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The 49th season of Saturday Night Live premiered on NBC on October 14, 2023, with former longtime cast member Pete Davidson as host (who was supposed to host the previous season, before the WGA strike) and musical guest Ice Spice, and concluded on May 18, 2024, hosted by actor Jake Gyllenhaal with musical guest Sabrina Carpenter.

After the departures of eleven cast members between seasons 46, 47, and 48, the entire cast from the previous season returned, with the exception of Cecily Strong, who departed midway through the previous season. James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman, who both joined as featured players prior to season 47 in 2021, were promoted to repertory status this season. Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker, the four of whom were hired in 2022 for the previous season, remained as featured players. On October 4, 2023, New York-based improviser and comedian Chloe Troast (who co-starred in Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain) was announced as a new cast member. Troast had originally auditioned for the previous season and came close to being hired.

The previous season's opening montage is retained; however, James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman have been promoted to repertory players. Chloe Troast is added to the opening montage as a featured player.

This would be the final season for cast members Punkie Johnson, Molly Kearney, and Troast; Johnson announced her departure at a comedy show during the offseason,[1] Kearney announced their departure via Instagram[2], and Deadline reported Troast's departure. By the end of this season, Johnson had completed a tenure of 4 years, beginning in season 46; Kearney completed a tenure of 2 years, beginning in season 48; and Troast completed a single year tenure,

While not credited as cast members, SNL staff writers and comedy group Please Don't Destroy (Martin Herlihy, Ben Marshall, and John Higgins) continue to appear in digital videos. For the first time, Please Don't Destroy is credited in this season's opening montage with "A Film by Please Don't Destroy", marking the first time since Robert Smigel's "TV Funhouse" cartoons that a recurring segment has its own credit in the opening.

This also marked the second and final season to had 20 episodes in it since Season 46 due to the WGA/Hollywood strikes, which delayed the premiere by about a week.

Cast[]

Changes[]

Not Returning Promoted New

Repertory Players[]

S48-che  S48-day  S48-dismukes

S48-fineman  S48-gardner  S48-jaj 

S48-johnson S48-jost  S48-nwodim 

  S48-sherman  S48-thompson S48-yang

Featured Players[]

S48-hernandez S48-kearney S48-lf S49-troast S48-walker

Please Don't Destroy[]

PleaseDon'tDestroy-SNL49

Episodes[]

Episode
Number
Season
Number
Date Host(s) Musical Guest(s)
949 1 October 14, 2023 Pete Davidson Ice Spice
950 2 October 21, 2023 Bad Bunny
951 3 October 28, 2023 Nate Bargatze Foo Fighters
952 4 November 11, 2023 Timothée Chalamet Boygenius
953 5 November 18, 2023 Jason Momoa Tate McRae
954 6 December 2, 2023 Emma Stone Noah Kahan
955 7 December 9, 2023 Adam Driver Olivia Rodrigo
956 8 December 16, 2023 Kate McKinnon Billie Eilish
957 9 January 20, 2024 Jacob Elordi Reneé Rapp
958 10 January 27, 2024 Dakota Johnson Justin Timberlake
959 11 February 3, 2024 Ayo Edebiri Jennifer Lopez
960 12 February 24, 2024 Shane Gillis 21 Savage
961 13 March 2, 2024 Sydney Sweeney Kacey Musgraves
962 14 March 9, 2024 Josh Brolin Ariana Grande
963 15 March 30, 2024 Ramy Youssef Travis Scott
964 16 April 6, 2024 Kristen Wiig Raye
965 17 April 13, 2024 Ryan Gosling Chris Stapleton
966 18 May 4, 2024 Dua Lipa
967 19 May 11, 2024 Maya Rudolph Vampire Weekend
968 20 May 18, 2024 Jake Gyllenhaal Sabrina Carpenter


Preceded by:
Season 48
Season 49
(2023— 2024)
Followed by:
Season 50
Seasons
 
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