Saturday Night Live/Season Thirty

Season Thirty
Saturday Night Live
Season Premiere	October 2, 2004
Season Finale	May 21, 2005
Episode Count	20 + 7
Notable Episodes	Jude Law/Ashlee Simpson
Previous Season Twenty-Nine	Next Season Thirty-One

Season Thirty of Saturday Night Live premiered on October 2, 2004. The only new cast member to join at the beginning of the season was Rob Riggle, a former marine and occasional Upright Citizens Brigade member who replaced Jeff Richards as a featured player. Riggle was largely resigned to typical featured player bit parts and left at the end of the season. Jason Sudeikis, a writer hired in the previous season, was also added to the cast towards the end of the season.

What the season is remembered for, however, is the scandal that took place during the third episode of the season. During the second performance of the evening, Ashlee Simpson intended to sing "Autobiography," but because of technical malfunction the backing track for her first song began playing and she was exposed as having lip-synced the earlier song. In the following days, Simpson's father and manager explained that her voice was weak that night from acid reflux disease and the ailment necessitated prerecorded vocals. All the while, 60 Minutes was filming backstage for a segment on the comedy show and caught the immediate fallout for its episode.

Also considered notorious in this season was the ill-fated Paris Hilton episode. The writers booked Hilton in hopes that she would have a sense of humor about herself and be willing to cooperate with sketches. The complete opposite turned out to be true and many, including Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, consider her to be one of the most difficult hosts to work with because of her penchant for locking herself in her dressing room whenever things weren't going her way.

Despite these rough patches, the season also saw the creation of Bear City, a series of popular short films which paved the way for SNL Digital Shorts in the future. Other recurring sketches which debuted this season include The Art Dealers, Gays in Space and The Needlers. Also notable was the return of the Muppets who, before their cameo appearance, hadn't appeared on the show since the first season.

Cast

Main Cast:

• Fred Armisen
• Rachel Dratch
• Tina Fey (Weekend Update anchor)
• Will Forte
• Darrell Hammond
• Seth Meyers
• Chris Parnell
• Amy Poehler (Weekend Update anchor)
• Maya Rudolph
• Horatio Sanz

Featuring:

• Finesse Mitchell
• Rob Riggle
• Jason Sudeikis (First Show: 5/7/05)
• Kenan Thompson

Episodes

#	#	Title			Airdate
SP13	—	The Best of Cheri Oteri			September 4, 2004
SP14	—	The Best of Jon Lovitz			September 4, 2004
567	1	Ben Affleck/Nelly			October 2, 2004
568	2	Queen Latifah			October 9, 2004
SP15	—	The Best of Jimmy Fallon			October 16, 2004
569	3	Jude Law/Ashlee Simpson			October 23, 2004
570	4	Kate Winslet/Eminem			October 30, 2004
SP16	—	Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash 2004			November 1, 2004
SP17	—	The Best of Tom Hanks			November 6, 2004
571	5	Liam Neeson/Modest Mouse			November 13, 2004
572	6	Luke Wilson/U2			November 20, 2004
573	7	Colin Farrell/Scissor Sisters			December 11, 2004
574	8	Robert DeNiro/Destiny's Child			December 18, 2004
575	9	Topher Grace/The Killers			January 15, 2005
576	10	Paul Giamatti/Ludacris f/ Sum 41			January 22, 2005
577	11	Paris Hilton/Keane			February 5, 2005
578	12	Jason Bateman/Kelly Clarkson			February 12, 2005
579	13	Hilary Swank/50 Cent			February 19, 2005
SP18	—	Live from New York: The First 5 Years of Saturday Night Live			February 20, 2005
580	14	David Spade/Jack Johnson			March 12, 2005
581	15	Ashton Kutcher/Gwen Stefani			March 19, 2005
582	16	Cameron Diaz/Green Day			April 9, 2005
583	17	Tom Brady/Beck			April 16, 2005
584	18	Johnny Knoxville/System of a Down			May 7, 2005
585	19	Will Ferrell/Queens of the Stone Age			May 14, 2005
586	20	Lindsay Lohan/Coldplay			May 21, 2005
SP19	—	The Best of Alec Baldwin			May 28, 2005