Inde Navarrette’s year somehow keeps getting bigger. Obsession turned her into one of 2026’s breakout stars, here character is even headed to Halloween Horror Nights, Marvel came calling for its upcoming X-Men movie, and now she is heading to Studio 8H for her first crack at hosting Saturday Night Live, ahead of its 2026 TV Schedule premiere of its 52nd season. That would be intimidating enough before you remember she landed the Halloween episode. But the young star is taking notes from past host Taylor Swift.

Navarrette is already doing some homework. While answering questions on the red carpet, the 25-year-old actress told Entertainment Tonight in a clip shared on its official TikTok that she has been jotting down sketch ideas and looking to Taylor Swift's 2009 hosting job. In the clip below, Navarrette said she grew up watching SNL and wants to arrive with her own material, much like the Pop Star allegedly did.

That makes me even more curious about what she brings to the episode. Plenty of hosts arrive at SNL and wisely put themselves in the hands of people who write live sketch comedy every week. Navarrette sounds ready to show up with a notebook, and she has a pretty good model in mind.

The Superman & Lois alum said she heard Swift wrote her own opening when she hosted in 2009, which encouraged her to take a similarly hands-on approach. She explained:

Swift set one heck of a high bar. At 19, she hosted and served as a musical guest, then opened the show with “Monologue Song (La La La),” an original song poking fun at her own tabloid life. Seth Meyers later remembered Swift essentially arriving with the whole thing ready to go, calling it a “perfect SNL monologue.”

No pressure, Inde.

Navarrette will host the Oct. 31 episode with Gracie Abrams as musical guest, which feels almost suspiciously well timed for the star of one of this year’s biggest horror movies. NBC confirmed the Halloween booking as part of SNL’s first batch of Season 52 hosts. The writers have plenty to work with before Navarrette even opens that notebook.

Obsession gave the internet a new horror movie favorite and put its lead in a much bigger spotlight. Now she also has an upcoming Marvel movie role hanging over the episode, which means MCU jokes are practically inevitable. Throw in Halloween, and I would be shocked if she makes it through the night without fake blood or super suits being used somewhere.

Still, I like that she wants to bring ideas rather than simply waiting to see what gets handed to her Monday morning.

Swift’s 2009 episode worked because the monologue sounded unmistakably like her. She joked about Joe Jonas, Taylor Lautner and the Kanye West VMA disaster using the thing she already knew how to do better than almost anyone: write a song.

Navarrette does not need to recreate that trick. Taking the same ownership over the opportunity, though, seems like a pretty solid lesson to steal.

But ultimately, whatever she decides to do, we will have to wait and find out what made it into her memo pad when Navarrette makes her SNL hosting debut Oct. 31 on NBC, then streams for everyone with a Peacock subscription.

SNL50 marked a major moment for NBC’s landmark sketch comedy series, as it brought together actors from various eras of the show together for one night. I personally had a great time seeing so many familiar faces, including Bobby Moynihan. While Moynihan only returned briefly, he certainly made the most of his time on screen. His return to the series was quite funny but, for the star himself, it sounds like it was nerve-wracking due to the presence of series creator Lorne Michaels, Meryl Streep and more.

Moynihan appeared on Weekend Update during the anniversary, reprising his role as Drunk Uncle and mixing it up with the likes of Colin Jost and Cecily Strong. The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins co-star opened up about the experience during his recent appearance on the NCIS: Partners and Probies podcast. As seen in an Instagram clip, Moynihan recalled his nerves being elevated amid the TV special (which is streamable with a Peacock subscription) due to the presence of such A-listers, and his story is stressing me out:

I can certainly understand how that would be such an “insane” experience, and it’s wild to think that the Saturday Night Live’s creator and Streep were only a few of the A-listers present. Believe it or not, Andy Samberg previously spoke about the experience being “stressful” due to the uncertainty of whether he’d be in the special and the presence of so many stars among other factors. Veteran cast member Pete Davidson also admitted to the audience being “terrible” because it was full of famous people.

So Bobby Moynihan apparently wasn’t the only SNL alum feeling the pressure that night at Studio 8H. Moynihan joined the show in 2008 and, before he left the cast in 2017, he became a true fan favorite. As the Star Wars Resistance alum shared on the podcast, he’d returned to the show ahead of his appearance in the special in 2025, yet he still understood the gravity of the moment:

Not everything was “healed” after that evening, though, as OG cast member Chevy Chase still had beef with the creative team for not featuring him in some way. Chase’s lack of screen time was even mentioned by podcast co-host Brian Dietzen during the podcast interview. For Moynihan, he just feels grateful to have been involved at all:

I’m also grateful Bobby Moynihan received that call and that he was able to power through with so many major celebrities watching him. Let’s hope he returns to the show again at some point but, in the meantime, stream his best performances using a Peacock subscription. And look forward to Saturday Night Live’s Season 52 premiere, which hits NBC on September 26 amid the 2026 TV schedule.

The OG version of Saturday Night Live isn’t back until later this month, but the UK spinoff officially launched its second season last night with a political cold opener. The sketch took shots at new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, as well as King Charles and Queen Camilla, but the biggest laughs came at the expense of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

The much-discussed ex-Royals recently moved back to the UK and have started making public appearances again. It’s a little unclear what the pair’s long-term plan is, and SNL leaned into that uncertainty with some pretty direct shots. We got jokes about blowing their Netflix money. We got jokes about hiring staff. We got jokes about needing support from the Royal Family again. We even got jokes about Megan being proud of the fact that she made ice herself.

You can check out the buzzy sketch that’s already been watched almost a million times in its entirety below…

Of course, it would be unfair to say the above sketch was merely an excuse to roast Harry and Meghan. The two were the subject of many of the more memorable jokes, but others took plenty of shrapnel too. We got shots at King Charles and Queen Camilla’s inability to connect, their racial insensitivity and their carefree lifestyle. New British PM Andy Burnham didn’t exactly escape unscathed either. He got roasted for his meteoric rise from nowhere, his desperation to be liked and his appeal mostly being in contrast to the leaders that came before.

In only its second season, SNL UK is still working to find its footing and figure out how much it should take from its American predecessor and how much it should chart its own course. The import initially got mixed reviews during its debut season, but by the end of its short run, the buzz was starting to build. Last night’s episode appears to have continued that momentum, thanks in part to host Jeff Goldblum. The long-term goal is obviously to become intertwined with popular culture to the point where people proactively look to you for commentary, but that’s going to take a lot more than two seasons.

Regardless, SNL UK will return for the next two consecutive weeks with British comedian and actor Jamie Demetriou up first, followed by Chicken Shop Date host Amelia Dimoldenberg. Together with premiere host Jeff Goldblum, the trio are a good example of SNL’s hosting philosophy, which is to bring in all sorts of different celebrities who are able to be funny and relevant in very different ways.

As for Harry and Meghan, their future remains uncertain. The two quit the Royal Family and moved to California six years ago. A huge Netflix deal to produce content generated a lot of early momentum, but a lack of buzzy content that came from the deal, as well as some divisive media appearances, halted a lot of momentum the couple had in Hollywood. Maybe a return to the UK or even a return to a more formal role in the Royal Family will improve public perception. Regardless, you can expect SNL UK to have plenty to say about it.

Saturday Night Live has delivered quite a lot of iconic sketches with A-listers throughout its 51-season run so far, and even more are imminent when Season 52 hits the 2026 TV schedule later this month. It’s always fun to see how sketches are executed, whether pre-recorded or live, especially since you really never know what’s going to happen. Unfortunately, for the cast, it’s not always the most pleasurable experience, and both Amy Poehler and Kenan Thompson do not recommend doing a sketch while hungover.

Since SNL can take a toll on its cast with the long and late hours and all the anxiety-inducing live shows, it only makes sense for them to wind down from time to time. That’s exactly what happened with Poehler and Thompson one night back in 2005. The two recalled on Poehler’s Good Hang Podcast how they were both at a bar just hours before they had to be up for a pretty early call time:

• Amy Poehler: We went to Bungalow 8, and I was there, and all of a sudden, guess who comes in later than me, is Kenan. Kenan comes strolling in, and we had a 6 a.m. call? I probably had a 6 a.m., you maybe a little later because ladies have a lot.
• Kenan Thompson: It was first thing in the morning.
• Amy Poehler: We had to be up maybe 2 or 3 hours later to play
• Kenan Thompson: The Black Eyed Peas.

I’m sure plenty of people can relate to being at the bar or someplace and having to go into work the next day. But the fact that they only had a few hours’ of sleep and still chose to be at the bar doing who knows what is definitely interesting. Not to mention the fact that they were playing The Black Eyed Peas, so they had to be all energetic to do so. And as if playing The Black Eyed Peas was any indication, the sketch itself called for what was probably the opposite of the hangover cure:

• Kenan Thompson: Back then, those shoots used to be 10,000 miles away.
• Amy Poehler: I had not slept. You had not slept. Who else was in it?
• Kenan Thompson: I want to say [Will] Forte. I just remember Forte, like, laying on a very hard floor.
• Amy Poehler: They stopped traffic in the middle of a New Jersey highway.
• Kenan Thompson: Yeah, for us to pretend to be The Black Eyed Peas.

I can’t imagine not only having to go into work hungover and getting no sleep, but having to be The Black Eyed Peas so early in the morning in the middle of a highway. They also had to sing some of their songs, and while the sketch was definitely hilarious, knowing the story behind it is making it even better. Thompson previously talked about partying too hard with Poehler and Forte before filming the sketch, but hearing them talk about it gives me a new perspective.

There have been stories about people being drunk or high while doing Saturday Night Live, so Poehler and Thompson pulling up to film hungover is not unusual. It does take dedication and discipline to make it through filming, though, and I would have given anything to see a video of what they were like. Of course, fans can see how the sketch turned out with a Peacock subscription, Season 31, Episode 2, but I’d love to see any kind of BTS of that.

I’m sure both Thompson and Poehler learned their lesson after filming that sketch, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they still came to work slightly hungover. As long as they weren’t filming a sketch as energetic musicians in the middle of a highway early in the morning. I’m excited to see what the cast gets up to in Season 52, when the premiere episode airs on Saturday, September 26 on NBC.

Cecily Strong was hesitant to tell CinemaBlend that she preferred doing Weekend Update desk segments over traditional sketches on Saturday Night Live. However, it certainly sounds that way after hearing her thoughts on the differences between the two. As we wait for the late-night sketch comedy series to return to the 2026 TV schedule, Strong is explaining a key advantage of the news segment (and I never considered it).

Strong spoke to CinemaBlend, in collaboration with Thomas' 21-day Morning People Challenge. These days, the beloved staris someone who no longer has to spend late nights entertaining the masses via network TV. Now, her days are spent caring for her baby. However, that doesn't mean she doesn't still have a lot of thoughts about how Weekend Update has one major upside that traditional SNL sketches don't. She explained below:

SNL's hosts are a huge part of the show and, while some can surprise the cast with their willingness to play along, others are more timid about ideas and looking silly. Cecily Strong pointed out that when someone is doing a character on Weekend Update, the host usually has zero role in that. As a result of that, it's easier for the cast member to just write the role and focus on what they know works for them.

Strong has a particularly special connection to Weekend Update, having served as the bridge between Seth Meyers' final run at the desk and Colin Jost's beginning. And, of course, she's also celebrated for her various sketches from her time on the show as well as her Update characters.

Cecily Strong left Saturday Night Live in 2022, and welcomed her child into the world in 2024. Make no mistake, however, she remains active in Hollywood and will appear in the upcoming prequel for The Boys, Vought Rising. Strong wasn't able to tell CinemaBlend anything specific about her involvement in the series, but she did say to brace for everything fans have come to expect from that off-the-wall superhero franchise.

Thanks to Strong's partnership and subsequent ads with Thomas', it seems she's embracing the morning lifestyle more readily. However, I wouldn't rule her out of a one-off appearance on SNL down the road. It feels like the show always finds a time to bring in one or two former cast members for some fun during a season, and she'd be one I'd love to see pop up a few more times.

Anyone looking to take Thomas' 21-Day Challenge can visit their website and maybe even win a $50 Instacart gift card or a Morning People prize box. As for Saturday Night Live, it's set to return on September 26th, with New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson getting to open up the season after their NBA championship. In the meantime, grab a Peacock subscription and stream SNL episodes, including past seasons featuring Strong.

Has a human being ever had a better year than Jalen Brunson? The NBA star led the New York Knicks to their first NBA Championship since the early 1970s, launching an entire summer of celebrations in the city. He was also voted Finals MVP, got to appear in a well-received WWE segment as a longtime fan and continued crushing family life with his high school sweetheart wife and baby daughter. Oh and now he’s hosting Saturday Night Live.

The popular sketch comedy show dropped its first four hosts of the season in a social post this afternoon, and Brunson was tapped for the season premiere. I would say the pick is a shock, but it actually makes a ton of sense. SNL has a long history of inviting buzzy athletes and a long history of doing business with celebrities and politicians who are uniquely buzzy in New York. Brunson is both of those things, and his media appearances have shown him to be deceptively charismatic when he wants to be.

The pick will also potentially give the show a chance to show off some other celebrities and New Yorkers, as well. The most obvious choices are, of course, Brunson’s New York Knicks teammates. When Derek Jeter hosted, he brought along a few of his fellow New York Yankees, and I think there’s a strong likelihood Brunson will do the same thing with Karl Anthony Towns (who joined him in his WWE appearance), OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and maybe more. Those guys would be a huge ovation, even if it was just for a brief cameo during the monologue.

There’s also a unique chance with a Brunson hosting appearance to play into all of the celebrities who are New York Knicks superfans. Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Tracy Morgan, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Chris Rock and Larry David are all huge Knicks fans who previously worked on the show. Other supporters who regularly sit courtside like Spike Lee, Jerry Seinfeld, Taylor Swift, Timothée Chalamet, Mariska Hargitay and Fat Joe have all hosted or made cameos on the show already too. There’s definitely an opportunity here for the show to play into that and make a big splash at the same time by incorporating some of these people into a sketch with Brunson, playing off their well known fandoms.

Regardless, I’m happy for Brunson. He seems like a really genuine and relatable person, and however things go for him and the Knicks moving forward, he’ll be a beloved celebrity in the city for the rest of his life. It’s only fitting he gets his moment on the Studio 8H stage. Besides, there’s a chance he could be amazing. Athletes like Peyton Manning and Charles Barkley have been terrific during their guest stints.

