Saturday Night Live season 50 is officially in full swing, and the live sketch comedy show has an exciting selection of hosts and musical guests planned to beckon in a half-century of comedy. Whether a seasoned comedian, legendary actor, or rising artist takes the stage on Saturday night, the NBC series has delivered some of the biggest names in show business for five decades straight and is one of the longest-running TV shows ever. SNL‘s sketch comedy has grappled with cultural change and current events for decades, and SNL season 50 will undoubtedly continue to deliver comic relief.
SNL season 50 already promises some big names, and there’s something for everyone to look forward to as it starts. SNL‘s anniversary season already featured The Lonely Island’s return to SNL after six years and the return of Nate Bargatze’s General George Washington. The anniversary season of SNL will surely welcome the return of many more seasoned Saturday Night Live hosts and alums to celebrate. If you’re just in it for the music, SNL season 50 also forecasts an exciting collection of legendary musical guests to break up a late night of sketch comedy.
Ariana Grande (Host) & Stevie Nicks (Musical Guest)
Season 50, Episode 3
Ariana Grande will return to host SNL season 50, episode 3, on October 12. Her appearance marks her second time on SNL this year after featuring as the musical guest on March 9. Grande will feature ahead of Wicked: Part One, coming November 22, wherein Grande stars as Galina, and it will be Grande’s second time hosting SNL. She made her hosting debut doing double duty as host and musical guest on March 12, 2016. Her first SNL appearance was as a musical guest on September 27, 2014.
|
Arianna Grande’s SNL Appearances |
Role |
|---|---|
|
SNL season 40, episode 1 |
Musical Guest |
|
SNL season 41, episode 15 |
Host & Musical Guest |
|
SNL season 49, episode 14 |
Musical Guest |
|
SNL season 50, episode 3 |
Host |
It will be Grande’s first time on SNL solely to host. Stevie Nicks will join Grande as the musical guest, returning for the first time in over 30 years. The legendary Fleetwood Mac star first appeared on the show in 1983 after launching her solo career.
Michael Keaton (Host) & Billie Eilish (Musical Guest)
Season 50, Episode 4
Michael Keaton will return to host the Halloween episode of SNL season 50 on October 19 following the release of Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sequel. Keaton’s appearance marks the fourth time the actor will host SNL and his fifth time on the show overall. Keaton is best known for his roles as Bruce Wayne in Batman (1989), Riggan in Birdman (2014), and Walter Robinson in Spotlight (2015), among countless other movies, including the first installment of Beetlejuice in 1988.
Michael Keaton has been impersonated twice on
SNL,
once by Matthew Perry during a “Celebrity Jeopardy” sketch and by Taran Killam during the “You’re A Rat Bastard, Charlie Brown” filmed commercial sketch.
Billie Eilish will join Keaton as the musical guest, returning to SNL less than one year after her December 2023 performance of Barbie‘s “What Was I Made For?” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Eilish first appeared as a musical guest on SNL on September 28, 2019. She followed her debut by doing double duty as host and guest in the September 11, 2021, episode.
John Mulaney (Host) & Chappell Roan (Musical Guest)
Season 50, Episode 5
Former SNL writer John Mulaney will return to host season 50, episode 5, on November 2. Mulaney was an SNL writer from 2008 to 2013, perhaps best known for his contributions to Bill Hader’s Stefon character. Since his writing stint, Mulaney has returned to SNL to host five times, making him a part of the Saturday Night Live Five-Timers Club. The show will be his sixth time hosting, airing just before the 60th presidential election.
SNL season 50, episode 5, will feature Chappell Roan as the musical guest. Roan is a rising female pop star disrupting the music industry with her campy 1980s synth-pop beats, reminiscent of early 2000s hits and considered LGBTQ+ anthems. Her November 2 performance will be her SNL debut.
SNL Season 50’s Previous Hosts & Musical Guests
Saturday Night Live Season 50 Has Had Some Big Names
Jean Smart (Host) & Jelly Roll (Musical Guest): Jean Smart appeared in the opening episode of SNL season 50 on September 28, 2024. Smart is known for her stint as Deborah Vance in Hacks, and her costar, Hannah Einbinder, joined Smart to announce the musical act Jelly Roll. Einbinder is the daughter of female SNL cast member Laraine Newman.
Nate Bargatze (Host) & Coldplay (Musical Guest): Clean comedian Nate Bargatze returned to host Saturday Night Live on October 5, 2024, after his hosting debut in 2023. The Nashville comedian reprised his famous “Washington’s Dream” sketch with Bargatze’s “Washington’s Dream 2” sequel, and Coldplay joined the comedian as the musical guest.
The longest-running sketch-comedy/satire show on television, premiering in 1975, Saturday Night Live is a weekly series that features new hosts for each episode, with a core cast of actors and comedians that rotate over time. Episodes feature several skits that are sometimes ad-libbed on the fly, with the hosts engaging in most of them, and also provide musical guest performances that cap off each night.
- Release Date
- October 11, 1975
- Showrunner
- Lorne Michaels