Saturday Night Live (season 36)

Season of television series

Saturday Night Live

Season 36
Country of origin| United States
No. of episodes| 22
Release
Original network| NBC
Original release| September 25, 2010 (2010-09-25) –
May 21, 2011 (2011-05-21)
Season chronology

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season 35

Next →
season 37

List of episodes

The thirty-sixth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 25, 2010, and May 21, 2011.

This season also debuted a new animated feature voiced by former SNL cast members, called "Greetings from American America", created by former SNL head writer Fred Wolf.

Long-time announcer Don Pardo announced that he would pre-record his parts from his home in Arizona rather than perform live in New York City.[1]

## Cast[edit]

The show hired four new cast members: ImprovOlympic alumni Vanessa Bayer and Paul Brittain, stand-up comic and impressionist Jay Pharoah, and comedic actor Taran Killam of the Groundlings. Jenny Slate was dropped after one season.[2]

### Cast roster[edit]

Repertory players

* Fred Armisen
* Abby Elliott
* Bill Hader
* Seth Meyers
* Bobby Moynihan
* Andy Samberg
* Jason Sudeikis
* Kenan Thompson
* Kristen Wiig

Featured players

* Vanessa Bayer
* Paul Brittain
* Taran Killam
* Nasim Pedrad
* Jay Pharoah

|

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

## Writers[edit]

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live writers § season 36

In August 2010, Michaels hired Second City Theater writers Tom Flanigan and Shelly Gossman.[3] Portlandia co-creator Jonathan Krisel joined the staff as a writer, producer, and creative collaborator on several Digital Shorts. Heather Anne Campbell, a performer from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles, was also added to the writing staff.[4] Sarah Schneider, a regular writer and performer for CollegeHumor, was a guest writer for the last five episodes of the season before joining full-time for season 37.[5]

## Episodes[edit]

Main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes

No.
overall| No. in
season| Host| Musical guest(s)| Original air date| Ratings/
Share

|
|
|
|
|

681| 1| Amy Poehler| Katy Perry| September 25, 2010| 5.3/13

* Katy Perry performs "California Gurls" and "Teenage Dream", and appears in Bronx Beat and the SNL Digital Short. Back-up dancer Kherington Payne appears in both of Perry's performances.
* Rachel Dratch, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, and Justin Timberlake appear in the opening monologue. Timberlake also appears in the "Actor II Actor" sketch.
* Maya Rudolph appears in the Bronx Beat sketch, reprising her role as Jodi Deitz.
* New York Governor David Paterson appears on Weekend Update, alongside Fred Armisen's portrayal of Paterson.
* Peter Sarsgaard appears in the SNL Digital Short.
* Amy Poehler reprises her roles as Betty Caruso and Amber.
* Vanessa Bayer, Paul Brittain, Taran Killam, and Jay Pharoah's first episode as cast members.

682| 2| Bryan Cranston| Kanye West| October 2, 2010| 4.8/12

* Kanye West performs "Power" and "Runaway". Pusha T performs with him on the second song.
* Ernest Borgnine and Morgan Freeman appear in the "What Up with That?" sketch; this would be the last live-action television appearance for Borgnine before his death in 2012.
* Helen Mirren appears in the SNL Digital Short.

683| 3| Jane Lynch| Bruno Mars| October 9, 2010| 4.8/12

* Bruno Mars performs "Just the Way You Are" and a medley of the songs "Nothin' on You" and "Grenade".
* Kristen Wiig received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for this episode.

684| 4| Emma Stone| Kings of Leon| October 23, 2010| 4.5/11

* Kings of Leon performs "Radioactive" and "Pyro".
* SNL writer John Mulaney appears on a Weekend Update segment called "I Love It".
* The song Ta Douleur by Camille is played during the Les jeunes de Paris sketch.

685| 5| Jon Hamm| Rihanna| October 30, 2010| 4.6/11

* Rihanna performs "What's My Name?" and "Only Girl (In the World)" and appears in the SNL Digital Short.
* The episode's final segment features David Spade as the voice of a chihuahua in an animated short by former SNL writer Fred Wolf.
* Writer and future cast member Colin Jost appears in the "Back to the Future" sketch as the scene marker.

