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Saturday Night Live Season 39
Season 39
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 28, 2013 – present
Season chronology
← Previous 38 Next → Season 40
List of episodes

Saturday Night Live premiered its thirty-ninth season during the 2013–14 television season on NBC. The season officially began on September 28, 2013, with host Tina Fey and musical guest Arcade Fire.

Cast

Prior to the start of the season, a large number of cast changes occurred. Long-time veteran cast members Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis all left the show. In addition, first-year featured player Tim Robinson left the cast to focus on his new duties on the show's writing staff, becoming the first performer to join the writing staff after being a cast member without initially being hired as a writer.

On May 13, 2013, NBC announced that Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers will be the new host of Late Night in 2014 succeeding Jimmy Fallon as Fallon will take over as the new host of The Tonight Show. Sources say that Meyers will stay on as a cast member for the first half of season 39, then leave in 2014 to prepare for Late Night, Meyers has stated that he will remain Weekend Update anchor up until his departure, although Lorne Michaels has stated his desire for Meyers to remain Weekend Update anchor until the end of the season.

In their places were six new featured players including SNL writer Mike O'Brien who was upgraded into the cast, as well as new hires Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney of the sketch comedy group Good Neighbor, John Milhiser of the sketch group Serious Lunch, comedienne Noël Wells (known for her viral videos and impressions featured on sites such as Cracked.com), and stand-up comedian Brooks Wheelan.

O'Brien has written for the show since the 2009–2010 season and is the first writer to be upgraded into the cast since Jason Sudeikis in 2005. Mooney and Bennett's fellow Good Neighbor troupe member Dave McCary was also hired to direct Bennett and Mooney's digital shorts. This season marks the largest hiring of cast members since 1995, when the show hired eight cast members as a result of the massive cast overhaul following season 20.

Prior to the start of the season, the show came under criticism from critics (as well as cast members Kenan Thompson and Jay Pharoah) for not including at least one black female cast member, a topic which was addressed on the November 2, 2013 show hosted by Kerry Washington. 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. UCB-NY performer Sasheer Zamata was announced as a new featured player on January 6, 2014. She will make her first appearance on January 18, 2014.

Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong were all promoted to repertory status. Also starting with this season, Strong will co-anchor Weekend Update with Seth Meyers up until his departure.

Note: bold denotes Weekend Update anchor(s)

Writers

This season's head writers will be Seth Meyers, Colin Jost and Rob Klein.

Prior to the start of the season, three new writers were hired:

• Claire Mulaney, younger sister of former writer John Mulaney,
• Mikey Day, a member of The Groundlings and cast member on MTV's Wild 'N Out.
• Michael Che, a standup comic who had guest written for five episodes in season 38, was hired as a full-time writer.

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.

In January, comedians LaKendra Tookes and Leslie Jones were added to the writing staff. Both had auditioned in December to join the cast.

This will be Seth Meyers' final season as writer.

Episodes

Specials

References

1. "Seth Meyers Named Host Of NBC's 'Late Night', Lorne Michaels To Executive Produce". usatoday.com. May 12, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
2. Busis, Hillary (May 16, 2013). "Seth Meyers will return to 'SNL' this fall, leave for 'Late Night' in 2014". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
3. ^ Carter, Bill (September 15, 2013). "New Course for 'Update,' and All of 'SNL'". The New York Times. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
4. Evans, Bradford (October 2, 2013). "Jay Pharoah on 'SNL's Diversity Issue: "They Need to Pay Attention"". SplitSider. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
5. Evans, Bradford (December 12, 2013). "'SNL' Held an Audition of Exclusively Black Female Performers Last Week". SplitSider. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
6. http://tvline.com/2014/01/06/saturday-night-live-cast-adds-sasheer-zamata-season-39/
7. "Chicago comic Claire Mulaney picked for 'Saturday Night Live'". July 17, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
8. "'Wild N Out's Mikey Day Hired to Write for 'SNL'". Splitsider. 23 August 2013.
9. Evans, Bradford (2013-09-03). "Michael Che Is Writing for 'SNL' Full-Time This Season". Splitsider.
10. "Katie Rich headed to 'SNL'". Chicago Tribune. 26 November 2013.
11. Goldberg, Lesley (January 8, 2014). "'Saturday Night Live' Adds Two African-American Female Writers". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
12. Kondolojy, Amanda (September 29, 2013). "'Saturday Night Live' Premiere With Tina Fey & Musical Guest Arcade Fire Equals Finale Rating". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
13. Bibel, Sara (October 6, 2013). "'Saturday Night Live' With Miley Cyrus Matches Its Highest Local People Meter Result Since April 27". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
14. Kondolojy, Amanda (October 13, 2013). "'Saturday Night Live' With Host Bruce Willis and Musical Guest Katy Perry Falls From Last Week". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
15. Bibel, Sara (October 28, 2013). "'Saturday Night Live' With Host Edward Norton and Musical Guest Janelle Monae Delivers Average Ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
16. Bibel, Sara (November 3, 2013). "'Saturday Night Live' With Host Kerry Washington and Musical Guest Eminem Delivers Its Highest Rating Since October 5". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
17. "Lady Gaga-Hosted SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE on Par with Miley Cyrus Episode in Adults 18-49". BroadwayWorld. November 17, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
18. Bibel, Sara (November 25, 2013). "'Saturday Night Live' With Host Josh Hutcherson and Musical Guest Haim Delivers Season Low Ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
19. "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE with Paul Rudd Matches March High in Metered-Market Households". BroadwayWorld. December 8, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
20. Bibel, Sara (December 15, 2013). "'Saturday Night Live' With Host John Goodman and Musical Guest Kings of Leon Delivers Below Average Ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
21. Kondolojy, Amanda (December 22, 2013). "'Saturday Night Live' With Host Jimmy Fallon and Musical Guest Justin Timberlake Delivers Highest Overnight Ratings in Two Years". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
22. Bibel, Sara (November 1, 2013). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'The Vampire Diaries', 'The Millers' & 'Elementary' Adjusted Up; 'Sean Saves the World' & 'Parenthood' Adjusted Down". Zap2it. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
23. Bibel, Sara (November 28, 2013). "TV Ratings Wednesday: 'Criminal Minds', 'Survivor', 'The X Factor' & 'CSI' Down on Soft Thanksgiving Eve". Zap2it. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
24. Kondolojy, Amanda (December 5, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'Arrow' & 'Modern Family' Adjusted Up; 'The Tomorrow People' & 'Super Fun Night' Adjusted Down". Zap2it. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
25. "Saturday Night Live – Listings". The Futon Critic. Retrieved January 1, 2014.

• Saturday Night Live seasons
• 2013 television seasons
• 2014 television seasons