Every season of Saturday Night Live introduces the world to a series of viral cultural moments, but the series is celebrating a major milestone this year: its 50th season.
The live sketch comedy show is kicking off the new season with a bang: a film about the first episode, Saturday evening, will hit theaters in October. SNL will also tackle a monumental presidential election in November. The premiere episode airs on NBC on September 28 at 11:30 p.m. ET.
This is what we know about SNL’s 50th season so far.
The cast
As always a new season of SNL marks a new generation of comedians. This year’s additions are Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline.
Padilla comes from the Los Angeles comedy group Groundlings, which also gave us Will Ferrell, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig. She has appeared in a few shows, such as HBO’s Curb your enthusiasm and NBC’s Night court restart.
Wakim is a stand-up comedian who was crowned New Face of Comedy at the 2022 Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal. He has opened for Roy Wood Jr., Nikki Glaser, Hasan Minhaj and Neal Brennan.
Wickline is a TikTok sensation with nearly 1 million followers.
Returning cast members include Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, James Austin Johnson, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang. Marcello Hernández, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker, who starred last season, are moving up to the main cast.
Chloe Troast, Punkie Johnson and Molly Kearney have all left the show.
The hosts and musical guests
SNL announced the host and musical guest list for the first five episodes of the season in one go:
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September 28: Jean Smart and Jelly Roll
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Oct 5: Nate Bargatze and Coldplay
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Oct. 12: Ariana Grande and Stevie Nicks
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Oct. 19: Michael Keaton and Billie Eilish
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November 2: John Mulaney and Chappell Roan
The political impressions
We have long been obsessed with casting celebrities as public figures on SNL, and the tension over who will play whom in the run-up to the presidential election is only growing.
Maya Rudolph will definitely play the role of presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris. While a number of people have played former President Donald Trump over the years, the role has gone to James Austin Johnson for the last four seasons, who will likely continue.
Steve Martin, a fan favorite for the role of Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, told the Los Angeles Times that he is “not an impressionist.” Other possible candidates include John Goodman, Danny DeVito, Jim O’Heir and Jim Gaffigan.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, is also likely to appear on the show. Fans have suggested that Taran Killam, Zach Galifianakis or Shane Gillis give it a shot.
Cast member Chloe Fineman told Variety that this season could finally be her chance to try out her impersonation of former first lady Melania Trump. The jury’s still out on who will play second gentleman Doug Emhoff, but he jokingly suggested “Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, Chris Hemsworth — you know, people who look just like me,” in an interview with Esquire.
The movie
The movie Saturday evening, which opens in select theaters on September 27 before a wide release on October 11, follows the chaotic 90 minutes leading up to the show’s 1975 premiere. It’s not a product of SNL or the network, but has a cast full of writers, actors and producers who made it all possible on that very first night.
Director Jason Reitman and casting director John Papsidera told The Hollywood Reporter how they filled those familiar roles with both familiar faces and emerging talent, from Dylan O’Brien to Gabriel LaBelle.
The birthday
In 2020, showrunner Lorne Michaels suggested he would step away from SNL after his milestone 50th season, but now he plans to stay.
“I just know that this is what I do and as long as I can keep doing it, I will keep doing it. There’s no immediate plan,” he told the Hollywood Reporter in September.
A three-hour special celebrating the five decades of SNL will air on February 16, 2025.
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