Entertainment
Upcoming episodes will feature host Nate Bargatze with musical guest Coldplay and Ariana Grande with Stevie Nicks.
This image released by NBC shows Jean Smart during promos for “Saturday Night Live,” Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at Studio 8H in New York. (Rosalind O’Connor/NBC via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — “Saturday Night Live” is set to launch its 50th season with host Jean Smart and musical guest Jelly Roll.
Smart, the 73-year-old star of “Hacks” and “Designing Women” who just won her sixth Emmy, has never hosted the NBC sketch institution before in her more than 40-year career. She said on Instagram that this concert was a “must-see” achievement for her.
Former actress Maya Rudolph is reportedly returning to the show this season to play Vice President Kamala Harris, and if recent trends in opening episodes with the politics of the day are anything to go by, she could be at the top of the first. of the show.
Rudolph has previously appeared to play Harris — and won an Emmy for it — but has yet to star as a presidential candidate.
Lorne Michaels is still at the helm, just as he was for the first episode on October 11, 1975, when George Carlin hosted and the nation received its first dose of Not Ready for Prime Time Players: Chevy Chase, John Belushi , Gilda. Radner, Dan Akroyd, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman and Garrett Morris.
Two musical guests – Billy Preston and Janis Ian – played two songs each, the norm at the start.
Country singer and rapper Jelly Roll has the musical role to himself on Saturday, and like Smart, he’s a newbie.
That early show is documented and recreated in Jason Reitman’s new film “Saturday Night,” part of a wave of reflection and celebration as the show approaches its 50th anniversary.
Upcoming episodes will feature host Nate Bargatze with musical guest Coldplay, Ariana Grande with Stevie Nicks, Michael Keaton with Billie Eilish and John Mulaney with Chappell Roan.
These shows will lead up to a three-hour primetime special on February 16 that will serve as an official celebration of the 50th season. It will certainly feature a wide range of the many stars the series has spawned, including Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Robert Downey Jr., Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler. and Will Ferrell.
