History of Saturday Night Live (2015–2020)

This article is about the most recent history of Saturday Night Live from 2015 through 2020.

History of Saturday Night Live series:

1975–1980
(seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
1980–1985
(seasons 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
1985–1990
(seasons 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
1990–1995
(seasons 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
1995–2000
(seasons 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
2000–2005
(seasons 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
2005–2010
(seasons 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
2010–2015
(seasons 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
2015–2020
(seasons 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)

Weekend Update

2015–2016 season
Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 41)

The 2015–2016 season of Saturday Night Live began on October 3, 2015 with host and musical guest Miley Cyrus, and concluded on May 21, 2016 with host Fred Armisen and musical guest Courtney Barnett.

Opening montage

The previous season's opening montage returns, but without the special SNL 40 logo. Darrell Hammond returns as the show's announcer. Repertory players are announced first, followed by featured players, the musical guest, and the host.

Bumper format

Various old bumper formats return. Each host has several bumper shots on a solid color faded background, where their image may be repeated or given other various picture effects. Each host also has one or two photos of him or her in costume around NBC Studios. The musical guest for each episode has two bumper photos on solid colored backgrounds.

Cast

The entire cast returned from last season. This season has a cast of 16 members, including five African American cast members (the most to ever be in the cast at once). As in previous seasons, the cast is separated into a most established repertory company, and a newer featured company. Jon Rudnitsky was the only new addition to the cast prior to the season premiere. Four cast members were upgraded from featured to repertory. (Beck Bennett, Colin Jost, Kyle Mooney, and Sasheer Zamata.)

Notes
  • Announcer Darrell Hammond reprised his role as Donald Trump during this season.
  • The season premiere featured a cameo appearance by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, in a sketch called "Bar Talk". Kate McKinnon appeared in the sketch as Clinton, while Clinton portrayed a bartender named Val. Darrell Hammond reprised his long-running role as Bill Clinton for the sketch.
  • The third episode, hosted by Tracy Morgan, was the comedian's first large comedy appearance since suffering head injuries from a near fatal car crash.[1]
  • The announcement of Donald Trump returning to host on the fourth episode drew controversy for several reasons:
    • Hispanic and Latino organizations called for Trump to be removed as host due to controversial comments he had made regarding immigration. An online petition was formed requesting his removal.[2]
    • Trump's hosting was filled with the Federal Communications Commission in regards to the equal-time rule. Although no candidate has ever requested an appearance on Saturday Night Live due to equal-time, concerns were raised over whether SNL qualified for an exception to the rule as a live entertainment program.[3]
    • After the episode with Donald Trump hosting was aired, it quickly drew criticism for not being very humorous, largely because of Trump being cautious about offending voters in Iowa.
  • The Elizabeth Banks episode featured no comedic cold open; instead, cast member Cecily Strong issued a solemn address to the city of Paris, as the episode aired the day after the November 2015 Paris attacks, offering condolences in English and French.[4]
  • Amy Poehler and Tina Fey co-hosted the season's December 19 episode, marking the first time an episode has featured multiple hosts since 2004 (the season 29 episode hosted by Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson),[5] as well as the first time two female cast members have hosted, and the first time since season 12's Christmas episode hosted by Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short that two former cast members have hosted.
  • Larry David's hosting on February 6, 2016, marks the first time a cast member from the early 1980s sketch show Fridays hosts Saturday Night Live, as well as the first time since season 26 that a former SNL writer who was never a cast member has hosted (Conan O'Brien was an SNL writer from 1988-1991 and hosted in 2001).
  • Following the death of Prince (who had been a musical guest on the show in 1981, 2006, and 2014 and performed during SNL's 15th anniversary special) in April 2016, a planned rerun of the episode hosted by Peter Dinklage was replaced with a retrospective hosted by Jimmy Fallon called Goodnight, Sweet Prince, showing Prince's musical performances (including a never-before-seen-on-TV one from the show's 40th anniversary special and three The Prince Show sketches: one from the season 30 episode with Queen Latifah as host and musical guest, another from the season 31 episode with Steve Martin as host (and Prince returning as musical guest for the first time since the 15th anniversary special in 1990), and one from the season 32 episode hosted by Shia LaBoeuf.
  • Tina Fey and Amy Poehler received a historic co-nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a comedy for their roles as co-host of the Christmas episode, which they ultimately won.[6]
  • Fred Armisen is now the fourth former SNL cast member to host SNL for the first time (he is the 33rd former cast member to host), and it's the fourth time a former SNL cast member has hosted a season finale,the others being Dan Aykroyd, Will Ferrell, and Andy Samberg.
  • This was also the last season for veteran cast members Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah, who were let go after six years. Rookie cast member Jon Rudnitsky was also let go at the end of the season.

Problems with election coverage

As usual during election seasons, SNL has placed particular emphasis on the 2016 presidential election. Given the unusually large field of candidates, some impressions of candidates shift or have shifted based on who remains in the race.

On the Democratic side, Kate McKinnon is the show's current Hillary Clinton. McKinnon debuted as Clinton in Season 40, Episode 15 (though she previously portrayed an actress portraying Clinton).[7] While they remained in the race, cast members Taran Killam and Kyle Mooney portrayed Martin O'Malley and Lincoln Chafee, respectively, both debuting in Season 41, Episode 3. Former candidate Jim Webb was portrayed by Alec Baldwin, also debuting in the aforementioned episode. Larry David has made recurring appearances to portray Bernie Sanders.

There was media speculation as to who would play whom for the upcoming election prior to the season.[8] The casting was made problematic because many of the candidates were played by the same impressionists prior to the election. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul had all been portrayed by Taran Killam. Chris Christie was portrayed by Bobby Moynihan, who had also played Cruz. Mike Huckabee and Jeb Bush were both portrayed by Beck Bennett. Additionally, Pete Davidson and Colin Jost were not considered by speculators to be generally desired for the job, since neither was an impressionist. Carly Fiorina had been portrayed by McKinnon on one occasion, while Ben Carson was portrayed by Kenan Thompson. No one on the current cast had portrayed John Kasich.

More issues further complicated the matter. Just prior to the start of the season, SNL announced that Killam would be portraying Donald Trump for the upcoming election,[9] which meant that Killam would be portraying four of the candidates in the main Republican race. SNL ultimately was forced to wait until their ninth episode to tackle a Republican debate, when the field was sufficiently narrowed.

For the December 19 episode, the first to feature a debate, several impressions were ultimately moved permanently to new cast members. Jimmy Fallon was initially offered the role of Trump on a recurring cameo basis, but a last-minute change resulted in announcer Darrell Hammond portraying him as he had done for fourteen seasons in the cast.[10] Killam ultimately portrayed Cruz, while Moynihan portrayed Christie. Rubio was played by Davidson, Bush by Bennett, and Paul by Kyle Mooney. Cecily Strong and Jay Pharoah portrayed Fiorina and Carson, respectively, while Colin Jost acted as a stand-in for Kasich, with no lines. Rudnitsky portrayed debate moderator Wolf Blitzer.[11]

The following episode, on January 16, featured another debate, with a slightly smaller Republican field. Carly Fiorina had been demoted to the earlier undercard debate, and while Paul and Kasich remained on the mainstage, SNL chose not to include them in the sketch. Trump, Cruz, Christie, Rubio, Bush, and Carson were all portrayed by the same people that portrayed them in the earlier episode.[11]

Despite Hammond's acclaimed impression, speculation remained as to whether he was playing the role because he was needed (as Killam was playing Cruz) or because his impression was superior.[12] The show ultimately confirmed that Hammond was going to be portraying Trump indefinitely; the following week, he appeared alongside Tina Fey's Sarah Palin in a sketch without Killam, confirming that he would continue to play Trump even if Killam were available (for the time being).[13] Killam, in turn, was confirmed as the show's indefinite Cruz, in a sketch where he portrayed him when Moynihan was not present.[14]

2016–2017 season
Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 42)

Season 42 was indirectly confirmed via advertising plans from NBC's sales division. The announcement revealed that the program will contain 30% less advertisement time in the coming season.[15] Additionally, select NBC advertising clients will be given the opportunity to have their brand appear in promotional sketches, called "pods". Six of these pods will air each season.

The season premiered on October 1, 2016 with host Margot Robbie and musical guest The Weeknd, and concluded on May 20, 2017, with host Dwayne Johnson and musical guest Katy Perry.

Cast

On June 24, 2016, Lorne Michaels announced that Michael Che and Colin Jost would continue as the anchors of "Weekend Update".[16] Both were featured on SNL special editions of "Weekend Update" for the Democratic and Republican Conventions.

It was also announced that Michael Che, Pete Davidson, and Leslie Jones would all be upgraded from featured players to repertory status.[17]

The above-named changes kept the cast membership for this season at 16 members, with four African American cast members and one Hispanic cast member. As in previous seasons, the cast is listed in two separate groups: repertory and featured players.

Opening montage

The opening montage is the same as in previous seasons, except this time the still photos of the musical guest and host are replaced by short video clips of them.

Notes
  • Starting with this season, Donald Trump is now played by frequent host Alec Baldwin instead of former cast member and current show announcer Darrell Hammond.
  • Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah (who were cast members for 6 seasons) were fired. Killam was fired due to scheduling conflicts with his movie Killing Gunther, and both had one year left on their contract, featured player Jon Rudnitsky (who only lasted one season) was let go as well, and they were replaced by SNL writer (and writer/voice actor on Adult Swim's stop-motion series Robot Chicken) Mikey Day, Chicago improv comedian Alex Moffat, and stand-up comedian/impressionist Melissa Villaseñor.
  • Melissa Villaseñor is the first fully Latina cast member and the fourth Hispanic cast member overall, joining Horatio Sanz (who is Chilean), Fred Armisen (who is half Venezuelan) and Noël Wells (who is a quarter Mexican. Coincidentally, Melissa Villaseñor is also Mexican, making her the second Latina cast member to be Mexican).
  • At the end of this season, Vanessa Bayer (cast member since 2010), Bobby Moynihan (cast member since 2008), and Sasheer Zamata (who joined the cast in 2014) all left the show.
  • At the time Vanessa Bayer left SNL, she was the longest-tenured female cast member, having been a cast member for 149 episodes over the span of 7 seasons (2010-2017). She surpassed the record from Maya Rudolph, who also was on the show for seven years (2000 to 2007), but was only credited for 146 episodes. The record was later surpassed by Kate McKinnon.
  • Some hosting milestones include:

Election coverage

On September 28, SNL announced that while Kate McKinnon would return as Hillary Clinton for its parodies of the 2016 presidential election, Alec Baldwin would play the role of Donald Trump, replacing Darrell Hammond, who continues as the show's announcer.[18]

2017–2018 season
Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 43)

During the last episode of Weekend Update Summer Edition (on August 24, 2017), it was confirmed that SNL had been renewed for season 43, and would debut on September 30, 2017, with host Ryan Gosling, and musical guest Jay-Z, and concluded on May 19, 2018 with host Tina Fey and musical guest Nicki Minaj.

As was the case in the previous two seasons, this season had a cast of 16, with four African-Americans (Thompson, Jones [the only African-American female cast member of this season], Che, Redd) and one Hispanic (Villaseñor). As usual, the cast in listed in two separate groups: repertory and featured.

Due to his return for a 15th consecutive season, Kenan Thompson became the show's longest-running cast member, surpassing the previous record of 14 seasons set by Darrell Hammond.

Opening montage

The montage is exactly the same as in the previous three seasons.

Notes
  • During the week of the last episode of season 42, it was announced that Bobby Moynihan (who had been with the show since 2008), Vanessa Bayer (who has been with the show since 2010), and Sasheer Zamata (who joined SNL in early 2014), would not be returning for season 43.
  • Due to his return for a 15th consecutive season, Kenan Thompson became the show's longest-running cast member, surpassing the previous record of 14 seasons set by Darrell Hammond (who had been a cast member from 1995-2009).
  • Alec Baldwin announced in early September that he would continue his Donald Trump impersonations on the show, but noted that his busy schedule would result in such appearances occurring on a much smaller scale.
  • On September 26, it was announced that Heidi Gardner of The Groundlings, Luke Null of iO Chicago (the second cast member to have been born in the 1990s, though Pete Davidson is still the youngest cast member, as Null was born in 1990 while Davidson was born in 1993), and stand-up comedian Chris Redd from Second City would be added to the cast. Redd was originally announced as joining the cast the previous season, but did not end up doing so. On that same day, the return of the remaining cast members from Season 42 (repertory and featured) was confirmed as well.[19] It was also announced that Sam Jay, Gary Richardson, Erik Marino, Andrew Dismukes, Steven Castillo, Claire Friedman and Nimesh Patel would all join the writing team.[20]
  • With Bobby Moynihan's departure, Kenan Thompson is now the only cast member who was hired in the 2000s to still be a cast member.
  • With Vanessa Bayer's departure, Kate McKinnon is now the longest-tenured current female cast member, as she joined SNL in early 2012.
    • Also, with Moynihan's departure, McKinnon is now the second longest-tenured current cast member, after Thompson.
  • Some milestones include:
    • John Mulaney (who was a writer on SNL for 5 years: 2008-2013), came back to host this season, making him the third former SNL writer who was never a cast member to come back and host the show, after Conan O'Brien (who wrote for the show from 1988 to 1991) and Dick Ebersol-era writer Larry David (who hosted the show earlier in the season)
    • Natalie Portman came back to host SNL for the first time in over 12 years. The last time she hosted the show was during season 31 in 2006.
    • With the season finale on May 19, 2018, which featured host (and SNL former cast member) Tina Fey and musical guest Nicki Minaj, the show came full circle for the second consecutive season with a single host and solo musical guest beginning and ending the season, while it marked the seventh consecutive season finale with a solo musical guest. In fact, this season produced the most solo musical acts (16) of any one season in the series’ history.
    • Tina Fey is now the fifth former cast member to host an SNL season finale, after Dan Aykroyd, Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg, and Fred Armisen. Fey is also the first former female cast member to host a season finale, and, like Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, has hosted a season premiere, a Christmas midpoint episode, and a season finale.
    • Tina Fey's hosting the finale marked the first time a female had done so in over ten years, with the last being Lindsay Lohan at the end of season 30 in 2005.
  • For the first time in the show's history, every episode aired this season has had at least one cameo appearance by a celebrity (be it live or pre-filmed).
  • On August 15, 2018, it was announced that Luke Null would not be returning for the show's 44th season.[21]

2018–2019 season
Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 44)

Prior to the premiere of the 44th season of Saturday Night Live, Ego Nwodim was announced as a new featured player for the show.[22] The season premiered on September 29, 2018 with host Adam Driver and musical guest Kanye West, and concluded on May 18, 2019, with host Paul Rudd and musical guest DJ Khaled.

For the fourth straight season, there are 16 cast members, with five African-Americans (Che, Jones, Nwodim, Redd, Thompson) and one Hispanic (Villaseñor). As always, the cast is listed in two separate groups: repertory and featured.

Opening montage

The intro changed this season, after having been the same for the past four seasons. It featured black and white video which showed each cast members' whereabouts through New York City, which changed to color and a freeze frame over which the names of each cast member would appear in white text with a color background. The SNL logo that debuted in 2014 remained and the theme music is a rearrangement of the 2014 theme. Also, the host and musical guest portions are the same as in the past two seasons, in which they are live short video clips.

Notes
  • On August 15, 2018, it was announced that featured player Luke Null would not be returning after just one season.
  • The entire cast of the previous season minus Null returned to the show, with Mikey Day, Alex Moffat and Melissa Villaseñor being promoted to repertory status. Guest star Alec Baldwin also reprised his role as U.S. President Donald Trump.
  • The show hired actress and Upright Citizens Brigade alum Ego Nwodim as a new featured player. Nwodim is the seventh African-American female cast member in the show's history, the third hired in the last five years, the second one to be born in the 1980s (after former cast member Sasheer Zamata; Nwodim was born in 1988), and the youngest female cast member currently in the cast (she was born six months after Villaseñor).
  • Michael Che, Colin Jost and Kent Sublette continued as co-head writers while Bryan Tucker had stepped down to become a senior writer. In addition, four new writers had been added to the writing staff: Alison Gates, Alan Linic, Eli Coyote Mandel and Bowen Yang (who appeared on the Sandra Oh episode as Kim Jong-Un in a sketch where Beck Bennett's Vladimir Putin worries about his influence over his country now that the Mueller Report states that Trump did not collude with Russia over the 2016 election).
  • Some milestones this season included:
    • Jonah Hill became the latest member of the Five-Timers Club.
    • Steve Carell came back to host for the first time in over 10 years. The last time was the season 33 finale in 2008.
    • Jason Momoa is now the second Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian celebrity to host after Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
    • Matt Damon came back to host for the first time in over 16 years. The last time was the season 28 premiere in 2002.
    • John Mulaney became the second SNL writer who worked under Lorne Michaels and was never hired as a cast member to come back and host (after Conan O'Brien). Mulaney is also the second SNL writer who was never hired as a cast member to host more than once (joining short-lived Dick Ebersol writer Larry David).
    • Awkwafina became the second Asian-American female to host SNL in over 18 years. The first host was Lucy Liu in 2000 (coincidentally, Awkwafina mentioned in her monologue that the Lucy Liu episode inspired her to one day be famous enough to host SNL).
      • Sandra Oh became the third Asian female (joining Lucy Liu and Awkwafina), the first Asian-Canadian to host SNL (though, as mentioned in the monologue, Oh recently obtained American citizenship), the fourth East Asian overall (following Jackie Chan, Liu and Awkwafina), and, if one were to count Middle Eastern and Southeastern Asian countries, the eighth Asian overall (joining Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Fred Armisen, Aziz Ansari, Gal Gadot, Kumail Nanjiani, and Awkwafina).
      • Oh's hosting also marked the first time in SNL history that two Asian females have hosted separate episodes within the same season.
    • BTS was the first K-Pop band to be a musical guest on SNL and the first East Asian musical guests.
    • Adam Sandler became the latest SNL cast member to come back and host. Sandler is also tied with Dan Aykroyd for longest gap between leaving Saturday Night Live as a cast member and coming back to host an episode at roughly 24 years (Aykroyd left the show in 1979 and came back to host in 2003 while Sandler was fired from the show in 1995 and returned to host in 2019). It should also be noted that both Dan Aykroyd and Adam Sandler made cameo appearances on various episodes (including anniversary specials) before returning to host.
    • This is the third consecutive year a season came full circle, beginning and ending with a host and solo musical guest, and was the eighth consecutive season the final episode of the season featured a host and solo musical guest, although the finale's musical guest, DJ Khaled, was joined in all his performances by guest artists.
    • This season featured the second-highest number of solo musical acts in one season (15), one show shy of tying last year's record of 16.
    • This season had the fewest former cast members who have come back to host, with only two (Seth Meyers and Adam Sandler) who did so. That said, a fair number of former cast members cameoed in sketches throughout the season's run.
  • As of May 4, 2019, Kate McKinnon has surpassed her former SNL castmate Vanessa Bayer as the longest serving female cast member in history, as this was Kate's 150th episode as a cast member. As of April 2020, she has been a cast member for 169 episodes.
  • Despite mounting rumors that this would be the last season for Kenan Thompson,[23] Thompson insisted he would not be leaving SNL anytime soon.[24]
  • It was also reported that Kate McKinnon, whose contract is expiring, may have been eyeing her own SNL exit.[25] However, it was announced that she would be returning for the 45th season, having renegotiated her contract.[26]
  • On August 27, 2019, it was also announced that Leslie Jones would not return to SNL for the next season, after having been a cast member since the 40th season.[26]

bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor

2019–2020 season
Main article: Saturday Night Live (season 45)

The 45th season of Saturday Night Live premiered on September 28, 2019 with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Billie Eilish, and concluded on May 9, 2020 with host Kristen Wiig and musical guest Boyz II Men.

On August 27, 2019, NBC announced that Leslie Jones would not be returning to SNL after five years, in favor of focusing on her movie career and other projects coming up. It was also announced that Kate McKinnon would be returning for her eighth full season on SNL.[27]

On September 12, 2019, NBC also confirmed the hiring of three new featured players: Bowen Yang, previously a staff writer for the show who appeared on last season's episode hosted by Sandra Oh as Kim Jong-Un; Chloe Fineman, both a regular performing at the Groundlings and a New Face at the 2018 "Just for Laughs" Festival in Montreal; and Shane Gillis, a stand-up comedian who was recognized as a New Face at the 2019 "Just for Laughs" Festival. However, almost immediately, Gillis' hiring was met with backlash after video clips of him making racially and sexually offensive remarks (including anti-Asian slurs against 2020 election hopeful Andrew Yang) had surfaced, and he was subsequently fired just four days later, less than two weeks before the season began.[28]

On September 24, 2019, it was confirmed that featured players Heidi Gardner and Chris Redd would be upgraded to repertory status this season.[29]

This season has 17 cast members (which is one shy of the 17th season [1991-1992] for the most number of cast members in a season), with four African-Americans (Thompson, Che, Redd, Nwodim), one Latina-American (Villaseñor) and one Asian-American (Yang).

On March 16, 2020, the season was indefinitely halted due to the Coronavirus outbreak. The show returned with a SNL at Home Special on April 11, 2020. Hosted by Tom Hanks and musical guest Chris Martin.

Opening montage

The intro is the exact same as in the previous season, except there's an "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE 45" or "SNL 45" title card to celebrate the show's 45th anniversary. Also, the shot of the couple making out is replaced by a shot of a traffic light that flashes purple (stop), then blue (go), the cast card for Leslie Jones is gone (as Jones is no longer on the show), and the ones for new cast members Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman were added in, and the background for the host/musical guest clips were completely white, until the Scarlett Johansson/Niall Horan episode, when the background is now completely black, like the previous season.

For the Saturday Night Live at Home episodes, the opening montage was adjusted to show scenes of each cast member at their homes.