Apart from Brunson, SNL has some other heaters come too. Brunson will serve as the show’s first host on September 26th, and he’ll be followed by Dakota Johnson (October 3rd), Shane Gillis (October 10th) and Inde Navarrette (October 31st). They’ll be joined by musical guests in order: Katseye, Turnstile, Rosalîa and Gracie Abrams.

Expect to get a finalized cast list, as well as more details about the next season in the coming days before it officially hits the TV schedule on September 26th.

We’re just a few weeks away from the premiere of SNL 52, and we still don’t know which cast members the show is adding or even bringing back. With the exception of Chloe Fineman, who announced her departure much earlier in the summer, it’s been crickets on the fate of every single other person. Diehard fans, including myself, are starting to get really antsy, which is probably why one brief exchange during an interview at the Minnesota State Fair had SNL fans potentially overreacting this weekend.

Featured Player Tommy Brennan, who joined the SNL cast last season, stopped by The Jason Show on Saturday. For those of you who don’t live in the Twin Cities, The Jason Show is a local talk show in which Jason Matheson interviews locals and celebrities passing through the area. He’s been broadcasting from the Minnesota State Fair and had on the St Paul raised Brennan to plug his stand-up, talk crap about Wisconsin and answer questions about SNL.

During the interview, Matheson asked if he’s able to relax more now that he’s heading into his second season. Brennan said no but admitted it’s nice to understand the routine and which bathroom is the right one to poop in. The exchange was clipped and posted on social by SNL fans, some of whom took it as the comedian confirming he’s headed back to Studio 8H.

Not so fast though. I like Tommy Brennan and definitely want to see him back. With a little more time, I think he can continue to develop into a key role player and maybe more, but at no point during the interview did he actually say he was coming back. He just answered the question about becoming increasingly more comfortable. You can watch for yourself. The moment in question happens at 23:30.

I’ve been saying this for the last two or three weeks, but I’m just going to continue the refrain. This has to be the week where we start getting some official confirmations. We know SNL already held a bunch of auditions to possibly add new cast members, and the premiere is locked in to hit the TV schedule on September 26th. That means everyone involved needs to start making plans and get the wheels in motion to pull off ninety minutes of live television in a little less than three weeks. Last year, a lot of the news broke the first week of September.

I expect an overwhelming majority of the cast to return. It feels like Ashley Padilla is a potential breakout star the show can really build around, and the younger supporting pieces look like they're getting more comfortable with each appearance. Throw in some old standbys like Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day and Sarah Sherman, and there's a really good base to build from. That being said, Lorne Michaels typically likes to tinker a little here or there to keep things fresh; so, it would be a surprise to see every single person back.

On an unrelated note, if you’ve never been to the Minnesota State Fair before, it’s a delightful time. The area is really beautiful this time of year, and the people are amongst the nicest in the entire country. Throw in a ton of food options, rides and carnival games, and I cannot recommend it enough.

It’s safe to say that Kenan Thompson is easily one of the most iconic SNL members we have today. He’s definitely the star with the longest SNL tenure and, even today, he still serves as a comforting staple of the variety series. While it's been over two decades since he auditioned for the show, he can still remember the experience. Thompson recently reflected on that, and I wasn't expecting him to mention Fight Club while recalling his SNL audition.

When Thompson joined Amy Poehler on her Good Hang podcast (which is shared on YouTube), they reminisced about his audition when he was 23. Poehler brought up an “inviting” moment where the Good Burger star “zapped himself to the present” by telling himself, “Oh my God, SNL” before he began. He gave a simple explanation for the moment in a classic Thompson way. He said:

Thompson has always been one to share insight his time on the sketch comedy show, and that even includes the harrowing reason he’s been on SNL for so long. Thompson can take a simple answer involving financial stability and turn into a clever retort about the “traveling salesman” life of an actor. And that’s one reason I’ve always enjoyed watching Thompson’s perform. So I’m not surprised that he instantly stood out in his audition.

Even Poehler describes having watched his big moment, and her story is incredible. At the time, she was apparently on a private plane with SNL creator Lorne Michaels. While flying back from filming Mean Girls with Tina Fey and Lindsay Lohan, they gathered together to watch Thompson’s audition. But what Poehler remembered most was the way he used he “Oh my God, SNL” statement as a way to “secretly quiet [his] nerves.” The way Thompson described the moment as “silently putting that seatbelt on” is a lovely reminder of how quick the comedian can think on his feet. That's how his mention of Brad Pitt and Edward Norton-led cult classic came up film:

Fight Club may not have struck a chord when it was first released back in 1999, but the David Fincher-directed film has since become a cult classic. It's filled to the brim with memorable scenes, including the one featuring Brad Pitt's Tyler Durden. While that may be an unexpected reference in this context, I'm certainly not mad at it.

Also, that way of thinking obviously worked out for the former Nickelodeon star. And, clearly, he impressed more than the Mean Girls cast, as Thompson would go on to take part in some fan-favorite sketches. For example, there's the "Scared Straight" segments, which Thompson and Colin Jost concocted while sharing an office. And Thompson has continued to impress audiences with comedy gold, as was the cast with that moment when he busted out a deep cut character, Jean K Jean, after having not played him for a while.

However, just because he enjoys the stability of the skit series doesn’t mean Thompson doesn’t play outside of the long-running NBC show. He actually has a new gig outside of SNL, as he’ll be filling in as a guest judge on America’s Got Talent while Simon Cowell recovers from non-emergency back procedure. And that’s not all. The comedian has also joined Seth MacFarlane’s new Family Guy spin-off as the voice of Royal, one of Stewie’s new friends. Additionally, he can be seen in the Michael Tiddes’ Scary Movie 6.

I, for one, am glad Kenan Thompson's audition worked out, because the public would otherwise be without his vast body of work on Saturday Night Live. His journey and Fight Club reference both argue the notion that some performers should understand what they can and can't control.

Check out Thompson on SNL when Season 52 premieres on September 26 as part of the 2026 TV schedule. His various other appearances on the show can be streamed with a Peacock subscription.

Physical comedy doesn’t come easily for everyone, but Chris Farley seemed to have been crafted from a textbook. Showcased best on Saturday Night Live, Farley’s freewheeling and manic energy was also on display in Tommy Boy, Black Sheep and a handful of other features and series filmed before his untimely death at 33. Though not known for youth-skewing fare, Farley appeared on All That for one of his final TV roles, and Kenan Thompson revealed how the comedian broke one of Nickelodeon’s go-to rules for filming messy scenes.

Years before Thompson himself started his record-breaking run within the SNL cast ranks, he shared the screen with Farley in All That’s Season 3 episode “Mint Condition,” and even if the sketch wasn’t exactly the deepest idea, the experience was a core memory for Thompson. Appearing alongside his former co-star on the podcast Good Hangs with Amy Poehler via YouTube, the Good Burger star first addressed just how funny and commanding Farley was, saying:

It is quite true that I can't really see any other comedians stepping in to bring Tommy Boy's best scenes to life isntead of Chris Farley. In that he seems like the only person who could have made the "Fat Man in a Little Coat" sequence work without it being needlessly mean or weird. ("You're needlessly mean and weird." Shut up, Richard.)

For those who need a refresher on the All That segment Farley appeared in, Thompson explained the high-art concept, saying:

It's a tactic that's been addressed before by other former child actors from Nickelodeon's stable of beloved kids shows. As soon as there's a set-up to make a gigantic mess, that's apparently when everybody gets really into their job, and the push was always to make sure the on-camera splattering (be it slime, cake or otherwise) was as effective as possible.

But a performer like Chris Farley doesn't follow all the rules when he's told, and it doesn't seem like he was invested in hanging out on the All That stage for full afternoon. Because he didn't play nice when asked to go easy on the large cake being utilized for the scene. Thompson continued, with Poehler giggling in anticipation.

Simply amazing. Watching Farley in that sketch feels exactly like it sounds, as he's rolling on all cylinders and is just a boulder of energy. And knowing that he's going against the rules, advice and requests of Nickelodeon execs just makes it even funnier once he starts turning that cake into mulch.

It's always fun to hear Kenan Thompson share anecdotes from his 23 seasons on Saturday Night Live, and he shares quite a few others throughout his appearance on Good Hang. When the anecdotes have run dry, though, the new season of SNL is finally almost here.

Saturday Night Live is set to return to NBC for Season 52 on September 26, 2026, with episodes also streaming via Peacock subscription.

I’ve enjoyed the performances of quite a few Saturday Night Live cast members over the past several seasons, from breakout star Ashley Padilla to the long-serving Kenan Thompson. Someone else who deserves props for their work is James Austin Johnson, who’s become particularly famous for his impression of U.S. President Donald Trump. Considering how the imitation has taken off, Austin has now reached the point at which fans approach him in public, and I can’t get over what some of them say to him.

Austin is far from the first person to mimic Donald Trump on SNL, as the likes of Darrell Hammond and Alec Baldwin (who won an Emmy for his work on the show) have as well. I’d argue, however, that Austin’s portrayal has hit the cultural zeitgeist in an even stronger way. Anyone who needs evidence of that should listen to what Johnson shared during his recent appearance on the Downside Podcast (part of which was shared to TikTok). The comic specifically explained what it’s like meeting older fans who approach him near his home:

Honestly, a part of me can’t tell if he’s joking but, even if he’s overexaggerating, I just find this too funny. I can also easily see some older admirers coming up to the Tennessee native and sharing their takes on his depiction of POTUS. Such reactions fall in line with the praise Johnson has received for his take on Trump, which emphasizes the businessman-turned-reality TV star-turned-politician’s stream of consciousness. For an example of what Austin’s take looks like, check out this cold open from Season 51:

Despite Johnson’s humorous take on the attention, it’s fair to wonder if he’s afraid of Donald Trump. He previously answered that during an appearance at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, Johnson asserted that he had “never been afraid of anything ever.” From the A Complete Unknown actor’s vantage point, he’s “doing a version of [Trump] that I feel is sustainable.” In his recent podcast interview, he also said he didn’t believe Trump supporters felt “targeted” by his comedy due to it not being aimed at them.

Johnson is a man of many talents, though, as he's made great contributions to a number of other sketches during his tenure at SNL, which began back in 2021. What’s ironic is that as great as Johnson is as Trump, he claims the show won’t let him do his best impression: Rolling Stone editor David Fricke. Austin has been trying to pitch it for a while, it seems, and I hope his efforts are eventually successful.

More immediately, I’m looking forward to seeing James Austin Johnson back on stage at Studio 8H, where he’ll once again don the suit, prosthetics and hair piece to play the Commander-in-Chief. There’s no telling what Johnson might be called upon to do as Trump in order to keep up with the ever-flowing political landscape. Whatever the case, though, I expect the actor will continue to field responses from fans and roll with them as they come.

Saturday Night Live Season 52 premieres on NBC on September 26 amid the 2026 TV schedule. In the meantime, warm up for Johnson’s reprisal of Trump by streaming past episodes with a Peacock subscription.

Keeley Jones is an iconic Ted Lasso character, and her journey to becoming a beloved businesswoman has been wonderful to watch. Now, she’s helping spearhead AFC Richmond’s women’s team, and she really is in full boss mode in the season of the comedy airing on the 2026 TV schedule. With all that said, I was shocked to learn that Jason Sudeikis’ experience on Saturday Night Live actually helped inspire Keeley’s arc.

Now, Keeley is partially inspired by former pinup Keeley Hazell (who played Bex in Ted Lasso). But Saturday Night Live and Sudeikis’ early years in comedy informed Juno Temple’s character, too. This came up during an interview the actor who plays Ted Lasso did in 2021 with Jeremy Egner (via his book Believe). Here’s what he had to say:

In the first three seasons of Ted Lasso, which you can stream with an Apple TV subscription, we do see Keeley rise from a socialite to a powerful PR professional who helps AFC Richmond thrive. She has to break out of a box she’d been in for a long time to do that, though, and that was inspired by SNL, as Sudeikis explained:

I totally see what he’s saying. Keeley was so good at the work she did before Richmond. However, she quickly realized she had more range and wanted to pursue other paths, while also not totally abandoning the thing that made her successful in the first place.

That trajectory matches all the mega SNL stars Sudeikis mentioned, and it’s true for him too. Take Adam Sandler, who has made his fair share of comedies and dramas over the years, for example. He’s still making funny movies, like Happy Gilmore 2 and Grown Ups 3 with his pals. However, he is also acclaimed for his work in more dramatic films, like Uncut Gems, Hustle and Jay Kelly. On top of that, he’s an accomplished writer and producer.

Tina Fey is also an accomplished writer, producer and performer, and so are Mike Myers and Jason Sudeikis. They’re all versatile, and in the years since they were on SNL, they’ve helped spearhead major projects both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. To use the Horrible Bosses star’s words, they have “more to give than just jokes.”

In the case of Jason Sudeikis specifically, Saturday Night Live helped him launch a very successful career as a comedic performer. Then, after leaving SNL in 2013 and working in movies and TV for a few years, he co-created Ted Lasso, which highlights his range as a comedic and dramatic performer while also showcasing his skill as a producer and writer.

And Keeley has more to give than being an on-camera talent, which she’s proven across Ted Lasso’s run. Now, to see how she continues to help get AFC Richmond’s women’s team off the ground, you can catch new episodes of the Apple TV comedy every Wednesday.

Kenan Thompson is heading into his 24^th season of Saturday Night Live, which will soon hit the 2026 TV schedule. With that, the beloved star will continue his reign as the longest-tenured SNL cast member. While it’s hard to imagine the series without him at this point, it's likely that the time will come when Thompson decides to step down. And, when that eventually happens, I hope he launches a great next chapter that aligns with a gig he just landed.

It's been confirmed that Thompson will be a guest judge on America’s Got Talent on Tuesday night for the third Quarterfinals episode. As explained by TV Insider, this move is due to Simon Cowell temporarily stepping away from live shows amid AGT Season 21 to recover from a non-emergency back procedure. As it stands, Cowell will be back “in a few weeks,” as his rep shared in a statement. In the meantime, though, I'm excited over the decision to have Thompson step in.

For the former Nickelodeon star, this may be the gig he could do permanently when he eventually leaves SNL. Or, at the very least, he could do something similar on that level. He also has the experience, as he's filled in for Cowell before on AGT. Not only that, but Thompson was also a guest judge on The Masked Singer and a judge for Bring the Funny in 2019. Thompson's magnetic personality and jovial demeanor make him perfect for these kinds of shows. So it's very easy for me to see him regularly hosting or judging some sort of reality series in the future.

Considering Thompson has been on Saturday Night Live for a long time, it’s hard to tell how much longer he’s willing to stay. Earlier this summer, he shared the harrowing reason why he’s still on SNL, and he chalks it up to his desire to ensure he has steady work. That's because there have been times in his life where his bank account has in the negative range. With all that in mind, it's understandable as to why the father of two would want the job stability.

Thompson has already thought about what his final day at SNL will be like, and I hope that it’s not anytime soon. While he acknowledged that there would be so many "layers" to it, he simply declared that the day was "gonna suck."

On that note, SNL has seen a handful of exits in the last year, both before and during Season 51. And, ahead of Season 52, veteran cast member Chloe Fineman has already exited the show. As of now, it’s unknown if anyone else will depart before the new season starts. I would hope that whenever Thompson does step away, an announcement will come well ahead of his final taping. I'll be sad when that happens, but I'd imagine it'll be quite a send-off.

Before Kenan Thompson returns to SNL, see him as a guest judge on America’s Got Talent this Tuesday, September 1, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Who knows? Maybe this could be a glimpse of Thompson's post-SNL career and, if it is, I think viewers will be all the better for it.

The Saturday Night Live audition process is infamous; many well-known comedians have tried and been rejected by SNL during it. Meanwhile, some of those who do make the cast have horror stories about what it was like. Jeremy Culhane – who became one of my favorite new stars of the sketch comedy show thanks to his Tucker Carlson impression and his Weekend Update character, Mr. On Blast – has a doozy of an audition story, and he told it to Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney.

Culhane, who joined the SNL cast during Season 51 and who I have been a fan of for years thanks to Dropout, shared that he’d been sending in audition tapes “for a while,” but didn’t catch anyone’s attention until a few years ago. His TikTok is what helped him get in the room, and he said he tested for SNL for the first time in 2023. To use his own words, it went “really badly.” Here’s exactly how he explained it on What’s Our Podcast? With Beck and Kyle:

That mentality continued through tech rehearsal, because when Culhane asked if the producers would be OK with him asking for their names, people said they would be. That’s when the podcast’s hosts and SNL alums Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett visibly cringed, with Bennett commenting that he was trying to do “audience interaction in the hardest audition room ever.”

It proved to be exactly that too, because Culhane was in a room full of producers, since this happened during the 2023 writers' strike. Upon hearing that, Bennett said that made it “even worse” because “the laughers are gone.” The current SNL star agreed with that and continued his story:

Nothing was hitting, they weren’t interacting, and it was mortifying. Kyle Mooney then asked what Culhane was thinking as this happened, and the Dropout performer said:

Well, despite the room going cold, the show went on, and Culhane didn’t give up. He tried to get a crew member involved, and they were very hesitant to give him their name. Here’s how that interaction went:

Eventually, the bit ended, Culhane said he “shook it off,” and then the rest of his test went “alright.” He didn’t get the show that year. He had to go through the process again (which is a story for another time), but now he’s getting ready to head back for his second season on SNL.

So, to see Jeremy Culhane on Saturday Night Live, make sure to stay tuned to the 2026 TV schedule so you don’t miss Season 52’s premiere. In the meantime, you can stream old seasons of the iconic comedy series with a Peacock subscription.

I’ve watched hundreds of Saturday Night Live episodes, and at no point have I ever thought about the practicalities of wearing a bald cap and what that means for someone who is in multiple sketches. Well, it turns out it means a lot of pre-production planning and a series of wig changes.

The subject of bald caps came up during a recent episode of Fly On The Wall with David Spade and Dana Carvey. At first the conversation was in reference to Coneheads, but later, the two started talking more broadly about how it works on Saturday Night Live. Apparently, if a host is going to wear a bald cap at any point during the episode, they typically put it on before the show even starts. Then, the production department gives them a wig during the monologue to resemble their real hair so no one notices.

According to Spade, it’s an issue of timing. It used to take about 45 minutes to get into the bald cap, although he thinks it might be a little faster now. That’s only half the problem though. Once you’re done with the bald cap and want to take it off, your hair is a matted down mess that’s not fit for television. Since there’s no time with a live show like SNL to redo it, the plan is typically just to keep using different wigs until the closing credits, at which point you can finally take it off. That's especially true for the host who is often in most sketches, but it can also be true for cast members if they have a busy night too.

Here’s a portion of Spade’s quote talking about how it works…

It’s really a credit to Saturday Night Live and the heroes over in the make-up and costume departments at 30 Rock that I’ve never thought about this before (or how much the process can cost). I’m always on the lookout for bad wigs and sketchy makeup, but I’ve never second guessed a host during their monologue or noticed a consistent pattern of wigs after bald caps. I just ignorantly thought they were throwing on the bald caps ten minutes or so prior to the sketch and ripping them off as soon as they’re done.

I can’t wait to be on the lookout for all of this next month. Season 52 is scheduled to return to NBC and Peacock on September 26. We still don’t have definitive answers on the cast, at least outside of Chloe Fineman leaving, but the specifics should start coming in the next few weeks. I don't expect to see huge turnover, as the show has really found its rhythm lately, but we'll have to wait and see what longtime showrunner Lorne Michaels decides.

You know what they say about opinions and [CENSORED]. Everyone's got at least one, if not two or more, and Saturday Night Live's cast comes up a lot. (Do not try to guess what's behind the censor bar, for your face would turn to dust.) Case in point: a bunch of SNL fans sounded off with a litany of hot takes about the show and its legacy, and a wi-yuld amount of love, hate and questionable taste is on display.

Over on Reddit, where only the most level-headed posts are celebrated — he says with one slightly arched eyebrow — this question was posed: "What Is Your Unpopular SNL Opinion?" and the comments were immediately plentiful, covering a wide assortment of topics, complaints, compliments, and more. Not every post matched up with the assignment, and there were some common gripes in the mix, but even some of those were fun to parse through.

Let's kick off with a banger about one of Will Ferrell's most famous sketches (and one that his tight sweater may have saved from obscurity):

• "I don’t quite get why cowbell is the biggest sketch of all time."

Shot fired at a sketch that is so bizarrely popular it inspired its own behind-the-scenes docuseries episode, and one that's been impersonated horribly by so many people who are terrible at sounding like Christopher Walken.

With that door now cracked open, let's wade through a few more of these heightened opinions. (I especially agree with the top one.)

• "The cast should never exceed 10 people (7-8 rep players, 1-2 featured players). Part of what made the original cast so special was we got to know them all so well because most of them were in most sketches."
• "Loathe when musical guests have elaborate stage set ups/backdrops/effects. You're playing on the iconic SNL stage. Leave it at that."
• "Probably VERY unpopular here but I think they shouldn’t have done anymore Mulaney musical sketches after Diner Lobster. It just felt like a retread of the same joke and the SNL thing of beating a good idea to the ground with diminishing returns each time.”
• “I enjoy recurring characters, but almost every single one of them is literally the exact same format and joke structure with just a find-and-replace plopped in for the actual content, but it is beat for beat identical to the original.”
• "Gary Kroeger was one of the all time greatest cast members in the history of the show, but has been basically entirely forgotten due to being in the Ebersol era and under the thumb of Murphy and Piscopo."

Maybe it's just my fandom of specific sketch comedy troupes in play here, but I also think that when SNL's cast gets too large and unwieldy, it makes it harder for certain stars to get repeat wins week to week, for the sake of making sure others make it on screen.

I also love the one fan out there holding his Gary Kroeger flag high, and waving that sucker as hard as he possibly can, and in a sentence where Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo carry the same weight. The Internet is zany.

How about a quick rundown of pot shots and hype-ups? Does it help if I say...Pat's name is evoked? Because it is...(Pat).

• "I think there's too many pretapes."
• "The 5 Timers Club sketches should be retired."
• "The original cast isn’t even in the top five funniest casts."
• "It’s Pat still makes me laugh."
• "Bobby Moynihan is under sung."
• "John Belushi was not funny."
• "Mango wasn’t that funny."
• "Sarah Sherman is very overrated, does the same gross out humor every time."

And this one below may be the crown jewel of the bunch, since it's a step up from the above claim about John Belushi:

• "Cowards I'll show you a real hot take. I don't really think Chris Farley is that funny. He just yells."

Humor is subjective is the only real takeaway here, since every post about Kristen Wiig being overrated can be paired with a post about Wiig not getting enough original sketches. When one cast is lauded as being the best, another commenter down the line is holding that cast up as the worst of all time.

Now, to wash the taste of that Chris Farley comment out of our minds, here's a perfectly down-the-middle-and-running take.

• "My hot take is that the show has, at least as long as the thirty years I've been watching it, been mostly the same level of quality. Mostly weak, with spikes of hilarity in every episode and a couple of bangers per season. Every single year, basically without fail."

At a point in pop culture when hot takes are basically the norm, sometimes the lukewarm opinion is the hottest take of all. Confucious probably said that.

Saturday Night Live will return to the 2026 TV schedule when Season 52 premieres on NBC on Saturday, September 26, at 11:30 p.m. ET, and streaming via Peacock subscription. Chloe Fineman was the first cast member to depart ahead of Season 52, and we're still waiting to see what other cast shake-ups will happen in the coming weeks.

There’s a long list of Saturday Night Live personalities who have rocked the Weekend Update slot. Michael Che and Colin Jost have currently been at it for long enough people have wondered if they may exit soon, and when they do eventually walk out the door they’ll join a list of alums that includes Chevy Chase, Tina Fey, Kevin Nealon, Colin Quinn, Jane Curtin (you ignorant slut), Norm Macdonald, Amy Poehler, and Seth Meyers among others. Not every week is easy, however, as even seasoned vets like Meyers have admitted they’ve gone on bad streaks.

Meyers actually talks about his time on SNL quite a lot, and brings a lot of former SNL personalities on to his late night show, so it wasn’t a huge surprise when he was recently asked about his time on Weekend Update. At the time, the funnyman was pulling double duty as head writer and Update host, and early on it wasn’t going well, as he recounted:

Speaking during a recent audience Q&A, he admitted he was a little taken aback by Lorne’s response, and had a witty one-liner about the experience.

Honestly though? This is about the most on-brand Lorne Michaels story ever. The man is dry, and says what he thinks. He once straight up told David Spade he was “not” the funniest guy on the show. And he has an incredible hate for one skit Andy Samberg wrote. Still, what he thinks is often, inarguably quirky. Pete Davidson’s recounted a story where Lorne told him jeans shouldn’t be worn “after 50,” as one example.

Lorne’s absolutely a character, and this interaction is exactly what I would expect from the man. It’s also probably why, despite having one of the more incredible runs on the late night series, Seth Meyers said it took him literally “seven years” to settle in. In fact, it was only when he realized Lorne trusted him enough with "Update" that he was putting out much larger fires did he feel like he’d found his place on the show.

If you're loving the Seth Meyers Weekend Update stories, he told a great one about taking over after Amy Poehler left a little while ago.

Sebastian Maniscalco has emerged as one of the biggest stand ups out there. After going viral for his over-the-top stories about his family and married life, he is now playing arenas, including Madison Square Garden. Since his fame has risen, he has become notable enough to be impersonated on Saturday Night Live. Not just once, but he's been impersonated twice by both Marcello Hernández (with Harry Styles' help). But how does Maniscalco feel about them?

In a recent interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, the comic opened up about what it was like to see himself spoofed on the show. He said it was flattering, but also sounds a bit annoyed that he himself hasn’t been on SNL, despite it being a breeding ground for so many comedian careers, and it being a big milestone for a famous comedian to host.

His dad apparently felt the same way.

I’m surprised the season 51 SNL cast didn’t call Maniscalco up! One of the best bits on the show has been when a cast member does an impression in front of a celebrity they are impersonating. I remember iconic ones like Andy Samberg and Mark Zuckerberg as well as Mick Jagger and Jimmy Fallon. To see Hernández do it in front of Maniscalco would be hilarious and the fact that it hasn’t happened yet feels like a missed opportunity.

The funnyman additionally told the talk show host that he was surprised that when Harry Styles was a Season 51 host and musical guest, he also impersonated him alongside Hernández. Styles is a mega star who is outside of the comedy orbit, so I think the surprise makes sense because it is just so unexpected. Maniscalco went as far to suggest that Styles likely didn’t even know who he was, saying:

I personally think the “Watermelon Sugar” singer knew exactly who Maniscalco was. The host has a lot of say in what ends up on air, and I highly doubt someone like Styles would back a sketch that required him to do an impression of someone he didn’t know. Plus, the sketch itself was so hilarious and spot on, it would’ve only worked if he knew exactly who the over-the-top comedian was.

Let’s face it, Maniscalco is famous now, even if he is just getting used to it himself. His reach no longer lives in niche comedy fan communities, and is extending to superstar musicians like Harry Styles. Like he said, I think it’s about time that the stand-up hosts the legendary NBC sketch-show, and I’d love to see the Grammy winner come back to be a part of it.

You can revisit Harry Styles and Marcello Hernández’s Sebastian Maniscalco impression, and more hilarious moments from this past season of SNL by streaming the show now with a Peacock subscription. Fans of Maniscalco should also check out his latest hilarious stand up special, It Ain't Right, which is now available with a Hulu subscription.

It’s hard to believe Liz Patrick has only been the director of SNL since 2022. She’s been in the business a long time, directing Ellen’s daytime show before it went off of the air in 2018, but she only took over SNL after longtime director Don Roy King retired in 2021. This resume means she was not on the set when the quaintly named "overstimulation" that was the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special aired back in 2015. But oh boy, she was around for SNL50.

It was hectic, to say the least. In fact, Patrick said as much in a recent interview, noting the events of the last 12 months at 30 Rock can’t begin to compare to the stress that piled on when SNL50 started being bandied about. I mean you had a very “dry”-mouthed Adam Sandler going viral for his singing bit. You had John Mulaney doing John Mulaney. You had longtime friends of the show like Paul Simon, Steve Martin and Paul McCartney. You had tons of former cast members and fresh names. And they all wanted to do something, anything.

Just ask Chevy Chase how he felt about being snubbed. So yes, Patrick confirmed to Gold Derby the past year on the show was a cake walk in comparison to all of… that.

