Prior to the start of the season, Punkie Johnson, who had been on the show for four seasons since 2020, and featured player Molly Kearney, who had been on the show for two seasons since 2022, made the decision to leave after the conclusion of the previous season.[6] Following Johnson and Kearney's departures, fellow featured player Chloe Troast was let go after only one season on the show.[7] The show subsequently added three new cast members: Ashley Padilla of The Groundlings, stand-up comic Emil Wakim, and TikTok sketch comedian Jane Wickline.[8]
This was the final season for Heidi Gardner (who had been a cast member since 2017), Longfellow and Walker (who both joined the show in 2022), and the only season for Wakim.[12][13][14]
Prior to the start of the season, Allie Levitan, Moss Perricone and Carl Tart joined the writing staff.[15]
Writers Dan Bulla (who joined the writing staff in 2019) and Auguste White (who joined the writing staff in 2022) have been promoted to writing supervisors, joining current supervisors Celeste Yim and Will Stephen.[16]Rosebud Baker (who joined the writing staff in 2022) is now named as a writer for Weekend Update.[17]
Sudi Green (who was previously a writer on the show from 2015 to 2021) returned as a writer during the first-half of the season.[17][18]
This was the final season for writer Celeste Yim, who had been a writer since 2020, Please Don't Destroy's John Higgins, who had been a writer since 2021, and the final season for Rosebud Baker, who had been a writer since 2022.[19] This is also the final season for long-term writer Steven Castillo. Castillo previously wrote for the show from 2017 to 2021, before returning midway through season 49 in 2024, and overall wrote for seven non-consecutive seasons. He stated that his second run at SNL was never meant to be long-term and that he just wanted to be a part of the 50th season.[20]
Production
In late 2021, show creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels stated that he was committed to continuing with the series through the fiftieth season (at the time, the show was in its forty-seventh) and suggested that he may retire afterward.[21] The subsequent year, Kenan Thompson speculated that the series may end if Michaels left, saying, "He's the one that's had his touch on the whole thing . . . It opens the opportunity for a lot of bullshit to come into the game because he's such a legend that he keeps off those corporate wolves."[22] During season forty-nine, Michaels stated that 2000s-era member Tina Fey could be a capable successor, but insisted that he would finish the next season before any dramatic changes.[23] He reiterated these plans in May, when a fiftieth anniversary special was announced that would celebrate the series' history on February16, 2025.[24] In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter before the season started, Michaels denied that he would be retiring at the end of the season.[25] Prior to the season start on September 28, NBC began airing retrospectives on the show with their mid-year coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics.[2] Michaels had previously stated that he intended to bring back everyone from the previous decades, as well as hosts and musical guests who have helped shape the show, for the anniversary special.[26]
On July 31, it was announced that Maya Rudolph would return to portray vice president and presidential nominee Kamala Harris through the 2024 election season.[27] The next day, cast member Punkie Johnson announced that she would be leaving the show after four years.[28] On August 2, cast member Molly Kearney announced their departure after two seasons as a featured player.[29] On September 9, it was announced that Chloe Troast would also be departing after one season as a featured player.[8] On the same day, it was announced that three new cast members would be hired as featured players: Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline. Featured players Marcello Hernández, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker, who joined the cast along with Kearney prior to season 48, were promoted to repertory status.[8]
This was the final season for longtime carpenter Stephen "Demo" DeMaria, who retired at the end of the season, after 50 years, since the show's inception in 1975.[31]
Jelly Roll performs "Liar" and "Winning Streak" and appears in the cut-for-time "Blonde Dragon People" sketch.
Hannah Einbinder, daughter of original Not Ready for Primetime Player Laraine Newman as well as Smart's co-star on Hacks, joins Smart in introducing Jelly Roll for the first song.[33]
Before the goodnights, a photo of Tom McCarthy, former senior vice president and global chief security officer for NBC, who died July 10, is shown in silence.
In versions distributed online and internationally, the "Textbook Writer" sketch is amended to include a shot from the dress rehearsal version, owing to a props error made by Smart in the live program.[34]
According to NBC, this is the most-watched episode ever on Peacock, "through the first weekend".[32]
Rudolph and Samberg also appear in the "Castrati" sketch.
Carvey also appears in the "Maybelline" sketch.
Technical issues afflicted the latter portion of the show. A malfunctioning sound board caused Nicks' second song to be delayed - following another set of commercials - which resulted in one sketch ("Cinema Classics", with Grande due to portray Judy Garland) being dropped and replaced by another ("Hotel Detective", recorded - and initially cut - at dress-rehearsal) with a shorter runtime.[38] Broadcast reruns in the show's late night slot added new bumper footage during the commercials of Stevie and her band getting ready on stage, removing the initial broadcast's extended use of a still photo of Nicks. It also added an ad break between the Maybelline skit and the final skit.
GloRilla performs "Yeah Glo!" and a medley of "Whatchu Kno About Me" and "Let Her Cook" and appears in the pre-recorded "Pop the Balloon” sketch.
Neither performance was broadcast in the United Kingdom, with GloRilla's musical guest credit excised from the opening sequence. Such edits were not made to the version of the episode available on streaming.
Chappelle broke his own record for longest monologue in the show's history. His previous record, set when he hosted the show in November 2020, was a monologue of 16 minutes and 9 seconds. The monologue in this episode was "just short of 17 minutes".[50] With Chappelle's monologue being longer than planned (the dress rehearsal monologue reportedly lasted only "nine minutes"),[51] multiple sketches were cut from the live show.[52]
Donnell Rawlings appears in the pre-recorded "Pop the Balloon" sketch.
