Live from New York, it’s a new season of Saturday Night Live. The 48th season of the venerable sketch comedy series will premiere on NBC and Peacock next month. EP Lorne Michaels has described season 48 as a “season of change” for the iconic sketch show. This is likely due to the larger than average cast turnover, with eight players exiting the series ahead of the new season. That is the highest turnover after a single season since nine cast members left after season 20 in 1994/1995.

Much of the anticipation around SNL has also revolved around the milestone 50th season, which the show will reach in the 2024/2025 season. With rumors that Michaels may be hanging it up after that season, longest-tenured cast member Kenan Thompson has said the 50th season may be a good cap for the staple of American pop culture.

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In any case, season 48 of SNL will be a season of change. Let’s look at everything we know about the 48th season of Saturday Night Live.

Season 48: Hosts and Musical Guests

     Paramount Pictures

On September 20, SNL revealed the first three hosts of Season 48. Miles Teller will kick off the season in his first turn hosting. Teller is coming off his role in this summer’s massive hit Top Gun: Maverick alongside Tom Cruise. Teller will be joined by Kendrick Lamar as musical guest. Lamar is making his third musical guest appearance to promote his fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

Irish actor Brendan Gleeson will make his hosting debut on October 8th. Gleeson is set to next appear on screen in The Banshees of Inisherin, set for a release on October 21st after a September premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Critics praised the film and performances, with The Banshees of Inisherin scoring a nomination for Venice’s Golden Lion, the highest honor bestowed by the esteemed film festival. Willow is set as Gleeson’s musical guest. This will mark her first appearance as a solo act, though she did join Camila Cabello for her performance of “psychofreak” during Cabello’s appearance earlier this year. Willow is promoting her upcoming fifth studio album Coping Mechanism.

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Finally, on October 15th, Megan Thee Stallion will pull double-duty as host and musical guest to support her second studio album, Traumazine. She is the latest artist to fill both roles after Billie Eilish and Lizzo made their double-duty debuts last season. Megan Thee Stallion previously made her musical guest debut in the Season 46 premiere hosted by Chris Rock in 2020. That heavily-publicized episode marked the series’ return to live shows after their Covid shutdown. It featured a sendup of the first presidential debate between Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump and Jim Carrey’s Joe Biden.

In last year’s season 47, 17 of the 21 hosts were first-timers, and it looks as though SNL will continue that streak, at least for the first few shows. SNL typically airs 9 or 10 episodes before the winter hiatus, so we can expect to learn more host and musical guest names as we properly get into the season.

Season 48 Cast: Who Left, Who’s New, and Who’s Returning?

     NBC

As mentioned above, the 47th season finale saw the exits of eight cast members, the largest in nearly 30 years. However, we knew of only four ahead of time. The day before the May season finale, it was revealed that longtime regulars Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kyle Mooney, and Kate McKinnon would not return to the series. All four had been on the series for at least eight seasons, with McKinnon being the longest-tenured female cast member in the show’s history. The foursome received their respective send-offs on screen, with McKinnon’s final “Alien Abduction” skit being a particularly poignant goodbye for the star.

Over the summer, four additional exits were confirmed. Alex Moffat, Melissa Villasenor, Chris Redd, and Aristotle Athari will also not return this fall. Moffat and Villasenor joined the series in the heavily-publicized 2016/2017 season (which saw the debut of Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump), with Redd joining the year after. Athari was only a cast member for one season, though he made an impact with his characters, like improv performer Angelo.

To fill the void, SNL hired four new cast members, Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker. Kearney is set to make history as the first out non-binary player in the comedy series’ nearly 5-decade history. All four come from the stand-up and comedy writing worlds and will make their debut in the season premiere.

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The remainder of the season 47 cast is set to return. This includes Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, James Austin Johnson, Punkie Johnson, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, and Bowen Yang. Jost and Che will continue their roles as Weekend Update anchors and co-head writers. With cast members typically serving two years as featured players before being upgraded to repertory status, we can anticipate that featured Andrew Dismukes and Punkie Johnson will likely be promoted for their third season. James Austin Johnson (who took over the role of Donald Trump from Alec Baldwin to rave reviews) and Sarah Sherman will likely remain featured, as they’ve only been on the cast for one season.

The Premiere Date

SNL’s season premiere will air live coast-to-coast on October 1, 2022, at 11:30 pm ET/8:30 pm PT. The premiere is also set to live stream on Peacock. However, future episodes will only be available on the streamer the day after airing.