At long last, our national nightmare of a late-night TV drought is over. With the recent end of the WGA strike, the Strike Force Five podcast has disbanded, Bill Maher has entered a lab somewhere to concoct his latest take on cancel culture, and Saturday Night Live returns this weekend. Baffled boomers and bored insomniacs everywhere can now exhale.
When SNL last aired back in mid-April, Donald Trump was screaming about getting indicted, Elon Musk was making Twitter uninhabitable, and Pete Davidson was about to host for the first time. The only thing that’s changed from the above in the intervening months is that it’s technically no longer called Twitter, although everyone still calls it that. Plenty of other things have indeed changed in that time, though, leaving the show’s writers with a bonanza of material.
So what can we expect from the inaugural outing of former cast member and inexplicably prolific arm-candy Davidson and the broader season ahead? There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about it.
Which of the newer cast members will break out?
Even for a show that is always in flux, SNL kicked off last year in the midst of a staggering reset. Prior to the premiere, the show shed eight cast members (including Davidson) and welcomed four new ones, before bidding adieu to Cecily Strong mid-season. Fortunately, the cast and crew rose above the pressure of unfamiliarity to deliver a solid season and get comfortable together.
Now, they’re under just the normal amount of impossible pressure for an SNL cast, but without the cushioning excuse of growing pains.
Of the new crew, Michael Longfellow and Marcello Hernandez had the most screen time last year. They both shined in “Weekend Update” desk spots but never quite established themselves beyond that in a meaningful way. A recurring political character could vault either one to higher prominence, and considering that Hernandez’s particular brand of bravado might mesh with GOP primary climber Vivek Ramaswamy, he could very well take that leap. But since Molly Kearney did the most with their spotlight moments, and with the least screen time, they seem best poised of the four to break out this season — especially if they end up playing primary hopeful Chris Christie, who was previously embodied on the show by Bobby Moynihan. (The other new cast member of last season, Devon Walker, has a strong shot at playing Tim Scott — and perhaps an empty chair of some sort will play Scott’s ever-elusive girlfriend.)
And what about the rookie?
Joining the other newbies as the sole rookie cast member of season 49 is Chloe Troast. The New York comedian was named one of Just for Laughs’ New Faces for 2023 in the “Characters” category, and she has a part in the Please Don’t Destroy movie headed to Peacock next month alongside omnipresent SNL costar Bowen Yang. Perhaps Troast will bring to the show her signature stage character, Pepper Slit, a rapidly aging Broadway star. She could also easily end up playing Marjorie Taylor Greene, since the confounding congresswoman has only become even more visible after the departure of Strong, who used to play her on SNL.
Which veteran cast members will blow up even bigger?
The show’s other Chloe — Fineman — debuted a hilarious impression of The Idol star Lily-Rose Depp on Instagram over the summer, but since that show was swiftly canceled, we will likely never see it on SNL. She also rolled out a dead-on Lisa Vanderpump during that time, though, and that character is relevant enough to possibly wind up on the show this season.
Meanwhile, James Austin Johnson joined the cast in 2021 with quite possibly the world’s best Donald Trump impression, and in his second season he quietly built out his range in a variety of Trump-free sketches. He may be one showy role away from fully getting out from under Trump’s shadow. And another performer on breakout watch this season is Ego Nwodim, who has been with the show since 2018 but generated some serious heat last year with her Lisa From Temecula character and seems destined for more time center stage.
What news stories will (and won’t) get covered?
“Too bad SNL isn’t on” is something many people tend to utter whenever anything interesting happens while the show is on hiatus. Perhaps because the Summer of Strike stretched too far in both directions, people had more opportunities than usual to say it in 2023.
Some of the moments this summer that would have been surefire SNL gold are now gone forever. There is nothing more to say about either Barbenheimer or the Titan submersible that hasn’t been covered by thousands of podcasters; ditto the uncomfortable downfall of Colleen Ballinger, Lauren Boebert’s Beetlejuice groping, Aaron Rodgers getting injured ten seconds into his first game of the season, and whatever the hell Scandoval was. At least a dozen Elon Musk disasters over the past six months could have been “Update” jokes or full-on sketches, but Musk would be only too happy for the attention, and SNL is still trying to live down the fact that it had him as a host just 2.5 years ago. So what’s left?
The strike itself will likely be addressed in some way during the opener, perhaps in a bit about nobody remembering how to write after so many months on the picket line, or about the difficulty of going back to work for people who intended to drive writers into homelessness. And while the Israel-Hamas war is too massive a world news event to go completely unignored, do not expect a sketch set in Bibi Netanyahu’s war room.
Taylor Swift–mania seemed to peak during her Eras tour this summer, and then it peaked again when her blooming relationship with surprisingly delightful SNL host Travis Kelce became inescapable during NFL games. With the Eras concert film breaking records in theaters this weekend, expect the Swift phenomenon to be addressed in some way on this week’s show.
