Saturday Night Live season 49

*Saturday Night Live*
Saturday Night Live
Season 49
No. of episodes	14
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	October 14, 2023 –; present
Season chronology
	← Previous; Season 48 Next →; Season 50
	List of episodes

The forty-ninth season of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live premiered on October 14, 2023, during the 2023–24 television season, with host Pete Davidson and musical guest Ice Spice.^[1] The premiere was delayed due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.^[2]

Cast

After the departures of eleven cast members across seasons 46 and 47, the entire cast from the previous season returned.^[1] James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman, who both joined as featured players prior to season 47, were promoted to repertory status, while Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker, all of whom joined the previous season, remained as featured players.^[3] On October 4, 2023, New York City-based comedian Chloe Troast was announced as a new cast member.^[4]

While not credited as cast members, the comedy group and SNL staff writers Please Don't Destroy (Martin Herlihy, Ben Marshall, and John Higgins) continue to appear in digital videos. In some episodes, starting with this season's premiere, they received the credit "A Film by Please Don't Destroy" in the opening montage, marking the first time since Robert Smigel's "TV Funhouse" cartoons that a recurring segment has its own credit in the opening.

Cast roster

Repertory players

Featured players

bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor

Writers

The entire writing staff from the previous season returned, with no changes.^[5]

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Host ^[6]	Musical guest ^[6]	Original air date ^[7]	U.S. viewers (millions)
949	1	Pete Davidson	Ice Spice	October 14, 2023 (2023-10-14)	4.8^[8]
Ice Spice performs "In Ha Mood" and "Pretty Girl" with Rema, with Taylor Swift introducing the latter. Davidson was an announced host for the previous season with musical guest Lil Uzi Vert, but both of their appearances were cancelled due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. In lieu of a cold open, Davidson shares some reflections on the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. For the first time in the series, "A Film by Please Don't Destroy" is announced in the opening credits. Travis Kelce appears in the "Fox NFL Sunday" sketch. John Mulaney appears in the pre-recorded "Please Don't Destroy – The Original Princes of Comedy" sketch, along with writers Ben Silva and Auguste White. After Weekend Update, a title card encourages viewers to donate to the American Red Cross and the International Rescue Committee in light of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Chloe Troast's first episode as a cast member.
950	2	Bad Bunny	Bad Bunny	October 21, 2023 (2023-10-21)	N/A
Bad Bunny performs "Un Preview" and "Monaco". Pedro Pascal appears in the opening monologue, the "Protective Mom 2" sketch, and introduces Bad Bunny's second performance. Fred Armisen appears in the pre-recorded "The Age of Discovery" sketch. Mick Jagger appears in the "Telenovela" sketch and the "Convent Meeting" sketch. Lady Gaga introduces Bad Bunny's first performance in Spanish.
951	3	Nate Bargatze	Foo Fighters	October 28, 2023 (2023-10-28)	4.9^[9]
Foo Fighters perform "Rescued" and "The Glass" with H.E.R.. Additionally, Dave Grohl appears in the pre-recorded "Lake Beach" sketch and the "Airplane" sketch. This episode marks the group's first televised appearance since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022. Foo Fighters were initially scheduled to appear as a musical guest the previous season with host Jennifer Coolidge, but the appearance was cancelled due to the writers strike. Beginning with this episode, Mikey Day takes over portraying President Joe Biden from James Austin Johnson. Christopher Walken appears in the cold open and introduces Foo Fighters' first performance. Padma Lakshmi appears in the "Chef Showdown" sketch. Before the goodnights, a photo of actor Matthew Perry, who died hours before the episode aired, is shown in silence.
952	4	Timothée Chalamet	Boygenius	November 11, 2023 (2023-11-11)	N/A
Boygenius performs "Not Strong Enough" and "Satanist" and appear in the "Troye Sivan Sleep Demon" sketch. For both of their performances, they dressed as The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. Writer John Higgins of Please Don't Destroy appears in the cold open as Ron DeSantis. Alec Baldwin appears in the "Calm Sleep Story" sketch. This episode marks his first televised appearance since his shooting incident while filming Rust.