That’s true even with some major changes to the SNL cast and the behind-the-scenes team. I was surprised and not surprised in a way. Of course, I know how intense the preparation must have been for SNL50. So many a-lister schedules had to be figured out, so many sketches had to be prepped only to be cut even at the last minute, and so many egos doubtless needed to be appeased. There was so much going on, for example, Ashley Padilla even recalled being mic'd only to be completely forgotten.

However, I would have thought pretty much every season of SNL has its stressors, and for me the big elephant in the room would have been Bowen Yang’s exit in the middle of the 2025-2026 TV schedule playing out. Of course, Liz Patrick will doubtless miss the old guard, but she has plenty of dealings with Yang outside of his NBC work. In fact, she’s directed the Las Culturistas Culture Awards two years in a row now, ‘ridiculous’ awards Tina Fey has given the former SNL star a lot of credit for.

So, she sounds happy to see people move on, though to note, I don’t put Chloe Fineman in the same stressful exit category despite her excellent effort and long tenure at SNL simply because we’ve had time to grieve it. She put in her work for the season and exited after 51 ended. To me, while it’s bittersweet to see her go, that’s not the same thing as Bowen Yang’s emotional rollercoaster of the last couple of years.

These were years where he dealt with an intense schedule traversing back and forth between New York and London for Wicked. The comedian was clearly going other places and just working Saturday Night Live in, but leaving in the middle of the season was still a shock for many.

Not that anyone blames him. Though if he’s wondering, his exit disrupted the status quo way less than Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ It Ends With Us joke seemingly did.

Saturday Night Live fans spend a lot of time obsessing over which cast members are brought back each summer, but there’s another part of the equation that’s arguably just as important. The success or failure of a particular SNL episode often comes down to the quality of celebrity host and musical guest, and for the first time in a long time, the sketch comedy show is making a major behind the scenes change to how it brings in guest stars.

For nearly three decades, Brian Siedlecki has been a key voice in booking the musical guests for the show, but in a surprise decision, SNL has apparently decided not to renew his contract. The producer started with SNL all the way back in 1996, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, has been fully booking musical talent on the show since 2001. Under his direction, the show has found a balance between platforming buzzy up-and-comers, A-list mainstays and Rock N Roll legends.

Last year’s list, as an example, is a murderer’s row of talent including Paul McCartney, Sabrina Carpenter, Cher, Mumford & Sons, Noah Kahan, Gorillaz, Cardi B, Harry Styles, Oliva Rodrigo, ASAP Rocky, Brandi Carlile and Jack White, among others. It’s hard to imagine anyone complaining about the star quality of that grouping, but apparently, the show is going to head in a new direction.

It’s worth noting that SNL also employs two other music bookers: Keri Powers and Rebecca Schwartz. They’ve been with the show since 2014 and 2015, and most people outside the show’s ecosystem don’t really have a clear picture of who is booking which guests and what specific roles each person has had. So, it’s entirely possible that the booking philosophy we saw under Siedlecki will largely remain the same, and it’s also possible that the show will go in a different direction under Powers and Schwartz.

There's a world in which Season 52 goes with even more established names like McCartney and Carpenter, and there's another world in which it pushes more toward artists like Geese, Sombr and Dijon who may not be household names with most older Americans but are more relevant to the modern music scene. It'll be fascinating to see what happens.

Final decisions on casts, hosts and musical guests haven’t been made for Season 52 yet, but with the new season expected to premiere within the next month or two, we should start getting some announcements pretty soon. We know longtime cast member Chloe Fineman is departing the show, and Bowen Yang, of course, left during the middle of last season. Those departures, plus potential exits of some under-utilized cast members, could mean we’ll see a few new cast members. The bulk of the bigger names, however, are expected to be back, as the show continues to rebuild around Ashley Padilla and all the young talent around her.

I’m a huge fan of The Blues Brothers. It’s one of those movies I’ve watched over and over, and I consider a total “remote dropper," as in, I drop the remote if I see that it’s on and watch ‘til the end. I love the humor, the characters, the amazing car chases, and above all, I love the music performances. With legends like James Brown, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, Cab Calloway, and, of course, the legendary Blues Brothers band, you really can’t go wrong. That’s what has always made the scene in the diner with Aretha Franklin so strange. In my head, I’ve always blamed the filmmakers, but it turns out it was Franklin’s fault that the audio track feels off.

The Audio In The Scene Doesn’t Match Her Lips

When Joliet Jake (John Belushi) and Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) are out trying to get the band together to complete their mission from God, they find themselves in a diner where Matt “Guitar” Murphy and “Blue” Lou (Lou Marini) work. In the movie, Murphy is married to a character played by Franklin, and she gives one of the best musical performances in the movie with her song “Think,” as Murphy is deciding whether or not to hit the road again with Jake and Elwood.

I love the song and the scene in the movie. From The Blues Brothers (who, according to Franklin, are dressed like two Hasidic diamond merchants or like they are from the CIA or something) ordering dry, white toast and four whole fried chickens (and a Coke) to the performance itself, it’s a scene I always look forward to. However, it’s always been a little off-putting because of the mismatched audio. That’s because Aretha Franklin simply couldn’t lip-sync her own song. That’s actually a good thing, even if it makes for a strange moment in the movie.

In the bonus features on The Blues Brothers DVD, director John Landis explains what was going on. He says:

The editor of the movie, George Folsey, added that the musical numbers were tough, though he specifically added that he wasn’t going to mention any names. I think it’s clear who he was talking about.

All that said, while it does take me out of the movie when I see the mismatched audio, now that I understand why, it’s not going to bother me anymore. As a big Aretha Franklin fan, she is allowed to do whatever she wants, and if she can’t lip-sync her own songs, well, good. That’s why she’s a legend and one of the most important (and best) voices of the 20th Century. She’s a perfect addition to one of the most quotable comedies of the 1980s and one of the best music movies of all time.

Learning the origin stories about Saturday Night Live's biggest icons always brings me immense joy. Case in point, Jason Sudeikis just shared an amazing tale about the wild SNL sketch that ultimately got him promoted from writer to full-time cast member.

Sudeikis joined SNL as a writer in 2003 and was on the writing staff until 2005. He officially became part of the cast toward the end of Season 30 in 2005, and stayed on it for eight years. It’s hard to imagine SNL without him in the cast. So, what was the driving force that bumped him up from writer to performer? The actor shared on the Today Show that a sketch he had written for Tom Brady in Season 30 sealed the deal:

The sketch in question happened during Brady’s one and only time hosting SNL in April 2005. It was called “Behind the Music: The Super Bowl Shuffle,” and it saw various Chicago Bears players, portrayed by Brady and other cast members, recalling “The Super Bowl Shuffle” phenomenon.

Sudeikis was playing Kevin Butler and dancing around in the sketch, and I’m not surprised that he got the most laughs because it is pretty hilarious. In fact, the Ted Lasso star did so well in the sketch that by the time Saturday Night Live returned from its brief hiatus, he had a new job:

A handful of writers on SNL have been bumped up to the cast, so it’s not at all surprising that the same thing happened with Sudeikis after this sketch aired. It’s just crazy to think that in the two weeks that SNL was on break after this moment, the comedian’s life changed, and this update led to a job that he ended up holding for close to a decade.

When it comes to what wound up being a long tenure on SNL, the We're the Millers star has opened up about what working with Tina Fey and co. taught him, admitting he was just trying to keep up after getting the job he never thought he’d get. And the one important lesson he learned was to pay attention to the people who carve the path slightly ahead of you, which is certainly inspiring.

Knowing Jason Sudeikis’ SNL origins makes me want him to return to Studio 8H now. While the series is on break for a little bit longer, now that Ted Lasso’s highly-anticipated fourth season has officially premiered on the 2026 TV schedule, perhaps he could do some promo for it when SNL returns. He’s only hosted once since leaving the cast, and that was in 2021. So another hosting gig is definitely needed.

However, while we wait for that, fans can go back and see the Season 30 sketch that made Sudeikis an SNL star with a Peacock subscription.

Lorne Michaels has long been clear Saturday Night Live won’t pick a political side, at least while he’s still in charge. It behooves the late night series to be an equal opportunity offender, but this doesn’t mean that everyone who is spoofed, satirized or parodied enjoys the experience. In fact, over the last couple of years, we’ve heard more and more Republicans complaining about the late night series, Donald Trump included. He’s called it “terrible,” though noted it was in a better place when he hosted back in the day. Now a WAG and journalist have spoken out about how the series isn’t “funny” these days, but their take is a little different.

There’s a long list of great political impressions on SNL, but if you were to ask some of the people who have seen themselves or their loved one satirized, it has not been a delightful experience. In fact, Katie Miller, the wife of Donald Trump’s Chief Deputy of Staff Stephen Miller, was recently vocal about her dislike of the NBC series in an interview with journalist Laura Ingraham.

The two were speaking during a quickfire portion of Miller’s podcast “Katie Miller Pod” about a variety of cultural topics. That included the current state of comedy. They spoke of Kelsey Grammer recently telling Miller that comedy is a lot more tepid and “doesn’t trust their audience” like it used to. To that point, Katie Miller was very candid, noting:

Laura Ingraham seemingly agreed, but her issue is not with the show making fun of Republicans or having jokes with a bit of bite to them. Instead, she thinks people are a lot funnier when they're off the air because they're more willing to make off-color jokes that wouldn't fly on television. She wishes SNL went harder.

Comedy not going as hard as it used to is a different SNL take than we've heard from many other Republicans and elected officials in recent years, but they clarified that there is a difference between jokes that are a little more aggressive and full-on "mean spiritedness." They want the edge, but they don't want to see mean-spirited comedy, which was famously Aimee Lou Wood's problem with her portrayal a few years ago. Here's how Miller and Ingraham described the distinction...

Those who land the coveted SNL gig do know the impact a late night sketch can have. Colin Jost has spoken out about the power of NBC impressions before, noting that he always thinks about the great Kurt Vonnegut line about people “not asking” to be born or asking to become the people they ultimately become. In an ideal world, performers are able to find the balance between doing comedy with a little bit of an edge but also trusting the audience to know where their heart is.

Not all Republican party members are so anti-SNL. George W. Bush has been good-natured about all the times the late night series spoofed him, but he’s a different personality. So, Republican opinions on SNL really run the gamut, and Ingraham and Miller's takes are no different. Still surprising, though.

Personally, I’ve been watching SNL for decades now. Trends have come and gone on the show, and cold opens have often been political. If I had a dime for every time someone has said Saturday Night Live is not funny “anymore” during just my tenure at this job, I’d be a rich woman, but here the show is, still trucking 50+ years in, and back with upcoming hosts for Season 52 on the fall TV schedule.

We’re still going through the five stages of grief over Chloe Fineman no longer being in the cast of Saturday Night Live. She made the announcement last month, and it was met with a big wave of support from fellow castmates. Plus, she already has a Netflix series on the way. But you’ve got to love the sweet comments her fellow alum Cecily Strong shared about her.

Cecily Strong remains the longest-running female cast member in SNL history, as she was on it from 2012 to 2022 and ended up with eleven seasons to her name. Her time in Studio 8H overlapped with Fineman's for four seasons. So, it was very sweet and impactful to see Strong's comments about the cast member who just left the show:

To note, these impressions were not just of her fellow SNL cast. Famously, Fineman auditioned with a hilarious Reese Witherspoon impression that she then did in front of the actress. This is such a great shout about one of the reasons why Fineman is one of the great recent SNL cast members. We’ll certainly miss her impressions, but maybe some of the cast won’t miss all the constant impressions of them?

Chloe Fineman’s time at Saturday Night Live is over, but she definitely made an impact across her seven seasons on the sketch comedy show. To that point, Strong told Parade:

Perhaps the best example of Chloe Fineman’s impressions (including one of Cecily Strong) was in the 2022 sketch “The Understudy.” Check it out below:

The sketch had Fineman calling herself the official SNL understudy. It then cuts to segments of her doing impressions of her castmates like Kate McKinnon, Melissa Villaseñor and more. Throughout her time on SNL, Fineman has also shown she has really awesome impressions of Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Coolidge, Timothée Chalamet and Britney Spears.

Now that she’s joined Cecily Strong as a former SNL star, perhaps they’ll get to connect over post-SNL life. Strong has been away from the show for almost four years, and she’s since gotten engaged, had her first and only daughter, and been on Broadway. Recently, she also said she’s still “learning to sleep again” after her longtime SNL schedule. Being a new mother probably isn’t helping with that adjustment either.

Chloe Fineman’s next project is a Netflix thriller series called Myron Bolitar based on the books by Harlan Coben. She’ll play a sports reporter named Parker Quinn. While we wait for that, you can of course watch old SNL episodes of Chloe Fineman with a Peacock subscription. Season 52 of SNL is also on the 2026 TV schedule and set to premiere on September 26.

While Saturday Night Live is a dream job, and the sketch comedy show has made many stars over the last five decades, it’s not an easy gig by any means. The cast and crew don’t shy away from that fact either (during the 50th anniversary, Andy Samberg even performed a song called “Anxiety”). Now, Cecily Strong has opened up about the side effects that come after working on SNL, and I have to say, they sound brutal.

Cecily Strong left SNL halfway through Season 48 in 2022 after ten seasons on the show. Now, it’s been four years since her departure; however, the series is still impacting her life. For example, she has not recovered from Saturday Night Live’s weird hours, and told Us Weekly how her sleep schedule is doing these days:

There are countless stories about the infamous writing nights at SNL that would see writers and cast members pulling all-nighters to get their sketches in. Then, obviously, the show airs live at 11:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night. So, the performers have to stay up to do the episode, and then after that, there is typically an after-party. I’ve always felt like they operate with a “I'll sleep when I'm dead” mentality.

Once they leave, however, they can go back to a regular sleep schedule. But it sounds like Strong has not. As she said, she has a baby, so they will wreck someone’s sleep too, although it is wild that four years after leaving SNL, she’s still re-learning how to sleep.

That’s not the only side effect. Strong also got candid about the anxiety she still feels whenever she enters 30 Rock. While she doesn’t have to deal with the fact that “the show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30” anymore, the stress of it all has not disappeared:

Over the years, many performers have been open about how stressful SNL is. Bill Hader had really bad anxiety during his time on the show, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus once said she “spent a lot of time happily being miserable” while working there. So, it’s not surprising that Strong still feels that pang of nerves when she returns to 30 Rock and Studio 8H.

Now, I hope Cecily Strong can eventually get back on a normal sleep schedule and to a place where she can enter 30 Rock without feeling the stress of her time on Saturday Night Live. However, she also made it clear that she’s always happy to return, because it is “a second home to her.”

