October 12, 2024 Season 50 episode
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| Episode | 971 |
| Season Episode | 3 |
| Host | Ariana Grande |
| Musical Guest(s) | Stevie Nicks |
| Song(s) performed by Musical Guest(s) |
"The Lightouse" "Edge of Seventeen" |
| Previous Episode October 5, 2024 |
Next Episode October 19, 2024 |
The 971st episode and 3rd episode of Saturday Night Live's 50th season premiered on October 12, 2024, hosted by the pop sensation and actress Ariana Grande, the former teen star of Nickelodeon's hit teen sitcoms Victorious and spin-off Sam & Cat and the star of the new musical fantasy film Wicked and the sequel Wicked Part Two, with musical guest Stevie Nicks, a Grammy-winning rock singer-songwriter and two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee. This is Ariana Grande's 2nd time hosting and her 4th appearance, as well as Stevie Nicks made her 2nd musical guest appearance and her first appearance in 41 years, 10 months, and 4 days on SNL.
Ariana Grande previously made her three musical guest appearances and did double duty on SNL on the following dates: On September 27, 2014, which is the Season 40 premiere, hosted by actor Chris Pratt; which coincidentally, was the first episode for current cast member and Weekend Update co-anchor Michael Che, on March 12, 2016, the fifteenth episode of SNL's 41st Season, when she hosted for the first time and also served as the episode's musical guest and on March 9, 2024, the fourteenth episode of SNL's 49th Season, hosted by actor Josh Brolin.
Stevie Nicks previously made her musical guest debut on December 10, 1983, the eighth episode and Christmas show of SNL's 9th Season, hosted by the comedy legend and actor Flip Wilson.
The goodnight speech for Ariana Grande is "Thank You So Much Stevie Nicks, (Cheers and applause), Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Jim Gaffigan, and Dana Carvey, [Whoo], Happy 99th Birthday My Nona, Mwah (Blows a Kiss), I Love You". (Cheers and applause again)
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 she did not appear in this episode.
- Cameos by SNL alums Dana Carvey, Maya Rudolph, and Andy Samberg, Jim Gaffigan.
- Musical cameo appearance by Waddy Wachtel.
Sketches and Musical Performances[]
Cold Open Sketch Pre-recorded Weekend Update Music Performance Other
| Title | Image | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Family Feud: Election Edition Cold Opening | 
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Family Feud Election Edition hosted by Steve Harvey (Kenan Thompson) with Team Kamala: Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph), Doug Emhoff (Andy Samberg), Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan), and Joe Biden (Dana Carvey), and Team Trump: Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson), Donald Trump Jr. (Mikey Day), and JD Vance (Bowen Yang). James Austin Johnson reached his 200th milestone sketch on SNL. |
| Opening Montage | The current announcements of the opening montage returns. Also, the musical guests/hosts' introductions of the opening montage were changed to one and the colors of the rectangles were changed to (light blue for musical guest Stevie Nicks and pink for host Ariana Grande). | |
| Monologue by Ariana Grande | 
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Returning to host SNL for the second time, former three-time musical guest Ariana Grande talks about filming Wicked before performing a song about keeping things low-key on the show and she sings about how she's gonna keep it "low-key tonight". Also features Bowen Yang. |
| Wedding | 
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A bunch of bridesmaids (Ariana Grande, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, and Sarah Sherman) sing a song to Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso" that implies that the bride (Chloe Fineman) cheated on her husband (Andrew Dismukes) with a guy named Domingo (Marcello Hernandez). This is Chloe Fineman's 100th episode as a cast member on SNL. |
| Saturday Night Live: Midnight Matinee - My Best Friend's House A Short by Dan Bulla. | 
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A girl (Ariana Grande) sings about her Best Friend's (Chloe Fineman) House. With Mikey Day as Hannah's father Ray Lee Evans, Heidi Gardner as the reporter, James Austin Johnson, Bowen Yang and Jane Wickline as the voice of the house's furniture, Andrew Dismukes and Devon Walker as police officers and Sarah Sherman as head |
| Next Episode Commercial Bumper | Michael Keaton will return to host SNL for the fourth time on Oct. 19. The award-winning actor stars in “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” currently in theaters, and “Goodrich,” in theaters Oct. 18. Billie Eilish will take the stage as the musical guest for the fourth time. | |
| Charades | 
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A family (Ariana Grande, Andrew Dismukes, Jane Wickline, and Emil Wakim) plays charades, but the mom (Grande) keeps insulting her son (Michael Longfellow)'s boyfriend (Bowen Yang). This is Bowen Yang's 100th episode as a cast member on SNL. |
| UFC | 
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Celine Dion (Ariana Grande) sings about the UFC. |
| Stevie Nicks performed "The Lighthouse" | 
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Nicks performed in her signature flowing black attire, with some critics noting that her stage presence was particularly impassioned during "The Lighthouse". Nicks described "The Lighthouse" as a "women's rights anthem" written in response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. The lyrics include pointed warnings like, "Don't let them take your power" and "The dark is out there, the light is going fast". |
| Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che | 
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Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest headlines news including Trump taking Coachella, Kamala Harris raising $1 billion, support by black voters by Democrats falling to 78%, and the Supreme Court decline to hear R. Kelly's appeal. With guests, Monica (Ego Nwodim), a happy Amazon employee stops by Weekend Update to discuss Amazon hitting a record number of orders on Prime Day and Oasis members Noel and Liam Gallagher (James Austin Johnson) and Liam Gallagher (Sarah Sherman) stops by Weekend Update to discuss their long-awaited Oasis reunion tour. Che also jokes that he and Colin "are twins" at the end of the segment. |
| Castrati | 
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A young boy (Ariana Grande) was castrated by his parents (Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg) so he could sing with a high-pitched voice. |
| Stevie Nicks performed "Edge of Seventeen" | 
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The "Edge of Seventeen" performance was briefly delayed by a technical issue, which was quickly resolved. Her performance featured her signature flowing black attire, a full band, and included a reference to Prince. Near the end of the song, Nicks added the ad-libbed lyric, "I know what it sounds like when doves cry," a direct reference to the artist Prince. The two famously collaborated on Nicks' hit "Stand Back," and Prince was influential to her work. |
| Jennifer Coolidge for Maybelline | 
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Jennifer Coolidge (Chloe Fineman) talks to Jennifer Coolidge (Ariana Grande) in the mirror, while promoting Maybelline. Cameo by longtime former cast member Dana Carvey (who plays another version of Coolidge). |
| The Hotel Detective | 
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A hotel detective (James Austin Johnson) tries to arrest a lady (Ariana Grande). With Andrew Dismukes as another detective and Michael Longfellow as the host. |
| Goodbyes and Closing Credits | 
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Ariana Grande thanked Stevie Nicks, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Jim Gaffigan, and Dana Carvey and she wishes her Nona "Happy Birthday", that she loved her. |
Trivia[]
- Ariana Grande joined the group of SNL legends who have headlined multiple episodes in a calendar year. Grande joined a unique list of SNL hosts who have headlined as host, musical guest, and double duty.
- With the return of Ariana Grande, only 6 of the 22 SNL Season 41 hosts will have hosted more than once.
- Grande also joins the group of great SNL hosts who have asked back after hosting for the 1st time in the last 10 years.
- Grande also becomes a second-time SNL host this season.
- For the first time since 1983, Stevie Nicks appears on SNL tonight. 8 Musical Guests from the first 10 years that have returned to SNL since 2000.
- At 14,917 days, Stevie Nicks is now the SNL guest who has the largest time span between headlining appearances.
- Due to a college football game, the episode started at 11:35 pm.
- Current cast member James Austin Johnson reached his 200th milestone sketch on SNL with the Family Feud: Election Edition Cold Open.
- This is also Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang's 100th episode as cast members on SNL.
- It should be noted that Yang was a writer on the show for a year before he joined the cast.
- Kenan Thompson and James Austin Johnson says "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" for the 52nd time, remains in 4th place of all-time and for the 27th time, moves into a tie for 14th place all-time with longtime former cast member Jason Sudeikis.
- Technical issues afflicted the latter portion of the show. A malfunctioning sound board caused Nicks' second song to be delayed - following another set of commercials - which resulted in one sketch ("Cinema Classics", with Grande due to portray Judy Garland) being dropped and replaced by another ("Hotel Detective", recorded- and initially cut - at dress-rehearsal) due to its shorter runtime. Broadcast reruns in the show's late-night slot added new bumper footage during the commercials of Stevie and her band getting ready on stage, removing the initial broadcast's extended use of a still photo of Nicks. It also added an ad break between the Maybelline skit and the final skit.
- The episode's broadcast was also delayed by six minutes owing to NBC's college of Ohio State and Oregon on Big Ten Saturday Night.
| Preceded by: October 5, 2024 |
Saturday Night Live episode | Followed by: October 19, 2024 |