The first three SNL hosts of the coming season:
Sept. 28: Tina Fey (with musical guest Arcade Fire)
Oct. 5: Miley Cyrus (with musical guest Miley Cyrus)
Oct. 12: Bruce Willis (with musical guest Katy Perry)
Six new players will join the SNL cast tonight, Upright Citizens Brigade vets Noell Wells, John Milhiser, Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett, as well as Los Angeles-based comedian Brooks Wheelan and Mike O’Brien, an SNL writer since 2009.
Why so many new players? Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Jason Sudeikis quit the SNL cast over the summer, while two other longtime cast members, Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg, quit last year. In addition, longtime Weekend Update anchor Seth Myers will move on to replace Jimmy Fallon as the host of “Late Night” next year.
Superhot Cecily Strong, who joined the SNL cast a year ago, will tonight begin co-hosting Weekend Update with Myers. The last female to anchor Update solo was Jane Curtain, who held down the desk alone during parts of 1976 and 1977.
SNL is typically the highest-rated scripted show – in primetime or late night – on NBC, and routinely outdraws the overwhelming majority of primetime and late night series on the other broadcast networks.
