Season 45 is the forty-fifth anniversary season of Saturday Night Live (also branded as Saturday Night Live 45 and SNL45) premiered on September 28, 2019 on NBC, during the 2019–20 television season, hosted by actor Woody Harrelson, with musical guest Billie Eilish, and concluded on May 9, 2020, hosted by longtime former cast member Kristen Wiig, with musical guests Boyz II Men featuring Babyface. This season featured the return of Eddie Murphy as host, on December 21, 2019, for the first time in 35 years. Murphy's episode was the most watched episode since 2008.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was temporarily halted on March 16, 2020. The move came hours after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered all theaters in the city to close by the following morning. The season resumed on April 11, 2020 with three remotely produced episodes containing Weekend Update and other contributions from the cast. The self-filmed episodes, with pre-recorded from-home segments, were instead referred to as Saturday Night Live at Home. The first remote episode was hosted by Tom Hanks, who survived COVID-19 after being diagnosed the month prior. The third of these episodes, airing on May 9, 2020 and hosted by longtime former cast member Kristen Wiig, served as the show's season finale.
To celebrate the 45th anniversary, the opening montage from the previous season returns, with the following changes: a "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE 45" and "SNL 45" title card logo. Additionally, the shot of a couple making out was replaced with a traffic light flashing purple (stop), then blue (go). The background for hosts/musical guests clips was changed to white, and two versions of each are shown side by side. In the later episodes, the background for hosts/musical guests clips was changed back to black, like in the previous season.
Cast Changes[]
Prior to the start of the season, longtime cast member Leslie Jones, who joined the cast one month into season 40 in October 2014, left after having been with the show for almost five full seasons. Three new featured players were announced on September 12, 2019: impressionist 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). Yang is the first fully East Asian-American cast member in the show's history. Fineman had auditioned for the show previously and been unsuccessful. She ended up being invited back for another audition for the next season.
The choice of Gillis as a cast member generated backlash after podcast clips of him making racist remarks were reposted. Gillis has also made derogatory remarks about Muslims, women, and the LGBTQ community on his online show Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast. Gillis was let go from the cast only four days after the announcement of his hiring, prior to the airing of the first episode. Five years later, in 2024, Gillis controversially hosted the show in the twelfth episode of season 49, during which he jokingly referenced his firing from the show. Later that year (early in the show's 50th season), executive producer Lorne Michaels revealed that he was not happy about the decision, and that NBC forced him to fire Gillis.
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.[1]
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. 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 it was hosted by longtime former cast member Kristen Wiig, served as the show's season finale, with musical guests 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.[2][3]
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.[4]
Specials[]
| Title | OriginalAirDate | Ratings/Share |
|---|---|---|
| SNL Presents: Halloween | October 26, 2019 | 3.4/8 |
| A collection of Halloween- and horror-themed sketches. | ||
| Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving | November 27, 2019 | 1.6/5 |
| Thanksgiving-themed comedy from the Saturday Night Live crew is presented. | ||
| Saturday Night Live Christmas | December 5, 2019 | 1.6/5 |
| Holiday-themed comedy from Saturday Night Live is presented. | ||
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[]
| Preceded by: Season 44 |
Season 45 (2019— 2020) |
Followed by: Season 46 |
| Seasons | |
|---|---|