Season 48 is the forty-eighth season of Saturday Night Live premiered on October 1, 2022 on NBC and Peacock, during the 2022–23 television season, hosted by actor Miles Teller, with musical guest Kendrick Lamar, and ended a few episodes early on April 15, 2023, hosted by Cuban and Spanish actress Ana de Armas, with musical guest Karol G. The season was originally scheduled to air 21 episodes and concluded on May 20, 2023, hosted by actress Jennifer Coolidge, with musical guests Foo Fighters. However, due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America Strike, the last three planned episodes were cancelled.
The 48th season brought a new opening montage was introduced. Rather than a mix of stills and video clips, this intro was entirely video, and 8 cast members left the show prior to this season, making this a revamped intro. A new logo was made and introduced, and the theme song—which mashes up elements of the 2003-2006 theme in the beginning with elements of the 2018-2022 theme towards the end—is played at a faster pace. It also broke from the last several montage styles by showing all of the cast members in a single place, rather than clips from various locations; it shows the cast at the Chelsea Hotel in New York.
This season also had a new and retro logo pays tribute to the show's original typography by bringing back the distinctive lowercase 'n' from season 1.
Cast Changes[]
Eight cast members from season 47 left the show prior to the beginning of this season, making it the biggest cast exodus since 1995.
The departures of longtime cast members Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, and Kyle Mooney were announced during the season 47 finale. McKinnon had spent eleven seasons on the show since 2012, which at the time made her the longest-tenured female cast member in the show's history. Bryant had been a cast member on the show for ten seasons since 2012. Mooney had joined the show in 2013, spending nine seasons as a cast member. Davidson had joined the show for its fortieth season in 2014, and ended up spending eight seasons with the cast.
A few weeks prior to the start of the 48th season, the departures of another longtime cast members Alex Moffat, Chris Redd, and Melissa Villaseñor, and featured player Aristotle Athari were announced in September.[1][2] Moffat and Villaseñor had both been on the show for six seasons since 2016, while Redd had joined in 2017, spending five seasons with the cast. Following Moffat, Redd and Villaseñor's departures, fellow featured player Athari was let go after only one season on the show.
Michaels had also stated at that time, that the reason all those previous cast members stayed so long, is because of the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that there was nowhere for them to go during the pandemic.[3][4] Earlier in the summer, Bryant and McKinnon separately confirmed that this was the case for themselves, specifically.[5][6]
A few years later in September 2024 (ahead of the show's milestone 50th season), in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Michaels also said that the reason why he had been hiring so many stand-ups (including between seasons 46-48), is because many of the show's go-to improv clubs, such as The Groundlings, Second City, and UCB were shut down during the pandemic. Stating in a part that "a whole generation" of improv comedians weren't auditioning, but stand-ups were.[7]
Returning cast member Cecily Strong took a temporary leave of absence early in the season due to her commitments to perform in the Los Angeles revival of the one-woman stage play "The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe".[8] She returned to SNL for the October 29, 2022 episode. Strong then departed several weeks later on December 17, 2022 after being on the show for eleven seasons since, 2012 before her departure, making her the longest-tenured female cast member in the show's history. At the time of her departure, she passed her former castmate Kate McKinnon's record (who did 211 episodes) by several months. This makes her the first cast member to leave mid-season since Seth Meyers in 2014 and the first female cast member to leave mid-season since Amy Poehler in 2008. She is also the fifth cast member to leave the show in 2022, following the former cast members listed above.
Prior to the start of the season, longtime cast members and Weekend Update co-anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che (who had been head writers since 2017), stepped down from their positions, though remained on the writing staff for the season. Jost (an SNL writer since 2005), previously served as head writer from 2012 to 2015 and held the role for eight accumulative seasons.
Although this announcement came with the confirmation that the rest of the cast from the previous season would return, this is Kenan Thompson's 20th season on the show. Thompson joined the show in 2003.
On September 12, 2022, executive producer Lorne Michaels called the season a "transition year." In lieu of the mass exodus before the season, Michaels announced that four new cast members would be joining the show:[9] stand-up comedians Marcello Hernandez (the youngest hired cast member at the time at 25, and the eighth cast member born in the 1990s), Molly Kearney (SNL's first non-binary cast member), Michael Longfellow (the ninth cast member to be born in the 1990s), and Devon Walker (the fifteenth African-American male cast member in the show's history, and the first of such to join since 2017).
Andrew Dismukes and Punkie Johnson, who were both hired as featured players for season 46, were both promoted to repertory status this season, while James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman, both of whom were joined the cast before season 47, remained as featured players.
History[]
This season saw the death of longtime production designer Eugene Lee who passed away on February 6, 2023, and had worked on the show for accumulative 43 years, since the show's premiere on October 11, 1975, with the exceptions of seasons 6-10 (1980-1985). [10]
This season ended early, due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America Strike, and canceled episodes planned for May 6, 2023 (hosted by longtime former cast member Pete Davidson, with musical guest Lil Uzi Vert), May 13, 2023 (hosted by actor Kieran Culkin, with musical guest Labirinth), and the season finale set for May 20, 2023 (hosted by actress Jennifer Coolidge, with musical guests Foo Fighters).
