade". Their second song was cut after the band attempted to hang inverted U.S. flags from its amplifiers, protesting host Steve Forbes, a Republican presidential candidate.
  • No Spade in America sketch
  • Forbes's family appears onstage during the goodnights.
  • Fred Wolf's first episode as a cast member.
40418Teri HatcherDave Matthews BandApril 20, 1996 (1996-04-20)

  • Dave Matthews Band performs "Too Much" and "So Much to Say".
  • Sam Waterston appears in the pre-recorded "Old Glory Insurance" sketch.
  • Sketch Spade in America is performed by Teri Hatcher (as David Spade) and David Spade (as Teri Hatcher).
40519Christine BaranskiThe CureMay 11, 1996 (1996-05-11)

40620Jim CarreySoundgardenMay 18, 1996 (1996-05-18)

  • Soundgarden performs "Pretty Noose" and "Burden in My Hand".
  • First time "What Is Love" plays in the Roxbury Guys sketch as well as a third member's joining the brothers played by Jim Carrey.
  • Last episode for stage manager Joe Dicso, who had been in that position since the show's 1975 inception.
  • David Koechner, David Spade and Nancy Walls' final episode as cast members.

References
  1. Anon., Saturday Night Live Incident, Public release and distribution. Retrieved November 12, 2007.
  2. "Rage Against the Machine". The Flag Burning Page. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
  3. Shales, Tom (2003). Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Back Bay. ISBN 0-316-73565-5.
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