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The thirty-eighth season of Saturday Night Live premiered on September 15, 2012 and concluded it on May 18, 2013. Longtime cast members Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg, both of whom had been on the show for seven seasons since 2005, had left at the end of the previous season. Following Samberg and Wiig's departures, Abby Elliott was let go after four seasons on the show since 2008.

This is the first season for Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong as cast members, and the only season for Tim Robinson, who joined at the start of the season and moved to the writers' room for season 39. Vanessa Bayer, Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah were all upgraded to repertory status, while Kate McKinnon remained a featured player.

This would be the final season for longtime cast members Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis, and longtime writer Jim Downey.[1] Armisen had been on the show for 11 seasons since 2002, Sudeikis, and Hader, the latter two of whom had been on for 8 since 2005. Downey had writen for the show for 30 seasons, on-and-off since 1977, during the second half of the show's second season.

Cast[]

Repertory Players[]

500x500  Portal 38 - Vanessa Bayer  Portal 38 - Bill Hader 

Portal 38 - Taran Killam  Portal 38 - Seth Meyers  Portal 38 - Bobby Moynihan 

Portal 38 - Nasim Pedrad  Portal 38 - Jay Pharoah  500x500 

Portal 38 - Kenan Thompson 

Featured Players[]

Portal 38 - Aidy Bryant  Portal - Kate McKinnon 
Portal 38 - Tim Robinson  Portal 38 - Cecily Strong 

Episodes[]

Date Image Host Music Guest
September 15, 2012 12ahost1 Seth MacFarlane Frank Ocean
September 22, 2012 12bhost1 Joseph Gordon-Levitt Mumford & Sons
October 6, 2012 12chost1 Daniel Craig Muse
October 13, 2012 12dhost1 Christina Applegate Passion Pit
October 20, 2012 12ehost1 Bruno Mars Bruno Mars
November 3, 2012 12fhost1 Louis C.K. Fun
November 10, 2012 12ghost1 Anne Hathaway Rihanna
November 17, 2012 12hhost1 Jeremy Renner Maroon 5
December 8, 2012 12ihost1 Jamie Foxx Ne-Yo
December 15, 2012 12jhost1 Martin Short Paul McCartney
January 19, 2013 12khost1 Jennifer Lawrence The Lumineers
January 26, 2013 12lhost1 Adam Levine Kendrick Lamar
February 9, 2013 12mhost1 Justin Bieber Justin Bieber
February 16, 2013 12nhost1 Christoph Waltz Alabama Shakes
March 2, 2013 12ohost1 Kevin Hart Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
March 9, 2013 12phost1 Justin Timberlake Justin Timberlake
April 6, 2013 12qhost1 Melissa McCarthy Phoenix
April 13, 2013 12rhost1 Vince Vaughn Miguel
May 4, 2013 12shost1 Zach Galifianakis Of Monsters and Men
May 11, 2013 12thost1 Kristen Wiig Vampire Weekend
May 18, 2013 12uhost1 Ben Affleck Kanye West

Trivia[]

  • Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers Josh Patten and Neil Casey joined the writing staff.
  • Two election-themed episodes of the spin-off Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday, which aired on September 20, 2012 and September 27, 2012.
  • Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck become the newest members of the Five-Timers Club, with the former being the youngest member of the club, as of 2013. 
  • Christoph Waltz was the first German-speaking host on Saturday Night Live.

Opening montage[]

S38

S38

The opening montage is changed with the words SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE being blue. The montage showcases various New York footage along with geometrical transitions into photos of the cast - a change from the montage sequence used from Season 35 to Season 37 which had used video clips.

The intro had gone through changes throughout the first few episodes of the season. This included a tweak to the title card animation, cast photo retakes, swapping of the footage used behind the musical guest and host announcements, a new ending shot of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the removal of some clips of New York, and cleaner animations. These changes had been made between the first and second episodes of the season, with a musical tempo adjustment being made subsequently for the third episode.

For three episodes during this season, Don Pardo would be unable to make new musical guest and host announcements as he had sustained an injury. For the first episode without Pardo (February 16, 2013), cast member Bill Hader would impression him for the musical guest and host announcements while pre-recorded announcements were used for cast members. Later, former cast member Darrell Hammond would be invited to replace Bill Hader for the remaining two episodes (March 2, 2013 and March 9, 2013). For these episodes, Hammond also made cast announcements. For Season 40, Hammond would be hired as the full-time announcer for SNL in response to Pardo's death over the 2014 summer hiatus.

Gallery[]

References[]

Deaths[]

Tom Davis (July 19, 2012)

Navigation[]

Preceded by:
Season 37
Season 38
(2012— 2013)
Followed by:
Season 39
Seasons
 
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