Saturday Night Live season 19

Saturday Night Live
Season 19
The title card for the nineteenth season of Saturday Night Live.
No. of episodes20
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 25, 1993 (1993-09-25) –
May 14, 1994 (1994-05-14)
Season chronology
← Previous
season 18
Next →
season 20
List of episodes

The nineteenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 25, 1993, and May 14, 1994.

Cast

Many changes happened before the start of the season.

Dana Carvey had left the show in the middle of the previous season. Chris Rock[1] and Robert Smigel[2] also left the show at the end of the previous season. Ellen Cleghorne, Melanie Hutsell, Tim Meadows, Adam Sandler, and David Spade were all promoted to repertory status.[3] Stand-up comics Norm Macdonald,[4] Jay Mohr[5] and Sarah Silverman[6] were hired as writers and would debut as featured players, a few episodes into the season. Veteran comic actor Michael McKean joined the show midseason as a repertory cast member.[7] At age 46, McKean was the oldest person to join the cast of the show, a distinction he held until Leslie Jones became a cast member (at age 47) in 2014.

This would be the final season for longtime cast members Phil Hartman,[8][9] Rob Schneider, Julia Sweeney[10] and Melanie Hutsell.[2] This was also the only season for Sarah Silverman.[6]

A major blow for the show was the departure of Hartman. Before his final show the entire cast and crew presented him with a bronzed stick of glue, symbolizing how he had become "The Glue" of the show, a term coined by Adam Sandler.[11][12]

This was the final season to show StereoSurround captioning during the opening montage.[13]

This is also the first season to feature the show returning to the original "repertory" and "featured" cast lists since season 15.[14]

Cast roster

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § season 19

Several veteran writers, among them Robert Smigel,[15] Jack Handey, and Bonnie and Terry Turner, left the staff prior to the season.[16] Head writer Jim Downey later attributed part of the season's drop in quality and the negative reception of season 20 to the turnovers among the writing staff and cast.[3]

Fred Wolf joins the writing staff with the John Malkovich hosted episode.[17]

Tim Herlihy (a secruity lawyer, and friend of Adam Sandler) was added to the writing staff, with the Nancy Kerrigan-hosted episode.[18]

This was also the final season for longtime/original writer Tom Davis (who initially wrote for the show from 1975 to 1980; and had been back writing for the show since 1985), as he left the show after 14 accumulative years.[19]

Episodes

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		Host(s)Musical guestOriginal air date
3471Charles BarkleyNirvanaSeptember 25, 1993 (1993-09-25)

  • Nirvana performs "Heart-Shaped Box" and "Rape Me".[20]
  • Muggsy Bogues appears during the "Daily Affirmation" sketch and the "Charles Barkley's Big, Tall & Black Men's Stores" sketch.
  • Skid Row appears in a pre-recorded segment of the "Gap" sketch.
  • RuPaul appears during the "What's That?" sketch.
  • Contains an "Office Space" cartoon by Mike Judge
3482Shannen DohertyCypress HillOctober 2, 1993 (1993-10-02)

3493Jeff GoldblumAerosmithOctober 9, 1993 (1993-10-09)

3504John MalkovichBilly JoelOctober 23, 1993 (1993-10-23)

3515Christian SlaterThe Smashing PumpkinsOctober 30, 1993 (1993-10-30)

3526Rosie O'DonnellJames TaylorNovember 13, 1993 (1993-11-13)

  • James Taylor performs "Memphis" & "Slap Leather" and "Secret O' Life".[20] Both performances feature musician Don Grolnick. James Taylor also appears during the "Duets" sketch.
  • Casey Kasem appears during the "Duets" sketch.
  • Sarah Silverman's first episode as a cast member.
3537Nicole KidmanStone Temple PilotsNovember 20, 1993 (1993-11-20)

3548Charlton HestonPaul WesterbergDecember 4, 1993 (1993-12-04)

  • Paul Westerberg performs "Knockin' On Mine" and "Can't Hardly Wait".[20]
  • The opening montage has the cast members made over to look like apes to coincide with a running gag from the cold opening parodying Planet of the Apes.
3559Sally FieldTony! Toni! Toné!December 11, 1993 (1993-12-11)

35610Jason PatricBlind MelonJanuary 8, 1994 (1994-01-08)

  • Blind Melon performs "No Rain" and "Paper Scratcher".[20] The band also appears during the monologue.
  • Richard Simmons appears during the "Coffee Talk" sketch.
35711Sara GilbertCounting CrowsJanuary 15, 1994 (1994-01-15)

35812Patrick StewartSalt-N-PepaFebruary 5, 1994 (1994-02-05)

35913Alec Baldwin and Kim BasingerUB40February 12, 1994 (1994-02-12)

  • UB40 performs "C'est La Vie" and "Can't Help Falling in Love".[20]
  • Baldwin's brothers Stephen and Billy appear during the "Family Feud" sketch.
  • This episode features the infamous sketch where Adam Sandler's Canteen Boy is molested by his scoutmaster (played by Alec Baldwin).
36014Martin LawrenceCrash Test DummiesFebruary 19, 1994 (1994-02-19)

