Saturday Night Live season 25
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The twenty-fifth season of Saturday Night Live (also branded Saturday Night Live 25 and SNL25), an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 2, 1999 and May 20, 2000.
| Saturday Night Live | |
|---|---|
| Season 25 | |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | October 2, 1999 – May 20, 2000 |
| Season chronology | |
← Previous Next → | |
| List of episodes | |
Jimmy Fallon,[1] Horatio Sanz, and Chris Parnell were promoted to repertory status. Rachel Dratch[2] and Maya Rudolph[3] joined the cast as featured players.
In July of 1999, when executive producer Lorne Michaels held auditions for the season, NBC introduced a new contract for first-year cast members, replacing the five- or six-year deals they had used in the past.[4] The terms were established by NBC executives Scott Sassa and Garth Ancier. According to Peter Bogdanovich, the new contract came with the following terms:[4]
"SNL, they are the not-ready-for-prime-time players. These are people who are just starting out. I challenge you to name a network, much less a show, that has created this many stars, ever ... All we're asking is, somebody who comes in and is, basically, virtually unknown and young has an opportunity to be on a very, very powerful sketch-comedy show and to be able to launch a film career and be in sitcoms. I think that's a pretty great opportunity."
— Scott Sassa, NBC's West Coast president, at the network's summer press presentation in Pasadena, California[4]
- NBC can take a Saturday Night Live cast member off the show any time after their second year on the program and put them in an NBC sitcom.
- A cast member has the option of saying no to the first two shows proposed by NBC, but must accept the third deal.
- NBC dictates the length of the sitcom contract, which can run as long as six years.
- SNL Films, co-owned by Paramount Pictures, NBC and Lorne Michaels, has a three-movie option that would pay the star a set $75,000 for the first film, $150,000 for the second and $300,000 for the third, rates that used to be negotiable.
- NBC has the option of paying those same amounts to force a cast member to say no to a film deal offered to them by another studio.
The starting salary remained $5,000 per episode.[4]
bold denotes Weekend Update anchor
Starting this season, Tina Fey is credited as the writing supervisor,[5] which means that she was promoted to the head writer position, making her the first woman in this role.[6]
A Superstar film, based on the Mary Katherine Gallagher sketches, was released on October 8, 1999. Cast members Will Ferrell, Mark McKinney and Molly Shannon appear in the film. The film did modestly well at the box office but was panned by critics.[citation needed]
- ^ Levy, Ariel (October 18, 1999). "Not Jerry Seinfeld". New York Magazine. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ Crook, John (August 25, 2002). "Checking in with Rachel Dratch". The Free Lance-Star. Tribune Media Services. p. 12. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ Stout, Frappa (January 18, 2004). "Funny girl". Boca Raton News. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Bogdanovich, Peter (August 11, 1999). "SNL's Killer Contract". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
- ^ Overbey, Erin (March 4, 2011). "The Tina Fey Years". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ "Head writer: Timing helped her land job". The Vindicator. Knight Ridder Newspapers. December 19, 2000. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
- ^ "Jimmy Fallon Talks Blackface Controversy With Don Lemon, NAACP's Derrick Johnson". The Hollywood Reporter. June 2, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2023.