Saturday Night Live in the 2000s is a two-hour documentary

Documentary

A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...

 television special that showcases the years of Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

 from 2000–2009. It features interviews with the cast and crew from those years, and aired on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 on April 15, 2010.

Topics discussed include Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon

James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...

 and Tina Fey

Tina Fey

Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...

 as the new Weekend Update

Weekend Update

Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance...

 anchors after the departure of Colin Quinn

Colin Quinn

Colin Edward Quinn is an American stand-up comedian and writer best known for his five years in the cast of Saturday Night Live, as the sidekick/announcer of MTV's late 1980s gameshow Remote Control and as host of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn on Comedy Central from 2002–2004.-Early years:Quinn was...

, how SNL became popular for its spoofs on the 2000 United States presidential election

United States presidential election, 2000

The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....

, how the show's humor survived the 9/11 attacks and the anthrax

Anthrax

Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the disease are lethal, and it affects both humans and other animals...

 scare, Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell

John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...

's departure at the end of season 27 and the search for a replacement cast member to play George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, SNLs shaky years between seasons 28 and 30 due to Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon

James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...

's and Horatio Sanz

Horatio Sanz

Horatio Sanz is a Chilean-born American actor and comedian best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998-2006. Sanz most recently starred alongside his former SNL castmate Chris Parnell in the Comedy Central series Big Lake.-Early life:Sanz, the youngest of three sons, was born in...

's cracking up on camera, Jimmy Fallon's departure from the show, Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler

Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...

 teaming up with Tina Fey for Weekend Update, the hiring of Bill Hader

Bill Hader

William "Bill" Hader is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best known for his work as a creative consultant on the hit show South Park and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for his supporting roles in comedy films such as Superbad, Hot Rod, Tropic Thunder,...

, Andy Samberg

Andy Samberg

David Andrew "Andy" Samberg is an American actor, comedian, rapper and writer best known as a member of the comedy group The Lonely Island and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live...

, and Kristen Wiig

Kristen Wiig

Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American film and television actress who currently appears as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Wiig was a member of improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings, and has appeared in several films and television series, including Bridesmaids, MacGruber, Flight of...

, and SNL regaining its popularity with the Digital Shorts, and fan-favorite host Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake

Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...

.

Fred Armisen

Fred Armisen

Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and portraying off-color foreigners in various comedy films such as EuroTrip, Anchorman and Cop Out...

, Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin

Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...

, Rachel Dratch

Rachel Dratch

Rachel Susan Dratch is an American comic actress best known for her roles as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...

, Abby Elliott

Abby Elliott

Abigail "Abby" Elliott is an American actress and comedian currently appearing as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.-Life and career:...

, Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon

James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...

, Steve Higgins

Steve Higgins

Steve Higgins is the announcer for NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. He was previously a cast member, writer, and producer for the show The Higgins Boys and Gruber, and he has a long-time association with Saturday Night Live in mostly behind-the-scenes roles as writer and producer. Higgins was...

, Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell

John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...

, Tina Fey

Tina Fey

Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...

, Will Forte

Will Forte

Orville Willis Forte IV, better known as Will Forte , is an American actor, voice actor, comedian and writer best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2002–2010 and for starring in the SNL spin-off film MacGruber.-Early life:Forte was born in Alameda County, California, the son of...

, Bill Hader

Bill Hader

William "Bill" Hader is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best known for his work as a creative consultant on the hit show South Park and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for his supporting roles in comedy films such as Superbad, Hot Rod, Tropic Thunder,...

, Darrell Hammond

Darrell Hammond

Darrell Hammond is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular on Saturday Night Live from 1995 until 2009, the longest tenure of any cast member. Upon his departure, Hammond, at age 53, was the oldest cast member in the show's history...

, Chris Kattan

Chris Kattan

Christopher Lee "Chris" Kattan is an American actor/comedian, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:Kattan was born in Sherman Oaks, California. His father, Kip King, was an actor and voice actor who appeared on the series Reno 911! as Larrie Plum. His mother, Hajnalka E....

, Marci Klein

Marci Klein

Marci Klein is a four-time Emmy Award-winning American television producer who is best known for her work on 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live...

, John McCain

John McCain

John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

, Seth Meyers

Seth Meyers

Seth Adam Meyers is an American actor and comedian. He currently serves as head writer for Saturday Night Live and hosts its news parody segment Weekend Update.-Early life:...

, Lorne Michaels

Lorne Michaels

Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...

, Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...

, Bobby Moynihan

Bobby Moynihan

Robert M. "Bobby" Moynihan, Jr. is an American actor and comedian who is currently a cast member on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:...

, Chris Parnell

Chris Parnell

Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...

, Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler

Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...

, Maya Rudolph

Maya Rudolph

Maya Khabira Rudolph is an American actress, comedienne and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007, and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups, A Prairie Home Companion and MacGruber...

, Andy Samberg

Andy Samberg

David Andrew "Andy" Samberg is an American actor, comedian, rapper and writer best known as a member of the comedy group The Lonely Island and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live...

, Horatio Sanz

Horatio Sanz

Horatio Sanz is a Chilean-born American actor and comedian best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998-2006. Sanz most recently starred alongside his former SNL castmate Chris Parnell in the Comedy Central series Big Lake.-Early life:Sanz, the youngest of three sons, was born in...

, Akiva Schaffer

Akiva Schaffer

Akiva Schaffer is an American writer for Saturday Night Live, a film director, songwriter, and a member of The Lonely Island, a sketch-comedy troupe that first found success on the Internet, which includes SNL cast member Andy Samberg and SNL writer Jorma Taccone...

, Molly Shannon

Molly Shannon

Molly Helen Shannon is an American comic actress best known for her work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995–2001 and for starring in the films Superstar and Year of the Dog. More recently, she starred in NBC's Kath & Kim from 2008–2009 and on the TBS animated series Neighbors from...

, Michael Shoemaker, Jason Sudeikis

Jason Sudeikis

Daniel Jason Sudeikis is an American actor and comedian currently starring as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:Sudeikis was born Daniel Jason Sudeikis in Fairfax, Virginia, the son of Kathryn , a travel agent who was president of the American Society of Travel Agents, and Dan...

, Jorma Taccone

Jorma Taccone

Jorma Christopher Taccone is an American comedy writer-actor-director. Taccone is one third of the sketch comedy troupe The Lonely Island along with childhood friends Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer...

, Kenan Thompson

Kenan Thompson

Kenan Thompson is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work as a cast member of NBC's long-running sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live...

, Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake

Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...

, Christopher Walken

Christopher Walken

Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...

 and Kristen Wiig

Kristen Wiig

Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American film and television actress who currently appears as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Wiig was a member of improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings, and has appeared in several films and television series, including Bridesmaids, MacGruber, Flight of...

provided comments for the special.

Originally, a special called The Women of Saturday Night Live, was planned to air but was scrapped and replaced with the 2000s special. The special instead would be shown in the following season.

External links

• Official NBC website