The ever-iconicSaturday Night Livehas officially entered its landmark 50th season. Created byLorne Michaels, the late-night sketch comedy show has been airing on NBC since 1975, with the inaugural episode hosted by stand-up legendGeorge Carlin, which was portrayed inJason Reitman’sSaturday Night, which is now streaming on Netflix. The series has received a whopping 84 Emmy wins,the most out of any other television show in history, and has been hailed by many as one of the greatest TV shows of all time. The series is headlined by a supremely talented ensemble of comic performers, a host (often there to promote a new project), a musical guest, and numerous cameos.
Saturday Night Livehas helped skyrocket the careers of some of the biggest names in film and television, includingJohn Belushi,Bill Murray,Dan Aykroyd,Chevy Chase,Eddie Murphy,Julia Louis-Dreyfus,Billy Crystal,Martin Short,Dana Carvey,Phil Hartman,Chris Rock,Mike Myers,Chris Farley,David Spade,Adam Sandler,Norm Macdonald,Molly Shannon,Will Ferrell,Tracy Morgan,Jimmy Fallon,Tina Fey,Maya Rudolph,Amy Poehler,Seth Meyers,Will Forte,Fred Armisen,Andy Samberg,Kristen Wiig,Bill Hader,Jason Sudeikis,Kate McKinnon,Leslie Jones,Kyle Mooney, andPete Davidson; and that’s just to name a few. The sketch show has even branched out of television and has turned some of its fan-favorite sketches into feature films, such asWayne’s World,The Blues Brothers,Coneheads,MacGruber, andPlease Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain.
Who Hosted ‘SNL’ Last Week?
Last week’s episode ofSNLwas hosted by Emmy Award nomineeWalton Goggins, making his long-awaited Studio 8H debut.
Goggins is coming off an incredible hot streak of television roles. This year alone, he helped headline HBO’s Sunday night programming block with his role as Rick Hatchett inThe White LotusSeason 3, and he reprised his role as the cocaine and Jesus-loving Baby Billy Freeman in the fourth and final season ofThe Righteous Gemstones. He also reprised his voice role as Cecil Stedman in the third season of Prime Video’s animated superhero seriesInvincible.
Goggins' small-screen dominance doesn’t just stop there; last year, he starred as The Ghoul in Prime Video’s mega-hit seriesFallout, based on the popular video game series from Bethesda Softworks. Just this past week, it was announcedthat filming had wrapped for Season 2 of the series. For his role in Season 1, Goggins received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
Goggins' other television roles include playing Detective Shane Vendrell onThe Shield, Boyd Crowder onJustified(for which he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series), Venus Van Dam onSons of Anarchy, Lee Russell onVice Principals, Wade Felton onThe Unicorn, The Hero onI’m a Virgo, and Earl ‘Peanutt’ Montgomery onGeorge & Tammy.
Goggins has also appeared in a number of films, including working withQuentin TarantinoonDjango UnchainedandThe Hateful Eight, and withSteven SpielbergonLincoln. Other notable films that Goggins has been a part of includeTomb Raider,Ant-Man and the Wasp,Maze Runner: The Death Cure,Predators, andThem That Follow.
So far, the Season 50 host lineup has includedHacks’Jean Smart,stand-up comedianNate Bargatze,Wicked’sAriana Grande,Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’sMichael Keaton, stand-up comedianJohn Mulaney, stand-up comedianBill Burr, pop superstarCharli XCX,Gladiator II’sPaul Mescal, former cast-memberChris Rock,Only Murders in the Building’sMartin Short, stand-up comedianDave Chappelle,A Complete Unknown’sTimothée Chalamet,Tires’Shane Gillis, Grammy winnerLady Gaga,Anora’sMikey Madison,A Minecraft Movie’sJack Black,Your Friends and Neighbors’Jon Hamm, andAbbott Elementary’sQuinta Brunson.
What Were the Sketches on Last Week’s ‘SNL’?
As was the case with most episodes ofSNL, the cold open didn’t feature the host, but instead focused onJames Austin Johnson’s scarily accurate impersonation of Donald Trump, in a sketch timed to Mother’s Day. Former cast memberCecily Strongmakes a surprise appearance in the sketch.
Goggins' opening monologue features the actor reading off headlines about his sex appeal, as well as talking about his character, Rick’s, death on The White Lotus Season 3. Goggins also revealed that his mother,Janet Long, was in the audience, inviting her on stage to dance with him.
The live-taped sketches of the night consisted of “The Second Amendment,” “Mother’s Day Brunch,” “Service Dogs,” and “The Deathly Diner.”
The first of the two pre-recorded sketches was “Tiny Baby Shoe,” which featured a surprise guest appearance from Academy Award winner Sam Rockwell, who recently starred alongside Goggins inThe White LotusSeason 3. The second pre-recorded sketch was a “Midnight Matinee” of a fake movie called “Boss’s Bathroom.”
Who Was the Musical Guest on Last Week’s ‘SNL’?
Grammy Award-winning indie rock bandArcade Firewas the musical guest for this week’s episode ofSNL. This marked the band’s sixth time as the musical guest on the show (seventh if you count their surprise appearance on a Season 37 episode), after performing on Season 32, Season 36, Season 37, Season 43, and Season 47.
The band has recently released their seventh studio album,Pink Elephant, their first after the band’s frontman,Win Butler, was accused of sexual misconduct in 2022. The band’s previous albums includeFuneralin 2004,Neon Biblein 2007,The Suburbsin 2010,Reflektorin 2013,Everything Nowin 2017, andWein 2022.
The band performed two songs on the episode, “Pink Elephant” and “Year of the Snake.”
The musical guest lineup has includedJelly Roll,Coldplay,Stevie Nicks,Billie Eilish,Chappell Roan,Mk.gee, Charli XCX,Shaboozey,Gracie Abrams,Hozier,GloRilla, Timothée Chalamet,Tate McRae, Lady Gaga,Morgan Wallen,Elton John&Brandi Carlile,Lizzo, andBenson Boone.
Who Is in the Current Cast of ‘SNL’?
As with any long-running television program, the cast of Saturday Night Live has radically changed through the years. Credited as “repertory players” for Season 50 areMikey Day,Andrew Dismukes,Chloe Fineman,Heidi Gardner,Marcello Hernandez,James Austin Johnson,Michael Longfellow,Ego Nwodim,Sarah Sherman,Kenan Thompson,Devon Walker,Bowen Yang, and Weekend Update anchorsMichael CheandColin Jost.
Featured players this season include newcomersAshley Padilla,Emil Wakim, andJane Wickline. Staff writersMartin Herlihy,Ben Marshall, andJohn Higgins, known as the comedy trioPlease Don’t Destroy, also appear in digital videos that appear in nearly every episode and often feature the host interacting with the three young comedians.
Who Is Hosting the Next Episode of ‘SNL’?
There is only one episode left ofSNL’s 50th season, and we already know who will be hosting it.