Notes
  • With the departure of Leslie Jones (b. 1967) from the show, Kenan Thompson (b. 1978) became the oldest current cast member. Because of this, the show has come full-circle in the demographic changes to the cast. In 2003, Thompson was then the show's youngest cast member (being 25 years old at the time) and was, at that time, the first cast member to have been born after SNL's 1975 premiere. Also, with Jones' departure, this will be the first full season of the show in which all the cast members have birth dates after Saturday Night Live's premiere in 1975.
  • Bowen Yang is now the fourth Asian cast member hired (after Rob Schneider, Fred Armisen, and Nasim Pedrad), the third male Asian cast member hired, the first full-blooded East Asian-American cast member (the East-Asian cast members the show has had before were part-Asian. Rob Schneider is Filipino and Jewish-American while Fred Armisen is German, Korean, and Venezuelan), and the first one to be Chinese.
    • Yang is also the third gay male cast member after Terry Sweeney (from the 1985-1986 cast) and John Milhiser (from the 2013-2014 cast), the sixth homosexual cast member hired (joining Denny Dillon[30], Terry Sweeney, Danitra Vance, John Milhiser, and Kate McKinnon), the second homosexual person of color after Danitra Vance, the first homosexual male of color, and the first East Asian male homosexual.
    • With Yang hired and McKinnon still on the show, this is the third time in SNL history that a homosexual male and a lesbian cast member appeared at the same time (the first two times were in 1985 with Sweeney and Vance and in 2013 with McKinnon and Milhiser).
    • Yang (born 1990) is also the third cast member to have been born in the 1990s, after Pete Davidson (born 1993) and former cast member Luke Null (who, like Yang, was also born in 1990).
    • Yang is also the seventh cast member to be born outside of North America (Yang was born in Queensland, Australia before his family moved to Quebec and then Colorado), joining Tony Rosato (who was born in Italy before his family emigrated to Canada), Pamela Stephenson (born in New Zealand and now has Australian citizenship), Morwenna Banks (who was born in England), Horatio Sanz (who was born in Chile), Nasim Pedrad (who was born in Iran) and Sasheer Zamata (who was born in Japan), and the second after Zamata to be born in another country, but not be a native to that country (Zamata was born in Japan because her father was in the military and he and his wife moved around).
  • Chloe Fineman (born July 20, 1988) is the new youngest female member of the current cast, as she was born four months and ten days after Ego Nwodim (born March 10, 1988), though Nwodim is still currently the youngest African-American cast member overall (beating out Chris Redd, who was born March 25, 1985) and the youngest African-American female overall (beating out former cast member Sasheer Zamata).
  • The hiring of Shane Gillis was met with online backlash after videos and podcast clips resurfaced of him making racist, sexist, Islamophobic, and homophobic remarks. Because of this (and Gillis trying to defend his use of those words and not apologizing for any of it), Gillis was let go before the start of the season, making him the second cast member after Emily Prager to be hired as a cast member, but not appear in an episode and the second after Catherine O'Hara to be hired on the show and immediately let go (though O'Hara quit before she appeared on SNL whereas Gillis was fired).
  • After being featured players for two years, Heidi Gardner and Chris Redd were upgraded to repertory status.[29]
  • Some milestones this season include:
    • Billie Eilish became the youngest season premiere musical guest (at age 17) and the first celebrity born in the 2000s to appear on SNL.
    • On November 23, 2019, Will Ferrell hosted SNL for the fifth time, becoming the fourth former cast member to enter the Five-Timers Club after Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Tina Fey.
    • For the first time in several years, Ferrell's Five-Timer's milestone was neither acknowledged on-screen or marked in any special way (though when they showed his picture as the host of the episode in the opening credits, he was in a leather chair, smoking a pipe with a robe that says "5" on it, meaning that his induction into The Five-Timers' Club was at least acknowledged, even if there was no sketch about it).
    • Also, on November 23, 2019, Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che became the longest-running iteration of Update with 112 shows and counting, surpassing Weekend Update with Dennis Miller, which had 111 installments between 1985 and 1991.
    • Former cast member Eddie Murphy hosted on December 21, 2019, his first time hosting in 35 years, breaking the record for longest span of time between solo hosting appearances, set by Jeff Bridges in 2010 at 27 years.[31] Murphy also surpasses Mick Jagger's 34-year span between hosting appearances, who hosted with The Rolling Stones in 1978 and as a solo host in 2012. Murphy last hosted the show in December 1984 during the show's tenth season (which, coincidentally, was a Christmas episode), though he did make an appearance on SNL's 40th anniversary special. Murphy is the third cast member, after Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Martin Short, from Dick Ebersol's tenure as showrunner to host an episode under Lorne Michaels' tenure. Murphy is also the first and only African-American from that era to host, as well as the first Jean Doumanian-era cast member to host a Lorne Michaels episode, making Murphy one of five cast members (joining Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, and fellow Jean Doumanian cast members Denny Dillon and Yvonne Hudson) who appeared on the show in some capacity (whether as a host, a cast member, or in a cameo appearance) under all three showrunners (Lorne Michaels, Jean Doumanian, and Dick Ebersol).
    • As of January 26, 2020, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong are the first female cast members to have officially been on the show for eight full seasons. Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph left during what would've been considered their eighth full season, as they both left mid-season, during different times.
    • RuPaul became the first drag queen to host on February 8, 2020.
  • As mentioned in his monologue, John Mulaney's third time hosting (on February 29, 2020) marked the first time SNL has ever aired on a leap day.
    • Mulaney is also, as of his third time hosting, the most frequent former SNL writer (who was never hired as a cast member) the show, beating Larry David.
  • On March 16, 2020, the season was put on hold indefinitely due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which resulted in the postponement of an episode originally planned to air on March 28 (which would have been hosted by John Krasinski, with musical guest Dua Lipa). Two additional episodes which were scheduled to air during the first two Saturdays in April, and which had hosts and musical guests booked (but not publicly announced) were canceled as well.
    • This is the first time since season 33 that a season of the show has been put on hold. The last time was due to the 2007-08 Writers' Strike.
    • This will also be the first time since season 33 for which SNL had less than the standard 20-22 episodes that have been typical in recent years. The season concluded on May 9 with a total of 18 episodes.
    • The other 8 seasons which had less than the standard number of episodes are seasons 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 24, 31, and 33 (though this is the first season to be cut short due to a global crisis. The previous seasons listed were cut short due to writers' strikes and the show's budget being cut, or, in the infamous case of seasons six and eleven, because of network intervention over the show's quality).
    • This also breaks a seven-season streak of 21 episoded-seasons in a row.
    • For the first time since 2010, the season ended with a group (in this case Boyz II Men) as musical guest
  • The season returned on April 11, 2020, in a new format called Saturday Night Live at Home, where the cast members upload low-budget sketch videos they created themselves.
  • Kristen Wiig is now the sixth and latest former cast member to have hosted the season finale, after Dan Aykroyd, Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg, Fred Armisen and Tina Fey.
  • Also Wiig is the second former female cast member to host a season finale, after Fey.

