The thirty-ninth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC from September 28, 2013, with host Tina Fey and musical guest Arcade Fire and concluded on May 17, 2014, with host Andy Samberg and musical guest St. Vincent with 21 episodes.
Besides O'Brien, the other new hires at the start of the season were Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney of the sketch comedy group Good Neighbor, John Milhiser of the sketch group Serious Lunch, comedian and impressionist Noël Wells (known for her viral videos and impressions featured on sites such as Cracked.com), and stand-up comedian Brooks Wheelan.
Midway through the season, the show also added a seventh featured player: Upright Citizens Brigade performer Sasheer Zamata.
[1] Cecily Strong was brought up to co-anchor with Meyers, who had been on the show for thirteen seasons since 2001 (first doing sketches, then being head writer and "Weekend Update" anchor since 2006).
bold denotes Weekend Update anchors During the season, the show came under criticism from critics (as well as African-American cast members Kenan Thompson and Jay Pharoah) for not including at least one black female cast member, a topic that was addressed on the November 2, 2013, show hosted by Kerry Washington.
[10] At the start of the season, Rob Klein (who had been writing for the show since 2007) was promoted to co-head writer, alongside Seth Meyers and Colin Jost.
Additionally, starting with the Miley Cyrus-hosted episode, John Solomon (who had been a writer for the show since 2006) was promoted to co-writing supervisor, alongside Marika Sawyer and Bryan Tucker.