So, with all that said, if you’d like to see her legendary run on the sketch comedy show, you can stream SNL with a Peacock subscription. Then, make sure to keep an eye on the 2026 TV schedule, because SNL will be back this fall, and I assume more BTS stories will come with it too.

Anchorman is quite possibly the most outrageous mainstream comedy (and romantic comedy) of the early 2000s, but it’s nothing compared to the original version Will Ferrell and Adam McKay wanted. The first version of the script involved a plane crash and killer baboons, but a chance encounter with an A-list director helped convince the pair to reconsider and create something “more conventional” at least in comparison to the insane idea they started with.

Ferrell has been promoting his new Netflix show The Hawk, and as part of that, he stopped by the Happy Sad Confused podcast. During the convo, the OG Anchorman script came up, and the comedian revealed that Oscar-winning director Paul Thomas Anderson actually played a role in the changes. He was apparently guest writing for SNL at the time, and he told Ferrell and McKay that if they were working on anything, he’d love to be involved as a producer. Really excited, they gave him the script for Anchorman, and his enthusiasm quickly died. Here’s a portion of the story…

Anderson, of course, has been romantically involved with Ferrell’s SNL co-star Maya Rudolph since the early 2000s. He’s also directed some of the most acclaimed movies in recent memory. His latest, One Battle After Another, won Best Picture and was a major force at the Oscars, and many of his other classics like Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood are widely considered to be among the best movies of the past several decades. He isn’t exactly a director who always gravitates to the conventional either; so, when he so clearly wanted no part of the movie, it’s not a surprise they reconsidered and changed course.

The original Anchorman involved Ron Burgundy and the gang attending a nationwide news convention. On the way back, he volunteered to fly the plane and got into an accident with another plane filled with baboons and throwing stars. The rest of the movie was apparently a lot of Veronica offering good advice about climbing down the mountain and Ron and the other anchors telling her they needed to seek higher ground, while trying not to get killed by the baboons.

To be clear, this all sounds absolutely hilarious and also, like a disorganized mess. It sounds really complicated to shoot too, as it would involve exotic locations and lots of animals, which can be dangerous and/ or very expensive. I’m not surprised Anderson didn’t want any part of it. Ferrell and McKay clearly made the right move by simplifying the plot into something more shootable, but I’m glad they still kept the utter absurdity and some element of the chaos. Anchorman works so well precisely because it’s so outrageous and unlike anything else.

You can check out The Hawk on Netflix right now, or you stream Anchorman which is on Paramount+ and wonder about what could have been.

Leslie Jones only remained with Saturday Night Live for five seasons, but she did manage to make an impression during her full-time stint at Studio 8H. Between 2014 and 2019, she played funny characters and appeared as an exaggerated version of herself during Weekend Update segments. In more recent years, Jones has been discussing her SNL tenure, sharing both the highs and lows. She even just talked about landing her initial audition as well as the unexpected reason she dropped F-bombs when that happened.

Over the years, a plethora of SNL alums have spoken about the moment he found out they’d be able to audition for the long-running sketch comedy series. Many of those scenarios involved some nervousness but also feelings of excitement. So one would be tempted to assume that after good buddy Chris Rock told her he’d had dinner with series EP Lorne Michaels and got her an audition, Jones would’ve dropped expletives due to being pumped. However, in actuality, she was very upset for a different set of reasons:

As Jones explained to fellow comic W. Kamau Bell (another friend of Rock’s) on his Who’s with Me? podcast, she was heavily opposed to the idea of joining a sketch-centric show. The eventual Coming 2 America co-star apparently wanted to stick to her stand-up comedy roots. Also, even though SNL was a big deal, Jones admitted she herself only watched when there were high-profile Black performers within the cast. So what changed her tune about the audition? Well, Rock and a manager shared some honest responses to her denial:

Of course, Jones did eventually audition, and the rest is TV history. During this recent interview and a prior one, the Ghostbusters alum proved that she went into the tryout with a cocky attitude. Yet she also admitted to being “intimidated” during her first table read with the cast and writers. While Jones can acknowledge that she’s even bombed sketches, she produced a number of great bits in her time. To that point, she even earned consecutive Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Jones, however, also recently spoke about some of the more difficult aspects of being on the hit show. She specifically got real about feeling like she was typecast in various sketches as a tough woman looking to fight someone. Although that wasn’t easy, Jones did persevere, and she seemingly learned a lot from her SNL experience. Now, it’s just funny and ironic to know that all started with an audition offer that sparked some salty language.

Check out Leslie Jones’ greatest moments on Saturday Night Live by streaming classic episodes with a Peacock subscription. Also, prepare yourself for the show’s upcoming 52nd season, which premieres on NBC on September 26 amid the 2026 TV schedule.

I’m pretty sure every Celebrity Jeopardy sketch SNL ever did ended with Will Ferrell’s Alex Trebek being in an unpleasant mood. The comedic objective was basically to watch him get more and more worked up, but apparently, during one particular sketch, he got so worked up that fellow cast member Norm Macdonald was convinced Ferrell was legitimately mad in real life.

The sketch in question is the one where Macdonald, playing Burt Reynolds, shows up wearing a giant cowboy hat. At the very end, when Ferrell’s Trebek can’t take it anymore and signs off, Macdonald’s Reynolds takes the cowboy hat and roughly puts it on the host’s head. Seemingly incensed, Trebek turns around and starts yelling at Reynolds before it cuts away.

Macdonald was apparently so taken aback by how mad Ferrell got that he approached him backstage to ask if there was an issue. Here’s a portion of the story Ferrell recounted to Vanity Fair…

When most people look back on Celebrity Jeopardy, they remember Darrell Hammond’s Sean Connery as the main antagonist. That’s understandable given he was in thirteen of the fifteen total sketches, but when the franchise first launched, it was Macdonald that was a big creative force and his Reynolds that served as the primary antagonist. He was in the first three sketches and made several additional appearances after he was famously let go from SNL by Lorne Michaels’ bosses at NBC who were allegedly unhappy with how mean-spirited they felt his Weekend Update tenure was, especially about OJ Simpson.

You can check out the Celebrity Jeopardy sketch in question below…

Macdonald passed away following a battle with cancer in 2021, but he’s still referenced all the time by stand-up comedians and those who worked on SNL. His quick wit, eccentric stories and unique subject matter inspired a ton of famous people, which is why it should surprise no one that Ferrell brought him up during his career retrospective. He’s missed but thankfully left behind thousands of hours of comedy and an army of celebrities who were influenced by his work.

Sometimes comedy hurts, literally. To prove that point, after Will Ferrell previously credited Molly Shannon for saving Saturday Night Live with her character Mary Katherine Gallagher, she explained that she actually got a ton of bruises while playing her. So, while those sketches must have been painful for the SNL star, it also, clearly, paid off.

Now, recurring characters on SNL are a must. When something works, it’s consistently brought back and is made even better. During Shannon's time on SNL from 1995 to 2001, she had a few recurring characters, including Mary Katherine Gallagher. The fan-favorite character made her debut during Season 21 in 1995, and Shannon shared on Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend that the sketch, which frequently called for intense stunts, gave her some bruises the day after the show:

An unpopular teen Catholic schoolgirl, Mary had a tendency to be pretty dramatic and have socially awkward exchanges with her fellow peers before ultimately falling over, crashing into a wall, or destroying something. This would then lead her to utter her iconic catchphrase, “Superstar!” and show everyone that she was okay. It happened in every single sketch, and, in true Mary Katherine Gallagher fashion, it was always overdramatic.

So, I can't say I'm surprised that the actress got beaten up doing these bits. She was literally throwing herself around the set. The fact that Shannon didn’t even feel anything during or right after the sketch is impressive.

Many actors have gotten bruised on projects, such as Alan Ritchson, who goes through the wringer each season for Reacher. SNL cast members can get battered and bruised too, which is really not surprising, considering the amount of physical acting and comedy required for a lot of the sketches.

While Shannon was on Saturday Night Live until 2001, she stopped doing Mary Katherine Gallagher on a frequent basis in 1999. She brought the character back in February 2001 during Season 26 for her final episode. That was not the last time that fans saw the chaotic Catholic schoolgirl, as she stepped back into the uniform one last time in 2007, when she hosted SNL during Season 32. She returned to host in 2023, reprising a couple of other fan-favorite characters, but not Mary Katherine Gallagher. And knowing how bruised she got doing that bit, I can't say I blame her.

Now, fans can watch those sketches and every single season of SNL with a Peacock subscription. And if you see Shannon doing Mary Katherine Gallagher, maybe give her an extra round of applause, because not only did Ferrell say she saved SNL with that character, but she also committed to the bit so hard she wound up with bruises.

Kenan Thompson has been a consistent talent on Saturday Night Live for an astounding 23 years, while Seth MacFarlane has also been making us laugh with some of the best animated TV shows for adults for over two decades. The Good Burger alum has now signed on to MacFarlane’s new Family Guy spinoff, and I’m actually surprised they haven’t collaborated before outside of SNL.

Stewie, an upcoming Fox animated sitcom that’s centered around Seth MacFarlane’s fan-favorite Family Guy baby, was announced earlier this year. In addition to the creator and Family Guy voice actor Mike Henry, several names have been added to the voice cast, including Kenan Thompson.

SNL’s longest-tenured cast member will voice Royal, who is described (per Variety) as “one of Stewie’s new friends who’s got a ‘Hell no’ attitude about the hazards of Stewie’s adventures.” Kenan Thompson has done plenty of voice work in his career, but somehow never for an episode of Family Guy, American Dad!, The Cleveland Show or any other Seth MacFarlane project.

He’s not the only Saturday Night Live talent tapped to join Stewie either. Vanessa Bayer, who left the show in 2017 after seven years, will voice the titular character’s teacher Morgan, “who should probably spend more time watching the kids, and less time partying.”

The trio appeared together in multiple sketches when Seth MacFarlane hosted SNL back in 2012. They joined Bill Hader in a hilarious puppet show sketch, and then Kenan Thompson got to pull out his Steve Harvey impression for a bit about giving MacFarlane’s character an extreme makeover, which you can see below:

It’s fun to see that these three will reunite after so many years, and they’ll be joined by Melissa O’Neil, Aaron Lee, and Jessica Lowe, who were also part of the Stewie casting announcement.

So what can Family Guy fans expect when the Griffin family’s youngest member becomes the main character? The official synopsis reads:

Stewie will be the second spinoff series from Family Guy following The Cleveland Show, which aired for four seasons from 2009 to 2013 and can be streamed with a Hulu subscription. Both Stewie and the flagship series’ 25th season are expected to premiere in 2027, so unfortunately nothing for the 2026 TV schedule.

With this cast list — particularly the first non-SNL collaboration between Seth MacFarlane and Kenan Thompson — hopefully it will be worth the wait.

Following Saturday Night Live’s mass cast exodus before and during Season 51 last year, Season 52 will see even more changes. Ahead of the premiere on the 2026 TV schedule, SNL had its first cast exit of the year, with Chloe Fineman officially bowing out after seven years. She’s now revealing how she broke the news to Lorne Michaels, and it couldn’t have come at a more awkward time.

Fineman decided to leave SNL after being offered a role in David E. Kelley’s upcoming Netflix series, Myron Bolitar. The decision reportedly wasn’t easy, and what was even more difficult was telling her boss. The comedian told Variety that when she called Michaels to inform him that she would be departing, he was apparently enjoying the World Cup, and I can only imagine what it was like:

I have to give props to Fineman for building up the courage to call Michaels (who can probably be very intimidating) to tell him that she’s not coming back to Saturday Night Live. But the fact that she did it while he was watching the World Cup is pretty horrible timing. He’s having a good time, watching the game, and then he gets a call from a cast member telling him they’re leaving the show. It likely put a damper on the game, and not just because England ended up losing.

It’s pretty awkward to call your boss during a World Cup game, even if you didn’t know, and tell them that you’re quitting while also trying to make light of the situation. Luckily, Fineman revealed that it wasn’t all awkward. The two of them had a good conversation after all was said and done, and there doesn’t seem to be any hard feelings about it, other than the fact that Michaels lost twice that day:

Considering SNL has been airing for over five decades, I’m sure there have been phone calls about cast exits that have been a lot worse than Fineman’s. At the very least, it sounds like she and Michaels were able to have a good chat, which likely squashed any awkwardness that was still left over from when she called during the game.

With Season 52 premiering this fall, it’s possible Fineman won’t be the last exit. Over the years, there have been a handful of rumors as to who could be leaving SNL and who could be staying, and you never truly know until it’s announced. Even after the cast is confirmed, things could always change throughout the season. For instance, Bowen Yang departed after the Christmas show last year. If anything, with the World Cup over and Spain taking it all, the next time a cast member exits, they don’t have to worry about interrupting Michaels at a game to tell him the news.

After seven years as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, Chloe Fineman has decided to exit the NBC mainstay. She leaves behind a strong legacy of iconic sketches and characters and for a while, seemed like one of the faces of the show. However, there have been a lot of changes at SNL, and for Fineman it seemed like the right time to depart. Of course, it's know that she's already landed her next gig and, per a report, her decision to step away from Studio 8H came together very quickly.

Fineman was offered a new TV opportunity that would reportedly conflict with SNL’s famously intense and demanding schedule. As has been revealed, Fineman was offered a role in David E. Kelley’s upcoming Netflix series, Myron Bolitar. And, according to a source for Page Six, Fineman allegedly decided upon everything in the matter of a day:

Myron Bolitar is one of many Harlan Coben adaptations in development at the aforementioned streamer, as the author’s books have been the source material for thirteen series currently available on the platform. This immense success of the previous adaptations bodes well for this latest production, so it makes sense that Fineman wouldn’t want to give this huge opportunity up. And, in theory, a dramatic turn like this could be a way for her to showcase her range.

Additionally, Page Six's insider also claims the purportedly fast decision could also be a result of Fineman’s current status at the show. Fineman’s presence on the show had dimmed a bit due to the power of new performers at the show, which includes rising star Ashley Padilla, who was one of the most heavily featured performers last season. SNL is a very competitive environment, and Padilla was notably taking on roles in sketches that had been given to Fineman in the past. A source claimed:

Many have noted over the years that timing an SNL exit is incredibly important, and knowing when to leave is crucial for one's career following their tenure. The Lorne Michaels-produced show is a great way for a performer to show what they're capable of, but some stars have spoken about how it can limit a person's opportunities outside the show.