953	5	Jason Momoa	Tate McRae	November 18, 2023 (2023-11-18)	N/A
Tate McRae performs "Greedy" and "Grave". During the goodnights, Colin Jost holds up a sign reading "We love you, Dana and Paula", referring to the death of Dana Carvey's son Dex earlier in the week.
954	6	Emma Stone	Noah Kahan	December 2, 2023 (2023-12-02)	N/A
Noah Kahan performs "Dial Drunk" and "Stick Season". Lorne Michaels, Tina Fey, and Candice Bergen appear in the opening monologue. Fey and Bergen induct Stone into the Five-Timers Club.
955	7	Adam Driver	Olivia Rodrigo	December 9, 2023 (2023-12-09)	N/A
Olivia Rodrigo performs "Vampire" and "All-American Bitch" and appears in the "Tiny-Ass Bag" sketch. Julia Stiles appears on Weekend Update. Before the goodnights, a photo of Norman Lear, who died earlier in the week, is shown in silence. Former cast member Cecily Strong was invited to portray Elise Stefanik in the cold open parody of a congressional hearing about antisemitism on American college campuses. At the last minute, the role went to Chloe Troast after Strong felt uncomfortable with the portrayal.^[10]^[11]
956	8	Kate McKinnon	Billie Eilish	December 16, 2023 (2023-12-16)	N/A
Billie Eilish performs "What Was I Made For?" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", both with Finneas on piano and Christian McBride on bass for the latter, and appears in the "Whiskers R We" sketch and the pre-recorded "Tampon Farm" sketch. Greta Gerwig joins McKinnon in introducing Eilish's first performance, "What Was I Made For?", which features a photo and video montage of various former and current SNL female castmembers.^[12] Gerwig also appears in the prerecorded "Tampon Farm" sketch. Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig appear in the opening monologue, the "ABBA Christmas" sketch, and the pre-recorded "Tampon Farm" sketch, in which Paula Pell also appears.
957	9	Jacob Elordi	Reneé Rapp	January 20, 2024 (2024-01-20)	N/A
Reneé Rapp performs "Snow Angel" and "Not My Fault" with Megan Thee Stallion and appears in the "Lip Reader" sketch. Rachel McAdams introduces Rapp's second performance and appears in the "Acting School" sketch. Writers Alex English and Rosebud Baker appear in the monologue. Xzibit appears in the cut-for-time pre-recorded "Please Don't Destroy – Pimp My Ride" sketch.^[13]
958	10	Dakota Johnson	Justin Timberlake	January 27, 2024 (2024-01-27)	N/A
Justin Timberlake performs "Sanctified" with Tobe Nwigwe and "Selfish" and appears in the opening monologue and in "The Barry Gibb Talk Show" sketch. Jimmy Fallon appears in the opening monologue, in "The Barry Gibb Talk Show" sketch, and introduces Timberlake's second performance. Barbara Corcoran and Mark Cuban appear in the "Book Club" sketch. Dave Chappelle appeared in the goodnights.
959	11	Ayo Edebiri	Jennifer Lopez	February 3, 2024 (2024-02-03)	N/A
Jennifer Lopez performs "Can't Get Enough" with Latto and Redman and "This Is Me... Now". Nikki Haley appears in the cold open and says "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" Writer Martin Herlihy of Please Don't Destroy appears in the "Bad Couples" sketch.
960	12	Shane Gillis	21 Savage	February 24, 2024 (2024-02-24)	3.99^[14]
21 Savage performs "Redrum" and a medley of "Should've Wore a Bonnet" with Brent Faiyaz and "Prove It" with Summer Walker. Gillis was originally set to be a cast member for season 45 until he was fired for racist and homophobic jokes.
961	13	Sydney Sweeney	Kacey Musgraves	March 2, 2024 (2024-03-02)	4.03^[15]
Kacey Musgraves performs "Deeper Well" and "Too Good to be True". Glen Powell appears in the opening monologue and in the "Restaurant" sketch. Gina Gershon appears in the pre-recorded "Bowen's Straight" sketch.
962	14	Josh Brolin	Ariana Grande	March 9, 2024 (2024-03-09)	N/A
Ariana Grande performs "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" and "Imperfect For You" and appears in the "People Pleaser" sketch and the Moulin Rouge! sketch. Scarlett Johansson appears as Katie Britt in the cold open. Grande's mother Joan Grande introduces her second performance.
963	15	Ramy Youssef	Travis Scott	March 30, 2024 (2024-03-30)	N/A
Confirmed on air.^[16]
964	16	Kristen Wiig^[17]	Raye^[17]	April 6, 2024 (2024-04-06)	N/A
965	17	Ryan Gosling^[17]	Chris Stapleton^[17]	April 13, 2024 (2024-04-13)	N/A

