Saturday Night Live officially qualifies for its AARP card, as the sketch comedy show begins its 50th season on TV.
There's a lot going on to celebrate Saturday Night Live season 50 — the network has already announced a weekend-long celebration culminating in a three-hour special airing in February 2025, with more expected throughout the season. Outside of NBC's plans, Saturday Night, a new movie from Jason Reitman looks back at the making of the very first Saturday Night Live episode.
Even with all the celebration, we can expect much of what has made SNL such a staple for 50 years: funny sketches; fun hosts, musical performances and guest appearances; and a talented cast giving it their all. Here's everything you need to know about Saturday Night Live season 50.
Saturday Night Live season 50 next episode
The final Saturday Night Live of 2024 airs on December 21 (don't worry, the show will be back in early 2025).
SNL airs live on NBC across the country at 11:30 pm ET/8:30 pm PT. To watch on your local NBC station you need to have a traditional pay-TV set up, a TV antenna or a live TV streaming service that carries NBC, which includes Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. The show also streams live on Peacock (and then on-demand) if you've cut the cord from traditional services but still want to tune in.
Saturday Night Live season 50 hosts
Martin Short is hosting the December 21 episodes of Saturday Night Live with musical guest Hozier.
Watch the promo clips for this week's episode right here:
Saturday Night Live season 50 cast
Based on reports of additions and departures, here is who appears to be part of the official cast for Saturday Night Live season 50:
- Michael Che
- Mikey Day
- Andrew Dismukes
- Chloe Fineman
- Heidi Gardner
- Marcello Hernandez
- James Austin Johnson
- Colin Jost
- Michael Longfellow
- Ego Nwodim
- Ashley Padilla
- Sarah Sherman
- Kenan Thompson
- Emil Wakim
- Devon Walker
- Jane Wickline
- Bowen Yang
Padilla, Wakim and Wickline are all new additions to the cast. Padilla is from San Francisco and has been a member of the Groundlings Main Company since 2021. Wakim is a stand-up and writer who was selected as the "New Face of Comedy" at the 2022 Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. Wickline was a cast member of TikTok's live Stapleview show as well as performs sketch comedy on tour.
Former SNL cast member Maya Rudolph will return to the show to portray Vice President Kamala Harris, now the expected Democratic nominee for president, ahead of this year's presidential election, according to multiple reports.
There were also some cast exits ahead of the season. First, Punkie Johnson exited the show after four seasons; sharing the news on Instagram. Molly Kearney also announced they were exiting the show on Instagram; Kearny was a cast member for two seasons. Chloe Troast, who made her debut on SNL last season, also announced that she would not be part of season 50.
