History of Saturday Night Live (2005–2010)

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.

2005-2006 saw the debuts of Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, and Kristen Wiig. Samberg came aboard the show with his collaborators from The Lonely Island, and the trio would help usher SNL into the digital era with their viral short films. The 33rd season was interrupted by the 2007 writers strike. Production was paused in November and did not resume until February 2008 after the strike ended.

The 2008 U.S. presidential election gave the show opportunities to parody politicians such as Sarah Palin, John McCain, and Barack Obama, which led to high ratings. Weekend Update was largely co-anchored by Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler, until 2009-2010 when Meyers became the solo anchor.

Hader, Samberg, and Wiig join (2005–2006)
Saturday Night Live promised changes for the 2005–06 season, one of which was broadcasting in high-definition. Lorne Michaels added four new featured players: Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig (partway through the season), and Jason Sudeikis, who was added for the last three episodes of the previous season. Hader quickly became popular for his impersonations, such as of Vincent Price and Al Pacino, and characters such as New York City correspondent Stefon. Wiig, who first appeared when Jason Lee hosted, gained popularity with impersonations of Drew Barrymore, Felicity Huffman and Megan Mullally, also creating memorable characters such as the Two A-Holes (with Sudeikis) and Target Lady.

Leaving after this season were Rachel Dratch and Tina Fey, who had committed to working on Fey's new sitcom 30 Rock, as well as Horatio Sanz, Finesse Mitchell, and Chris Parnell, who were let go due to budget cuts. Fey had missed several episodes early in the season while on maternity leave, as had Maya Rudolph. Horatio Sanz took Fey's place on Weekend Update while she was away.

The Lonely Island
Andy Samberg was hired alongside his longtime friends and collaborators Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer; the trio were in the comedy troupe The Lonely Island. Taccone and Shaffer joined the writing staff. The three would create a new SNL mainstay feature in the SNL Digital Shorts, the most popular being "Lazy Sunday".

Cast
Repertory players
 * Fred Armisen
 * Rachel Dratch
 * Tina Fey
 * Will Forte
 * Darrell Hammond
 * Seth Meyers
 * Finesse Mitchell
 * Chris Parnell
 * Amy Poehler
 * Maya Rudolph
 * Horatio Sanz
 * Kenan Thompson

Featured players
 * Bill Hader
 * Andy Samberg
 * Jason Sudeikis
 * Kristen Wiig (first episode: November 12, 2005)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

2006–2007 season
SNL had a smaller cast in the 2006–2007 season due to "massive budget cuts" at NBC. Lorne Michaels said that cutting staff was chosen over reducing from 20 the number of original episodes produced. A separate announcement confirmed the departure of Tina Fey, who left to focus on her new show 30 Rock. Rachel Dratch, one of the stars in the 30 Rock pilot (though subsequently replaced by Jane Krakowski), also did not return.

In September 2006, it was announced that Seth Meyers would replace Tina Fey as co-anchor on Weekend Update.

Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, and Jason Sudeikis were all promoted to repertory players at the beginning of their second season (the third for Sudeikis including his role as a featured player).

The final cast list included just 11 members, the lowest number since the 1997–1998 season, and the first time since the 1997–98 season that no featured players were hired.

Cast
Repertory players


 * Fred Armisen
 * Will Forte
 * Bill Hader
 * Darrell Hammond
 * Seth Meyers
 * Amy Poehler


 * Maya Rudolph
 * Andy Samberg
 * Jason Sudeikis
 * Kenan Thompson
 * Kristen Wiig

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers' strike (2007–2008)
The 2007–2008 season of Saturday Night Live began on September 29, 2007 with LeBron James hosting the episode and musical guest Kanye West. Production was suspended due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, after which only four episodes were produced. The last episode before the hiatus was Maya Rudolph's final as a cast member.

The show's first episode after the writers' strike was aired on February 23, 2008, with former head writer and cast member Tina Fey as host. Casey Wilson debuted as a featured player in the episode. During the show's hiatus, Lorne Michaels held auditions for someone to play Barack Obama in political sketches for the upcoming 2008 election. Jordan Peele and Donald Glover were among those who auditioned for the role. Ultimately, cast member Fred Armisen was given the part, and he debuted as Obama in the first post-strike episode. Armisen's portrayal attracted some criticism as the comic is not himself black, but of Asian and Latino descent.

Cast
Repertory players
 * Fred Armisen
 * Will Forte
 * Bill Hader
 * Darrell Hammond
 * Seth Meyers
 * Amy Poehler
 * Maya Rudolph (final episode: November 3, 2007)
 * Andy Samberg
 * Jason Sudeikis
 * Kenan Thompson
 * Kristen Wiig

Featured players
 * Casey Wilson (first episode: February 23, 2008)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Election coverage (2008–2009)
The 2008–2009 season of Saturday Night Live began September 13, 2008 with host Michael Phelps and musical guest Lil' Wayne. New cast members included Abby Elliott, Michaela Watkins, and Bobby Moynihan. SNL saw some of its highest ratings during its coverage of the 2008 presidential election. In the season premiere, Tina Fey appeared as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler appeared as Hillary Clinton in A Nonpartisan Message from Governor Sarah Palin & Senator Hillary Clinton in the cold open. Fey would portray Palin five more times during the season, with the real Palin making an appearance on the fifth episode. The quote "I can see Russia from my house!", which was said during a sketch, is commonly misattributed to the real Palin. Fey won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal.

Amy Poehler, who had been away from the Weekend Update desk because of maternity leave, returned to Update in December 2008 for her farewell episode.

Cast
Repertory players
 * Fred Armisen
 * Will Forte
 * Bill Hader
 * Darrell Hammond
 * Seth Meyers
 * Amy Poehler (final episode: December 13, 2008)
 * Andy Samberg
 * Jason Sudeikis
 * Kenan Thompson
 * Kristen Wiig

Featured players
 * Abby Elliott (first episode: November 15, 2008)
 * Bobby Moynihan
 * Michaela Watkins (first episode: November 15, 2008)
 * Casey Wilson

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

2009–2010 season
The 2009–2010 season of Saturday Night Live began September 26, 2009 with host Megan Fox and musical guest U2. New cast members included Nasim Pedrad and Jenny Slate. In early 2010, an online campaign was created on Facebook to get actress Betty White to host an episode of SNL. In March 2010, White confirmed that she would be hosting the May 8 episode. White's episode garnered around 12 million viewers, the highest since the 2008 election.

This would be the final season for Will Forte, who had been on the show for eight seasons. Jenny Slate's contract was not renewed for the following season.

Cast
Repertory players
 * Fred Armisen
 * Will Forte
 * Bill Hader
 * Seth Meyers
 * Andy Samberg
 * Jason Sudeikis
 * Kenan Thompson
 * Kristen Wiig

Featured players
 * Abby Elliott
 * Bobby Moynihan
 * Nasim Pedrad
 * Jenny Slate

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor