Scot Bertram

Sarah Palin Enters, Amy Poehler Exits, and an All-Star Host List Dominates

Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin.

Season 34 will likely be known forever for one thing, and that’s returning cast member Tina Fey’s impression of the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate.

But the 2008-09 season had a lot more going on than simply politics. For one, the show bumped the number of episodes up to 22 per season (up from 20). And because there were only 12 episodes in the strike-shortened prior season, a lot of the guests cut from Season 33 were dumped into Season 34.

Thus, the 2008-09 was stacked with favorites like Steve Martin, Justin Timberlake, The Rock, Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, John Malkovich, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen, Tracy Morgan, and Will Ferrell. It also added game newcomers like Paul Rudd, Neil Patrick Harris, Jon Hamm, Josh Brolin, and perhaps the best host of the season, Anne Hathaway.

Sadly, the show did see the exit of an all-timer, Amy Poehler, who initially left the show to give birth to a baby, but then returned for only two episodes before leaving to join her new show, Parks and Recreation. When Poehler left the first time, Lorne Michaels replaced her with newcomers Abby Elliott (daughter of former cast member Chris Elliott) and Michaela Watkins, each of whom had to carry the mantle of being “Amy Poehler’s replacement.” (Much as Casey Wilson had to do in Season 33 after replacing Maya Rudolph.)

Poehler’s exit further solidified the dominance of Kristen Wiig as an all-time talent on the show, as she goes on to carry sketch after sketch. Male cast members like Will Forte, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis and Kenan Thompson all turn in strong seasons in what would become the best year on the show since the Will Ferrell era.

We discuss all these things, plus a lot more in this episode of Wasn’t That Special. Please subscribe and join us for a trip through every year of SNL. And consider joining at the Executive Producer level, where you get a whole load of extra commentary and clips that will help you become an SNL expert.