Saturday Night Live (season 30)

Saturday Night Live (season 30)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	20
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	October 2, 2004 – May 21, 2005

The thirtieth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 2, 2004, and May 21, 2005.

History

This season was notable for Ashlee Simpson's infamous lip-syncing gaffe during her second performance (on the episode hosted by Jude Law). This season was also home to many sketches focused on the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, but, unlike the 2000 election (and later, the 2008 election), there was little to no media coverage about the sketches.

Cast

Changes and notes

Before the start of this season, Jimmy Fallon left the show.^[1] In the wake of his departure, Fred Armisen was promoted to repertory status, while Finesse Mitchell and Kenan Thompson remained feature players.

New cast members this season include Rob Riggle, an improv comedian (at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater) and U.S. Marine. This would be Riggle's only season on the show. In addition, SNL writer Jason Sudeikis (who appeared in many bit roles before joining the cast) joined the cast as a featured player for the last three episodes of the season.

With Fallon gone, Amy Poehler became Tina Fey's co-anchor on Weekend Update, making Fey and Poehler the first (and, so far, only) two-woman anchor team.

Cast roster

Repertory players Fred Armisen Rachel Dratch Tina Fey Will Forte Darrell Hammond Seth Meyers Chris Parnell Amy Poehler Maya Rudolph Horatio Sanz

Featured players Finesse Mitchell Rob Riggle Jason Sudeikis (first episode: May 7, 2005) Kenan Thompson

bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor

Writers

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Host	Musical guest(s)	Original air date
566	1	Ben Affleck	Nelly	October 2, 2004
Ben Affleck's third time as host Nelly performs "My Place and "Na-NaNa-Na," with Jaheim performing on the former track Alec Baldwin in a cameo during the monologue Rob Riggle's first episode as a cast member Amy Poehler co-anchors Weekend Update for the first time James Gandolfini appears in "Weekend Update" as Tony Soprano
567	2	Queen Latifah	Queen Latifah	October 9, 2004
Queen Latifah's second time as host Episode features a Rodney Dangerfield tribute sketch (he had died on October 5) Latifah performs covers of "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" and "Hard Times" Former cast member Chris Kattan introduces Queen Latifah's second performance
568	3	Jude Law	Ashlee Simpson	October 23, 2004
Ashlee Simpson performs her hit single "Pieces of Me" without incident. When she comes back a second time, her band starts to play, and the first lines of her singing "Pieces of Me" can be heard again. She holds the microphone at her waist at the time. Simpson looks momentarily confused as the band plows ahead with the song and the vocal is quickly silenced. A flustered Simpson makes some exaggerated hopping dance moves before walking off the stage in embarrassment. After a few moments showing the band playing without their singer, the director cuts to a commercial. Following her performance and negative publicity, Simpson claimed it was simply a back-up track due to an attack of her acid reflux. The Donnas were scheduled to be the musical guest, but had to cancel.
569	4	Kate Winslet	Eminem	October 30, 2004
Johnny Damon made a cameo on Weekend Update. Eminem performs "Mosh" and "Just Lose It".
570	5	Liam Neeson	Modest Mouse	November 13, 2004
Modest Mouse performs "Float On" and "Ocean Breathes Salty".
571	6	Luke Wilson	U2	November 20, 2004
U2 performs "Vertigo" and "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own". The band also performs "I Will Follow" over the closing credits, as well as "All Because of You" for the audience as the show ends. Bono began their first song by speaking into his microphone "Live mic, live mic" in reference to the Ashlee Simpson lip-synching controversy a few episodes earlier.
572	7	Colin Farrell	Scissor Sisters	December 11, 2004
Lindsay Lohan appears in the monologue and on Weekend Update. Brett Hull also appears on Weekend Update. Scissor Sisters perform "Take Your Mama" and "Comfortably Numb".
573	8	Robert De Niro	Destiny's Child	December 18, 2004
Robert De Niro's second time as host The Muppets make two appearances Destiny's Child performs "Soldier" and "Cater 2 U" TV Funhouse's "Blue Christmas", with Santa skipping the states that re-elected George W. Bush and hangs out with liberal celebrities like Margaret Cho, Al Franken, and Moby
574	9	Topher Grace	The Killers	January 15, 2005
Jennifer Garner was originally selected to host the show but had to drop out due to back injury from filming Elektra.[2] The Killers perform "Somebody Told Me" and "Mr. Brightside".
575	10	Paul Giamatti	Ludacris featuring Sum 41	January 22, 2005
Ludacris performs "Number One Spot" and "Get Back" with Sum 41 accompanying him on the latter song.
576	11	Paris Hilton	Keane	February 5, 2005
Keane performs "Somewhere Only We Know" and "Everybody's Changing".
577	12	Jason Bateman	Kelly Clarkson	February 12, 2005
Kelly Clarkson participated in two sketches (The Bad Subway Performers sketch and Rap Night with Chubb Hotty). Clarkson performs "Since U Been Gone" and "Breakaway".
578	13	Hilary Swank	50 Cent	February 19, 2005
50 Cent performs "Disco Inferno" and "Candy Shop", with Olivia performing with him on the latter track.
579	14	David Spade	Jack Johnson	March 12, 2005
Jack Johnson performs "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" and "Mudfootball" featuring G. Love
580	15	Ashton Kutcher	Gwen Stefani	March 19, 2005
Ashton Kutcher's second time as host Cameo by Kutcher's then-fiancée, Demi Moore in the monologue, dressed as an old woman Gwen Stefani performs "Rich Girl" and "Hollaback Girl," with Eve accompanying her on the former
581	16	Cameron Diaz	Green Day	April 9, 2005
Cameron Diaz's third time as host Guest appearances by Jimmy Fallon, Drew Barrymore, and Justin Timberlake in "The Barry Gibb Talk Show" sketch (at the time of this episode, Timberlake was dating Diaz, and Fallon and Barrymore were promoting the film Fever Pitch) Green Day performs "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Holiday"
582	17	Tom Brady	Beck	April 16, 2005
Cameo appearance by Martin Short in "Weekend Update" as Jiminy Glick Beck performs "E-Pro" and "Girl"
583	18	Johnny Knoxville	System of a Down	May 7, 2005
Paula Abdul appears in the cold opening sketch and introduces System of a Down's second performance. This is Jason Sudeikis' first episode as a cast member. Prior to this episode, Sudeikis was a writer for SNL who had bit roles in some sketches. System of a Down performs "B.Y.O.B. and "Aerials".
584	19	Will Ferrell	Queens of the Stone Age	May 14, 2005
Will Ferrell performs with Queens of the Stone Age during "Little Sister" as his "More Cowbell" character, Gene Frenkle, performing the song's jam block part on a cowbell. Queens of the Stone Age also performs "In My Head."
585	20	Lindsay Lohan	Coldplay	May 21, 2005
Lindsay Lohan's second time as host Rob Riggle's final episode as a cast member Coldplay performs "Speed of Sound" and "Fix You"

