\n<\/p>\n
\n20 years ago. Oct. 1, 2005. Steve Carell\/Kanye West. It\u2019s the start of the show\u2019s 31st season and they\u2019ve just added two new cast members to the show. Someone named Colin Jost also joins the writing room. pic.twitter.com\/QmyH1UPLVY<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 That Week In SNL (@ThatWeekInSNL) October 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u2022 An golden era began 20 years ago in Studio 8H. Bill Hader and Andy Samberg joined fellow Class of \u201805 newbie Jason Sudeikis as featured players on season 31 of SNL.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Hader, recommend to the show by Megan Mullaly, was introduced to the show as an \u201cimpressions guy\u201d, busting out a note perfect Al Pacino in his debut episode. Hader was a game player, but would later break out ahead of the pack after John Mulaney joined the show as a writer in 2008. <\/p>\n\u2022 Samberg and his Lonely Island cohort were recommended by Jimmy Fallon. The trio are currently chronicling the peaks and valleys of their SNL careers on The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers<\/i> podcast. It’s a delight.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Kristen Wiig would join the cast on November 12, 2005. She would debut one of her centerpiece characters, The Target Lady, just a few weeks later on the December 3, 2005 episode.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0The tweet above also notes that
thorn-in-my-side<\/s> current Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost, then a fresh-faced Harvard grad, joined the show as a member of the writing staff.<\/p>\n\u2022\u00a0The Class of ’05 would survive a round of budget cuts that whittled down the season 32 cast to 11 repertoire players. This cast (which also featured Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Will Forte, Darrell Hammond, and Kenan Thompson) is notable as nearly all of them have returned to host the show.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Many fans consider this to be the start of the third “golden era” for the long-running series. The Class of ’05 would anchor the show until 2013, when Hader, Sudeikis, and Armisen left the show in the hands of Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, and Aidy Bryant.<\/p>\n