Saturday Night Live aired its seventeenth season during the 1991-1992 television season on NBC. The seventeenth season started on September 28, 1991, and ended on May 16, 1992. Twenty episodes were produced.

Many changes happened before the start of the season. A. Whitney Brown and Jan Hooks both left the show, but the major blow was the departure of long time cast member Dennis Miller, who had been the anchor of Weekend Update for six seasons. Following Miller's departure, Kevin Nealon was promoted to anchor of the skit.

New cast members included Ellen Cleghorne, Siobhan Fallon and writer Robert Smigel. Beth Cahill and Melanie Hutsell also later joined the cast. Chris Farley, Chris Rock and Julia Sweeney were upgraded to repertory status. Tim Meadows, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider and David Spade all stayed featured players.

This was the final season for Victoria Jackson, who receive no on-screen goodbye at the end of the season. At the time, Jackson became the longest serving female cast member, with a total six seasons under her belt. She was later topped by Molly Shannon in the 26th season. This would be Beth Cahill and Siobhan Fallon's only season on the show.