Additionally, many cast members Chloe Fineman started with, including Bowen Yang, have already exited the show themselves. On that note, Yang praised Fineman alongside others like Kenan Thompson and Marcello Hernández after she announced her departure. All in all, fans seemed to love watching Fineman make a name for herself over the years, but it's great to see new faces too. Regardless of what exactly went into her decision-making and how fast it transpired, I'm excited to see what lies ahead for her.

Check out some of Chloe Fineman’s best sketch comedy moments by revisiting Season 51 of Saturday Night Live, which is currently streaming with a Peacock subscription. That'll be a solid way for SNL fans to pass the time before the show returns for its 52nd season on NBC this fall as part of the 2026 TV schedule.

It’s always hard to say goodbye to Saturday Night Live cast members, and that’s especially the case when they’ve worked at the show for a long time. So, yes, it’s difficult to comprehend that Chloe Fineman really is leaving SNL after seven seasons. However, while it’s sad, it’s also worth celebrating the incredible run that she had, which is exactly what Bowen Yang, Kenan Thompson and so many more did.

Chloe Fineman’s departure from SNL marks the first cast exit ahead of Season 52, and the first comedian to leave since Bowen Yang said goodbye in the middle of Season 51. In her Instagram post about this news, the actress noted that “it’s time for [her] next chapter.” She also wrote that “it’s really hard to leave SNL, but it does feel like the right time.” In response, a bunch of current and former cast members commented, writing things like:

• Bowen Yang: You tore that shit up. I love you so much, Chlo. ✨
• Kenan Thompson: Fantastic work Chloe!!!! ❤❤❤❤❤
• Marcello Hernández: Congrats Carlotaaaa ❤️‍🔥🫱🏼🫲🏼 💃
• Ego Nwodim: Congratulations Chloe!!!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
• Jeremy Culhane: I’m gonna miss you so bad!!! ❤️❤️❤️
• Sarah Sherman: 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
• Ben Marshall: SNL legend 😭
• Veronika Slowikowska: Love you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Yang and Fineman both joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in Season 45, which makes his statement mean even more. Plus, it has to be moving to see SNL’s longest-running cast member, Kenan Thompson, call out how brilliant your run was on the show. Along with those two, Ego Nwodim congratulated Fineman, and so did Marcello Hernández and Sarah Sherman, both of whom joined after her but have worked with her for a long time.

Alongside the longtimers, some of Season 51’s newbies commented too. This included Jeremy Culhane and Veronika Slowikowska; Ben Marshall, who was a writer for a while before joining the cast full-time, also showed his love.

So, all around, despite this news being a bummer, there is a lot of love for Fineman among the SNL cast. She got a bunch of appreciation from other celebs too. Check out these comments:

• Reese Witherspoon: CHLOE !!! Your SNL characters were always the perfect blend of clueless & unhinged. So excited for your very bright future! ✨
• Natalie Portman: You’ve made us all laugh so hard for so many years! Excited for what you’ll do next
• Lily Collins: Wow! Thank you for being so insanely hilarious. Can’t wait to see what you do next
• Monica Barbaro: incredible. well done. you’re a star… a legend… also a genuinely nice chill person. idk how you do it all. so excited for you 🩷🩷

It’s always so sweet to see a Saturday Night Live cast member celebrated like this, and it’s certainly deserved for Fineman. Now, I can’t wait to see what she does next, and I’d assume those who commented feel the same way.

Of course, when SNL returns to the 2026 TV schedule for Season 52, it will be odd not to see Chloe Fineman on screen (you can still stream her old episodes with a Peacock subscription). However, the show will go on, and her career will continue to flourish.

Despite any and all annual claims from Michael Che that he's leaving Saturday Night Live in the near future, that thankfully still isn't the cast just yet. However, today did bring the somewhat disappointing and somewhat hopeful news that the long-running sketch comedy did lose its first longtime cast member ahead of Season 52 premiering later in 2026: the always great Chloe Fineman!

Lest this sound solely like a funeral dirge, this casting departure seemingly isn't due to anything detrimental happening behind the scenes, and hasn't yet sparked any rumors. In fact, she shared a bittersweet, photo-filled post on Instagram where she spoke directly about leaving, saying:

Doesn't sound like somebody who hated her job for the past seven years. Quite the opposite. She shared more fun memories, and closed out with this:

You heard her, scientists. Get on that. And while you're at it, you might as well figure out a way to clone the actress so that she can go off to do other jobs, and SNL won't have to lose her stable of characters and impressions that have made her seven-year run so much fun to watch. Who are they gonna get to do Drew Barrymore now? Kenan Thompson? Fine, I'll watch it.

Now let's talk about what Fineman reportedly has coming up next.

Chloe Fineman Is Reportedly Joining A Netflix Drama With KJ Apa

According to Deadline, Chloe Fineman has wasted zero time in locking down her first on-screen project following up on her SNL exit. She's reportedly in negotiations to join the cast of the Netflix drama series Myron Bolitar, based on the book series authored by the streaming service's go-to mystery scribe, Harlan Coben.

Already looped into the cast for Myron Bolitar are Riverdale vet KJ Apa, The Flight Attendant's Colin Woodell, and Doom Patrol's Diana Guerrero.

Before today, the most recent sketch star to vacate Studio 8H was Bowen Yang, who exited in the middle of Season 51, rather than doing all that waiting business. Season 51 had already faced a whirlwind of shake-ups prior to its premiere, starting with Devon Walker being let go, followed by news that Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow and Heidi Gardner were also let go, which was later followed by Ego Nwodim bowing out on her own accord.

Which stands to reason that Fineman's career change is only the first, with more to come as the summer progresses. The exits didn't start last year until mid-August, so we're already ahead of schedule.

Who will be the next SNL cast member to bow out ahead of Season 52? Place your bets, and then send me half of whatever you win, because you're nice like that.

Saturday Night Live’s host lineup is always impressive each season. Even after over 50 years, the producers of the show manage to attract some excellent talent to Studio 8H. Season 51 saw a mixture of first-timers and veterans, including Matt Damon. The Saving Private Ryan star hosted for the third time in May, and he recently opened up about what got him to host the first time, and I can’t argue with his reasoning.

Damon made his SNL hosting debut back in October 2002 for the Season 28 premiere. Even though it’s been 24 years, the actor still remembers that week like it was yesterday. He recalled on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast what it was like getting the call about SNL all those years ago. He was initially confused about why he'd get the gig, because he had nothing coming out at the time. (The Bourne Identity had just released that summer.) However, his agent had a sure-fire way to talk him into saying yes:

I've always wondered what it's like for an SNL host to headline an episode when they're a massive fan of the night's musical guest. Bruce Springsteen is a pretty darn good reason to host Saturday Night Live, so I can’t say I blame Damon for immediately jumping on board after hearing that he’d be the musical guest. Of course, I can't help but think that Damon would have agreed to host SNL at some point even if Springsteen wasn’t the musical guest. Either way, I'd say everything worked out well for Damon (and his agent).

Even though he made his hosting debut in 2002, Damon made his SNL debut in 2001, and Springsteen was not involved. He cameoed during Gwyneth Paltrow’s episode in Season 27, so he had a taste of what to expect when he agreed to host. However, I get Damon’s initial reservations, as he didn’t have anything else coming out, meaning he couldn’t really do any self-promo, and the season premiere is a big deal.

During his most recent hosting gig in May, though, Damon did have something to promote. He is part of the star-studded ensemble cast for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, an upcoming 2026 movie that has everyone buzzing. The epic fantasy flick is releasing in theaters on Friday, and Damon is hyped as well. Due to his lead role as Odysseus, Damon was put through the wringer and talked about being cold and wet at times during the shoot. However, the leading man also seemed to relish the experience and even got to reunite with Charlize Theron, who he first worked with on The Legend of Bagger Vance.

While waiting for The Odyssey, fans take a step back in time, so to speak and watch Matt Damon’s first-ever episode of Saturday Night Live with a Peacock subscription. His subsequent episodes during Seasons 44 and 51 are also available to stream, along with his many cameos. And, of course, be sure to check out Bruce Springsteen's performance in the first of those episodes.

We always talk about the sadness that comes with Saturday Night Live cast members departing the show, but the truth is every time someone leaves, it also leads to additional opportunities. The most obvious of those opportunities comes in the form of screentime, but there are also additional benefits like more access to writers, better offices and hilariously in the case of Seth Meyers, his preferred cue card holder.

Meyers was recently asked about cue card master Wally Feresten during a Q&A with the audience on his talk show. After praising Wally and calling him “the best ever,” Meyers admitted that when his longtime Weekend Update partner Amy Poehler left SNL, he was elated when he realized that meant he’d get to start using Wally for himself from that point forward. Here’s a portion of his quote...

Saying Meyers has a strong relationship with Feresten would be an understatement. The cue card writer and holder, who has been with SNL since 1990, actually now pulls double duty and works on Late Night With Seth Meyers, as well. In fact, during the same conversation with the audience, Meyers said he thinks at this point, Wally has held up the cue cards for 95% of all the words he’s ever spoken on television. Given his lengthy career, that’s a huge statement.

Meyers and Poehler tag teamed the Weekend Update desk during Seasons 32 and 33 and part of Season 34. After Poehler left the show to star in Parks & Recreation, Meyers then manned the desk by himself (with the help of Wally) until Season 39 when Cecily Strong was added. That turned into Strong and Colin Jost, which turned into Colin Jost and Michael Che, who have shared the desk for the last decade plus since Season 40.

Meyers, of course, transitioned from the Update desk to his own talk show, Late Night With Seth Meyers, that has produced more than 1,800 episodes in the years since. Feresten has been around that entire time, and he remains an active part of SNL, where he’s now one of the longest serving crew members. Meyers himself also still shows up from time to time.

You can watch Meyers gush about Wally in the full video below…

As for what changes we might see at SNL before the next season, that’s still an open question. Rumors, as always, are swirling about everyone from longtime showrunner Lorne Michaels to Weekend Update hosts Jost and Che, but we likely won’t have any official word until much closer to the season. It’ll be sad to see anyone leave, but as always, it’ll just create additional opportunities for screentime and access to beloved employees like Wally.

Travis Kelce is a lot of things. He’s the guy on the Chiefs, a three-time Super Bowl champion, and now Mr. Taylor Swift following the wedding of the century. That’s not all, however. He is also deemed Bowen Yang’s “straight male friend for life,” and the Saturday Night Live alum just revealed how Kelce earned that title.

In 2023, Kelce hosted SNL during Season 48 (which fans can watch with a Peacock subscription) and he was in some pretty memorable sketches. One of those was a “Straight Male Friend” sketch, a commercial parody that saw Yang talking about having a straight male friend so he can hang out with someone who isn’t a group of women and there’s no emotional attachment. The sketch seems to have made it out of the TV, because Kelce is truly Yang’s straight male friend for life. As Yang once told the Los Angeles Times:

I love how close Yang and Kelce have gotten, the fact that the “Straight Male Friend” sketch basically helped make their friendship even stronger makes it all the more better. Yang revealed they’ve DMed but have yet to get to the stage where they’re texting a lot. However, Kelce wanted to reunite with Yang, it just didn’t work out. But it’s clear that they definitely have a special bond.

This just makes me sad that the NFL player was unable to return to SNL after hosting the show for the first time before Yang departed in December. Assuming Kelce hosts the variety sketch series again in the future, perhaps Yang could make a surprise appearance for his straight male friend for life. SNL is known for celebrity cameos, especially when they come out of left field, so you never know. At the very least, it sounds like this friendship is not going down so easily, and it’s even more evident after Yang reportedly attended the MSG Tayvis wedding.

It’s been over three years since Kelce hosted SNL, and it’s hard to imagine how his friendship with Yang would have been like if he never stepped on the Studio 8H stage. If there even would be a friendship. Yang might have to thank Heidi Gardner for his straight male friend for life, as she previously revealed the story behind Kelce hosting SNL. Lorne Michaels had just one requirement, which was for Kelce to win the Super Bowl. So it wasn’t a surprise when he hosted not long after the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII.

Yang may no longer be on SNL and we probably won’t get a “Straight Male Friend” sketch 2.0 if Kelce ever hosts again. But at the very least, their friendship probably won’t die any time soon. That “for life” that Yang mentioned seems to be forever, and I’m glad to see this is yet another SNL sketch that has made it out of SNL. It’s not the same as an SNL character getting a movie, but it’s pretty close.

Will Ferrell is one of the biggest names to ever come out of Saturday Night Live, and some would say he’s the absolute best cast member of all time. But at one point, he was just a young comedian doing improv comedy at the Groundlings hoping for his big break. The Step Brothers star recently opened up about his first audition for the NBC sketch show, and a bit he tried to do with Lorne Michaels that he just couldn’t get over the line.

In an interview with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson for their podcast, IMO, Ferrell talked about the nerves surrounding his first audition for SNL, including doing characters like Ted Kennedy, an adult who plays with cat toys, and Harry Caray, which ended up becoming one of the funniest recurring characters on the show. He was so nervous because nobody laughed at his audition; however, after being asked to meet with Michaels later, he knew he was still in the running.

Ferrell had heard a story about how Adam Sandler, who made quite the impact on SNL, got the gig after a five-minute meeting with the legendary showrunner. As a result, Ferrell decided he’d do a bit during the meeting to showcase his talents. He said:

This is an absolutely hilarious idea, and such a perfect Will Ferrell bit that would land perfectly during a sketch. However, Michaels has a reputation for being intimidating and a pretty serious guy, despite the fact that his expertise is in comedy. Ferrell had these big plans of doing this ridiculous bit, but apparently the second he walked into his future boss's office, the energy and the tone of the meeting shot him down right away. He said:

A briefcase is certainly a bizarre thing to bring to a meeting about comedy. It is so big and clunky and implies you brought a lot of stuff with you to a meeting that doesn’t require much of anything. Without context, I can’t imagine what Michaels was thinking.

The whole thing was made even worse when Steve Higgins, who was one of the head writers at the time, said “nice briefcase” to Ferrell during the meeting, who was still too nervous to do the bit. Even better, when the Talladega Nights star was asked to come back for a second meeting, he wanted to try and do the bit again. He explained:

He literally planned and failed to do the bit twice, which makes the whole thing even funnier. Especially considering he asked Michaels’ assistant, who was sitting outside his office, to finish the bit for him, which Michaels ended up finding funny later. Farrell finished the story, saying:

The joke itself was one thing, but the real funny aspect of this story was that Ferrell kept trying to do this absurdly stupid joke but couldn’t manage to execute it. He went on to be a stellar addition to the cast and gained the confidence around Lorne Michaels to start doing ridiculous bits like this one to his face.