Beyond the GOP primary, the most lasting political topic of the summer was the gerontocracy. Even with Dianne Feinstein’s recent passing and Mitch McConnell seeming to recover — for the moment — from his ongoing ailments, there is still plenty to take on with the nonstop coverage of President Biden’s octogenarian status, the only three-years-younger Trump’s increasing incoherence, and the three-years-older Nancy Pelosi’s recent announcement that she’ll be running for reelection in 2024.
Elsewhere in politics, Robert Kennedy Jr. will have to be addressed, perhaps played by Mikey Day, and Yang might follow up his standout turn as alleged criminal politician George Santos by playing alleged criminal politician Bob Menendez. And if the Republicans ever choose a Speaker of the House, someone will probably have to play that person too.
As for upcoming pop-culture moments that might be covered on the show, I would put money on pre-taped video parodies of at least one of this fall’s high-profile heady dramas: Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, or Napoleon. Netflix’s jaw-droppingly point-missing game show, Squid Game: The Challenge, also launches in November, but its existence may be too sad to parody.
Who might host this season?
As much as some of us would love to see a dual Josh Sharp/Aaron Jackson outing in support of this month’s Dicks: The Musical, that is not likely to happen. Neither is a turn from superstars Beyoncé or Leonardo DiCaprio, who have more to lose of their mystique by finally hosting when they can instead simply continue being perceived as too big for the show.
Other than Davidson, the last two hosts of season 48 were set to be Kieran Culkin and Jennifer Coolidge. Either or both could end up getting a make-good episode around the January 15, 2024, telecast of the Emmys, for which both have acting nominations.
Here are some folks who may end up hosting for the first time this season:
• Ayo Edibiri, who was everywhere this year, including the smash second season of The Bear and recent indie hit Bottoms.
• Jeremy Allen White, who co-stars with Edibiri on The Bear and who also has the buzzy A24 movie The Iron Claw coming out this fall.
• Nathan Fielder, who co-created and stars in the mysterious A24 project The Curse this fall, after building up a decade of goodwill among comedy nerds.
• Colman Domingo, who is already tipped for an Oscar nod with November’s biopic Rustin.
• Olivia Rodrigo, who has reached a level of both fame and critical acclaim where it just feels about time.
• Zendaya, who will be in Dune 2 next March and generally has pop culture in a chokehold.
• Tim Meadows, who is hot off of a summer turn in I Think You Should Leave and who would be a welcome addition to the canon of veteran cast members returning to host.
And here are some memorable former hosts who may end up returning this season:
• Taraji P. Henson, who stars in The Color Purple reinterpretation this December.
• Mick Jagger or Dolly Parton, who both have albums out soon.
• Jason Momoa, if the general stink of the impending Aquaman 2 doesn’t affect his prospects.
• John Mulaney, who released a Netflix special since last season and seems ready to resume his one-a-year cadence of the late 2010s.
• Ariana DeBose, who is starring in Disney’s Wish this Thanksgiving, and who could finally close the loop on the Angela Bassett meme. (Or better yet, Bassett herself could host for the first time.)
And here are some former hosts who may be joining the vaunted Five-Timers’ Club this season:
• Emma Stone, who co-stars with Fielder in The Curse and toplines November’s Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’s follow up to The Favourite, which she also starred in.
• Martin Short, who dual-hosted with Steve Martin last season but should be welcomed back posthaste to claim his jacket, if only to rebut a certain much-loathed recent essay.
• Kristen Wiig, who in our eyes and hearts is still hot off the billion-dollar global success of Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar back in 2021.
• Cameron Diaz, who is apparently in the midst of un-retiring.
Some final rapid-fire predictions …
Every week, the SNL writers strive to manifest the topical take no one else has come up with yet, despite so many people in so many mediums offering topical takes all the time. They work hard at staying unpredictable, so predicting their moves months ahead is a fool’s errand. As a self-identifying foolish person, however, I offer these final predictions for the season ahead.
Which musical guest will make a digital short that goes viral on TikTok?
Nikki Minaj or Bob Dylan.
Which body part will Sarah Sherman make an unforgettable sketch about?
Small intestine.
Which brand will be dragged to hell in a fake commercial?
Netflix.
What national figure will wind up in a sudden scandal, and who will then play them?
Mr. Beast, played by Andrew Dismukes.
Which non-actor will host and wow everyone by being one of the best hosts of the year?
Patrick Mahomes.
Which inanimate object will Bowen Yang play?
The United States Constitution or Beyoncé’s chrome breastplate.
How will SNL handle a sketch with both Donald Trump and Joe Biden, since the same performer currently plays both?
Absolutely no idea.
