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The 44th season of Saturday Night Live premiered on September 29, 2018, with host Adam Driver and musical guest Kanye West and concluded on May 18, 2019 with host Paul Rudd and musical guest DJ Khaled.

Prior to the start of the season, Luke Null (who joined the cast during the previous season) was let go from the show. Upright Citizens Brigade alum Ego Nwodim joined the cast as a featured player, replacing Null. Nwodim became the seventh African-American female cast member in the show's history. Mikey Day, Alex Moffat, and Melissa Villaseñor, all three of whom were hired in 2016 for season 42, were upgraded to repertory status, while Heidi Gardner and Chris Redd, both of whom were hired in 2017 for season 43, remained as featured players.

Aside from Null, all other cast members from the previous season returned to the show, including guest star Alec Baldwin in his role as President Donald Trump.

Starting with the May 4, 2019 episode of SNL, Kate McKinnon is now the show's longest running female cast member in the show's history and she has surpassed her former SNL castmate Vanessa Bayer as the as the longest serving female cast member in history, as this was Kate's 150th episode as a cast member. As of December 2022, her former castmate Cecily Strong holds that records.

This is the final season for longtime cast member Leslie Jones, who had been with the cast for five seasons since 2014. Jones announced her departure was announced on August 27, 2019, in favor of focusing on her movie career.

The opening montage changed from the previous season, with new title cards for the cast. The new montage follows an art deco style.

Cast[]

Changes[]

Not Returning Promoted New

Repertory Players[]

Bennett-44  Bryant-44  Che-44 

Davidson-44  Day-44  Jones-44 

Jost-44  Mckinnon-44  Moffat-44

Mooney-44  Strong-44  Thompson-44 

Villasenor-44

Featured Players[]

Gardner-44 Nwodim-44 Redd-44

Episodes[]

Episode
Number
Season
Number
Date Host(s) Musical Guest(s)
851 1 September 29, 2018 Adam Driver Kanye West
852 2 October 6, 2018 Awkwafina Travis Scott
853 3 October 13, 2018 Seth Meyers Paul Simon
854 4 November 3, 2018 Jonah Hill Maggie Rogers
855 5 November 10, 2018 Liev Schreiber Lil Wayne
856 6 November 17, 2018 Steve Carell Ella Mai
857 7 December 1, 2018 Claire Foy Anderson .Paak
858 8 December 8, 2018 Jason Momoa Mumford & Sons
859 9 December 15, 2018 Matt Damon Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus
860 10 January 19, 2019 Rachel Brosnahan Greta Van Fleet
861 11 January 26, 2019 James McAvoy Meek Mill
862 12 February 9, 2019
Halsey
863 13 February 16, 2019 Don Cheadle Gary Clark Jr.
864 14 March 2, 2019 John Mulaney Thomas Rhett
865 15 March 9, 2019 Idris Elba Khalid
866 16 March 30, 2019 Sandra Oh Tame Impala
867 17 April 6, 2019 Kit Harington Sara Bareilles
868 18 April 13, 2019 Emma Stone BTS
869 19 May 4, 2019 Adam Sandler Shawn Mendes
870 20 May 11, 2019 Emma Thompson Jonas Brothers
871 21 May 18, 2019 Paul Rudd DJ Khaled

Opening montage[]

S44

S44

Opening montage used through March 7, 2020 episode of season 45. Kyle Mooney's name wasn't read for this episode (the season premier); this copy comes from the NBC internet feed which had his name dubbed in.

Preceded by:
Season 43
Season 44
(2018— 2019)
Followed by:
Season 45
Seasons
 
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