Specials

Title	Original air date
"The Best of Cheri Oteri"	September 4, 2004
Sketches include: "Spartan Cheerleaders," "Nadeen at the Burger Castle," "The Zimmermans," "20/20," "The View", "Monica's Interviewers," "Collete at the Pharmacy", "Morning Latte", "Judge Judy", "Rita Snowed In", "The Office Flirt", "Halloween in New Hampshire," "Rita on Halloween," "Old French Whore!," "Puff & Jennifer in Therapy," "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," "Always & Forever," "Athena in the Cockpit," "Leg Up," and some Weekend Update clips.
"The Best of Jon Lovitz"	September 25, 2004
Sketches include: "Tommy Flanagan," "The Peoples' Court," "Portrait of the Artist," "The Night Hanukkah Harry Saved Christmas," "Dunkin' Donuts Commercial," "Plug Away," "Johnny's Finished," "Girl Watchers on 49th Street," "ABC Campaign '88," "The Five Beatles," "Wimbledon Loss," "A Betty Ford Straight Arrow Christmas," "The Tonight Show," "Tales of Ribaldry," "Chick Hazzard, Private Investigator," and some Weekend Update clips.
"The Best of Jimmy Fallon"	October 16, 2004
Sketches include: "Mick & Mick," "Celebrity Jeopardy," "Jarret's Room", "The Barry Gibb Show," "Donnie's Party," "Cork Soakers," "2001 Season's Greetings From SNL," "Summer Nights," clips of Fallon's most memorable celebrity impersonations and Weekend Update moments.
"Presidential Bash 2004: The Great Debates"	November 1, 2004
This special featured highlights from some of SNL's greatest mock presidential debates. Darrell Hammond hosted the special while impersonating Bill Clinton. Sketches include: "Debate '76," "Presidential Debate '88," "The First Presidential Debate," "The Second Presidential Debate," "Debate '92," "Perot and Stockdale Car Trip," "The Presidential Odd Couple," "First Presidential Debate 2004," and "Second Presidential Debate."
"The Best of Tom Hanks"	November 6, 2004
Sketches include: "Steve's Fantasy," "The Stand-Ups," "Girl Watchers on 49th Street," "Calgary 1988," "Mr. Short-Term Memory," "Jew, Not a Jew," "Wayne's World Meets Aerosmith," "Tales of Ribaldry," "Sabra Price Is Right" and "Wilson the Volleyball with Tom Hanks."
"Live from New York: The First 5 Years of Saturday Night Live"	February 20, 2005
Topics discussed include the creation of the show, the cast coming together, NBC fighting with Lorne over the show's creation, the first few episodes, the show's rise to popularity, Chevy Chase leaving the show, the disastrous Mardi Gras special, Bill Murray joining the show, several backstage fights and feuds, the creation of Weekend Update, the first crop of recurring sketches and characters, the hosts who appeared on the show, how the show struggled in its fifth season with the departure of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, and the end of the "Not Ready for Primetime" era after the last episode of season five. Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Tom Davis, James Downey, Al Franken, Elliott Gould, Buck Henry, Eric Idle, Penny Marshall, Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Don Pardo, Tom Schiller, Rosie Shuster, Paul Shaffer, Lily Tomlin and Alan Zweibel gave insight in the special.
"The Best Of Alec Baldwin"	May 28, 2005
Sketches include: "Greenhilly," "French Class," "Soap Opera Digest," the infamous "Canteen Boy Goes Camping," "Buckwell's Follies," "Delicious Dish," "Brasky's Buddies at the Bar," "Inside the Actors Studio," "Gay Voicemail," "The Tony Bennett Show," "Zinger vs. Burns," and "Prince Charles' Secretary.

References

1. "Jimmy Fallon signs off from ‘Saturday Night Live’". Today (NBC News). May 18, 2004. Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
2. "Grace Replaces Garner On Snl". Contactmusic.com Ltd. 12 January 2005.