| Season Number: | 26 |
| Bgcolour: |
|
| Image Alt: | The title card for the twenty-sixth season of Saturday Night Live. |
| Num Episodes: | 20 |
| Network: | NBC |
| Prev Season: | season 25 |
| Next Season: | season 27 |
| Episode List: | List of Saturday Night Live episodes |
The twenty-sixth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 7, 2000, and May 19, 2001.
The 2000–01 season was also noted for its well-received spoofing of that year's presidential campaign between Al Gore and George W. Bush. The two candidates even appeared (separately) on a special with the cast in fall 2000.[1] Will Ferrell's Bush impression coined the term "strategery" in a sketch mocking Bush's propensity for mispronunciations, while Darrell Hammond's Gore was characterized by his slow, deliberate drawl and use of the term "lockbox" during the show's debate sketches.[2]
In April 2015, Ferrell stated that he thought his impression "humanized" Bush to the country and may have won him the election, and that Hammond's "rigid, robotic-like" take on Gore may have influenced the result also.[3]
Before the start of the season, longtime cast members Tim Meadows,[4] Cheri Oteri,[5] and Colin Quinn[6] all left the show. Meadows had been on the show for 10 seasons since 1990, while Oteri and Quinn had both been on for five seasons since 1995. The show added two new featured players: SNL head writer Tina Fey and Second City comedian Jerry Minor.[7] Fey had been a writer on the show since 1997 and began as the show's head writer in 1999. Rachel Dratch and Maya Rudolph remained featured players. Minor was let go following this season.
This would be Molly Shannon's final season on the show.[8] Leaving midseason, she surpassed Victoria Jackson as the show's longest-serving female cast member (Amy Poehler would surpass Shannon's record seven years later).
Chris Parnell was fired at the end of this season, but then rehired midway through the next season. Executive producer Lorne Michaels would later admit he made a mistake in firing Parnell.[9]
In 1999, Tina Fey became the show's first female head writer.[10] With Colin Quinn's Weekend Update tenure over, Lorne Michaels teamed Fey with Jimmy Fallon this season, the first duo to anchor the segment since Christine Ebersole and Brian Doyle-Murray in the early 1980s. This pairing was well received by critics. Fey appeared occasionally as an extra before being hired as a cast member.[11] Fey was a featured player during her first season and was then promoted to contract player, while still maintaining her position as head writer.
This season also marked the first time since Season 14 that John Goodman didn't host at all. He had previously hosted at least one episode per season for a ten-year stretch.
Repertory players
Featured players
bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor
Jim Downey rejoins the writing staff this season.[12] James Anderson, who went on to write on SNL for decades, joins the writing staff as a new writer.[13]
Starting with the Charlie Sheen-hosted episode, Tina Fey's is officially credited as head writer (as opposed to writing supervisor like the previous season, in which she was in the same role, just under a different name).
Additionally, starting with that episode, longtime writer Dennis McNicholas (who had been a writer since 1995) is named as Fey's co-head writer; meanwhile, fellow veteran writers Paula Pell and Harper Steele (who had also been writers since 1995) are named as the new writing supervisors, different roles than those previously held by Fey.[14]
Erik Kenward (a current producer for the show)[15] joins the writing staff with the Katie Holmes-hosted episode.[16]
This was also the final season for longtime writers Adam McKay (a writer since 1995)[17] and Robert Carlock (a writer since 1996).[18] McKay left after six years, while Carlock left after five.
See main article: List of Saturday Night Live episodes.
See main article: The Ladies Man (2000 film). Based on Leon Phelps' popular sketches, The Ladies Man film was released on October 13, 2000. The film's star Tim Meadows left Saturday Night Live at the end of the previous season but returned to promote the film in the first episode of this season. Cast members Will Ferrell and Chris Parnell and former SNL cast member Mark McKinney co-starred in this film. The movie was panned by critics and flopped at the box office.