Please enjoy this complimentary edition of Wasn’t That Special - every few episodes we will release for free so you can hear what you’re missing out on by not being a paid subscriber.

To do so and unlock all 30-plus of our episodes, simply go here:

The cast in Season 30 returns with very few changes - Lorne Michaels effectively swapped out Jimmy Fallon, who left to do movies, with newcomer Rob Riggle.

And while Fallon was a workable cast member, his absence doesn’t seem to change the show much. That is because of the meteoric rise of one of the cast members, who basically becomes the backbone of the show, showing off their incredible talent in ways they hadn’t before. (To find out who, you’ll have to watch the episode!)

This season is also known as the season in which musical guest Ashlee Simpson is caught lip-syncing her second performance of the episode, causing a nationwide scandal. Further, SNL mocked her for weeks after the event, even though they had to know she was going to lip-sync and they allowed it.

The show also featured some strong guests hosts this year: Paul Giamatti, Ben Affleck, Jude Law, and Jason Bateman all demonstrating their talents. Some of the best musical guests included Kelly Clarkson, Keane, Modest Mouse, and Beck.

We discuss all these things, plus have a major disagreement on the quality of Weekend Update this season, 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.

(Also, for those interested, Christian’s Substack can be found here.)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wasntthatspecial.com/subscribe