Saturday Night Live premiered its fortieth season during the
2014–15 television season on
NBC. The season premiered on September 27, 2014, with host
Chris Pratt and musical guest
Ariana Grande and came to a conclusion on May 16, 2015, with host
Louis C.K. and musical guest
Rihanna. Former cast member
Darrell Hammond succeeded
Don Pardo, who had died in August,[1] as the show's new announcer.[2] The premiere included an interstitial photograph of Pardo – SNL's announcer since it premiered in 1975 (with the exception of
season 7 and episode 14 of
season 21 – where Hammond took his place).[3]
This season was alternatively known as Saturday Night Live 40 and SNL40.
Cast
As part of an ongoing rebuilding process, which executive producer
Lorne Michaels indicated would result in cast changes for the 2014–15 season,[4] a number of those changes were announced prior to the start of the season. Longtime cast member
Nasim Pedrad, who had been on the show for five seasons since 2009, announced her departure in June 2014, as she was to star on the Lorne Michaels-produced sitcom Mulaney.[5] Following Pedrad's departure, featured players
John Milhiser,
Noël Wells, and
Brooks Wheelan were all let go following the finale, after only one season with the cast.[6][7] Additionally,
Mike O'Brien, a writer for the show for four seasons before joining the cast at the start of
the previous season, returned to the writers' room for this season, which would be his last as a writer.[8] Despite his departure from the cast, O'Brien still made occasional appearances in several sketches throughout the season. Overall, of the eight cast members introduced during
the previous season, only
Beck Bennett,
Kyle Mooney,
Colin Jost, and
Sasheer Zamata returned. Bennett, Jost, Mooney and Zamata remained as featured players.
To fill the void following Pedrad, Milhiser, O'Brien, Wells, and Wheelan's departures, two comedians joined the cast at the start of the season: stand-up comic
Pete Davidson, the first SNL cast member to have been born in the 1990s,[9] and former SNL writer
Michael Che as a Weekend Update co-anchor, replacing
Cecily Strong, who remained in the cast.[10] Che left SNL at the end of the previous season to become a correspondent on The Daily Show.[10] After making appearances on Weekend Update and in several sketches, writer
Leslie Jones was promoted to the cast on October 20, 2014 as a featured player.[11]
Coinciding with the show's fortieth anniversary, SNL introduced a new logo created by design firm Pentagram.[12][13]
This was the final season for
Mike O'Brien, who joined the writing staff in
2009 and Claire Mulaney, who joined the staff in
2013, as well as the only season for writers Natasha Rothwell, Nick Rutherford, and Alison Rich.[17]
Hozier performs "
Take Me to Church" and "Angel of Small Death & the Codeine Scene".
Writer and future cast member
Mikey Day appears in the cold open.
Hader's Skeleton Twins co-star
Kristen Wiig (SNL alumni) appears during the opening monologue, in the Hollywood Game Night sketch, introduces the tribute to
Jan Hooks (alongside Hader), and introduces Hozier's second performance.
Kendrick Lamar performs "
I" and "Pay for It" (the latter with
Chantal Kreviazuk and
Jay Rock), and appears in the "Young Tarts & Old Farts" pre-taped sketch.
Nicki Minaj performs "
Bed of Lies" with
Skylar Grey and a medley of "
Only" and "
All Things Go" and appears as
Beyoncé in the "Jingle Ballerz Special" sketch, as
Kim Kardashian on Weekend Update, and as herself in the "Brain Space" sketch.
Seth Rogen appears in the opening monologue and in the "Porn Stars With James Franco and Seth Rogen" sketch.
Mike O'Brien appears in the pre-recorded "Grow a Guy" short film.
"Les Jeunes de Paris" from the season 36 episode hosted by
Emma Stone
"SNL 40th Red Carpet Live"
February 15, 2015 (2015-02-15)
N/A
A special hosted by
Matt Lauer,
Savannah Guthrie,
Carson Daly and
Al Roker. They interviewed past hosts, current and previous cast members, and musical legends who had previously performed on the show.[45]
23.1 (Live+SD); 26.5 (Live+3)
[1]; 5.1 million (repeat)
[2])[48]
A three and a half hour prime-time special celebrating SNL's 40th year on the air.[46][47] This special assembled together a large list of current and former cast members, hosts, and musical acts from throughout the show's forty seasons.[46][47] This special became
NBC's most-watched prime-time, non-sports, entertainment telecast since the ER season finale in 2004.[48]
^"Lorne Michaels: More 'SNL' cast changes coming". CNN. June 13, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2014. Lorne Michaels says that Saturday Night Live can expect cast changes before its 40th season begins in September. In an interview with Deadline, the creator and longtime executive producer of NBC's late-night sketch show said, 'We're still in the middle of rebuilding. So there will be changes this year.'