Future seasons

Although NBC has not officially renewed Saturday Night Live for any subsequent seasons beyond season 50, the show is considered continually renewed by NBC until further notice due to its status as a cultural icon.

References
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  2. McLaughlin, Seth (October 20, 2015). "Rep. Luis Gutierrez calls on NBC to dump Trump from SNL". The Washington Times. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  3. Pallotta, Frank (October 14, 2015). "Donald Trump's 'SNL' stint could put FCC's 'equal-time' rule in play". CNNMoney. Time Warner. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  4. Saturday Night Live (November 14, 2015). "SNL Paris Opening - SNL". Retrieved April 23, 2017 – via YouTube.
  5. "Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to co-host 'SNL'". EW.com. November 17, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  6. services, Tribune news (September 11, 2016). "Fey, Poehler share creative arts Emmy gold as 'SNL' hosts". ChicagoTribune.com. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  7. "SNL Archives - Episodes - 03.07.2015 #1". SNLArchives.net. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  8. Piwowarski, Allison. "Which 'Saturday Night Live' Cast Members Should Play Presidential Candidates? Season 41 Has The Perfect Picks". Bustle.com. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  9. "SNL Has Chosen Who Will Play Donald Trump In Season 41". CinemaBlend.com. September 20, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  10. "SNL Wanted Jimmy Fallon to Take Over Trump From Taran Killam". ScreenCrush.com. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  11. "SNL Archives - Episodes - 01.16.2016 #1". SNLArchives.net. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  12. Wilstein, Matt (January 25, 2016). "Why 'SNL' Can't Quit Darrell Hammond, Its Best Donald Trump Impersonator". TheDailyBeast.com. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  13. "SNL Archives - Episodes - 01.23.2016 #1". SNLArchives.net. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  14. "SNL Archives - Episodes - 02.06.2016 #1". SNLArchives.net. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  15. "'Saturday Night Live' Will Cut Ads by 30% Next Season". AdAge.com. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  16. Maglio, Tony (June 24, 2016). "Lorne Michaels Mulling 'SNL' Cast; 'Weekend Update' Stays". The Wrap. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  17. "Saturday Night Live Cast - NBC.com". NBC.com. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  18. "Instagram post by Saturday Night Live - SNL • Sep 28, 2016 at 7:46pm UTC". Instagram.com. September 28, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  19. This link verifies that information.
  20. Andreeva, Nellie (September 26, 2017). "'Saturday Night Live' Taps Heidi Gardner, Luke Null & Chris Redd As New Cast Members, Adds 7 Writers For Season 43". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  21. https://www.vulture.com/amp/2018/08/luke-null-will-not-return-to-saturday-night-live-next-season.html
  22. Ego Nwodim Joins ‘Saturday Night Live’, Variety, 21 September 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  23. See this story for details.
  24. Kenan Thompson Insists He's Not Leaving SNL Despite New Show, Vulture, 4 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  25. Kate McKinnon Could Be Leaving Saturday Night Live, Page Six, 30 April 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  26. Leslie Jones Will Not Return to SNL for Season 45, Vulture, 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  27. Michael Ausiello, SNL Shocker: Leslie Jones Is Leaving, Kate McKinnon Is Staying. TV Line. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  28. 'SNL' fires Shane Gillis over racist comments, four days after hiring him, USA Today, 16 September 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  29. Andreeva, Nellie (September 24, 2019). "'SNL' Promotes Heidi Gardner & Chris Redd To Full Cast Members". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
  30. https://www.vulture.com/amp/article/denny-dillon-snl-interview.html?__twitter_impression=true
  31. "Jeff Bridges Hosts 'Saturday Night Live' December 18th". Movieweb. 2010-10-27. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
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