March 1, 2025 Season 50 episode
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| Episode | 981 |
| Season Episode | 13 |
| Host | Shane Gillis |
| Musical Guest(s) | Tate McRae |
| Song(s) performed by Musical Guest(s) |
"Sports Car" "Dear God" |
| Previous Episode Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special |
Next Episode March 8, 2025 |
The 981st episode and 13th episode of Saturday Night Live's 50th season premiered on March 1, 2025, hosted by stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster Shane Gillis, the two of his standup comedy specials Shane Gillis: Live in Austin on YouTube and Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs on Netflix and the star and co-creator of the Netflix's hit comedy series Tires, with musical guest Tate McRae, a Canadian singer, songwriter, and dancer. Gillis previously hosted SNL on the February 24, 2024 episode, the twelfth episode of SNL's 49th season, with musical guest 21 Savage. This is Shane Gillis' 2nd hosting stint, and Tate McRae made her 2nd musical guest appearance on SNL.
Tate McRae previously made her musical guest debut on November 18, 2023, the fifth episode and pre-Thanksgiving-themed episode of SNL's 49th season, hosted by actor Jason Momoa.
The goodnights speech for Shane Gillis is "My Thanks to Tate McRae, Mike Myers, (Cheers and applause), Yeah, Lorne Michaels, the Cast and Crew, You Guys Had Been So Nice to Me. I Really Appreciate It So Much. Thank You, Guys". (Cheers and applause)
Cast[]
Repertory Players[]
- Michael Che
- Mikey Day
- Andrew Dismukes
- Chloe Fineman+
- Heidi Gardner
- Marcello Hernandez
- James Austin Johnson
- Colin Jost
- Michael Longfellow
- Ego Nwodim
- Sarah Sherman
- Kenan Thompson
- Devon Walker
- Bowen Yang
Featured Players[]
+ Credited in the opening montage, but did not appear in this episode.
- Cameo by longtime former cast member Mike Myers
Sketches and Musical Performances[]
Cold Open Sketch Pre-recorded Weekend Update Music Performance Other
| Title | Image | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Elon Musk Cold Open | Elon Musk (Mike Myers) interrupts a heated meeting with Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson), JD Vance (Bowen Yang), Marco Rubio (Marcello Hernández) and Ukraine President Zelensky (Mikey Day). | |
| Opening Montage | The separate "Behind the Scenes" set change from cold open to the monologue returns after four-week hiatus, presented by T-Mobile. | |
| Stand-Up Monologue by Shane Gillis | Returned to host SNL for the second time, Shane Gillis talks about Donald Trump's presidency, what he misses about Joe Biden and watching Ken Burns' historical documentary The Civil War. | |
| Winery Tour | A woman (Heidi Gardner) tries to get the perfect picture while on a wine tour with her boyfriend (Shane Gillis) and his parents (Andrew Dismukes, Ashley Padilla). | |
| CouplaBeers | A man (Shane Gillis) advertises a new medication that helps when life hits a low point. With Hedi Gardner, Marcello Hernandez, and Sarah Sherman. | |
| Mid-Day News 2 | Things go off the rails as anchors of a news channel (Shane Gillis, Kenan Thompson, Heidi Gardner, and Ego Nwodim) cover the latest news. | |
| Dad's House | A divorced dad (Shane Gillis) spends the weekend with his kids (Andrew Dismukes, Sarah Sherman). With Heidi Gardner as Bridget, Ashley Padilla as Trish and James Austin Johnson as Shaun. | |
| Please Don't Destroy Film - The Sound | Four judges (Ben Marshall, John Higgins, Martin Herlihy, and Ego Nwodim) host a singing competition show based only on a contestant's voice. With Shane Gillis and musical guest Tate McRae. | |
| Tate McRae performed "Sports Car” | ||
| Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che | Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like a U.S. appeals court blocking a Biden-era student debt relief plan and Dunkin' Donuts announcing they will stop charging more for plant-based milk. With guests, The Movie Guy (Marcello Hernández) stops by Weekend Update to discuss his predictions for the 2025 Oscars and Jane Wickline arrives to share some tips about wooing potential love interests. | |
| Wedding Interruption | An ex-boyfriend (Shane Gillis) interrupts a couple's (Sarah Sherman, Devon Walker) wedding. With Kenan Thompson, Ashley Padilla, and Mikey Day. | |
| Tate McRae performed "Dear God" | ||
| Doctor's Visit | A patient (Shane Gillis) recognizes his doctor (Emil Wakim) as a middle school classmate and takes him on a walk down memory lane. | |
| Band Shot | The Saturday Night Live Band plays the final music piece during the final commercial break. | |
| In Memoriam | Before the goodnights, a still photo of David Johansen, in character as "Buster Poindexter", who died the previous day, is shown in silence. | |
| Goodbyes and Closing Credits | Tate McRae, longtime former SNL cast member Mike Myers, Lorne Michaels, the cast and crew are all thanked by Shane Gillis, they been so nice to him and he appreciated everyone so much. |
Trivia[]
- When this episode airs, longtime Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost marks his 11th anniversary as a Weekend Update anchor/cast member on Saturday Night Live.
