# History of Saturday Night Live (2020–present)

Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.

## 2020–2021 season

The 46th season of Saturday Night Live premiered on October 3, 2020, with host Chris Rock and musical guest Megan Thee Stallion, and concluded on May 22, 2021, with host Anya Taylor-Joy and musical guest Lil Nas X.
On September 15, 2020, it was announced that the entire cast from last season will return, with Ego Nwodim being promoted to repertory status, while Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang, both of whom had been hired in 2019 for the previous season, remained as featured players.
The next day brought the announcement of three new cast members: SNL writer/stand-up comic Andrew Dismukes, L.A. Upright Citizens Brigade alum Lauren Holt, and stand-up comedian Punkie Johnson, the show's second African-American lesbian cast member after Danitra Vance from the 1985–1986 season.
Though not members of the cast, it was announced the same day that Alec Baldwin and Maya Rudolph would reprise their respective roles as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, while Jim Carrey would take over impersonating Joe Biden. Biden had been portrayed by Jason Sudeikis while he was vice president and by Woody Harrelson, John Mulaney, and Sudeikis the previous season. On December 19, Carrey announced he would step down from playing Biden, stating it was the original intention that he would play Biden for only six weeks. Then-current cast member Alex Moffat succeeded Carrey to portray as Biden during the cold open of the episode hosted by Kristen Wiig.
Cecily Strong was absent from the first six episodes of the season due to filming commitments for her Apple TV+ series Schmigadoon!. Aidy Bryant appeared in the season premiere before taking an extended absence due to filming commitments for her show Shrill.
This was the final season for longtime cast member Beck Bennett, who had been on the show since 2013, a total of 8 seasons. It was also Holt's only season on the show, as she was let go after the finale.

### Cast
## 2021–2022 season

The 47th season of Saturday Night Live premiered on October 2, 2021 with host Owen Wilson and musical guest Kacey Musgraves, and concluded on May 21, 2022 with host Natasha Lyonne and musical guest Japanese Breakfast.
On September 27, 2021, five days before the season premiere, it was announced that Beck Bennett and Lauren Holt had both left the show. Bennett had been part of the cast since 2013, while Holt had been in for just Season 46. The rest of the cast from the previous season was retained. Three new featured players were added: actor/comedian and filmmaker Aristotle Athari, impressionist James Austin Johnson, and surrealist comedian Sarah Sherman. Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang, who had been with the cast since Season 45, were both promoted to repertory status, while Andrew Dismukes and Punkie Johnson, who joined the previous season, remained as featured players.
This was the final season for Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant, who both had been cast members since 2012, Kyle Mooney who had been a cast member since 2013, and Pete Davidson, who had been with the cast since 2014.
On September 1, 2022, it was announced that Melissa Villaseñor, Alex Moffat (both previously cast members since 2016) and Athari (who only lasted one season) would also not be returning for Season 48, and then on September 19, 2022, it was announced that Chris Redd (a cast member since 2017) was also exiting the show.

### Cast
## 2022–2023 season

The 48th season of Saturday Night Live premiered on October 1, 2022, with host Miles Teller and musical guest Kendrick Lamar, and concluded on April 15, 2023, with host Ana de Armas and musical guest Karol G. The season was originally set to conclude on May 20, 2023, but it was cut short due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. Before the start of the season, eight cast members (Aristotle Athari, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Chris Redd, Melissa Villaseñor) had all left the show. In addition, executive producer Lorne Michaels called this season a "transition year", and revealed that 4 new cast members will be joining the show this season. Three days later, those four cast members were announced as Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker. Andrew Dismukes and Punkie Johnson, who had been cast members since 2020, were promoted to repertory players, while James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman, who joined the previous season, remained as featured players. Cecily Strong was absent from the first three episodes of the season due to her commitments to the Los Angeles revival of The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, and returned for the October 29, 2022 episode. Strong would later leave the show altogether in mid-December, her final episode airing on December 17, 2022.

### Cast
## 2023–2024 season

The 49th season of Saturday Night Live premiered on October 14, 2023, with host Pete Davidson and musical guest Ice Spice, and concluded on May 18, 2024, with host Jake Gyllenhaal and musical guest Sabrina Carpenter.
On October 4, 2023, Chloe Troast was announced as a featured cast member. The rest of the cast from the previous season returned, with featured cast members James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman, who have been cast members since 2021, being promoted to repertory status, while Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker, who all joined the previous season, remained as featured players.
On August 1, 2024, it was announced that Punkie Johnson, who had joined the cast in 2020, would be leaving the show, after four years. The next day, it was announced that Kearney would also be leaving after two seasons.

### Cast

bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor

## 50th anniversary season (2024-2025)

The fiftieth season of American sketch comedy late night television program Saturday Night Live is set to begin on September 28, 2024 on NBC.
In addition to the standard episodes hosted by celebrity guests and featuring musical acts, the series will also have several months of acknowledgements, leading to a three-hour celebratory special retrospective in February 2025.
On July 31, it was announced that Maya Rudolph would return to portray Presidential nominee Kamala Harris through the 2024 election season.
The next day, on August 1, it was announced that prior to the season premiere, cast member Punkie Johnson would be leaving the show, after four years. On August 2, it was announced that castmate and featured player Molly Kearney was also leaving the show.