Saturday Night Live
Season 31
The title card for the thirty-first season of Saturday Night Live.
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes19
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseOctober 1, 2005 (2005-10-01) –
May 20, 2006 (2006-05-20)
Season chronology

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 was the first to broadcast in high-definition (HD), after 30 years of broadcasting in standard definition.[1]

Cast

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

There were three head writers for the 31st season: Andrew Steel,[2] Tina Fey and Seth Meyers.

Future cast member Colin Jost joined the writing staff this season.

Episodes

No.
overall		No. in
season		HostMusical guestOriginal air date
5861Steve CarellKanye WestOctober 1, 2005 (2005-10-01)

5872Jon HederAshlee SimpsonOctober 8, 2005 (2005-10-08)

  • Ashlee Simpson performs "Catch Me When I Fall" and "Boyfriend".
5883Catherine Zeta-JonesFranz FerdinandOctober 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.
5894Lance ArmstrongSheryl CrowOctober 29, 2005 (2005-10-29)

5905Jason LeeFoo FightersNovember 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.
5916Eva LongoriaKornNovember 19, 2005 (2005-11-19)

5927Dane CookJames BluntDecember 3, 2005 (2005-12-03)

5938Alec BaldwinShakiraDecember 10, 2005 (2005-12-10)

5949Jack BlackNeil YoungDecember 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.
59510Scarlett JohanssonDeath Cab for CutieJanuary 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.
59611Peter SarsgaardThe StrokesJanuary 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.
59712Steve MartinPrinceFebruary 4, 2006 (2006-02-04)

59813Natalie PortmanFall Out BoyMarch 4, 2006 (2006-03-04)

59914Matt DillonArctic MonkeysMarch 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.[3]
60015Antonio BanderasMary J. BligeApril 8, 2006 (2006-04-08)

60116Lindsay LohanPearl JamApril 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.
60217Tom HanksRed Hot Chili PeppersMay 6, 2006 (2006-05-06)

60318Julia Louis-DreyfusPaul SimonMay 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.
60419Kevin SpaceyNelly FurtadoMay 20, 2006 (2006-05-20)

Specials

TitleOriginal air 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).

References

  1. 1 2 Kaplan, Don (April 27, 2005). "'SNL' Goes High-Def". New York Post. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  2. ↑ McCarthy, Sean L. (February 18, 2010). "Executive producer Andrew Steele says HBO's "Funny or Die Presents" is "true to us"". Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  3. ↑ That Man Just Yawned! (Alex Turner) on YouTube
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