This season is notable for the people who hosted the show. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, an SNLcast member from 1982 to 1985 under Dick Ebersol, became the first former female cast member to come back and host the show. Gilda Radner was originally supposed to host in 1988, but could not due to the Writer's Guild of America Strike and then Radner's death the following year. This season is also known for the return of such frequent hosts as Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, and Steve Martin. This season saw the seventh death of a former cast member when Charles Rocket committed suicide in 2005. Rocket's suicide is the first death of an SNL cast member who never worked under Lorne Michaels and is the first death of a Weekend Update anchor. This season was the first to broadcast in high-definition, after 30 years of broadcasting in standard definition. A 30th anniversary special for the show was planned, but scrapped due to budget cuts.
Cast
Before the start of the season, featured player Rob Riggle was let go from the show. Finesse Mitchell and Kenan Thompson were both promoted to repertory status, while Jason Sudeikis stayed a featured player. The show added three new cast members: Los Angeles-based sketch comedianBill Hader, Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig of The Groundlings. Wiig debuted on the show in November, in the episode hosted by Jason Lee. Samberg, Schaffer and Taccone would be a notable force for creating SNL Digital Shorts. One such short was "Lazy Sunday". Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph missed episodes due to maternity leave. Fey's place on Weekend Update was briefly taken over by Horatio Sanz until her return in the episode hosted by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Fey returned to the show before her maternity leave time was up. Rudolph, however, appeared on the first episode of the new season, and then went on maternity leave and returned in February, in the episode hosted by Steve Martin. This would also be the final season for cast members Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Finesse Mitchell, Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz, as well as the last season for longtime director Beth McCarthy-Miller. Dratch and Fey both left the show to focus on 30 Rock and McCarthy-Miller left the show on her own terms. Parnell, Mitchell, and Sanz were let go due to NBC
Cast roster
Repertory players
Fred Armisen
Rachel Dratch
Tina Fey
Will Forte
Darrell Hammond
Seth Meyers
Finesse Mitchell
Chris Parnell
Amy Poehler
Maya Rudolph
Horatio Sanz
Kenan Thompson
Featured players
Bill Hader
Andy Samberg
Jason Sudeikis
Kristen Wiig
bold denotes Weekend Update anchor
Writers
There were three head writers for the 31st season: Andrew Steel, Tina Fey, and Seth Meyers. Future cast member Colin Jost joined the writing staff this season.
