With Saturday Night Live At Home now fully in the rearview mirror, the cast of the NBC comedy sketch series are eagerly anticipating their return to 30 Rock. The next season will see the full cast of comedians reuniting in Studio 8H after their pandemic break, and they’ll be joined by a host of A-listers scouted to host and perform on the show.
Season 45 of SNL was interrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, forcing the show to be filmed remotely to ensure that the production would not result in anyone testing positive for the respiratory disease. We watched as the comedians acted out different pandemic-themed sketches over Zoom, even recruiting Tom Hanks and Brad Pitt to virtually appear on the series. The cast did the best that they could do with what they were working with, but I think we can all admit it now that it's behind us: it was kinda weird.
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Thankfully, things will be mostly back to regularly scheduled programming for the upcoming 46th season of the show. Not only will filming in-studio resume, but a live (albeit smaller) audience will be there to watch the sketches play out. We're even getting some quality political content to keep us entertained; fans can expect to see Former Vice President Joe Biden (played by Jim Carrey), Senator Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph), and even President Trump (Alec Baldwin) make a few appearances this season.
To top it off, SNL has also secured a lineup of celebrity hosts and musical performers for the comeback, and it looks so, so good. Below, a list of special guests to look out for this season. (This list will be updated weekly.)
Chris Rock/Megan thee Stallion
October 3, 2020
The premiere marks the Rock's return to SNL after a long absence. The comedian, who was a cast member on the NBC series from 1990 to 1993, has officially hosted the show twice before and has made countless cameos in the years between.
Megan will be making her SNL debut as a musical guest, the latest accolade on the Houston rapper's long resume. We might even see her in a few sketches — she's got acting chops, too. Megan's "Hot Girl Fall" sketch on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon went viral in 2019, and her Halloween-themed short films demonstrated her obvious knack for acting.
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Bill Burr/Jack White
October 10, 2020
Stand-up comedian Bill Burr will be making his debut as an SNL host on the second episode of season 46, and he'll be joined by The White Stripes frontman Jack White.
Issa Rae/Justin Bieber
October 17, 2020
Despite being one of the funniest people in Hollywood for the last couple of years, Issa Rae is just now making her SNL debut in the show's 46th season. She'll be joined by "Holy" singer Justin Bieber, who's appeared on the comedy sketch series numerous times. Bieber has been an SNL musical guest on three different occasions and hosted it for the first time in 2010.
Adele/H.E.R.
— Adele (@Adele) October 18, 2020
Adele has performed on SNL several times in the past, but the upcoming episode will see the star making her debut as the host of the sketch comedy series with R&B songstress H.E.R. as the musical guest. It's also kind of Adele's first stage appearance in years; she's been MIA since her emotional George Michael tribute at the 2017 Grammy Awards.
John Mulaney/The Strokes
Three things define New York City: SNL, the Strokes, and Ed Koch. Koch is dead, so they got me.
— John Mulaney (@mulaney) October 25, 2020
I am so goddamn excited. 4th time up. Wow and wow and wow pic.twitter.com/6Cl9Lmf9zO
The former SNL writer (2008-2012) will be back hosting for the fourth time for the show's Halloween episode. It's the second time John Mulaney has hosted so far this year. Any episode with the writer and comedian is sure to be hilarious — after all, Mulaney helped create Bill Hader's fan-favourite character Stefon. The musical guest will be alt-rock band The Strokes, who have been on the show three other times but not in nearly a decade. The band is officially back, however, having released their most recent album, The New Abnormal, back in April (we've been waiting for seven whole years), as well as their single, “An Ode To The Mets,” in July.
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Dave Chappelle/Foo Fighters
November 7
The comedy icon will be returning for his second stint on the sketch comedy series after hosting SNL almost four years to the date in 2016. The vibe of the upcoming post-election episode will suit Chappelle's deadpan comedy style perfectly — we're laughing at the current events, but nothing's really funny. Chappelle will be joined by the Foo Fighters, who are making their seventh appearance as musical guests on the show.