Cast[]
Changes[]
| Not Returning | Promoted | New | Mid-season Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cecily Strong missed the three episodes from the beginning of the season was not credited in the opening montage for those episodes. Strong returned to SNL for the October 29, 2022 episode, with host and musical guest Jack Harlow, and she then left several weeks later after the December 17, 2022 episode, the ninth episode and the Christmas show of the season, hosted by actor Austin Butler, with musical guest Lizzo.
Repertory Players[]
Featured Players[]
Episodes[]
| Episode Number |
Season Number |
Date | Host(s) | Musical Guest(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 931 | 1 | October 1, 2022 | Miles Teller | Kendrick Lamar |
| 932 | 2 | October 8, 2022 | Brendan Gleeson | Willow |
| 933 | 3 | October 15, 2022 | Megan Thee Stallion | |
| 934 | 4 | October 29, 2022 | Jack Harlow | |
| 935 | 5 | November 5, 2022 | Amy Schumer | Steve Lacy |
| 936 | 6 | November 12, 2022 | Dave Chappelle | Black Star |
| 937 | 7 | December 3, 2022 | Keke Palmer | SZA |
| 938 | 8 | December 10, 2022 | Steve Martin & Martin Short | Brandi Carlile |
| 939 | 9 | December 17, 2022 | Austin Butler | Lizzo |
| 940 | 10 | January 21, 2023 | Aubrey Plaza | Sam Smith |
| 941 | 11 | January 28, 2023 | Michael B. Jordan | Lil Baby |
| 942 | 12 | February 4, 2023 | Pedro Pascal | Coldplay |
| 943 | 13 | February 25, 2023 | Woody Harrelson | Jack White |
| 944 | 14 | March 4, 2023 | Travis Kelce | Kelsea Ballerini |
| 945 | 15 | March 11, 2023 | Jenna Ortega | The 1975 |
| 946 | 16 | April 1, 2023 | Quinta Brunson | Lil Yachty |
| 947 | 17 | April 8, 2023 | Molly Shannon | Jonas Brothers |
| 948 | 18 | April 15, 2023 | Ana de Armas | Karol G |
Specials[]
| Title | Original Air Date | Ratings/Share |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving | November 22, 2022 | 4.87 |
| A collection of Thanksgiving sketches from the Saturday Night Live crew is presented. | ||
| Saturday Night Live Christmas | December 14, 2022 | 7.42 |
| A collection of Christmas and December holiday-based sketches from the past and present of Saturday Night Live crew is presented. |
Opening Montage and Graphics[]
S48
The current intro of SNL
The departures of eight cast members for the 48th season marked a new era and a time of big change for SNL. A new opening title montage and brand graphics were rolled out to help signify a new identity for the show. Unlike the sequence used for seasons 46 and 47, the season 48 one is entirely filmed.
This sequence takes a departure from past opening title sequences in recent history, as this sequence is filmed at the Chelsea Hotel in NYC and the surrounding area, excluding some b-roll shots. Pentagram took a creative decision to unite the cast in an iconic location as New York City got back up and running since the pandemic.[11] Past title sequences (with the exclusion of Season 38) have featured cast members in various distinct locations around NYC. This has been standard since Season 35; the last video-based sequence to feature the cast in a common space was Season 32. Season 46 can be argued as another outlier, as shots were filmed at NBC Studios and its surrounding area, although this was potentially due to pandemic restrictions.
This sequence takes a creative departure from the previous one by utilizing "rapid movements mixed with slow-motion glamor shots" and takes on a "tableau-based approach" by featuring cast members in various tableau-like settings and sequences [12]. A new musical score was also introduced, which reuses a distinct horn lick from the Season 29 score.
Promos[]
References[]
- ↑ Melissa Villasenor, Alex Moffat, Aristotle Athari to Depart - Variety
- ↑ Chris Redd Latest ‘Saturday Night Live’ Cast Member To Exit – Deadline
- ↑ ‘SNL’: Lorne Michaels Addresses Season 48 Cast Changes, Reveals There Will Be At Least Four New Castmembers
- ↑ ‘Saturday Night Live’ Producer Lorne Michaels on the Upcoming ‘Transition’ Year and Plan to Add Four New Castmembers
- ↑ Interview: Kate McKinnon on Saying Good-bye to SNL
- ↑ Why Aidy Bryant Left 'Saturday Night Live' (variety.com)
- ↑ SNL Trio Talk Trump Jokes, 2024 Election Comedy, Lorne Michaels Future
- ↑ Cecily Strong Will Miss the First Month of New “SNL” Season Doing Play in Los Angeles
- ↑ ‘SNL’: Lorne Michaels Addresses Cast Changes, Reveals At Least 4 New Stars – Deadline
- ↑ Eugene Lee, Set Designer for Broadway and ‘S.N.L.,’ Dies at 83 - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
- ↑ https://www.pentagram.com/work/saturday-night-live-season-48
- ↑ https://jasehueser.com/snl-48/
| Preceded by: Season 47 |
Season 48 (2022— 2023) |
Followed by: Season 49 |
| Seasons | |
|---|---|