Saturday Night Live (season 33)
| The title card for the thirty-third season of Saturday Night Live. | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 29, 2007 – May 17, 2008 |
The thirty-third season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 29, 2007, and May 17, 2008.
Contents
History
This season also saw the death of the show's first host, comedian/actor George Carlin. A scheduled rerun of the episode hosted by Elliot Page[lower-alpha 1] was replaced with a rerun of the show's first episode, which had Carlin as host and Janis Ian and Billy Preston as musical guests.
Strike
Because of the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, there were only 12 episodes produced in this season instead of the usual 20 (with 4 consecutive episodes made between February 23 and March 15), making this the shortest season in the series run and beating out both the sixth (1980–1981) season and the thirteenth (1987–1988) season, which had thirteen episodes and were also cut short due to WGA strikes (the only difference being that the hiatus in season 33 didn't abruptly end the season like it had with seasons 6 and 13. In addition, season six was also cut short due to NBC executives putting Saturday Night Live on hiatus for retooling following Jean Doumanian's termination and the hiring of Dick Ebersol to salvage the show). This is also the only season in SNL history not to have a new Christmas episode, since the WGA strike spanned from November 2007 to February 2008.
On November 5, 2007, after the episode hosted by Brian Williams, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. It was announced that SNL would air its next episode on November 10, 2007 (with host Dwayne Johnson and musical guest Amy Winehouse), live on air, with a future episode to follow, featuring Jonah Hill and musical guest Kid Rock. However, on November 7, 2007, the show's official website confirmed that those episodes were canceled and reruns would be seen beginning November 10, and would continue for the duration of the strike. Hill eventually hosted the March 15 episode, with musical guest Mariah Carey (filling in for a flu-stricken Janet Jackson) and Johnson would host next season, with musical guest Ray LaMontagne. Amy Winehouse would never get the chance to be a musical guest, host, or even cameo due to her death in 2011.
During the strike on November 17, 2007, the cast of the show, along with host Michael Cera and musical guest Yo La Tengo performed an "episode" of the show entitled Saturday Night Live - On Strike! at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (co-founded by cast member Amy Poehler) in New York City. Every cast member except for Maya Rudolph appeared, with former cast members Horatio Sanz and Rachel Dratch and musician Norah Jones making cameo appearances.[2]
On February 12, 2008, the strike was announced to be officially over with a 92.5% vote. Production continued on February 18, 2008 for the February 23, 2008 episode, hosted by former SNL cast member Tina Fey with musical guest Carrie Underwood.
Cast
No changes to the cast happened over the summer and everyone from last season returned. During the strike, longtime cast member Maya Rudolph (who had been on the show since 2000) left the show, as she had no contract with SNL that year. Casey Wilson, an actress who frequently performs at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, was hired in January 2008 to fill the void, but due to the strike, did not appear on the show until they returned on February 23, 2008.
Cast roster
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Repertory players
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Featured players
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bold denotes Weekend Update anchor
Writers
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Episodes
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| No. overall |
No. in season |
Host | Musical guest | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 625 | 1 | LeBron James | Kanye West | September 29, 2007 |
| 626 | 2 | Seth Rogen | Spoon | October 6, 2007 |
| 627 | 3 | Jon Bon Jovi | Foo Fighters | October 13, 2007 |
| 628 | 4 | Brian Williams | Feist | November 3, 2007 |
| 629 | 5 | Tina Fey | Carrie Underwood | February 23, 2008 |
| 630 | 6 | Elliot Page (credited as Ellen Page)[lower-alpha 1] | Wilco | March 1, 2008 |
| 631 | 7 | Amy Adams | Vampire Weekend | March 8, 2008 |
| 632 | 8 | Jonah Hill | Mariah Carey | March 15, 2008 |
| 633 | 9 | Christopher Walken | Panic! at the Disco | April 5, 2008 |
| 634 | 10 | Ashton Kutcher | Gnarls Barkley | April 12, 2008 |
| 635 | 11 | Shia LaBeouf | My Morning Jacket | May 10, 2008 |
| 636 | 12 | Steve Carell | Usher | May 17, 2008 |
Canceled episodes with booked guests
| Airdate | Host | Musical Guest | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 10, 2007 | Dwayne Johnson | Amy Winehouse | Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson hosted a season 34 episode in March 2009, with musical guest Ray LaMontagne. Winehouse, who died in 2011, never appeared as a musical guest. |
| November 17, 2007 | Jonah Hill | Kid Rock | Jonah Hill ended up hosting in March 2008, with musical guest Mariah Carey (originally, it was Janet Jackson, but she cancelled due to the flu). Kid Rock has yet to return to the show as musical guest (the last time he appeared was on the season 25 finale hosted by Jackie Chan). |
Specials
| Title | Original air date |
|---|---|
| "SNL Family Thanksgiving Leftovers" | November 24, 2007 |
| "The Best of Mike Myers" | June 15, 2008 |
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Credited as Ellen Page; The episode aired before Page came out as transgender.[1]
