31 Day SNL Challenge: Favorite Season

Before I even get to the actual content and episodes of the thirty-first season of Saturday Night Live, just take a look at the cast.

Fred Armisen
Rachel Dratch
Tina Fey
Will Forte
Bill Hader
Darrell Hammond
Seth Meyers
Finesse Mitchell
Chris Parnell
Amy Poehler
Maya Rudolph
Andy Samberg
Horatio Sanz
Jason Sudeikis
Kenan Thompson
Kristen Wiig

Name a single weak link in that cast. Some may argue that Finesse would be that weak link, but the fact of the matter he was a consistent player who simply had a short stint on the show. Forgettable? Maybe. Weak? Not quite. The cast right there is a comedy dream team that seems impossible to assemble now. Armisen's got Portlandia, Wiig is the biggest comedy actress in the world right now, Poehler just wrapped Parks and Rec, Samberg won two Golden Globes, Meyers has Late Night. I can go on and on and on. But it's not enough to assemble such a cast. They have to deliver. And boy did they ever. Tina and Amy crushed it on Weekend Update, Lazy Sunday made its polarizing drop, Jimmy Fallon made a cameo, Digital Shorts and Saturday TV Funhouse combined and changed the world, there was a Seinfeld reunion. Season 31 had it all. (You can't forget about the writing staff either. Pell, Spivey, Schaffer, Taccone, Smigel, Higgins, Lutz, Baze, Jost, Steele. Tina and Seth were the head writers.) From 2005 to 2006, SNL had one of those rare golden years that was bookended by Steve Carell and Kevin Spacey. But the season also trotted out a plethora of five-timers. Drew Barrymore, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin. Just solid all around!