686| 6| Scarlett Johansson| Arcade Fire| November 13, 2010| 4.7/12

* Arcade Fire performs "We Used to Wait" and "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" and appears in the SNL Digital Short. Owen Pallett plays violin during both of Arcade Fire's performances.[6]
* Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner plays the synthesizer during Arcade Fire's second performance.[7]

687| 7| Anne Hathaway| Florence + the Machine| November 20, 2010| 4.7/12

* Florence + the Machine performs "Dog Days Are Over" and "You Got the Love".

688| 8| Robert De Niro| Diddy-Dirty Money| December 4, 2010| 5.0/12

* Diddy-Dirty Money performs "Coming Home" and "Ass on the Floor". Additionally, Sean "Diddy" Combs appears in the "Blizzard Man" sketch.
* Swizz Beatz performs with Diddy-Dirty Money for their second song
* Robin Williams appears in the "What Up with That?" sketch.
* Ben Stiller appears in the "Movie Fan" and "It's a Living" sketches.
* The episode's final segment features Dana Carvey as the voice of a hippie in an animated short by former SNL writer Fred Wolf.

689| 9| Paul Rudd| Paul McCartney| December 11, 2010| 5.3/13

* Paul McCartney performs "Jet", "Band on the Run", a medley of "A Day in the Life" and "Give Peace a Chance", and as an encore, "Get Back", replacing the extended good-byes. Additionally, McCartney appears in the opening monologue, the SNL Digital Short, and Weekend Update.
* Chef Mario Batali appears in the Digital Short.

690| 10| Jeff Bridges| Eminem & Lil Wayne| December 18, 2010| 4.9/12

* For the first set, Eminem and Lil Wayne perform "No Love". For the second set, Eminem performs "Won't Back Down" and Lil Wayne performs "6 Foot 7 Foot".
* David Rudman plays Cookie Monster in the opening monologue. Cookie Monster started his own campaign on Facebook, similar to that of Betty White, to audition for SNL the month before, though he did not get the part.
* Akon, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, John McEnroe, Blake Lively, and Jessica Alba appear in the SNL Digital Short.
* At the end of the episode, Bridges exclaimed "Rest in peace, Captain Beefheart!"; Beefheart, who had performed on SNL in 1980, died the day before the episode aired.
* Bill Hader suffered a panic attack while impersonating Julian Assange. Hader has opened up about the experience in the years since the incident. Lorne Michaels calmed him down backstage after the sketch telling Hader, “you can work here as long as you want”.

691| 11| Jim Carrey| The Black Keys| January 8, 2011| 7.8/18

* The Black Keys perform "Howlin' for You" and "Tighten Up".
* Jim Carrey reprises his Charles Bronson impression from In Living Color.
* The start of this broadcast was delayed 20 minutes due to the Colts-Jets AFC wild card game's running long.

692| 12| Gwyneth Paltrow| Cee Lo Green| January 15, 2011| 5.1/12

* Cee Lo Green performs "Forget You" and "Bright Lights Bigger City", appears in the opening monologue, the "Bar Mitzvah" sketch and the "Forget You" sketch.
* Pee-wee Herman and Anderson Cooper appear in the SNL Digital Short.

693| 13| Jesse Eisenberg| Nicki Minaj| January 29, 2011| 5.1/12

* Nicki Minaj performs "Right Thru Me" and "Moment 4 Life" and appears in the SNL Digital Short and the "Bride of Blackenstein" sketch.
* Mark Zuckerberg appears in the opening monologue, alongside Andy Samberg's portrayal of Zuckerberg.
* Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, and John Waters appear in the SNL Digital Short.

694| 14| Dana Carvey| Linkin Park| February 5, 2011| 5.6/13

* Linkin Park performs "Waiting for the End" and "When They Come for Me".
* Mike Myers appears in the cold open to reprise his role as the title character in a Wayne's World sketch and introduces Linkin Park's second performance.
* Jon Lovitz appears in the opening monologue and introduces Linkin Park's second performance.
* Justin Bieber appears in Church Chat and a pre-taped parody of The Roommate.
* Jesse Eisenberg appears in the pre-recorded "Deidra Wurtz: Downsizing Expert" sketch commercial.
* Carvey's sons Dex and Tom appear in the goodnights.
* Carvey reprises his characters of Garth Algar and The Church Lady, as well as his impressions of Mickey Rooney and Regis Philbin.

