Season 30 poster
Saturday Night Live

Season 30

Saturday Night Live had its thirtieth season on the 2004-2005 television season on NBC. The thirtieth season began on October 2, 2004 and ended on May 21, 2005 with 20 episodes in all. Before the start of this season, Jimmy Fallon left the show. In the wake of his departure, Fred Armisen was promoted to repertory status, while Finesse Mitchell and Kenan Thompson remained feature players. New cast members this season include Rob Riggle, an improv comedian and U.S. Marine. This would be Riggle's only season on the show. In addition, SNL writer Jason Sudeikis joined the cast as a featured player for the last three episodes of the season. With Fallon gone, Amy Poehler became Tina Fey's co-anchor on Weekend Update, making Fey and Poehler the first two-woman anchor team. This season was also notable for Ashlee Simpson's infamous lip-syncing gaffe during her second performance. This season was also home to many sketches focused on the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, but, unlike the 2000 election, there was little to no media coverage about the sketches.

Air dateOct 2, 2004
Episodes20

Episodes

  1. 1. Ben Affleck/Nelly Oct 2, 2004 · 67 min
  2. 2. Queen Latifah Oct 9, 2004 · 67 min
  3. 3. Jude Law/Ashlee Simpson Oct 23, 2004 · 67 min
  4. 4. Kate Winslet/Eminem Oct 30, 2004 · 67 min
  5. 5. Liam Neeson/Modest Mouse Nov 13, 2004 · 67 min
  6. 6. Luke Wilson/U2 Nov 20, 2004 · 67 min
  7. 7. Colin Farrell/Scissor Sisters Dec 11, 2004 · 67 min
  8. 8. Robert De Niro/Destiny's Child Dec 18, 2004 · 67 min
  9. 9. Topher Grace/The Killers Jan 15, 2005 · 67 min
  10. 10. Paul Giamatti/Ludacris & Sum 41 Jan 22, 2005 · 67 min
  11. 11. Paris Hilton/Keane Feb 5, 2005 · 67 min
  12. 12. Jason Bateman/Kelly Clarkson Feb 12, 2005 · 67 min
  13. 13. Hilary Swank/50 Cent Feb 19, 2005 · 67 min
  14. 14. David Spade/Jack Johnson Mar 12, 2005 · 67 min
  15. 15. Ashton Kutcher/Gwen Stefani Mar 19, 2005 · 67 min
  16. 16. Cameron Diaz/Green Day Apr 9, 2005 · 67 min
  17. 17. Tom Brady/Beck Apr 16, 2005 · 67 min
  18. 18. Johnny Knoxville/System of a Down May 7, 2005 · 67 min
  19. 19. Will Ferrell/Queens of the Stone Age May 14, 2005 · 67 min
  20. 20. Lindsay Lohan/Coldplay May 21, 2005 · 67 min