  • Crash Test Dummies perform "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" and "Afternoons & Coffeespoons".[20]
  • Lawrence's opening monologue included explicit material on "feminine hygiene" and has been partially censored in all reruns (including the Netflix collection of SNL episodes from the 1990s) with an explanatory voice-over, stating that Lawrence's views and opinions are not shared by anyone at NBC, the monologue nearly got everyone on the show fired for not stopping it, and that Martin Lawrence has been banned from ever appearing, or even being mentioned, on the show again. NBC received 627 complaints about the monologue, while only three calls were in support of Lawrence.[21]
  • Benoit Benjamin appears in the "13th Player" sketch.
36115Nancy KerriganAretha FranklinMarch 12, 1994 (1994-03-12)

36216Helen HuntSnoop Doggy DoggMarch 19, 1994 (1994-03-19)

36317Kelsey GrammerDwight YoakamApril 9, 1994 (1994-04-09)

36418Emilio EstevezPearl JamApril 16, 1994 (1994-04-16)

36519John GoodmanThe PretendersMay 7, 1994 (1994-05-07)

  • The Pretenders perform "Night in My Veins" and "I'll Stand By You".[20]
  • Jan Hooks appears as Hillary Clinton in the "Cops" sketch.
  • Manute Bol appears in the pre-recorded "Majestic Caribbean Cruise Line" sketch.
  • When this episode was announced during the April 16, 1994 episode, Heather Locklear was booked as the original host.
36620Heather LocklearJanet JacksonMay 14, 1994 (1994-05-14)

Specials

# Special Original airdate
1"The President's Favorite Moments"May 17, 1994 (1994-05-17)
A clip show featuring material from previous shows.[22][23]

Wayne's World 2 film

Wayne's World 2, the sequel to the 1992 hit Wayne's World, was released on December 10, 1993. Based on the popular "Wayne's World" sketches, the film stars cast members Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Mike Myers and Harry Shearer. SNL writers Bob Odenkirk and Robert Smigel have brief cameos as concert nerds. The film did not do as well at the box office as its predecessor, grossing less than half of what the original did. It received generally positive reviews from critics, with Roger Ebert calling the characters of Wayne and Garth "impossible to dislike".[24]

It's Pat film

It's Pat, a film based on the popular Pat sketches, was released on August 26, 1994. Cast members Tim Meadows, Charles Rocket and Julia Sweeney appear in the film. The film was a box office bomb, barely making $50,000. The film was also panned by critics and has a rare 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 11 reviews.[25]

References

  1. ^ Roberts, Andrew (November 1, 2014). "The Story Behind Chris Rock's Firing From 'Saturday Night Live'". UPROXX. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Gay, Verne (September 23, 1994). "'Saturday Night Live' hoping changes will give show new life". Newsday. p. D6. Retrieved April 23, 2024 – via The Daily Gazette.
  3. ^ a b Mink, Eric (September 25, 1993). "Talent turmoil at 'Saturday Night Live'". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 24, 2024 – via Record-Journal.
  4. ^ Arnold, Tom [@TomArnold] (September 14, 2021). "One of the easiest things I've ever done was hire my bud #NormMacdonald to write the Roseanne show in 1992. Harder was letting him out of his contract in 1993 so he could take his dream job on SNL.Norm was fearless in comedy & life & his unique voice is missed by all of us today" (Tweet). Retrieved May 24, 2024 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ Mohr, Jay (2004). Gasping For Airtime: Two Years In the Trenches of Saturday Night Live. Hyperion. pp. 38–41. ISBN 978-1401300067.
  6. ^ a b Wright, Megh (January 3, 2012). "Saturday Night's Children: Sarah Silverman (1993-1994)". Vulture. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  7. ^ "SNL cast the next gig for Michael McKean". Ocala Star-Banner. March 11, 1994. p. 2A. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  8. ^ Bark, Ed (September 21, 1993). "Phil Hartman prepares for days after 'Saturday Night'". Dallas Morning News. p. D-7. Retrieved April 21, 2024 – via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  9. ^ Cagle, Jess (March 11, 1994). "Merry Hartman, Merry Hartman". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  10. ^ Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 409–410.
  11. ^ a b "Saturday Night Live > Season 19 > Episode 20: Heather Locklear/Janet Jackson". TV.com. May 14, 1994. Archived from the original on September 17, 2012.
  12. ^ Curtis, Bryan (August 27, 2014). "The Glue". Grantland. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  13. ^ "Season 19: Opening Montage Variants". r/LiveFromNewYork. March 23, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  14. ^ Shales & Miller 2002, p. 570.
  15. ^ Shales & Miller 2002, p. 395.
  16. ^ Hill, Doug (October 2, 1994). "TELEVISION; Can 'Saturday Night' Regain Its Bite?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  17. ^ "John Malkovich/Billy Joel". Saturday Night Live. Season 19. Episode 4. October 23, 1993. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.
  18. ^ "Nancy Kerrigan/Aretha Franklin". Saturday Night Live. Season 19. Episode 15. March 12, 1994. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.
  19. ^ "Steve Martin/Eric Clapton". Saturday Night Live. Season 20. Episode 1. September 24, 1994. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 124–127. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
  21. ^ Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1994. pp. 264. ISBN 0-395-70895-8.
  22. ^ Saturday Night Live Presents President Bill Clinton's All-Time Favorites (1994). NBC. May 17, 1994.
  23. ^ Saturday Night Live "Clinton's Favorite Moments" Primetime Commercial (May, 1994). May 22, 2021. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ Ebert, Roger (December 10, 1993). "Wayne's World 2". Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  25. ^ It's Pat at Rotten Tomatoes Edit this at Wikidata

Works cited

  • Shales, Tom; Miller, James Andrew (2002). Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0316781466.