Before the goodnights, a photo of filmmaker David Lynch, who died two days prior to this episode, is shown in silence.
Writer Moss Perricone appears in the opening monologue.
During the goodnights, Chalamet wishes his sister Pauline, who turned 33 the same night as the episode, a happy birthday.
According to Nielsen and internal NBCU data, this episode is the third-most watched Peacock livestream on record, also obtaining 300 million viewers across all social platforms.[54]
Before the goodnights, a still photo of David Johansen, in character as "Buster Poindexter", who died the previous day, is shown in silence.
Despite being credited in the opening montage, Chloe Fineman was absent from this episode due to contracting COVID-19 days before the episode was due to air.[56]
In the latter song, the word "shit" appears in one line of the lyrics. The word is on the list of the “seven dirty words” prohibited from being broadcast. It was not censored for the East Coast, but in the version of the episode distributed online and internationally the sound drops out solely for the word, while in the West Coast broadcast it dropped out less precisely and briefly censored some surrounding vocals.[58][b]
Bowen Yang introduces Gaga's first performance while wearing a shirt advertising her newest album, Mayhem.
Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, and Kenan Thompson introduce Gaga’s second performance.
Two sketches of this episode were affected by props errors in the live broadcast. Small sections of "Birthday at Friendly's" were replaced with the dress rehearsal version on Peacock and YouTube, while a prop error in "A Long Goodbye" was not rectified upon post-broadcast distribution.[58]
Madison's twin brother Miles appears in the opening monologue.
Joe Jonas appears in the pre-recorded "Big Dumb Line" sketch. The role was originally intended for Wallen, but he turned it down.[60]
Writer Carl Tart appears in the "Jury Duty" sketch.
Wallen immediately walked off the stage during the goodnights, leading to him being derided online for breaking tradition.[61] The incident was mocked in the following episode by both James Austin Johnson (during his portrayal of Trump in the cold open) as well as by Colin Jost in the Weekend Update segment.[62][c]
Elton John & Brandi Carlile, with Chad Smith on drums, Andrew Watt on guitar and Josh Klinghoffer on keyboards perform "Little Richard's Bible" and "Who Believes in Angels?"
During the Weekend Update segment in which Ego Nwodim (in her stand-up persona "Miss Eggy") performs a mock stand-up routine audition for the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the audience responded in unison to a call and response-style joke with the word "shit," to the surprise of Nwodim, Colin Jost and Michael Che on-stage.[64][65] The word was heard on the live East Coast and Peacock broadcasts, but censored for the West Coast, international airings, and online clips.[65][b] The incident was mocked in the following episode's cold open by James Austin Johnson as Trump and by Bowen Yang as Chen Biao on Update, as well as in the season finale where Nwodim's stand-up persona returns and Jost claims that earned an FCC fine on Update.[66]
Before the goodnights, a photo of Val Kilmer, who died earlier in the week, is shown in silence.
Lizzo performs a medley of "Love in Real Life" and "Still Bad" for her first set and "Don't Make Me Love You" for her second set and appears in the pre-recorded "The White POTUS" sketch and the "New Parents" sketch.
A scene in "The White POTUS" where Sarah Sherman portrays Aimee Lou Wood's character from The White Lotus attracted controversy, for being seen to disparage Wood's appearance.[68][69][70] There were conflicting reports as to whether the program apologized to her for the portrayal.[71]
Bad Bunny performs "Nuevayol" and "Perfumito Nuevo" with RaiNao and appears in the pre-recorded "Please Don't Destroy: First Class" sketch and the "Couples at the Bar" sketch.
Mike Myers appears in the "Mike Myers Elevator Ride" sketch.
With this episode, Johansson becomes SNL's most frequent female host, breaking the tie she previously held with Drew Barrymore and Tina Fey.
Final episode to feature a pre-recorded sketch by Please Don't Destroy, as writer and member John Higgins would leave the show after this season. As a result, this also the final episode the feature the "A Film by Please Don't Destroy" credit in the opening montage.
A two-hour highlights collection of SNL’s holiday-themed sketches.
"SNL50:Beyond Saturday Night"
January16,2025(2025-01-16)
N/A
A four-part documentary series focusing on the behind the scenes history of the show,including a deep dive into the "More Cowbell" sketch from season 25 and the show's low-rated,critically-despised,but pivotal 11th season which saw the return of Lorne Michaels after his primetime sketch series The New Show flopped.
A three hour prime-time special celebrating SNL's 50th season. This special assembled together a large list of current and former cast members,hosts,and musical acts from throughout the show's fifty seasons.
Ratings
Through the seventh episode,this season of Saturday Night Live was the "highest rated entertainment program across ad-supported broadcast and cable TV among viewers aged 18-49",and—-with seven days of on-demand viewing included—-the season so far averaged a 1.28 demo rating,and an average viewership of 7.3 million.[83]
Viewership and ratings per episode of Saturday Night Live season 50
1 2 In the Eastern and Central Time Zones, Saturday Night Live airs within the FCC’s “safe harbor” period, which permits indecent material to air between 10:00p.m. and 6:00a.m. local time.
↑ Johnson did not directly mock Wallen's abrupt departure, but rather what Wallen uploaded to his social media following the abrupt departure.[62]
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