After his cast member stint from 1995 to 2002, Will Ferrell went on to host the broadcast mainstay six times. This includes the SNL Season 51 finale this year, which you can revisit now with a Peacock subscription. Fans of Ferrell can also check him out in his new comedy series The Hawk, which will be available with a Netflix subscription on July 16, 2026.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert may have ended a few months ago, but it's still making an impact on the 2026 TV schedule. That’s because as the 2026 Emmy nominees were named, Colbert’s program got one last laugh as it scored an Outstanding Variety Series nomination.

Coming off its first Emmy win last year, Colbert’s show was nominated this year alongside The Daily Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and Saturday Night Live. Notably, this year, these shows are recognized under the Outstanding Variety Series category, as the Outstanding Talk Series and Outstanding Scripted Variety Series categories were merged into one.

Last year, Colbert’s program won Outstanding Talk Series following news breaking about The Late Show’s cancellation. There were still months of episodes left at the time, and the series came to a close in the middle of 2026, making it eligible for this year’s Emmys.

Now, overall, the competition in this category is strong and fascinating. Last Week Tonight has won ten Emmys. It has won three times in Outstanding Scripted Variety Series and seven times in Outstanding Variety Talk Series. In 2023, it moved from Talk to Scripted series, and after that happened, The Daily Show won Talk Series twice, and The Late Show took home the trophy last year.

This year, all those shows will compete for the same trophy, and the other competition is Jimmy Kimmel Live! And Saturday Night Live, both of which are beloved programs that have good reasons to win too.

Notably, more than one show could take home gold. When this new category emerged, the Television Academy reclassified it as an area award. That means voters don’t select one winner; instead, they answer the question “Does this nominee merit an Emmy?” Any nominee that reaches a 90% “yes” threshold can win, per Deadline.

Even if multiple shows win, I still think Colbert and The Late Show are likely a frontrunner. Considering how his show ended for good this year, I’d guess that many would want to reward the program for its run and give it one last celebration.

Plus, there’s a lot of love for Stephen Colbert. Last year, after his show got canceled and the 2025 Emmy nominees were announced, Jimmy Kimmel actually campaigned for his competitor instead of his own show. He literally put up a billboard in support of The Late Show.

While I don’t know if that kind of thing will happen again, I would assume all the nominated programs will continue to support each other. I mean, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver and Stephen Colbert are pals, and they all appeared on The Late Show in the episodes before it ended this spring.

So, it will be interesting to see who wins this year. However, no matter what, the nomination alone gives Stephen Colbert one last laugh after CBS canceled his show. Yep, he’ll get to celebrate The Late Show one more time months after it came to a close, and I think that’s very deserved.

Now, to see if Stephen Colbert and The Late Show win, you can tune in to the 78th Emmy Awards on September 14 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC or with a Peacock subscription.

Saturday Night Live Season 52 premieres this fall on the 2026 TV schedule, and as of now, there aren’t any details about who will be returning and who could be leaving. Season 51 saw a mass cast exodus with several fan-favorites departing, while five new cast members joined. Now, some of those newbies are opening up about the advice series creator and producer Lorne Michaels has given them.

Joining a show like SNL isn't exactly easy. Many huge stars have come from SNL, but each of those cast members were battle tested, so to speak. Luckily, a lot of cast members -- current and former -- have given advice to new cast members. However, given Michaels' experience, he's a unique source of advice. When several of the new cast members spoke with Variety, Jeremy Culhane shared what Michaels does when he gives notes, and I wasn't expecting him to mention a Lord of the Rings character:

Obviously, if anyone knows what it takes to put together a show, it’s Lorne Michaels. He not only created Saturday Night Live, but has served as a producer for almost every single season. He’s experienced highs and lows, dealt with eccentric cast members and more. Michaels also knows what work and what doesn’t when it comes to sketches, and it sounds like he knows just what to say when something just doesn’t click.

Michaels apparently also knows when a cast member is trying too hard, which is exactly what Tommy Brennan went through. Brennan recalled:

I can imagine that throughout his time on Saturday Night Live, Michaels has come across more than a few cast members who've tried too hard to prove themselves. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as even veteran cast members have to work hard to get more airtime, but I can imagine it's also beneficial to relax and have fun, as Michaels wanted Brennan to do. Also, as Kam Patterson explained, Michaels can also use a random fact to make a point:

Following their inaugural season, the younger cast members seem to have a solid grip on SNL. Culhane, Brennan, and Patterson, as well as Veronika Slowikowska, joined the featured players roster for Season 51, and they weren’t the only newbies. Ben Marshall, 1/3 of comedy group Please Don’t Destroy (who have created some viral SNL sketches and digital shorts) also joined the cast at the beginning of Season 51.

So, needless to say, there's a lot of new blood at Studio 8H right now, and I'm hopeful that they'll hone and develop their talents over time. I'd say their lucky to have some veterans like Kenan Thompson, Sarah Sherman and Mikey Day around. However, if they're ever able to get some one-on-one time with Lorne Michaels, I'd imagine that's very beneficial as well.

The full cast for Season 52 has not been announced, so it’s unclear if all of these stars will be back on stage this fall. As a fan, I'm hopeful we won’t see any more changes to the cast for a while. (I’m still mourning over Bowen Yang’s departure. Saturday Night Live returns this fall on NBC, and all existing episodes are streaming now with a Peacock subscription.

Taylor Swift fans have been and continue to be desperate for any and all details about her getting “JUST&T MARRIED” to Travis Kelce on July 3. There have been a few surprises from what we’ve learned so far, including Karlie Kloss being one of the invited guests and comedian Adam Sandler officiating the wedding. The Billy Madison star has spoken glowingly about the artist in the past, but how do Swift and Sandler know each other?

Travis Kelce worked with Adam Sandler on Happy Gilmore 2, of course, where the NFL star played a waiter (there were theories that Taylor Swift also had a cameo), but the Sandman’s connection to the “Opalite” singer goes back way further than that. Sandler has been a Swiftie since his daughters, Sadie and Sunny, were kids, and he told Kelce how important she has been to the Sandler family on New Heights in 2024, saying:

The two movies Adam Sandler mentioned were released in 2010 and 2012, respectively. So we’re talking over a decade of Taylor Swift fandom here (though it’s unclear if they actually met each other during this time). But Sandler’s praise for her music didn’t stop there, as Sandler continued:

Adam Sandler has said that he, his wife Jackie, Sadie and Sunny have even gotten to meet Taylor Swift several times over the years. Possibly the first time was in October 2019, when Swift served as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Sandler told Travis Kelce that he appreciated how she “saw the kids there, took her time, hung out with them.”

Then they got to hang out again at the premiere of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. The Sandman recalled:

How incredibly sweet is that? Taylor Swift taking time from her own movie premiere to praise Sunny and Sadie Sandler for their own film. In fact, Swift has made such an impression on the women in Adam Sandler's life that he feels pressure to not ruin it. He said on New Heights:

It’s not just her music and her message that the Sandler family loves so much either — they happen to be big fans of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce as a couple, as he concluded his mounds of praise by telling Kelce:

Honestly, anybody who talked about my relationship like that would be welcome to officiate my wedding, so I can totally see why they made that choice.

I’m kind of dying to know what Adam Sandler said during the ceremony. But, even though Taylor Swift reportedly had her wedding filmed, I’m afraid that might be something kept private just for the thousand people in attendance. Only time will tell but, clearly, Travis and Taylor's relationship with the Sandlers is now one for the ages.

Everyone always talks about the incredible run Kenan Thompson has had on Saturday Night Live. He’s been on the show for more than two decades and is the longest tenured Not Ready For Primetime Player by a large margin, but for almost that entire stretch, Colin Jost has been right there with him. The writer, turned head writer, turned Weekend Update co-host jointed the show all the way back in 2005, just two years after Thompson. The two even shared an office for almost a decade, and that’s apparently where one of the greatest SNL recurring sketches of all-time came from.

Thompson recently joined The Rundown, which is a fun bit SNL does on its social channels where cast members pick out a sketch from the past, as if they were putting together a show Lorne Michaels style. During the segment, Thompson talked about some of his all-time favorite sketches from other comedians, as well as some of his personal favorites. That’s when the subject of Scared Straight came up, and he gave the backstory, which I had never heard before.

If you haven’t seen any of the Scared Straight sketches before, you’re missing out. They’re a direct nod to the 1970s documentary Scared Straight, which paired troubled teens with prison inmates who told them what life inside was actually like an effort to get them to reevaluate their life choices. In SNL’s version, Thompson plays an inmate who yells at troubled teenagers, but all of the stories he tells are quite clearly references to old movies.

You can watch the magic below…

I’m firmly convinced that one of the secret weapons of Saturday Night Live has always been its unique ability to force hilarious people to hang out with each other almost constantly. The crazy hours, shared offices and all night writing sessions bring people together and allow for all kinds of wacky collaborations and partnerships that you wouldn’t have seen coming like this one.

Exactly how much longer these two continue working together remains to be seen. It’s the summer and like every summer, there’s a thousand rumors about the SNL cast and who might be staying and who might be going. I’m not sure anyone knows what’ll happen over the next few months, but I think there’s a good chance both of these two will be back. Jost has really broken out over the last year and has started appearing in a ton of non-Weekend Update sketches, and Thompson remains one of the most popular and beloved cast members on the show. Fingers crossed we get to see them work together for at least another year.

Saturday Night Live is a television institution, and a dream job for countless comedians. The sketch show (which is streaming with a Peacock subscription) has created many stars, including Bowen Yang, who earned 5 Emmy nominations during his tenure on the show. And he recently recalled the way fellow alum Tina Fey supported him in his post SNL career, specifically the Las Culturistas Culture Awards.

For ten years now, Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers have hosted the Las Culturistas Podcast, which is a deep dive on pop culture and their personal lives. In 2022 they introduced a spoof Awards Show called the The Culture Awards, with the last two years being televised on Bravo and Peacock. In a video from The Wall Street Journal, the Wedding Banquet star shared a story about Fey related to the Culture Awards, starting with:

While televised and star-studded, The Culture Awards are ultimately one hilarious gag. Categories include "Best Vibe Hands Down", "The Allison Williams Cool Girl Award" and "Most Beautiful Name for a Daughter You Haven't Even Thought of Yet". So while Bowen Yang left SNL, he's still been busy writing laugh-out-loud bits for us to enjoy.

Later in the clip, Yang revealed how Tina Fey propped him up about The Culture Awards. The faux Awards Show has become legitimate in her eyes, as he revealed:

Touché. And since Tina Fey has hosted the Golden Globes so many times, she knows a thing or two about Awards Shows. While The Las Culturistas Culture Awards are indeed a tongue-in-cheek evening, it has become a star-studded even that people end up taking seriously. And in that way it's just like every other Awards Show.

While Yang departed SNL, he's kept super busy and Las Culturistas continues to be a wildly popular podcast. He and co-host Matt Rogers are also going to write a book The Rules of Culture, Volume 1, further cementing the pod's place in the entertainment world. And I'm hoping we're getting a third televised Culture Awards next year.

The Las Culturistas Culture Awards are streaming over on Peacock as part of the 2026 TV schedule. He's also part of the voice cat for the new Cat in the Hat movie, which will hit theaters November 6th.

Saturday Night Live produces stars, and many of its sketches live on in the pop culture zeitgeist for decades. That’s bound to make the comedians in the cast feel great. I’m sure it can also inflate egos. However, according to David Spade, there’s a piece of advice Lorne Michaels gives that helped him keep his ego in check while on the show.

This came up while Spade, Dana Carvey and Marcello Hernández were chatting about recurring characters on SNL during an episode of Fly on the Wall. Hernández, who famously has gone viral multiple times for playing Domingo, specifically mentioned that it can be tough to pitch a sketch about a character that’s already been done, because it can feel like there’s a “little bit of entitlement” behind it. That led to Spade recalling a tough piece of advice Lorne Michaels gave him:

While brutal, the point totally makes sense. There’s a lot of chatter about who gets the most screen time on Saturday Night Live, and breakout stars, like Ashley Padilla from the season that aired on the 2026 TV schedule, get lots of adoration online. However, along with the praise comes criticism too, as the way people react to sketches on SNL tends to fluctuate.

So, one moment you can be up, and the next moment you can be down. It makes sense that your ego would need to be in check to deal with all that. Therefore, a brutal reality check from Lorne Michaels can probably be helpful, as David Spade explained:

“Brutal and true” seems to be the name of Lorne Michaels game. He clearly loves his cast, and he’s helped so many of them both professionally and personally. However, he also knows how to make tough calls, and he isn’t afraid to show he doesn’t like something, as is shown when he reacts to sketches under the bleachers in his documentary Lorne and the Written By documentary (both of which you can stream alongside SNL with a Peacock subscription). So, the fact that he’d tell Spade and other cast members that they’re not the funniest people on the show feels on-brand.

Plus, while brutal, it feels like a good thing to remember. SNL is full of incredible comedians. Every week, any of them could shine the brightest. And while the show has its massive stars, from episode to episode, the best player of the night tends to change. Meanwhile, sketches get cut mid-episode, and working on this program is notoriously difficult. So, staying humble and keeping that ego in check feels important.

So, yeah, the advice Lorne Michaels gave David Spade was pretty harsh. And I can’t imagine it’s easy to hear. However, it also helped the comedian keep his ego in check while working on Saturday Night Live.

The joke swap between Saturday Night Live Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che has become one of the most anticipated parts of the show, and we thought we’d seen in the SNL Season 51 finale just how far Che was willing to go. Maybe not, though, because Che paid tribute to Jost on his birthday with a message that may not have been a blind joke swap, but was still trolling of the highest order.

Colin Jost celebrated his 44th birthday on June 29, but just because it was his big day doesn’t mean he was safe from the shots being fired by his Weekend Update partner. Che posted a series of photos and videos to Instagram, along with a couple of frames of text that read:

Undoubtedly, the funniest part of this lengthy message is the fact that Michael Che included receipts for these memories (both real and photoshopped), including an image of the two of them in the ring at WrestleMania 35, a selfie driving past a Whites Drug & Department Store, a doctored image of their 2018 Variety cover, handwritten notes from Harry Styles and more.

