The 43rd season of Saturday Night Live premiered on September 30, 2017 with host Ryan Gosling and musical guest Jay-Z, and concluded on May 19, 2018, hosted by longtime former cast member Tina Fey with musical guest Nicki Minaj.
During the week of the Season 42 finale, it was announced that longtime cast members Bobby Moynihan, Vanessa Bayer, and Sasheer Zamata left the show after spending their respective nine, seven, and four seasons been with the cast.[1][2] Following Moynihan, Bayer, and Zamata's departures, the show hired three new featured players: comedian and writer Heidi Gardner of The Groundlings, iO Chicago alum Luke Null, and stand-up comedian Chris Redd, who previously did sketch comedy at Second City. Redd had been incorrectly reported as joining the cast during the previous season. This is the first season for Gardner and Redd as cast members, and the only season for Null, who was let go after the season's end.
Mikey Day, Alex Moffat and Melissa Villaseñor continued as featured players until they were upgraded to repertory status in the following season.
With this announcement came the confirmation that the rest of the cast from the previous season would return, including frequent host Alec Baldwin in his role as President Donald Trump.
With his return, Kenan Thompson surpassed Darrell Hammond's record as the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history, with a total of fifteen seasons compared to Hammond's fourteen seasons from 1995-2009.
Starting with the December 16, 2017 episode, hosted by comedian and actor Kevin Hart, with musical guest Foo Fighters, Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che were named head writers of the show, alongside Bryan Tucker and Kent Sublette (though Tucker, who had been head writer since March 2014, resigned as head writer at the end of the season).
Jost and Che themselves had been regular writers at the show since they started at the show back in 2005 and 2013 respectively, with Jost having previously served as head writer from 2012 to 2015.
They continued on as head writers until the end of the show's 47th season; as part of a big transition year for that show. Where, as of Season 48, they continue to anchor Update and write for the show, but are no longer head writers.
Cast[]
Changes[]
| Not Returning | New |
|---|---|
Repertory Players[]
Featured Players[]
Episodes[]
Opening montage[]
References[]
| Preceded by: Season 42 |
Season 43 (2017— 2018) |
Followed by: Season 44 |
| Seasons | |
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