Who’s ready for Lorne Michaels to throw another big birthday bash? 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.” Now that we’re about halfway through the season, what else is in store? And how much of it will be Domingo? Below, the latest updates, including the trailer for the upcoming documentary series about the show, an Emmy-worthy lineup of hosts and musical guests, a primetime special, and a docuseries.
An SNL50 docuseries?
For the nerds among us (and anybody reading this fits that bill), the centerpiece of SNL’s birthday celebration will be the upcoming documentary series SNL 50: Behind Saturday Night. The trailer for the series debuted on January 7, and part of the fun is seeing who, exactly, sat down in the interview chair. Tina Fey? Yes, saying, “It is built on competition.” Amy Poehler? She’s there, forcing the documentarians to stop showing her old videos of herself. Lorne Michaels? Nowhere to be found. It does appear that the third episode of the series will be entirely focused on the making of the “More Cowbell” sketch. Clearly the world always needs more “More Cowbell” content.
The first episode, “Five Minutes,” focuses on the audition process; the second is “Written By: A Week Inside the SNL Writers Room”; and the fourth and final episode is just about season 11, “one of the worst” years in SNL history, appropriately subtitled “The Weird Year.” The documentary series will premiere on January 16 on Peacock.
Who’s hosting?
No hosts have yet been pinned to the bulletin board for the second half of season 50, but the first semester included SNL icons like John Mulaney, Martin Short, and Chris Rock, along with newcomers like Jean Short and Charli XCX. But the best-host award has to go to Ariana Grande, who was so good she nabbed two separate moments on Vulture’s own list of the best comedy moments of 2024.
It’s homecoming weekend, every weekend.
Many, many SNL vets are having a homecoming at Studio 8H. 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. Other folks who have been making the commute back to 30 Rock on the regular include Dana Carvey and The Lonely Island.
There were be some changes to the cast and crew.
A couple familiar faces didn’t return. 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 was 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. Chloe Troast, who joined as a featured player in 2023, didn’t return as well.
But some new cast members are joining in on the celebrations. On September 9, Emil Wakim, Ashley Padilla, and Jane Wickline were announced as the new featured players joining the cast for the 50th season.
Three new writers also RSVPed to the party; Allie Levitan, Moss Perricone, and Carl Tart were all added as writers on September 22, just a few days before the season premiere. With the new additions, three other writers have left the show; Alex English explained on August 28 on Instagram that he was not asked to return to the show after three seasons. Vannessa Jackson and Gary Richardson were both confirmed to not return this season.
We’re getting a three-hour special.
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.