Che’s post continued:

Yeah, you have to give Michael Che credit for putting this one together, and then remembering to name some of the best former Weekend Update anchors like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Norm Macdonald, Kevin Nealon, Jane Curtain and others. I definitely think Jost and Che's names deserve to be on the list of greats.

Perhaps the best birthday gift Colin Jost could have gotten from his colleague is that his wife Scarlett Johansson escaped the tribute mostly unscathed. That definitely hasn't always been the case, as Jost has been made to read jokes about the Black Widow star — sometimes even in front of her — during their joke swaps.

The Weekend Update joke swap has a great origin story, and it’s something that Colin Jost and Michael Che reserve typically for their Christmas show and each season finale. During their SNL segment, they write jokes for each other that they don't see until they read them live on-air.

I love that Michael Che didn’t wait for Saturday Night Live to return to the 2026 TV schedule before we got more trolling between the Weekend Update anchors, and it really just makes me more excited for Season 52. While we wait for that, you can catch past SNL episodes on streaming with your Peacock subscription.

Saturday Night Live is currently on its summer hiatus, preparing to return for Season 52 on the 2026 TV schedule this fall. With a new season means possible cast exits or additions following the mass exodus ahead of Season 51 last year. After having to say goodbye to five cast members in fall 2025, fans had to say goodbye to one more when Bowen Yang departed after the Christmas show. His absence, like other former cast members, is definitely still felt, and I love Sarah Sherman’s take on what she’s been missing since he left.

Many cast members paid tribute to Yang after his final episode aired, and it’s still hard to watch the show without him. He was in his feels cleaning up the last of his stuff from 30 Rock, but luckily, he’s remained close to his former colleagues. As for Sherman, she took some vicious shrapnel from a writer about his exit, but it mostly just shows how big an impact Yang made on SNL. Sherman revealed on Deadline’s Comedy Means Business podcast what the environment was like during those first few shows post-Yang:

For a show like SNL, cast exits happen frequently, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt... especially for the cast. Yang and Sherman grew close during their time together on the series, and Yang has hyped up her projects, and she’s probably done the same. While the 35 year-old Fire Island star has remained close to his former colleagues since his exit, I can only imagine how different the table reads were after getting back from winter break. Especially if Yang’s laugh filled up the room.

Even though it’s hard having to say goodbye to friends, Sherman does love it when new people come on and give the show something fresh. Season 51 saw five new cast members, including Ben Marshall from Please Don’t Destroy, and there’s no telling if anyone new will be joining for Season 52. Regardless, Sherman looks forward to the vibes the newbies bring:

The great thing about Saturday Night Live is that everyone on the cast, even the show’s longest-tenured cast member Kenan Thompson, was once a newbie. They know what it’s like to join the coveted ranks of SNL, so it’s not surprising to know that Sherman welcomes the newbies with open arms.

As of now, cast changes for Season 52 have not been revealed, and it’s unknown if there will be any cast changes. It’s possible that after losing six cast members last season, the only casting changes made will be promoting some featured cast members to repertory, hopefully fan-favorite Ashley Padilla. Season 52 will be the first full season without Bowen Yang, but maybe he can come back to host, especially with his podcast and the Las Culturistas Culture Awards doing so well. For now, fans can watch their favorite Yang moments with all seasons of SNL streaming with a Peacock subscription.

Jackass was famously the subject of a bidding war before the show even aired a single episode. MTV, Comedy Central and FX all liked the pitch enough to make offers, and at one point, Saturday Night Live even got involved. Star Johnny Knoxville and his producing partners Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine of course went with MTV, but that hasn’t stopped fans from playing the what-if game for the last quarter century, especially about SNL.

Well, it turns out the sketch comedy offer was a little different than at least I had realized. Ahead of Jackass: Best And Last, an old Howard Stern interview with Knoxville has gone viral in which the subject of Saturday Night Live came up. The actor said he met with showrunner Lorne Michaels, who offered him three to five minutes of airtime each episode, but he ultimately turned it down because apparently it wasn’t for Jackass. It was for him and wouldn’t have included the rest of the crew.

For some reason in my mind, I envisioned a weekly stunt or prank that involved Knoxville and the other guys, but this makes a lot more sense given how SNL casts work. It apparently would have just been the lead actor himself doing some bit of craziness.

I’m sure that would have been funny and blown the minds of network TV audiences who would have been shocked, but that wouldn’t have been Jackass as we know it. That would have just been Knoxville doing his thing. I wonder if he would have gotten the chance to appear in other sketches like a traditional cast member too. He’s hosted the show before so we know he would have been able to pull it off.

This might sound out of left field for Saturday Night Live. In some ways, it obviously is a big departure from the heart of the show, but it’s not quite as crazy as it might seem. There’s definitely an established pattern of SNL partnering with comedians to do something other than traditional sketch comedy.

When the show first premiered, it included a more adult version of The Muppets that Jim Henson created. There have also been plenty of filmmaking duos who have made weekly shorts for the show that are pre-taped with The Lonely Island probably being the most prominent example.

I’m sure SNL would have loved to get in on the Jackass phenomenon, but we should all be happy that it worked out the way it did. Arguably the best part of the entire franchise is the chemistry and love between the leads. Everyone laughing at each other helps the audience feel okay with laughing, and the show and subsequent movies also benefited from having a high number of sketches in order to play to different comedic tastes. Some people want to see Knoxville attach bottle rockets to roller skates. Some people want to see Steve-O get stung by bees, and some people want to see Pontius dance for random people. It’s an eclectic vibe.

You can catch the main Jackass guys one final time in Jackass: Best And Last, which hits theaters this weekend. The film is a mix of older footage, unaired stunts and new bits the team shot, alongside some of the newer cast members that appeared in Jackass Forever. It's getting very strong reviews.

While the benefits of being on Saturday Night Live are amazing, and the show has produced many successful comedians, it also takes quite a toll on its cast and crew. I mean, Michael Che says he’s going to leave every season because of how challenging it is, and many others have spoken about just how tough it is to perform week after week. Now, Sarah Sherman has gotten very personal about why she felt like “roadkill” after wrapping up a season of SNL.

This conversation came up as Sherman was discussing touring as a stand-up comedian on Deadline’s Comedy Means Business podcast. She explained that she’s not doing it right now, despite the fact that her special, Sarah Squirm: Live + In the Flesh (you can stream it with an HBO Max subscription), came out in December last year. While that feels unnatural, it was needed after she wrapped another season of SNL, as she explained:

Sarah Sherman has always kept it real when it comes to SNL. She’s talked about things she still hasn’t figured out, and she’s explained what it’s like to have a sketch cut in the middle of an episode. While these comments are not rude or angry, they are candid and highlight the challenges that come with working on this show.

In her latest comments, she explained that she was so tired after this last season that ended on the 2026 TV schedule that she was in desperate need of a break. Explaining that point a bit further, and diving into why SNL is so exhausting, she said:

This all makes perfect sense. Week after week, the writers and cast of SNL are expected to write and perform new work. Then, through that process, a lot gets cut and changed. It’s a tough and ultra-fast-paced job that comes with funky hours, intense highs and low lows. So, I get why a cast member might feel like “roadkill” after a given season.

However, despite the challenges, the cast is coming back and killing. On top of that, they’re also working on other projects. In fact, while Sherman isn’t doing stand-up right now, she will be later this summer. Plus, in 2026 alone, she’s worked on three movies – Pizza Movie, Roomates and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma – while also performing on SNL.

So, yes, while the work is challenging and exhausting, it’s clear that even though Sarah Sherman is taking a break right now (and a deserved one at that), she really shows no signs of slowing down.

Meeting Paul McCartney has to be one of those experiences where your brain briefly turns into a shaken soda can. What do you even say if you suddenly find yourself face-to-face with one of the Beatles backstage at Saturday Night Live? If you are SNL cast member Sarah Sherman, apparently, you talk about your very Paul McCartney-coded mullet... then let the man inspect the merchandise. While the sketch comedy series is on hiatus before returning to the 2026 TV schedule, the comedy star gushed about meeting the former Beatle and shared his hilarious reaction to her haircut.

In an exclusive interview with People at the 5th Annual Las Culturistas Culture Awards, the 33-year-old performer recalled how the former Beatle approached her after he appeared as the musical guest on SNL’s Season 51 finale, which Will Ferrell hosted. The setup came from Sherman previously joking on the show that her haircut looked like the rock legend’s Wings-era mullet. Apparently, he remembered. As the comedian put it:

Talk about the perfect SNL celebrity encounter. A musical legend inspecting your mullet like he’s authenticating a rare artifact? Beautiful. This is exactly the kind of backstage story that feels too specific to invent.

The late-night sketch performer also shared more of the encounter during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which she later posted to TikTok. She said McCartney came up to her during the goodnights, knew her name and pulled on her “mullet tails.” Jimmy Kimmel joked that it is probably rare for someone to get their mullet pulled by a Beatle, and Sherman had the only correct response: she liked it.

Honestly, that tracks for Sherman. Since joining SNL in 2021 and later being promoted to the repertory cast, she has made a whole art form out of being proudly strange. Her comedy has always had a chaotic, squirmy, body-horror-adjacent energy, so of course her Paul McCartney story involves hair verification.

The best part, though, is that the You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah actress did not just talk hair. She also made sure the British music icon knew she was a real fan. She told the outlet that she praised him directly, and his response was somehow even funnier than the mullet bit. She continued:

I love that so much. There is something deeply refreshing about a rock legend not pretending he is embarrassed by praise. The 84-year-old singer-songwriter has earned a little adulation. Actually, he has earned several dump trucks of it. If Sarah Sherman wants to complement McCartney II, the obscure 1980 solo album that has since become a cult favorite, who among us is going to stop her?

She also named McCartney II as her favorite album for People Picks, along with Martin Short’s Clifford as her favorite movie and The X-Files as her favorite TV show. That is such a Sherman-coded trio that it almost sounds like a character description. The whole thing is just a great collision of personalities. Plenty of people have probably told Paul McCartney they love his music. Far fewer can say he pulled their mullet first.

You can catch Sherman’s comedy special, Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh, with an HBO Max subscription.

Leslie Jones managed to make quite a mark during her five-season stint on Saturday Night Live and, since leaving the show in 2019, she's provided insight into her experiences working there. While Jones has been open about the highs of the gig, she's also been honest about some of the lows. More recently, the actress and comedian talked about being typecast in many of her sketches, despite wanting to be included in roles that were more dynamic.

Ahead of SNL's return on the 2026 TV schedule, Jones was a guest on The Sam Sanders Show. During a conversation about whether the sketch-comedy show was a great place for Black comics, the Top Five alum talked about her own experience and consistently being put in sketches where she was fighting or having to be angry:

While she's said in the past she originally didn't even want to be on the show, Leslie Jones apparently joined Saturday Night Live with the notion of wanting to showcase her abilities both as an actress and comedian. Although Jones' work on the show is quite enjoyable, she does make good points in that many of her characters do fit the mad or fight-ready descriptions.

When asked if she was OK with the sketches at the time, Jones admitted that her desire to be on the series was what took precedence. However, she also admitted it took a while for her to even realize she was getting the same thing to do every week. At the same time, though, she was also on national TV as part of a cast many others would die to be a part of. The comedian explained:

Though frustrated, Leslie Jones can see that Saturday Night Live is a machine. Writers figure out what audiences like about a cast member, and they'll continue to hit on what works. This is to say, she's not the only former SNL cast member to frequently be put into the same box, but that doesn't mean it's any less disappointing for her.

What seemed to be at the center of Leslie Jones' displeasure was her desire to "play" more and show the various abilities she has as an actress. Still, as she reiterated, being a product of the machine meant writers were reluctant to go outside of her "character" when it came to sketches, which further annoyed her:

When asked if Saturday Night Live was a good place for Black comedians, Leslie Jones said it was a great platform that can open a lot of doors for any comedian. There are plenty of success stories involving cast members who've had careers after being on the NBC staple. And, most notably, Kenan Thompson has even made being a cast member a long-term career.

It's been interesting to hear Jones be candid about her SNL experience. Since leaving the series, she returned to join the star-studded 50th anniversary special, and she still seems to have solid relationships with some former castmates. While it's unfortunate that her time on the show wasn't what she wanted, I'm glad she seems to have still maintained a solid connection to the series.

Saturday Night Live returns to NBC this fall, and I'm eager to see what upcoming hosts and musical guests are planned for next season. I may need to watch some old episodes with my Peacock subscription, because I've been needing some sketch comedy in my life as of late.

With Saturday Night Live hitting its 50th anniversary last year, there’s been a lot of looking back at the early days, from the brutal audition process to the sketches that didn’t go according to plan. Molly Shannon has had the opportunity to reminisce lately, as well, as she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Will Ferrell paid tribute to his longtime friend and gave her a lot of the credit for bringing the show back from being “Saturday Night Dead.”

Molly Shannon and Will Ferrell joined Saturday Night Live in 1995 amidst a dip in ratings for the NBC sketch comedy show, and as Shannon was honored with a literal Hollywood “Superstar!” on Monday, June 22, the Spirited actor recalled the night she debuted what became one of SNL’s most iconic recurring characters — Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher. Ferrell said:

Saturday Night Live fans are more than familiar with the armpit-sniffing Mary Katherine Gallagher, who shared one memorable sketch with Whitney Houston (after Molly Shannon convinced her to do it) and even got her own movie Superstar in 1999, which ended up being one of the best movies based on a Saturday Night Live character. Will Ferrell spoke about how instantaneous the audience’s reaction was to Molly Shannon in that role:

That’s quite a huge amount of credit to give Molly Shannon, as SNL is considered one of the best sketch comedies of all time with Season 52 premiering this fall on the 2026 TV calendar. You can see the sketch that Will Ferrell was referring to below:

Molly Shannon definitely deserves all of the flowers. She stayed with Saturday Night Live until 2001, earning an Emmy nomination in 2000, but has returned to 30 Rockefeller Center as a guest several times and hosted twice. Her success has continued outside of sketch comedy with amazing roles on shows like The White Lotus and The Other Two. The SNL star has even pulled off dramatic roles including A Good Person.

I love that Will Ferrell has such glowing memories of his time with Molly Shannon on SNL, and it makes me even more excited to see the two reunite for the comedy series The Hawk. The upcoming Netflix series stars Ferrell as a golf legend, with Shannon playing his ex-wife Stacy. Make sure your Netflix subscription is up to date, because that premiere is coming our way Thursday, July 16.