695| 15| Russell Brand| Chris Brown| February 12, 2011| 5.0/12

* Chris Brown performs "Yeah 3x" and "No BS".[8]

696| 16| Miley Cyrus| The Strokes| March 5, 2011| 5.4/13

* The Strokes perform "Under Cover of Darkness" and "Life is Simple in the Moonlight".

697| 17| Zach Galifianakis| Jessie J| March 12, 2011| 4.8/12

* Jessie J performs "Price Tag" with B.o.B and "Mamma Knows Best".
* Seth Meyers ends Weekend Update by encouraging viewers to donate to Red Cross relief for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[9]
* Seth Meyers made an appearance in "The Original Kings of Catchphrase Comedy Tour" sketch as comedian Boston Powers. According to Meyers, it was his first appearance in a sketch in two years.[10]

698| 18| Elton John| Elton John| April 2, 2011| 5.0/12

* Elton John and Leon Russell perform "Hey Ahab" and "Monkey Suit", as well as a post-show encore performance of "The Bitch Is Back",[11] though only John is credited as the official musical guest.
* Will Forte appears in the "ESPN Classic" sketch, reprising his role as Greg Stink.
* Tom Hanks appears in the "ESPN Classic" sketch, as Michael Caine in the "Knights of the Realm" sketch, and in the SNL Digital Short. Hanks also introduces John and Russell's first performance.
* Carmelo Anthony appears in the "ESPN Classic" sketch, the SNL Digital Short and introduces John and Russell's second performance.
* Jake Gyllenhaal appears on Weekend Update.

699| 19| Helen Mirren| Foo Fighters| April 9, 2011| 4.7/12

* Foo Fighters performs "Rope" and "Walk". Additionally, Dave Grohl appears in the SNL Digital Short and the "Bongo's Clown Room" sketch.

700| 20| Tina Fey| Ellie Goulding| May 7, 2011| 5.3/15

* Ellie Goulding performs "Lights" and "Your Song".
* Maya Rudolph appears in the opening monologue, the "Birthing Seminar" sketch, and the "Googie Rene's Slightly Damaged Prom Wear Barn" sketch.
* Darrell Hammond appears as Donald Trump in the "GOP 2012 Undeclared Candidates Debate" sketch.
* Michael Bolton, Robin Wright, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer appear in the SNL Digital Short.
* Tina Fey reprises her impersonation of Sarah Palin in the "GOP 2012 Undeclared Candidates Debate" sketch.
* Tina Fey received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for this episode.[12]

701| 21| Ed Helms| Paul Simon| May 14, 2011| 4.9/12

* Paul Simon performs "Rewrite" and "So Beautiful or So What" and appears in the "What Up with That?" sketch.
* Chris Colfer and Lindsey Buckingham also appear in "What Up with That?".
* Jon Hamm, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell appear in the pre-filmed live-action segment of The Ambiguously Gay Duo cartoon "The Dark, Clenched Hole Of Evil".

702| 22| Justin Timberlake| Lady Gaga| May 21, 2011| 7.0/17

* Lady Gaga performs a medley of "The Edge of Glory" and "Judas" and "Born This Way" and appears in the "Liquorville" sketch, the SNL Digital Short "3-Way (The Golden Rule)", and the "What's That Name?" sketch.
* Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson appear in the SNL Digital Short "3-Way (The Golden Rule)", reprising their roles from the "Motherlover" Digital Short.
* Bradley Cooper appears on Weekend Update.
* Jimmy Fallon appears as Barry Gibb in The Barry Gibb Talk Show sketch.

## Specials[edit]

Title| Original air date

|

"The Women of SNL"| November 1, 2010

A collection of past and present sketches highlighting SNL's female cast members, shown as a parody of The Real Housewives reality series.

Rachel Dratch, Nora Dunn, Tina Fey, Ana Gasteyer, Jan Hooks, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Laraine Newman, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Molly Shannon and Kristen Wiig appeared in new material made exclusively for the special.[13]

Andy Cohen made a cameo during the special.

Originally this special was supposed to air in the previous season but was scrapped and replaced with a special about the history of Saturday Night Live in the 2000s. NBC re-aired the special on May 18, 2014.
"Saturday Night Live Backstage"| February 20, 2011[16]

A documentary showing the creation of a typical Saturday Night Live episode.

