The 48th season of “Saturday Night Live” begins with a season premiere on October 1, 2021 with host Miles Teller and musical guest Kendrick Lamar, but the cast of “SNL” looks quite different this year.
Those who make it a habit to watch ‘SNL’ may be wondering, is ‘SNL’ new tonight? Yes, tonight is the season 48 premiere of “Saturday Night Live.” It will air live on NBC at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT. It will stream live on Peacock at the same time.
The Season 48 premiere opens three new shows in a row, with Brendan Gleeson and Megan Thee Stallion hosting the next two episodes on October 8 and October 15, respectively. Willow Gleason will be the musical guest for the episode, while Megan Thee Stallion will do double duty as host and musical guest.
The end of season 47 marked the exit of cast members Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Eddie Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Alex Moffat, Melissa Villasenor, Aristotle Athari and Chris Redd.
While there was speculation that lead actors such as Kenan Thompson, Pete Davidson, Cecily Strong and Eddie Bryant might leave “Saturday Night Live” in Season 47, all four returned. The only cast members who didn’t return for last season were Beck Bennett and Lauren Holt.
In Season 48, “SNL” adds new cast members Marcelo Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker. Kearney is the show’s first non-binary cast member.
The returning cast for “SNL” Season 48 includes Michael Che, Mickey Day, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Ego Nvodim, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang. The featured players returning are Andrew Dismukes, James Austin Johnson, Panky Johnson and Sarah Sherman.
Executive Producer Lorne Michaels Calls Out Season 48 a “transition year,” He added that “changes are always difficult but always exciting.”
