How Is SNL Celebrating Its Big Five-Oh?

Who’s ready for Lorne Michaels to throw another big birthday bash? This fall, Saturday Night Live is back on NBC for its 50th season. Michaels has been teasing this anniversary for a while now, telling the New York Times in 2022 that the big five-oh would be a “big event.” “We’ll bring everyone back from all 50 years and hosts and all of that,” he said at the time.

“It will be a very emotional and very strong thing.” As SNL 50’s September 28 premiere date approaches, what else do we actually know about the milestone season? Below, the latest update: an Emmy-worthy lineup of hosts and musical guests. The first five hosts and musical guests got pinned to the bulletin board on September 18.



Emmy winner Jean Smart will host the premiere with Jelly Roll as musical guest, and there will be shows every Saturday from September 28 through November 2 except October 26. Upcoming host/musical-guest duos include Nate Bargatze with Coldplay, Ariana Grande with Stevie Nicks, Michael Keaton with Billie Eilish, and John Mulaney with Chappell Roan. .

.. the country, by dusting off her Kamala Harris impression.

On July 31, Deadline reported that production on Loot season three has been pushed back, giving Rudolph time to contribute to the memeification of the vice-president on SNL for the final stretch of the 2024 presidential election. Neither Rudolph nor SNL has directly confirmed the news, but it feels inevitable. Missing the opportunity to get her back would be (coco)nuts .

A couple familiar faces won’t be returning. Punkie Johnson, who joined the show in 2020 as a featured player and was promoted to repertory player in 2022, shared in an August 1 Instagram post that she is leaving SNL with “no bad blood.” A day later, fellow cast member Molly Kearney also took to Instagram to announce their departure .

Kearney, who made history as SNL ’s first nonbinary cast member, joined the show as a featured player in 2022. In May, NBC announced that it would celebrate the show’s anniversary with a prime-time special on February 16, airing from 8 to 11 p.m.

ET. Per The Hollywood Reporter , the network said the three-hour event would cap a “celebratory weekend” in SNL ’s honor. Sounds like it’ll have everything .

This post has been updated ..