Saturday Night Live

• Bill Murray (as Himself) and Chris Parnell (as moderator Tom Brokaw) make guest appearances in the cold opening.

• Chris Parnell guest appears, playing debate moderator Bob Schieffer.
• Will Forte, Bill Hader, Bobby Moynihan, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson and Casey Wilson do not appear in this episode.

• Will Ferrell reprises his role as President George W. Bush and Tina Fey once again appeared as Gov. Sarah Palin in the cold opening.
• Bill Hader and Bobby Moynihan do not appear in this episode.

(34.1)

• Senator Barack Obama was scheduled to make a second cameo appearance in this episode.^[6] However, due to the results of Hurricane Ike, Obama pulled out.^[7][8] Chuck Norris was also scheduled to make a cameo appearance, but pulled out for the same reason.^[9]
• William Shatner, Michael Phelps' mother Debbie and Jared Fogle make cameo appearances.
• Tina Fey appeared as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler appeared as Hillary Clinton in A Nonpartisan Message from Governor Sarah Palin & Senator Hillary Clinton.
• This is the first HD episode of SNL to be shot for 4x3 "center-cut" broadcast, as opposed to the letterboxed 4x3 format the show used for its previous seasons in HD (though the rerun of this episode on October 11, 2008 had it shown in letterbox format on standard 4x3 televisions).
• Lil Wayne performed "Got Money" and "Lollipop."
• Bobby Moynihan's first episode as a cast member.
• At the end of the episode, before the goodnights, a dedication screen was put up for producer/agent Bernie Brillstein (Brillstein helped in getting Saturday Night Live picked up as a TV series), who died a month before this episode aired.

• Casey Wilson's video in the opening credits montage is changed.
• Cameron Diaz makes a guest appearance, reprising her role as Kiki Deamore in the recurring sketch "The Cougar Den".
• Gossip Girl's Blake Lively made a cameo appearance in the SNL Digital Short.^[10]
• Kings of Leon performed "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody."

• Tina Fey returned as Gov. Sarah Palin in the cold open being interviewed by Katie Couric, played by Amy Poehler.
• Chris Parnell makes a guest appearance in a debate sketch as Jim Lehrer.
• This was the final of three episodes to be framed for center-cut for 4x3 broadcast.
• Duffy performed "Mercy" and "Stepping Stone."

• This episode returns to the full widescreen frame format after the previous three episodes of center-cut framing.
• Queen Latifah appeared as Gwen Ifill and Tina Fey returned as Sarah Palin in a parody of the Vice Presidential Debate.
• The Killers performed "Human" and "Spaceman."
• An edited version of the sketch parodying the economic bailout was posted on NBC.com, removing references to Herbert and Marion Sandler's (played by Darrell Hammond and Casey Wilson, respectively) corrupt activities and removing the graphic labeling the couple as "people who should be shot." Lorne Michaels admitted he did not know the Sandlers were a real couple, and that he believed they were simply characters written for the sketch. In the NBC rerun of this episode that aired on November 29, 2008, the entire part with Darrell Hammond and Casey Wilson as The Sandlers was cut, jumping from the part where Bill Hader and Anne Hathaway introduce their Juno-esque surrogate mother (Amy Poehler) to the part where Barney Frank (Fred Armisen) introduces George Soros (Will Forte). ^[11]
• The NBC rerun also switches the "Mary Poppins" sketch (which originally aired after Weekend Update) with the "Dance Floor Showoffs" sketch (which originally aired after the "CSPAN Economic Bailout" sketch).
• Andy Samberg plays Mark Wahlberg in a sketch where Wahlberg talks to animals by only asking them how they are doing and telling them to say "hi to their mother" for him. In the following episode, Mark Wahlberg makes a guest appearance to speak to Andy about his mockery of him during the sketch, only for the real Mark to talk to a donkey and tell it to "say hi to his mother for him".

