History of Saturday Night Live (1995–2000)

Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.

After a disastrous 1994–95 season featuring a mix of old and new characters, Michaels decided to once again revamp the cast, keeping only five cast members and hiring six. The 1995–96 season once again saved the show from cancellation, introducing a new era of Saturday Night Live that included cast members Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, Cheri Oteri, and Chris Kattan. Ana Gasteyer and Tracy Morgan joined the following year. This cast stayed mostly stable until the 1998–99 season, which added cast members such as Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz.

Adam McKay would serve as the head writer from 1996 to 1999, after which he would be succeeded by Tina Fey, the show's first female head writer.

Rebuilding effort (1995–1996)
The 1995–96 season almost completely rebuilt the cast with new members Jim Breuer, Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, David Koechner, Cheri Oteri, Nancy Walls, Chris Kattan, Colin Quinn, and Fred Wolf. The only holdovers from the previous season were Norm Macdonald, Mark McKinney, Tim Meadows, Molly Shannon and David Spade. The larger-than-usual number of new hires was part of a rebuilding effort from the 1994–95 season, a season that executive producer Lorne Michaels acknowledged was "incredibly difficult". Lenny Pickett also took over for G.E. Smith as leader of the Saturday Night Live Band.

Of the cast members held over from the previous season, only Meadows and Spade were actual veterans. The other three were still newcomers to the show. Macdonald had a few bit parts in his first year (the 1993–94 season) and was the anchor of Weekend Update during the 1994–95 season, his performance considered a high point in a season widely considered lackluster. Shannon appeared in early 1995 as a featured performer after Janeane Garofalo quit the show; McKinney began in early 1995 as well, but as a contract player, having gained much experience in televised sketch comedy as a veteran of Canadian variety show The Kids in the Hall, also produced by Lorne Michaels. David Spade became the longest-serving cast member during this season. Fred Wolf, this season's head writer, and a writer for the show since 1993, would also serve a brief run as a featured player during this season and the next.

The new cast members quickly made an impression and revitalized the show, particularly with sketches like the Spartan Cheerleaders, Mary Katherine Gallagher, and the Roxbury Guys. Hammond in particular quickly built up a repertoire of popular impersonations, including Bill Clinton and Chris Matthews.

SNL faced new competition in the form of Fox's sketch comedy show MADtv, which aired a half hour earlier than SNL and featured a more diverse cast. Though MADtv never posed a serious ratings threat to SNL, it did at times beat the NBC show in the key demographic of twenty-and thirtysomething male audiences.

Cast
Repertory players


 * Jim Breuer
 * Will Ferrell
 * Darrell Hammond
 * David Koechner
 * Norm Macdonald
 * Mark McKinney
 * Tim Meadows
 * Cheri Oteri
 * Molly Shannon


 * David Spade
 * Nancy Walls

Featured players
 * Chris Kattan (first episode: March 16, 1996)
 * Colin Quinn (first episode credited: March 16, 1996)
 * Fred Wolf (first episode: April 13, 1996)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Cast stabilization (1996–1997)
The ensemble from the 1995–96 season was mostly unchanged for the 1996–97 season, save for the firing of David Koechner and Nancy Walls, as well as the departure of David Spade. Tim Meadows became the longest-running cast member this season. Tracy Morgan and Ana Gasteyer both joined the cast, taking the places of Koechner and Walls. Mark McKinney left at the end of this season.

Adam McKay, who had joined the writing staff in season 21, became head writer alongside Tim Herlihy.

Shannon, Oteri, and Gasteyer became cast standouts as their characters and impressions gained popularity. Journalists said the women's prominence, backed by writers like Paula Pell and later Tina Fey, signaled a shift to a more female-friendly SNL where women had greater visibility. The "rise of women" in SNL would continue with the addition of cast members Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph, and Amy Poehler in the next few years (particularly with Fey and Poehler as the first two women-anchor team on Weekend Update), to Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, and others in later seasons.

Cast
Repertory players


 * Jim Breuer
 * Will Ferrell
 * Ana Gasteyer
 * Darrell Hammond
 * Chris Kattan
 * Norm Macdonald
 * Mark McKinney
 * Tim Meadows


 * Tracy Morgan
 * Cheri Oteri
 * Molly Shannon

Featured players
 * Colin Quinn
 * Fred Wolf (final episode: October 19, 1996)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

1997–1998 season
The ensemble from the 1996–97 season remained substantially unchanged for the 1997–98 season. Jim Breuer would leave the show after this season, later blaming then-head writer Adam McKay, although McKay denies the allegations. This is also the only season of the show in which the intro is not based on New York City (instead, just showing colored bars and black-and-white pictures of the cast, musical guests, hosts, special guests, and announcement for Robert Smigel's TV Funhouse animated sketches).

Tina Fey joined the writing staff.

Norm Macdonald's removal from Update
While the cast was, for the most part, unchanged from the previous season, Norm Macdonald was removed from his position as Weekend Update anchor. His surprise removal was the source of much speculation and scrutiny from the media. Macdonald frequently targeted O. J. Simpson and his murder trial on Update, a recurring joke that then-NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer apparently disliked. This is rumored to be the cause of Macdonald's ouster, although Ohlmeyer denied the allegations. He was replaced on Update by castmate Colin Quinn starting January 10, 1998. Though Macdonald still performed in sketches, he was not happy and eventually quit the show, with his final episode on March 14, 1998.

Cast
Repertory players


 * Jim Breuer
 * Will Ferrell
 * Ana Gasteyer
 * Darrell Hammond
 * Chris Kattan
 * Norm Macdonald (final episode: March 14, 1998)


 * Tim Meadows
 * Tracy Morgan
 * Cheri Oteri
 * Colin Quinn
 * Molly Shannon

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

New featured players (1998–1999)
The 1998–99 season introduced new cast members Jimmy Fallon, Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz.

Cast
Repertory players


 * Will Ferrell
 * Ana Gasteyer
 * Darrell Hammond
 * Chris Kattan
 * Tim Meadows
 * Tracy Morgan
 * Cheri Oteri


 * Colin Quinn
 * Molly Shannon

Featured players
 * Jimmy Fallon
 * Chris Parnell
 * Horatio Sanz

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Cast shake-up (1999–2000)
The 1999–2000 season would be the last for longtime cast members Colin Quinn, Cheri Oteri (who had been cast members since 1995), and Tim Meadows. Meadows (who was a cast member for 10 seasons) held the record as the longest-tenured cast member, a record surpassed from former castmate Kevin Nealon (who stayed on for nine seasons), however, castmate Darrell Hammond later surpassed him as the longest-tenured cast member during his 10th season. Meadows was also the longest-serving African-American cast member and would remain so for the next 13 years before he would eventually be surpassed by Kenan Thompson in the 2012–13 season. Then-featured players Rachel Dratch and Maya Rudolph (daughter of the late singer Minnie Riperton) were also introduced during this season.

Tina Fey was promoted to the head writer position, making her the first woman in this role.

Cast
Repertory players


 * Jimmy Fallon
 * Will Ferrell
 * Ana Gasteyer
 * Darrell Hammond
 * Chris Kattan
 * Tim Meadows
 * Tracy Morgan
 * Cheri Oteri


 * Chris Parnell
 * Colin Quinn
 * Horatio Sanz
 * Molly Shannon

Featured players
 * Rachel Dratch (first episode: October 23, 1999)
 * Maya Rudolph (first episode: May 6, 2000)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor