SaturdayNightLivehaditsthirtiethseasononthe2004-2005televisionseasononNBC.ThethirtiethseasonbeganonOctober2,2004andendedonMay21,2005with20episodesinall. Beforethestartofthisseason,JimmyFallonlefttheshow.Inthewakeofhisdeparture,FredArmisenwaspromotedtorepertorystatus,whileFinesseMitchellandKenanThompsonremainedfeatureplayers. NewcastmembersthisseasonincludeRobRiggle,animprovcomedian(attheUprightCitizensBrigadeTheater)andU.S.Marine.ThiswouldbeRiggle'sonlyseasonontheshow.Inaddition,SNLwriterJasonSudeikis(whoappearedinmanybitrolespriortojoiningthecast)joinedthecastasafeaturedplayerforthelastthreeepisodesoftheseason. WithFallongone,AmyPoehlerbecameTinaFey'sco-anchoronWeekendUpdate,makingFeyandPoehlerthefirst(and,sofar,only)two-womananchorteam. ThisseasonwasalsonotableforAshleeSimpson'sinfamouslip-syncinggaffeduringhersecondperformance(ontheepisodehostedbyJudeLaw).Thisseasonwasalsohometomanysketchesfocusedonthe2004U.S.Presidentialelection,but,unlikethe2000election(andlaterthe2008election),therewaslittletonomediacoverageaboutthesketches. Thisseasonwasalso,likeseasons6,11,and20beforeit,lambastedforitsrelativepoorquality.Manyofthesketcheswereseenas"boring"and"fashionable".
