The thirty-second season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 30, 2006, and May 19, 2007.
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.[3] These resulted in longtime cast members Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz, who had both been on the show for eight seasons since 1998, being fired from the show, along with Finesse Mitchell, who had been a cast member for three seasons since 2003.[4] This was the second time Parnell had been fired from the show due to budget cuts, the first being after the 2000–01 season ended. In addition, longtime cast members Rachel Dratch (who had been on the show for seven seasons since 1999) and Tina Fey (who had been a staff writer since 1997, and a cast member for six seasons since 2000) left the show on their own terms, as both were to begin work on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. Dratch would end up being replaced on 30 Rock by Jane Krakowski.[5]
Jimmy Fallon appears in The Barry Gibb Talk Show sketch and introduces Timberlake's second performance.
Cameron Diaz, Timberlake's then-girlfriend, introduces his first performance.
After the episode, NBC put an uncensored version of the Digital Short "Dick in a Box" on its website and YouTube. It quickly became an Internet phenomenon, much like "Lazy Sunday" did a year earlier, and won an Emmy in 2007.
Archie Manning, Eli Manning, and Olivia Manning, Manning's father, brother, and mother, respectively, appear in the opening monologue. Additionally, Eli and Cooper Manning, Manning's other brother, appear during the goodnights, wheeling out a cake to celebrate the fact that Peyton Manning was hosting the show on his thirty-first birthday.
This is the first (and only) time a "Best Of" special was made while the cast member in question was still in the cast at the time.
Sketches include "Hardball," "Celebrity Jeopardy," "Meet The Press," "First Presidential Debate," "CBS Evening Anthrax Update," "Californians for Schwarzenegger," "Jesse Jackson," "Bill Kurtis Looping Session," "The O'Reilly Factor," "NBC Special Report," "Geraldo," "Guiliani's Press Conference," "Jimmy Carter in Cuba," "Ashcroft's Press Conference," "Celebration of Women Week," and "White House Friends".
This special aired as a compilation of some of the season's most memorable sketches. Because it aired before the season ended, no sketches from subsequent episodes hosted by Zach Braff and Molly Shannon were included in the special.
