Is Saturday Night Live new tonight on NBC? The hosting lineup ahead
Today’s report is a mix of good news and bad, and let’s start by getting the bad over with: There is no installment of the late-night sketch show coming tonight. However, this is the final week we’ll be saying that for a good while. New episodes resume starting on January 30 with host John Krasinski, and the following weeks will bring you shows featuring Dan Levy and Regina King. You can find out more information on musical guests and these gigs over at the link here.
So why has this been such a long hiatus? The answer that we’ve used over the past month is that it has very much to do with the large number of episodes NBC aired this fall, and that may certainly be the case. (They only have so many in an order.) Yet, there could be something more here in the desire to start completely fresh on the other side of the Donald Trump era.
In the comedy world, we know there is a thing known as Trump fatigue. While certain shows, including SNL, benefited from skewering the then-President to big ratings, it did become challenging finding new angles to do so. Also, SNL is by nature a variety show — you want there to be variety! While we’re sure that he won’t go away entirely as a talking point, we imagine that the sketch series will shift back to what it was prior to Alec Baldwin’s debut as candidate Trump. Our feeling is that there will likely be more character sketches and recurring bits, as opposed to reliance on current events and big cameos. Alex Moffat will likely remain the new Joe Biden, but we can’t imagine producers leaning that much on a man who by nature isn’t looking to generate as many headlines or controversies.
Ultimately, we will have a chance to gauge the validity of this theory in one week’s time. We’re just glad to know that SNL is almost back!
Are you excited for the return of Saturday Night Live to the air?
Be sure to let us know in the comments! Meanwhile, be sure to stick around for some other news. (Photo: NBC.)