- Shane Gillis is the latest Season 49 host to return to SNL, alongside Timothée Chalamet and Nate Bargatze. Gillis is also the 8th person to host SNL in consecutive seasons since 2015.
- Season 50 of SNL is on track to be one of the most stand-up heavy seasons of all time.
- 62 people have hosted SNL for the first time since Season 45. Only four people have hosted again including: Bill Burr, Timothée Chalamet, Nate Bargatze and Shane Gillis.
- Shane Gillis is one of the only first-time hosts from the last five years to return to host SNL.
- Shane Gillis is among the select few first-time SNL hosts to receive a return invitation in the past five years.
- Only 18 rookie hosts have come back to host Saturday Night Live since Season 40 including tonight's host, Shane Gillis.
- Gillis also becomes a second-time SNL host this season.
- With the return of Shane Gillis, only 8 of the 20 SNL Season 49 hosts will have hosted more than once.
- Tate McRae joins the ranks of SNL's youngest 2x musical guests to appear twice in SNL history.
- Tonight marks a major milestone for longtime writer Steve Higgins, who has been a part of SNL since 1995 and frequently lends his voice to sketches, as he's appeared in his 1000th SNL sketch. Higgins also join the elite company Kenan Thompson and Phil Hartman as only the third person to achieve the feat.
- With his voiceovers in tonight's Shane Gillis / Tate McRae episode, Steve Higgins entered the elite club of performers with 100 SNL sketch appearances.
- James Austin Johnson says "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" for the 32nd time, remains in 10th place all-time.
- Mikey Day says "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" for the 31st time, moves into a tie for 11th place all-time.
- Bowen Yang says "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" for the 21st time, moves into a tie for 22nd place all-time.
- Mike Myers says "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" for the 16th time, moves into a tie for 33rd place all-time.
- Andrew Dismukes says "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" for the 13th time, moves into a tie for 40th place all-time.
- Marcello Hernandez says "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" for the 9th time, moves into a tie for 47th place all-time.
- Prior to tonight night's Doctor Visit sketch (Shane Gillis & Emil Wakim), the last time SNL had a live sketch featuring only a host and 1 cast member was Dirty Talk (Donald Glover and Melissa Villaseñor on May 5, 2018, Season 43 Episode 19).
- Two recent instances to note:
- Last film with only the host and 1 cast member: Viral Apology Video (Daniel Kaluuya and Kyle Mooney in Season 46 Episode 16).
- Last sketch with only the host and musical guest: Whiskers R We (Kate McKinnon & Billie Eilish in Season 49 Episode 8).
- Before the goodnights, a still photo of David Johansen, in his character as "Buster Poindexter", who died the previous day, is shown in silence.
- Despite being credited in the opening montage, Chloe Fineman was absent from this episode due to contracting COVID-19 days before the episode was due to air.
Trivia/Notes[]
- This is the first show after the 50th Anniversary Special, and the fourth show following the special.
| Preceded by: Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special |
Saturday Night Live episode | Followed by: March 8, 2025 |