(34.5)

• Tina Fey returned again as Sarah Palin, and was joined by Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin and the real Sarah Palin making guest appearances in the cold opening. Wahlberg also appeared in a brief sketch making amends with Andy Samberg after speaking with a donkey while Palin also appeared on Weekend Update.
• Oliver Stone makes a small cameo in the opening monologue. Also, Brolin did an impression of George W. Bush during his monologue.
• Adele performed "Chasing Pavements" and "Cold Shoulder"
• The New York Underground short film was written by Fred Armisen & Bill Hader and directed by Noah Baumbach of Squid&Whale fame.

(34.7)

• John and Cindy McCain appeared as themselves and Tina Fey made an appearance as Sarah Palin in the cold opening, which would turn out to be her last, as she announces after the election that with it over and McCain/Palin having lost, she is retiring her Palin impression.
• McCain also appeared in Weekend Update.
• Seth Meyers anchored Weekend Update by himself.
• David Cook performed "Light On" and "Declaration."

(34.8)

• Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins' first episode as castmembers.
• Beyoncé Knowles performed "If I Were a Boy" and "Single Ladies", and appeared in a sketch about a music video of the latter.
• Justin Timberlake made a cameo during Weekend Update and in the "Single Ladies" sketch as one of the three backup dancers.
• The January 3rd rerun was delayed 53 minutes due to a NFL Wild Card game.
• The final sketch, a short film called "Clearing the Air" was directed by Noah Baumbach.

(34.9)

T-Pain

• Ludacris and T-Pain performed "One More Drink" and "Chopped & Skrewed."
• Both Ludacris and T-Pain appeared in the "Blizzard Man Replaces T-Pain" sketch.
• A sketch where Rahm Emanuel (played by Andy Samberg) chews out his critics with a profanity-laced tirade was scheduled to air on this episode, but was cut after dress rehearsal. It can now be viewed as a "Web Exclusive" video on NBC.com[6]

(34.10)

• Amy Poehler returned as Hillary Clinton in the cold opening and co-anchored Weekend Update with Seth Meyers after four weeks of being absent due to the birth of her child, Archie.
• Jason Sudeikis does not appear in this episode.
• T.I. performed "Whatever You Like" and "Swing Ya Rag" with Swizz Beatz.
• Jamie Lynn Sigler, Molly Sims, and Justin Timberlake appeared in the "Jizz in My Pants" digital short along with Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, and Andy Samberg.

(34.11)

• Amy Poehler's final episode as a castmember.
• Maya Rudolph returned to do a "Bronx Beat" sketch with Amy Poehler.
• Shortly after this broadcast, New York governor David Paterson openly complained about Fred Armisen's portrayal of him, stating that his impression was insensitive to the blind and visually impaired ^[12].
• Kanye West performed "Love Lockdown" and a medley including "Heartless" and "Pinocchio Story."

(34.12)

• Liza Minnelli appeared in a sketch.
• Taylor Swift appeared in a sketch as Annie, and performed "Love Story" and "Forever & Always".
• Host Neil Patrick Harris appeared in the "Save Broadway" sketch as Mark Cohen from RENT. Harris played the same character in the Los Angeles production of RENT in 1997. In the same sketch Fred Armisen, a former drummer for the Blue Man Group, plays the center blue man.
• The theme song for the "Two First Names" sketch is a parody of the Destiny's Childs song Say My Name.

(34.13)

• Fleet Foxes performed "Mykonos" and "Blue Ridge Mountains".

(34.14)

• With this episode Martin becomes the first person to host SNL fifteen times.
• Jason Mraz performed "I'm Yours" and "Lucky" with Colbie Caillat.
• During the original broadcast Richard Dean Anderson who played MacGyver on the TV series reprised his role in three MacGruber Pepsi ads as a helper to MacGruber
• The second MacGruber short was also used as a commercial for Pepsi in Super Bowl XLIII.
• Steve Martin performed "Late for School" on his banjo from his new album "The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo"

(34.15)

• James Lipton makes a cameo during the monologue.
• TV on the Radio performed "Golden Age" and "Dancing Choose".
• The Lonely Island and T-Pain premiered "I'm on a Boat" from the Lonely Island's Incredibad album in the SNL Digital Short.
• Drew Barrymore appeared during the closing credits.

