September 30, 1995 Season 21 episode
| |
|---|---|
| |
| |
| Episode | 387 |
| Season Episode | 1 |
| Host | Mariel Hemingway |
| Musical Guest(s) | Blues Traveler |
| Song(s) performed by Musical Guest(s) |
"Run-Around" "Hook" |
| Previous Episode May 13, 1995 (Season 20) |
Next Episode October 7, 1995 |
The 387th episode and the season premiere of Season 21 of Saturday Night Live premiered on September 30, 1995, hosted by actress Mariel Hemingway, star of the hit films Personal Best and Star 80, and the TV series Civil Wars, with musical guest Blues Traveler, an American rock band. This was Mariel Hemingway's hosting debut and Blues Traveler made their musical guest debut on SNL.
This is the first episode for: Jim Breuer, Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, David Koechner, Cheri Oteri and Nancy Walls as cast members. This was a cast overhaul for the show.
Cast[]
Repertory Players[]
- Jim Breuer (First Appearance)
- Will Ferrell (First Appearance)
- Darrell Hammond (First Appearance)
- David Koechner (First Appearance)
- Norm Macdonald
- Mark McKinney
- Tim Meadows
- Cheri Oteri (First Appearance)
- Molly Shannon
- David Spade
- Nancy Walls (First Appearance)
Sketches and Music Performances[]
Cold Open Sketch Pre-recorded Weekend Update Music Performance Other
| Title | Image | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| O.J. Today Cold Open | Bill McDonald (Will Ferrell) and the O.J. coverage gang segue to footage of Johnnie Cochran (Tim Meadows) dissuading use of the “evidence card” during the O.J. Simpson trial. First appearances of Jim Breuer, Will Ferrell, and David Koechner. | |
| Opening Montage |  |
The new opening montage is introduced. This montage has a theme similar to that of the NBC studios where SNL is broadcast and consists of black and white images of the cast at a party, with purple and green titling. The SNL logo introduced here is used through the 2005-2006 season. Additionally, 9 of the cast members are gone from the intro, since they left the show prior to this season. Along with a virtually all new cast, this season also came with an all-new opener. With G.E. Smith gone as bandleader, Lenny Pickett takes over, and the theme music is a jazzier version of the 1994-1995 theme. First credits for Jim Breuer, Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, David Koechner, Cheri Oteri and Nancy Walls and Molly Shannon has promoted from featured player to repertory player for this season. |
| Monologue by Mariel Hemingway | Hosting for the first time, actress Mariel Hemingway introduces the audience and viewers to the new cast of the new cast of “Saturday Night Live”, (Jim Breuer, Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, David Koechner, Cheri Oteri and Nancy Walls), the old faces (Mark McKinney, Norm Macdonald, Tim Meadows, and Molly Shannon) and crew backstage including new director Beth McCarthy-Miller focusing her attention on all the women and planting them with kisses. First appearances of Darrell Hammond, Cheri Oteri and Nancy Walls. | |
| A.M. Ale | Why wait until the afternoon, when you can start your morning off right with an A.M. Ale. | |
| Get Off the Shed: New Friends | Frank and Shirley Henderson (Will Ferrell, Mariel Hemingway) have their new friends (David Koechner, Nancy Walls) over for a BBQ, but Frank frightens them when he yells and threatens his children if they don't "get off the shed!" | |
| Nightline: Bob Dole and Colin Powell | Colin Powell (Tim Meadows) gloats over Bob Dole (Norm MacDonald) during “Nightline” interview with Ted Koppell (Darrell Hammond). | |
| Leg Up | Elizabeth Berkeley (Hemingway) shocks hosts Ann Miller (Molly Shannon) and Debby Reynolds (Cheri Oteri) with a pole dance demonstration. | |
| Weekend Update with Norm Macdonald | Nancy Walls reads a handful of news stories that elicit sad head-shaking from herself and Norm MacDonald. | |
| Blues Traveler performed "Run-Around" | ||
| Getting Off The Phone | A housewife (Mariel Hemingway) asks her husband (Will Ferrell) to help get her off the phone with talkative relatives, but his attempts border more on creepy and disturbing than helpful. | |
| Spade in America | David Spade makes snide comments about the Unabomber and no-show musical guest, Prince. | |
| A&E Biography | Host Jack Perkins (Darrell Hammond) offers the biography of Mariel Hemingway, who won her “Central Park West” role in favor of an acting quartet. | |
| Fuzzy Memories by Jack Handey | His father's reaction to a bully. | |
| Blues Traveler performed "Hook" | ||
| The Chicken Lady | The Chicken Lady (Mark McKinney) engage in discussion with other fetishists. Also Features Cheri Oteri as Mickey the Dyke, Will Ferrell as Ernie the Infantilist, Darrell Hammond as voice of caller and David Koechner as Farmer Troy. | |
| Goodnights | Mariel Hemingway thanked everyone, the band, cast, and Blues Traveler, it's incredible she loved them all. |
Trivia[]
- As mentioned in the "Spade in America" sketch, the original musical guest scheduled to appear on this episode was Prince (back when he was known as "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince").
- This was the first episode of the fourth generation of SNL, as only 5 cast members remained from season 20 (Norm Macdonald, Mark McKinney, Tim Meadows, David Spade, and Molly Shannon) and 6 new cast members (Breuer, Ferrell, Hammond, Koechner, Oteri, Walls); as the other 9 cast members from the previous season had either left the show or were fired prior to this season.
- Meadows and Spade were the only "vets" to return to the show (as this was their sixth season with SNL; with Spade edging out Meadows for seniority).
- Macdonald was only in his third season on the show during season 21, as he had joined the cast as a writer at the beginning of season 19 and was promoted to the cast a few episodes into the season; while McKinney and Shannon had joined the cast in the middle of season 20 earlier in the calendar year.
- This is also even marked the first episode for Steve Higgins, Adam McKay, Paula Pell, Dennis McNicholas, Frank Sebastiano, Harper Steele, Hugh Fink, and Colin Quinn as writers on SNL.
- Additionally, prior to the season premiere longtime head writer Jim Downey stepped down from his position, after 10 years, and continues on as a regular writer, and produces Weekend Update for Norm Macdonald.
- In fact, Downey was one of only 5 writers to return to the show this season: the others being Tim Herlihy, Fred Wolf, Steve Koren, and Norm Hiscock.
- Steve Higgins and Fred Wolf are also named as this season's head writers, in Downey's place, and this is their first episode in said role.
- This is also Lenny Pickett (SNL Band Saxophone player since 1985)'s first episode as co-director of the SNL Band.
- Beth McCarthy-Miller's first episode as director.
- This is also even the first episode for Jane Getter, Lino Gomez, and Valerie Naranjo as the members of the SNL Band.
| Preceded by: May 13, 1995 (Season 20) |
Saturday Night Live episode | Followed by: October 7, 1995 |