References

^ ^a ^b Porter, Rick (October 4, 2023). "'Saturday Night Live' Sets Return Date at NBC". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
^ Dixon, Marcus James (2023-10-04). "'Saturday Night Live' Season 49 cast for 'SNL' 2023–24: Who's in? Who's out?". GoldDerby. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
^ White, Peter; Grobar, Matt (October 4, 2023). "'SNL': Pete Davidson & Bad Bunny Among Hosts As NBC Show Sets Returns With SAG-AFTRA Blessing, Full Cast Comes Back For Season 49 & Chloe Troast Joins". Deadline. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
^ Schwartz, Ryan (October 4, 2023). "Saturday Night Live Sets Return Date; Pete Davidson to Host Season 49 Premiere". TVLine. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
^ "Pete Davidson/Ice Spice". Saturday Night Live. Season 49. Episode 1. October 14, 2023. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.
^ ^a ^b Porter, Rick (October 17, 2023). "'Saturday Night Live': All the Season 49 Hosts and Musical Guests". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
^ "Saturday Night Live Episode Listings". The Futon Critic.
^ "'Saturday Night Live' Returns To NBC With Promising Audience Growth For Season 49 Premiere". Deadline Hollywood. October 17, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
^ "Nate Bargatze's 'SNL' Scored Highest Ratings Since Steve Martin and Martin Short's 2022 Episode". Yahoo!. November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
^ Roe, Mike (December 10, 2023). "Cecily Strong Pulled From 'SNL' Cold Open Following Dress Rehearsal". The Wrap. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
^ Kornick, Lindsay (December 11, 2023). "Cecily Strong reportedly pulled out of playing Stefanik in controversial 'SNL' skit, felt 'uncomfortable'". Fox News.
^ "Billie Eilish tributes women of 'SNL' during musical performance montage". Entertainment Weekly.
^ Caruso, Nick (January 22, 2024). "SNL's Pimp My Ride 'Revival' Features Original Host Xzibit — Watch Cut-for-Time Sketch". TVLine. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
^ Katz, A.J. "Shane Gillis' Saturday Night Live Struggles in Total Viewers, But Thrives in P18-49 Demo". LateNighter. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
^ Katz, A.J. (5 March 2024). "Sydney Sweeney-Hosted SNL Gains Total Viewers, Sheds P18-49 From Prior Week". LateNighter. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
^ @nbcsnl (March 10, 2024). "March 30!!! Ramy Youssef Travis Scott" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d White, Peter (March 13, 2023). "'SNL': Ryan Gosling & Kristen Wiig Set As Hosts". Deadline. Retrieved March 13, 2023.

[snl45-1] Porter, Rick (October 4, 2023). "'Saturday Night Live' Sets Return Date at NBC". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 4, 2023.

[2] Dixon, Marcus James (2023-10-04). "'Saturday Night Live' Season 49 cast for 'SNL' 2023–24: Who's in? Who's out?". GoldDerby. Retrieved 2023-10-06.

[3] White, Peter; Grobar, Matt (October 4, 2023). "'SNL': Pete Davidson & Bad Bunny Among Hosts As NBC Show Sets Returns With SAG-AFTRA Blessing, Full Cast Comes Back For Season 49 & Chloe Troast Joins". Deadline. Retrieved October 4, 2023.

[4] Schwartz, Ryan (October 4, 2023). "Saturday Night Live Sets Return Date; Pete Davidson to Host Season 49 Premiere". TVLine. Retrieved October 4, 2023.

[S49E1-5] "Pete Davidson/Ice Spice". Saturday Night Live. Season 49. Episode 1. October 14, 2023. Event occurs at Closing credits. NBC.

[thr1017-6] Porter, Rick (October 17, 2023). "'Saturday Night Live': All the Season 49 Hosts and Musical Guests". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 17, 2023.

[7] "Saturday Night Live Episode Listings". The Futon Critic.

[8] "'Saturday Night Live' Returns To NBC With Promising Audience Growth For Season 49 Premiere". Deadline Hollywood. October 17, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.

[9] "Nate Bargatze's 'SNL' Scored Highest Ratings Since Steve Martin and Martin Short's 2022 Episode". Yahoo!. November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.

[10] Roe, Mike (December 10, 2023). "Cecily Strong Pulled From 'SNL' Cold Open Following Dress Rehearsal". The Wrap. Retrieved December 10, 2023.

[11] Kornick, Lindsay (December 11, 2023). "Cecily Strong reportedly pulled out of playing Stefanik in controversial 'SNL' skit, felt 'uncomfortable'". Fox News.

[12] "Billie Eilish tributes women of 'SNL' during musical performance montage". Entertainment Weekly.

[pdd-13] Caruso, Nick (January 22, 2024). "SNL's Pimp My Ride 'Revival' Features Original Host Xzibit — Watch Cut-for-Time Sketch". TVLine. Retrieved January 22, 2024.

[14] Katz, A.J. "Shane Gillis' Saturday Night Live Struggles in Total Viewers, But Thrives in P18-49 Demo". LateNighter. Retrieved 3 March 2024.

[15] Katz, A.J. (5 March 2024). "Sydney Sweeney-Hosted SNL Gains Total Viewers, Sheds P18-49 From Prior Week". LateNighter. Retrieved 6 March 2024.

[16] @nbcsnl (March 10, 2024). "March 30!!! Ramy Youssef Travis Scott" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[snlapril-17] White, Peter (March 13, 2023). "'SNL': Ryan Gosling & Kristen Wiig Set As Hosts". Deadline. Retrieved March 13, 2023.

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