Originally a special celebrating the 35th anniversary of the show was planned but was scrapped and replaced with this special instead.[14][15]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Ward, Coley (September 9, 2010). "Pardo to voice 'SNL' from Tucson". The Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. Archived from the original on September 28, 2010.
2. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (September 7, 2010). "Four New Cast Members". The New York Times. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
3. ^ "Second City's Tom Flanigan Hired By 'Saturday Night Live'". HuffPost. August 25, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
4. ^ "Meet two more new writers for SNL's 36th season: Heather Anne Campbell and Tom Flanigan". The Comic's Comic. August 29, 2010. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
5. ^ Frucci, Adam (August 10, 2011). "CollegeHumor's Sarah Schneider Hired as a Writer at SNL". SplitSider. Archived from the original on May 14, 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
6. ^ "Watch: Arcade Fire on "Saturday Night Live"". Pitchfork. November 14, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
7. ^ "Watch: Arcade Fire return to SNL, bring friends « Consequence of Sound". Consequence.net. November 14, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
8. ^ "Host Russell Brand and Musical Guest Chris Brown Make SNL Debuts on February 12". NBC. February 1, 2011. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012.
9. ^ ""SNL" Roars Into March With Host Miley Cyrus and Musical Guest The Strokes on March 5". Thefutoncritic.com. February 28, 2011. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
10. ^ Seth Meyers [@sethmeyers] (March 13, 2011). "Many thanks to Bobby Moynihan and Christine Nangle for writing me into my first sketch in 2 years" (Tweet). Retrieved January 10, 2022 - via Twitter.
11. ^ "Elton John: The Bitch Is Back". Saturday Night Live. NBC.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
12. ^ "Primetime Emmy Award Database". Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
13. ^ "The Women of SNL". Tvsquad.com. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
14. ^ Gorman, Bill (May 16, 2010). "NBC Unveils 2010–11 Primetime Schedule". Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
15. ^ "Toonces Is Back: OnStar Texting Cat Is The New Driving Cat". Jalopnik.com. September 15, 2010. Archived from the original on September 16, 2010. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
16. ^ "Saturday Night Live Backstage". Thefutoncritic.com. Retrieved March 27, 2011.

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Saturday Night Live

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Characters
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| Introduced
in season|

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|

Characters
and sketches|

* The Barry Gibb Talk Show
* Bill Brasky
* Bill Swerski's Superfans
* Blizzard Man
* The Blues Brothers
* The Boston Teens
* Canteen Boy
* Celebrity Jeopardy!
* Chad
* Chippendales Audition
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* The Folksmen
* Gerald "T-Bones" Tibbons
* Hanukkah Harry
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* TV Funhouse
* The Ambiguously Gay Duo
* The X-Presidents
* Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
* Wayne's World
* Weekend Update
* What Up with That?

| Impersonations|

* Joe Biden
* George H. W. Bush
* Bill Clinton
* Hillary Clinton
* Sarah Palin
* Donald Trump

|

Digital Shorts|

* 3-Way (The Golden Rule)
* Boombox
* The Creep
* Dick in a Box
* Hugs
* I Just Had Sex
* I'm on a Boat
* Jack Sparrow
* Jizz in My Pants
* Lazy Sunday
* Like a Boss
* Motherlover
* YOLO

Films based
on sketches|

* Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1979)
* The Blues Brothers (1980)
* Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures (1986)
* Bob Roberts (1992)
* Wayne's World (1992)
* Wayne's World 2 (1993)
* Coneheads (1993)
* It's Pat (1994)
* Stuart Saves His Family (1995)
* A Night at the Roxbury (1998)
* Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
* The Waterboy (1998)
* Superstar (1999)
* The Ladies Man (2000)
* A Mighty Wind (2003)
* Harold (2008)
* MacGruber (2010)

Specials|

* 15th Anniversary (1989)
* 25th Anniversary (1999)
* 40th Anniversary (2015)

Related|

* Broadway Video
* "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead"
* "A Limo for a Lame-O"
* "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
* The Lonely Island discography
* Saturday Night (2010 film)
* Saturday Night Live Band
* Saturday Night Live in the 2000s
* Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday
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versions|

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* episodes
* Saturday Night Live (Spain)
* Saturday Live (United Kingdom)
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