| Season Number: | 39 |
| Bgcolour: |
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| Image Alt: | The title card for the thirty-ninth season of Saturday Night Live. |
| Num Episodes: | 21 |
| Network: | NBC |
| Prev Season: | season 38 |
| Next Season: | season 40 |
| Episode List: | List of Saturday Night Live episodes |
The thirty-ninth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC from September 28, 2013, with host Tina Fey and musical guest Arcade Fire and concluded on May 17, 2014, with host Andy Samberg and musical guest St. Vincent with 21 episodes.
At the end of the previous season, longtime cast members Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Jason Sudeikis all left the show after eleven, eight, and nine seasons, respectively. Soon after their departures, featured player Tim Robinson, who had been a cast member the previous season, decided to instead join the show's writing staff before this season began. Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, and Cecily Strong were all promoted to repertory status.
Following Armisen, Sudeikis, Hader, and Robinson's departures from the cast, the show hired six new featured players, including SNL staff writer Mike O'Brien, who was promoted into the cast while also continuing as a writer. Besides O'Brien, the other new hires at the start of the season were Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney of the sketch comedy group Good Neighbor, John Milhiser of the sketch group Serious Lunch, comedian and impressionist Noël Wells (known for her viral videos and impressions featured on sites such as Cracked.com), and stand-up comedian Brooks Wheelan. Midway through the season, the show also added a seventh featured player: Upright Citizens Brigade performer Sasheer Zamata. Zamata became the first black female cast member on the show since biracial Maya Rudolph's departure from the show in 2007. She made her first appearance on January 18, 2014 with host and musical guest Drake.
On May 12, 2013, NBC announced that Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers would be the new host of Late Night in 2014, succeeding SNL alum Jimmy Fallon, as Fallon was taking over as the new host of The Tonight Show. Meyers remained Weekend Update anchor up until his departure from the show on February 1, 2014.[1] Cecily Strong was brought up to co-anchor with Meyers, who had been on the show for thirteen seasons since 2001 (first doing sketches, then being head writer and "Weekend Update" anchor since 2006). After Meyers' departure, Colin Jost, a staff writer for the show since 2005 (and head writer for seasons 38 and 39), joined the cast on March 1, 2014, as the eighth featured player that season, and as Meyers' successor on Weekend Update, co-anchoring with Strong.[2]
The addition of eight new cast members is the greatest since the 1995–96 season, during which nine cast members were added, making it the largest cast overhaul in eighteen years. The total of 17 cast members was an SNL record at the time, and some critics argued that the large cast contributed to how uneven the season was overall.[3]
This would be the final season for longtime cast member Nasim Pedrad, who had been on the show for five seasons since 2009. Pedrad announced her departure from the show in June 2014 in order to work on the Lorne Michaels-produced sitcom Mulaney.[4] Additionally, featured players Milhiser, Wells, and Wheelan were all let go after one season, and O'Brien returned to the writers' room for the next season, which would be his last overall after spending six seasons on the show since 2009.[5] [6]
This would also be the final season for longtime announcer Don Pardo, who died on August 18, 2014, at the age of 96.[7] He had been the announcer for the show since its inception in 1975, missing only the 1981-82 season.
Repertory players
Featured players
bold denotes Weekend Update anchors
During the season, the show came under criticism from critics (as well as African-American cast members Kenan Thompson and Jay Pharoah) for not including at least one black female cast member, a topic that was addressed on the November 2, 2013, show hosted by Kerry Washington.[8] As a result, Lorne Michaels announced that the show would be holding auditions for a black female cast member, expected to join the show in January as a new featured player.[9] On January 6, 2014, it was announced that UCB-NY performer Sasheer Zamata would be joining the cast as a featured player. She made her first appearance on January 18, 2014.[10]
For the first half of the season, Seth Meyers, Colin Jost and Rob Klein were co-head writers. After Meyers' departure, Bryan Tucker replaced him as a co-head writer.
Prior to the start of the season, three new writers were hired: Claire Mulaney, younger sister of former writer John Mulaney;[11] Mikey Day, a member of The Groundlings and cast member on MTV's Wild 'N Out;[12] and Michael Che, a stand-up comic who had guest written for five episodes in season 38, was hired as a full-time writer.[13] Additionally, Tim Robinson was moved to the writing staff after one year as a featured player on the show. In December, Chicago Second City alum Katie Rich joined the writing staff.[14] In January, comedians LaKendra Tookes and Leslie Jones were added to the writing staff.[15] Both were part of the December casting call for a black female cast member.
This was Seth Meyers' final season as writer. Michael Che initially departed following this season to join The Daily Show as a correspondent,[16] [17] but returned for the start of the next season to co-anchor Weekend Update alongside Jost.[18]
This was also the final season for longtime writers Alex Baze (Weekend Update writer since 2004, and head of the segment since 2011), Marika Sawyer and John Solomon (both of whom had been with the show since 2006), as well as the only season for LaKendra Tookes.
See main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes.