The thirty-seventh season of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'', an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

between September 24, 2011, and May 19, 2012.

Cast

The season began with minimal changes to the cast, as everyone from the prior year returned. The only major change was

Nasim Pedrad Nassim ( ar, نسیم) also transliterated as Nacim, Naseem, Nasseem, Nasim, Nesim or Nessim, is a unisex Arabic name. It is mostly used in Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures and language groups. It may refer to: Company *Nasim Sdn Bhd, a m ...

being upgraded to repertory status. Featured player

Paul Brittain Paul Brittain (born February 16, 1977) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2010 to 2012. Early life and education Brittain was born and raised in Naperville, Illinois.Moynihan, Rob. "''SNLs Fab ...

exited abruptly halfway through the season, making his final appearance on January 14, 2012.

Kate McKinnon Kate McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), of which she was a cas ...

, previously a cast member on ''

The Big Gay Sketch Show ''The Big Gay Sketch Show'' is an LGBT-themed sketch comedy program that debuted on Logo on April 24, 2007. The series is produced by Rosie O'Donnell and directed by Amanda Bearse. The program was originally titled ''The Big Gay Show'' but was ...

'', joined the cast mid-season, as a featured player for the last five episodes of the season, making her debut on April 7, 2012, following a March 28, 2012, report of her being hired. McKinnon is ''SNL'''s first openly gay cast member hired since

Terry Sweeney Terry Sweeney is an American artist, actor, and writer. He was a writer and cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1980s, co-wrote the 1989 film '' Shag'', and has written for the television ''series MADtv'', '' Hype'', and ''Tripping the ...

in 1985, and the show's first openly gay female cast member ( Denny Dillon from the 1980–81 season was SNL's first lesbian cast member but Dillon's sexuality was not public knowledge until much later). This was the final season for

Kristen Wiig Kristen Carroll Wiig (; born August 22, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Canandaigua, New York, she was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Rochester, New York. She moved to Los Angeles, where she jo ...

and

Andy Samberg Andy Samberg (born David A. J. Samberg; August 18, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer and screenwriter. He is a member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island and was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2005 ...

, both cast members since 2005, as well as for

Abby Elliott Abby Elliott is an American actress and comedian who was a cast member on '' Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 to 2012 and has since starred on the Bravo comedy ''Odd Mom Out'' and the NBC sitcom ''Indebted''. She is the daughter of actor/comedia ...

, who had been a cast member since 2008.

Cast roster

Repertory players *

Fred Armisen Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, Armisen was the co-creator and co-star of the IFC sketch comedy series '' Portlandia''. ...

Bill Hader William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (201 ...

* Seth Meyers * Bobby Moynihan *

Jason Sudeikis Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 20 ...

Kenan Thompson Kenan Thompson (; born May 10, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He has been a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' since 2003, making him the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history. He was also t ...

Featured players *

Vanessa Bayer Vanessa Bayer (born November 14, 1981) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for being a cast member on '' Saturday Night Live'' from 2010 to 2017, which earned her an Emmy nomination. She co-created, co-executive produces, and ...

(final episode: January 14, 2012) *

Taran Killam Taran Hourie Killam (born April 1, 1982) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for his television work on ''The Amanda Show'', ''How I Met Your Mother'', ''MADtv'', ''New Girl'', ''Saturday Night Live'', and ''Single Parents''. ...

(first episode: April 7, 2012) *

Jay Pharoah Jared Antonio Farrow (born October 14, 1987), better known by his stage name Jay Pharoah, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and impressionist. Pharoah was a cast member on NBC's sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2010 to 201 ...

bold denotes

Weekend Update ''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typic ...

anchor

Writers

This season saw several new writers.

CollegeHumor CollegeHumor is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles. Aside from producing content for release on YouTube, it was also a former humor website owned by InterActiveCorp ( IAC) until January 2020, when IAC withdrew funding and the websi ...

writer Sarah Schneider was added to the writing staff, after serving as a guest writer for the last five episodes of season 36. Also added were Chris Kelly, who previously wrote for ''

Funny or Die Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a re ...

'' and '' The Onion News Network''; Zach Kanin, who worked on the ''

Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...

''; and Peter Schultz, a performer from the

Upright Citizens Brigade Theater The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shorter UCB Theatre) is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. Prior t ...

. This was also the last season for writer

John Mulaney John Edmund Mulaney (born August 26, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He first rose to prominence for his work as a writer on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 to 2013, where he contributed to numerous ...

who had been there since 2008. The season saw the deaths of three former ''SNL'' writers. Nelson Lyon died at the age of 73 due to liver cancer; Lyon wrote for the show during its seventh season. Mark O'Donnell, who also wrote during the show's seventh season, died of a heart attack at the age of 58 outside his apartment in New York. Tom Davis, who was one of the original ''SNL'' writers and appeared in multiple sketches over the years died after a three-year battle with throat and neck cancer.

Episodes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saturday Night Live (season 37) 37 Saturday Night Live in the 2010s 2011 American television seasons 2012 American television seasons Television shows directed by Don Roy King