Saturday Night Live season 21

*Saturday Night Live*
Saturday Night Live
Season 21
No. of episodes	20
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 30, 1995 –; May 18, 1996
Season chronology
	← Previous; season 20 Next →; season 22
	List of episodes

The twenty-first season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 30, 1995, and May 18, 1996.

History

The season was infamous for the Rage Against the Machine incident. On April 13, 1996, the band was the musical guest, and was scheduled to perform two songs. The show was hosted that night by ex-Republican presidential candidate and billionaire Steve Forbes. According to RATM guitarist Tom Morello, "RATM wanted to stand in sharp juxtaposition to a billionaire telling jokes and promoting his flat tax by making our own statement."^[1] To this end, the band hung two upside-down American flags from their amplifiers. Seconds before they took the stage to perform "Bulls on Parade", SNL and NBC sent stagehands in to pull the flags down.^[2] Following the removal of the flags during the first performance, the band was approached by SNL and NBC officials and ordered to immediately leave the building. Upon hearing this, bassist Tim Commerford reportedly stormed Forbes' dressing room, throwing shreds from one of the torn down flags. Morello noted that members of the Saturday Night Live cast and crew, whom he declined to name, "expressed solidarity with our actions, and a sense of shame that their show had censored the performance."^[1]

Cast

Only five cast members returned to the show from the previous season: Norm Macdonald, Mark McKinney, Tim Meadows, Molly Shannon, and David Spade.^[3]

Cast roster

Repertory players

Featured players

Chris Kattan (first episode: March 16, 1996)
Colin Quinn (first episode credited: March 16, 1996)
Fred Wolf (first episode: April 13, 1996)

bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor

Writers

Steve Higgins, Adam McKay, Paula Pell, Frank Sebastiano, and Colin Quinn join the writing staff.

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Host	Musical guest	Original air date
387	1	Mariel Hemingway	Blues Traveler	September 30, 1995 (1995-09-30)
388	2	Chevy Chase	Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories	October 7, 1995 (1995-10-07)
389	3	David Schwimmer	Natalie Merchant	October 21, 1995 (1995-10-21)
390	4	Gabriel Byrne	Alanis Morissette	October 28, 1995 (1995-10-28)
391	5	Quentin Tarantino	The Smashing Pumpkins	November 11, 1995 (1995-11-11)
392	6	Laura Leighton	Rancid	November 18, 1995 (1995-11-18)
393	7	Anthony Edwards	Foo Fighters	December 2, 1995 (1995-12-02)
394	8	David Alan Grier	Silverchair	December 9, 1995 (1995-12-09)
395	9	Madeline Kahn	Bush	December 16, 1995 (1995-12-16)
396	10	Christopher Walken	Joan Osborne	January 13, 1996 (1996-01-13)
397	11	Alec Baldwin	Tori Amos	January 20, 1996 (1996-01-20)
398	12	Danny Aiello	Coolio	February 10, 1996 (1996-02-10)
399	13	Tom Arnold	Tupac Shakur	February 17, 1996 (1996-02-17)
400	14	Elle Macpherson	Sting	February 24, 1996 (1996-02-24)
401	15	John Goodman	Everclear	March 16, 1996 (1996-03-16)
402	16	Phil Hartman	Gin Blossoms	March 23, 1996 (1996-03-23)
403	17	Steve Forbes	Rage Against the Machine	April 13, 1996 (1996-04-13)
404	18	Teri Hatcher	Dave Matthews Band	April 20, 1996 (1996-04-20)
405	19	Christine Baranski	The Cure	May 11, 1996 (1996-05-11)
406	20	Jim Carrey	Soundgarden	May 18, 1996 (1996-05-18)

References

^ ^a ^b Anon., Saturday Night Live Incident, Public release and distribution. Retrieved November 12, 2007.
^ "Rage Against the Machine". The Flag Burning Page. Retrieved March 16, 2008.
^ Shales, Tom (2003). Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Back Bay. ISBN 0-316-73565-5.

[SNL-1] Anon., Saturday Night Live Incident, Public release and distribution. Retrieved November 12, 2007.

[2] "Rage Against the Machine". The Flag Burning Page. Retrieved March 16, 2008.

[3] Shales, Tom (2003). Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Back Bay. ISBN 0-316-73565-5.

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