Season 17 poster

Season 17

20 episodes September 28, 1991

Saturday Night Live aired its seventeenth season during the 1991-1992 television season on NBC. The seventeenth season started on September 28, 1991, and ended on May 16, 1992. Twenty episodes were produced. Many changes happened before the start of the season. A. Whitney Brown and Jan Hooks both left the show, but the major blow was the departure of long time cast member Dennis Miller, who had been the anchor of Weekend Update for six seasons. Following Miller's departure, Kevin Nealon was promoted to anchor of the skit. New cast members included Ellen Cleghorne, Siobhan Fallon and writer Robert Smigel. Beth Cahill and Melanie Hutsell also later joined the cast. Chris Farley, Chris Rock and Julia Sweeney were upgraded to repertory status. Tim Meadows, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider and David Spade all stayed featured players. This was the final season for Victoria Jackson, who receive no on-screen goodbye at the end of the season. At the time, Jackson became the longest serving female cast member, with a total six seasons under her belt. She was later topped by Molly Shannon in the 26th season. This would be Beth Cahill and Siobhan Fallon's only season on the show.

Episodes

1 Michael Jordan/Public Enemy Sep 28, 1991 No ratings 2 Jeff Daniels/Color Me Badd Oct 5, 1991 No ratings 3 Kirstie Alley/Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Oct 12, 1991 No ratings 4 Christian Slater/Bonnie Raitt Oct 26, 1991 No ratings 5 Kiefer Sutherland/Skid Row Nov 2, 1991 No ratings 6 Linda Hamilton/Mariah Carey Nov 16, 1991 No ratings 7 Macaulay Culkin/Tin Machine Nov 23, 1991 No ratings 8 Hammer Dec 7, 1991 No ratings 9 Steve Martin/James Taylor Dec 14, 1991 No ratings 10 Rob Morrow/Nirvana Jan 11, 1992 No ratings 11 Chevy Chase/Robbie Robertson & Bruce Hornsby Jan 18, 1992 No ratings 12 Susan Dey/C+C Music Factory Feb 8, 1992 No ratings 13 Jason Priestley/Teenage Fan Club Feb 15, 1992 No ratings 14 Roseanne Arnold & Tom Arnold/Red Hot Chili Peppers Feb 22, 1992 No ratings 15 John Goodman/Garth Brooks Mar 14, 1992 No ratings 16 Mary Stuart Masterson/En Vogue Mar 21, 1992 No ratings 17 Sharon Stone/Pearl Jam Apr 11, 1992 No ratings 18 Jerry Seinfeld/Annie Lennox Apr 18, 1992 No ratings 19 Tom Hanks/Bruce Springsteen May 9, 1992 No ratings 20 Woody Harrelson/Vanessa Williams May 16, 1992 No ratings