The 45th season of Saturday Night Live premiered on September 28, 2019 with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Billie Eilish, and concluded on May 9, 2020, hosted by longtime former cast member Kristen Wiig with musical guest Boyz II Men.
Prior to the start of the season, longtime cast member Leslie Jones, who had been on the show since 2014 for five seasons, left to focusing on her movie career.
Three new featured players were announced on September 12, 2019: impressionist, comedian and writer Chloe Fineman of The Groundlings, stand-up comedian Shane Gillis, and SNL staff writer Bowen Yang (who had cameoed on the March 30, 2019 episode, hosted by Canadian–American actress Sandra Oh). [1]
Yang is the first fully East Asian-American cast member in the show's history. Fineman auditioned for the show in 2018 for the previous season but she did not make the cast for that season. She ended up being invited back for another audition for the next season.
Shortly after the announcement, comments by Gillis were unearthed that included anti-Asian racial slurs. Amidst growing outrage and a flurry of articles and angry social media posts, NBC dropped Gillis from the upcoming cast.[2]
Heidi Gardner and Chris Redd (both originally hired in 2017 at the start of Season 43) were both upgraded to repertory status this season, while Ego Nwodim (who joined the show in 2018 for its previous season) remained a featured player.
Cast member Pete Davidson took a leave of absence at the beginning of the season, missed the first two episodes due to filming commitments of The Suicide Squad. Despite this, Davidson was still credited as a cast member in the episodes he missed. He returned to SNL for the October 12, 2019 episode, hosted by actor and Stranger Things star David Harbour, with musical guest Camila Cabello.
The season went on hiatus in March, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The last produced episode aired on March 7; an announced March 28th episode with host John Krasinski and musical guest Dua Lipa was shelved. The live show returned on April 11 as Saturday Night Live At Home. In keeping with government-mandated physical distancing and self-isolation guidelines in place for New York City, these episodes were not broadcast live but were instead compiled from segments recorded in the homes of the cast, hosts and musical guests using, in most cases, their own webcams. They were the first episodes produced in their entirety outside of a studio setting and without a live studio audience. The first remote episode was hosted by actor Tom Hanks, who survived COVID-19 after being diagnosed the month prior. The second remote episode had no host with musical guest Miley Cyrus. The third of these episodes, concluded on May 9, 2020 and hosted by longtime former cast member Kristen Wiig, served as the show's season finale, with musical guest Boyz II Men.
Due to COVID-19, this season ended up being shortened to 18 episodes, breaking the seven-season long streak of having 21 episodes per season.
Additionally, veteran cast members Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant were originally going to leave at the end of this season. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they both ended up staying at the show for two more seasons, and left in 2022.[3][4]
During the COVID-mandated hiatus, longtime music producer Hal Willner died of coronavirus. He was memorialized on the first at-home episode.
Cast[]
Changes[]
| Not Returning | Promoted | New[N 1] |
|---|---|---|
Repertory Players[]
Featured Players[]
Episodes[]
| Episode Number |
Season Number |
Date | Hosts | Musical Guests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 872 | 1 | September 28, 2019 | Woody Harrelson | Billie Eilish |
| 873 | 2 | October 5, 2019 | Phoebe Waller-Bridge | Taylor Swift |
| 874 | 3 | October 12, 2019 | David Harbour | Camila Cabello |
| 875 | 4 | October 26, 2019 | Chance The Rapper | |
| 876 | 5 | November 2, 2019 | Kristen Stewart | Coldplay |
| 877 | 6 | November 16, 2019 | Harry Styles | |
| 878 | 7 | November 23, 2019 | Will Ferrell | King Princess |
| 879 | 8 | December 7, 2019 | Jennifer Lopez | DaBaby |
| 880 | 9 | December 14, 2019 | Scarlett Johansson | Niall Horan |
| 881 | 10 | December 21, 2019 | Eddie Murphy | Lizzo |
| 882 | 11 | January 25, 2020 | Adam Driver | Halsey |
| 883 | 12 | February 1, 2020 | J. J. Watt | Luke Combs |
| 884 | 13 | February 8, 2020 | RuPaul | Justin Bieber |
| 885 | 14 | February 29, 2020 | John Mulaney | David Byrne |
| 886 | 15 | March 7, 2020 | Daniel Craig | The Weeknd |
| 887† | 16 | April 11, 2020 | Tom Hanks | Chris Martin |
| 888† | 17 | April 25, 2020 | No host | Miley Cyrus |
| 889† | 18 | May 9, 2020 | Kristen Wiig | Boyz II Men |
- † Indicates Saturday Night Live at Home episodes
At the beginning of March, it was announced that the next live show would be on March 28, 2020, hosted by actor John Krasinski with musical guest Dua Lipa. However, as fears about the Coronavirus Pandemic rose in the intervening weeks, it was announced on March 16th that the next three scheduled live episodes would be postponed.[5]
Gallery[]
Opening montage[]
SNL at Home
This is the opening montage was used for the SNL at Home episodes, the final 3 episodes of season 45 that were made and produced during the beginning of the COVID lockdown.
(In use: April 11 - May 9, 2020).
Notes[]
- ↑ Shane Gillis was announced as a cast member, but was dropped before the season began
References[]
- ↑ 🚨 Season 45 Alert 🚨 Welcome to the cast, @chloefineman, @Shanemgillis, and @bowenyang!
- ↑ NBC Made Call To Fire Shane Gillis From ‘SNL’, Lorne Michaels Says
- ↑ Interview: Kate McKinnon on Saying Good-bye to SNL
- ↑ Why Aidy Bryant Left 'Saturday Night Live' (variety.com)
- ↑ ‘Saturday Night Live’ Postpones Next Three Shows Because of Coronavirus
| Preceded by: Season 44 |
Season 45 (2019— 2020) |
Followed by: Season 46 |
| Seasons | |
|---|---|