Season 31
Season 31 of the series was aired on 1st October 2005. There were a total of 19 episodes. Small changes were introduced which resulted in major benefits for the show. New feature players, Billy Hader and Andy Samberg were hired. Harder became well known for his art of imitating celebrities while Andy was famous for the pretaped sketches like Lazy Sunday. A new cast member, Kristen Wiig, became a hot favorite with the audience because of the crazy characters she played as well as her ability to imitate celebrities. The season also saw Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as the only female ex cast member who came back to host the show. Female cast members, Maya Rudolph and Tina fey did not appear in this season as they were both on maternity leave. The season also saw the return of frequent hosts Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks and Steve Martin. Tragedy struck as Charles Rocket, a cast member who had appeared in the sixth season of the series, was found dead with a slashed throat near his house in Connecticut, in October. At 56, he became the oldest member to die from the cast of Saturday Night Live.
According to police, his death was a case suicide. The show was broadcast in high definition for the fist time after 30 years of its premiere. At the end of the season, cast members Tina Fray, Rachel Dratch, Chris Pamell, Horatio Sanz and Finesse Mitchell bid farewell to the show. It was also the last season for director Beth McCarthy-Miller, who had been associated with the show for a long time. One episode of the season was cut short due to the Winter Olympic Games of 2006. The final episode of the season was telecast on 20th May 2006.
Seasons Top Ranked Episode - Natalie Portman/Fall Out Boy
This was the season’s 13th episode and was aired on 4th March 2006. The episode was hosted by Darrell Hammond. The sketches included “Bush Responds To Criticism”, “Nelson’s Baby Toupees”, “Jamba Juice”, and “Larry King Live” etc. There was a live action cameo by Dennis Haysbert during TV Funhouse. Also there was a performance by Fall Out Boy on “Dance Dance” and “Sugar, We’re Going Down”.