(34.16)

• Former castmember Dan Aykroyd appeared as John Boehner in the cold opening (who was played by episode host Alec Baldwin in dress rehearsal^[13])
• Jack McBrayer makes a guest appearance in the opening monologue.
• Cameron Diaz once again reprises her role as Kiki Deamore in the recurring sketch "The Cougar Den".
• Jonas Brothers appeared in a sketch and an SNL Digital Short before they performed (They also appeared in the "Cougar Den" sketch in dress rehearsal, but their parts are instead played by Bill Hader, Will Forte, and Andy Samberg in the live show^[14]).
• Jonas Brothers performed "Tonight" and "Video Girl".
• Alec Baldwin's Nieces made a cameo introducing The Jonas Brothers second song. ^[15]
• Due to the show ending under the time limit, in rebroadcasts, instead of showing long band shots, the 2nd Virgania Horsen Hot Air Balloon Commercial, which was cut from the season 33 Tina Fey show, is used after the First Coughs sketch.

(34.17)

• Richard Dean Anderson returned as MacGyver for three more MacGruber shorts.
• Ray LaMontagne performed "You Are the Best Thing" and "Trouble".
• Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel appeared as Irving Hillman and Jessica Rabbit in Weekend Update.
• The Hawaiian sketch featured in this episode outraged natives of Hawaii.^[16].

(34.18)

• Kelly Clarkson performed "My Life Would Suck Without You" and "I Do Not Hook Up".
• Tina Fey and John Cena made cameo appearances in the cold open.
• Tracy Morgan reprised his roles as Brian Fellow in Brian Fellow's Safari Planet and as Astronaut Jones.

(34.19)

• Phoenix performed "Lisztomania," "1901" and "Too Young", which was cut off.
• Seth Rogen reprised his impression of Rowlf the Dog from his first appearance on SNL.
• Seth Rogen appeared in the SNL Digital Short for the music video of The Lonely Island's "Like a Boss". Rogen replaced Akiva Schaffer's vocals; however, Akiva Schaffer did make an appearance as the gun dealer. Fellow Lonely Island member, Jorma Taccone also makes an appearance in the video delivering a harassment lawsuit to Andy Samberg.

(34.20)

• The audio for the Today Show sketch was delayed in its first airing.
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs performed "Zero" and "Maps".

(34.21)

• Justin Timberlake won an Emmy for hosting this episode.^[17]
• Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson made guest appearances during the Digital Short.
• Ciara performed "Love Sex Magic" with Justin Timberlake and "Never Ever".
• Jessica Biel introduced "Love Sex Magic."
• Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy cameoed on Weekend Update.
• Jimmy Fallon reprised his role as Barry Gibb for another installment of "The Barry Gibb Talk Show".
• Darrell Hammond does not appear in this episode.
• In dress rehearsal Rachel Dratch reprised her Debbie Downer character on Weekend Update giving a commentary on the Swine Flu outbreak.^[18]

(34.22)

• Michaela Watkins, Casey Wilson and Darrell Hammond's final episode as castmembers.^[19]
• Green Day performed "Know Your Enemy" and "21 Guns".
• Tom Hanks played himself in Celebrity Jeopardy!, and in "Goodnight Saigon".
• Norm MacDonald cameoed in Celebrity Jeopardy! as Burt Reynolds and in "Goodnight Saigon."
• Amy Poehler made a surprise return to her anchor chair in Weekend Update and accompanied Will Ferrell on a triangle for "Goodnight Saigon".
• Maya Rudolph reprised her character Glenda Goodwin in the funeral sketch and sang with Will Ferrell for "Goodnight Saigon."
• Green Day, Paul Rudd, Artie Lange, Elisabeth Moss, and Anne Hathaway also appeared in "Goodnight Saigon".
• Will Ferrell reprised his impersonations of George W. Bush, Alex Trebek, and Harry Caray.