Saturday Night Live season 23 explained

Season Number:	23
Bgcolour:	53c3f5
Image Alt:	The title card for the twenty-third season of Saturday Night Live.
Num Episodes:	20
Network:	NBC
Prev Season:	season 22
Next Season:	season 24
Episode List:	List of Saturday Night Live episodes

The twenty-third season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 27, 1997, and May9, 1998.

This season saw the deaths of two former cast members. Six weeks after he came back to host, Chris Farley became the fifth SNL cast member to die. Influenced by his idol, John Belushi, Farley died of a speedball overdose at the age of 33. Two weeks after the season finale, long-time performer Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife who then committed suicide. Following their deaths, NBC aired two SNL specials as tributes to Farley and Hartman in dedication to their legacies during this season.^[1] ^[2]

Cast

Before the season, Mark McKinney left the show after three seasons.^[3] Colin Quinn was promoted to repertory status. This season is the first season to not include any featured players or new cast members.

During the season, a controversy arose in which Weekend Update anchor Norm Macdonald was removed from the Update segment. Macdonald's final episode as Update anchor was on December 13, 1997.^[4] ^[5] Quinn was then promoted to the job and anchored the segment in the next live episode, which aired January 10, 1998. Even though Macdonald still performed in sketches, he was not happy and eventually quit the show; his final appearance was on March 14, 1998.

This was also the final season for Jim Breuer as he left the show at season's end to move on to other acting opportunities.^[6]

It was also the only season to have an opening sequence that did not show any shots of New York City, instead featuring a 1950s-inspired design.^[7]

Cast roster

Repertory players

Jim Breuer
Will Ferrell
Ana Gasteyer
Darrell Hammond
Chris Kattan
Norm Macdonald (final episode: March 14, 1998)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

Writers

Tina Fey joins the writing staff in this season. Longtime writer Jim Downey is fired coinciding with Norm Macdonald being taken off of Weekend Update.^[8] ^[9]

Episodes

See main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes.

Specials

	Special	Original airdate

Notes and References

Web site: 1998-05-11 . NBC to Air Chris Farley Tribute . 2024-05-27 . . en-US.
Web site: 1998-06-16 . 'SNL' Salute to Hartman Pure Genius . 2024-05-27 . . en-US.
Web site: Wright . Megh . 2012-06-06 . Saturday Night’s Children: Mark McKinney (1995-1997) . 2024-04-20 . Vulture . en.
Web site: Hugar . John . 2015-02-13 . The Bizarre Circumstances And Shaky Aftermath Of Norm Macdonald’s Dismissal From Weekend Update . 2024-04-19 . UPROXX . en-US.
Web site: Garrity . Katie . 2021-09-16 . Norm Macdonald Was Fired From ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 1998, but Why Exactly? . 2024-04-19 . Distractify . en-US.
Web site: Evans . Bradford . 2013-11-22 . Adam McKay Responds to Jim Breuer Saying He Got Him Fired from 'SNL' . 2024-04-20 . Vulture . en.
Web site: 2020-03-31 . Season 23: Opening Montage Variants (The WORST Ever!) . 2024-04-20 . r/LiveFromNewYork.
News: Itzkoff . Dave . 2008-03-03 . ‘SNL’ Writer Narrows the Gap Between Politics and Farce . 2024-05-27 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
Web site: Sacks . Mike . 2014-06-24 . ’SNL’s James Downey on Working with Norm Macdonald and Getting Fired for Making Fun of OJ Simpson . 2024-05-27 . Vulture . en.