September 28, 2024 Season 50 episode
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| Episode | 969 |
| Season Episode | 1 |
| Host | Jean Smart |
| Musical Guest(s) | Jelly Roll |
| Song(s) performed by Musical Guest(s) |
"Liar" "Winning Streak" |
| Previous Episode May 18, 2024 (Season 49) |
Next Episode October 5, 2024 |
The 969th episode and the season premiere of Season 50 of Saturday Night Live premiered on September 28, 2024, hosted by actress Jean Smart, the star of CBS' classic hit sitcom Designing Women, the ABC's classic sitcom Samantha Who? and the HBO Max's hit comedy-drama series Hacks, with musical guest Jelly Roll, a country singer-songwriter. This was Jean Smart's hosting debut, thus making her the second and last former cast member from Designing Women, as well as the only cast member from Hacks to host and the musical guest debut on SNL for Jelly Roll.
This marked the first episode for new cast members Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline.
Cast[]
Repertory Players[]
- Michael Che
- Mikey Day
- Andrew Dismukes
- Chloe Fineman
- Heidi Gardner
- Marcello Hernandez
- James Austin Johnson
- Colin Jost
- Michael Longfellow
- Ego Nwodim
- Sarah Sherman
- Kenan Thompson
- Devon Walker
- Bowen Yang
Featured Players[]
- Ashley Padilla (First Appearance)
- Emil Wakim (First Appearance)
- Jane Wickline (First Appearance)
- Cameos by Maya Rudolph, Jim Gaffigan, Andy Samberg, Dana Carvey, and Hannah Einbinder
Sketches and Musical Performances[]
Cold Open Sketch Pre-recorded Weekend Update Music Performance Other
| Title | Image | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Harris and Trump Rallies Cold Open | Splitting rallies between Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph) and Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan), and Donald Trump (James Austin Johnnson) and J.D. Vance (Bowen Yang). With Andrew Dismukes as David Muir, Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff, and Dana Carvey as Joe Biden. | |
| Opening Montage |  |
The new opening montage feature a new logo for SNL's 50th anniversary season SNL 50. The Montage is also redone with the new logo. Additionally, cast members Punkie Johnson, Molly Kearney, and Chloe Troast are gone from the intro, since they all left the show prior to this season. Marcello Hernandez, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker will be promoted to Repertory Status, and the first credits for new cast members Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline. Very fast paced, somewhat similar to the 1998-2000 montages. A new logo, and at the beginning, has multiple logos. Like previous intros, this one has the cast hanging out at various NY locations. |
| Monologue by Jean Smart | Hosting for the first time, actress Jean Smart talks about hosting the season premiere of SNL 50, how she likes being in New York, and her career before singing “I Happen To Like New York.” | |
| $100,000 Pyramid | Michael Strahan (Devon Walker) hosts a game show with celebrity guests the Hawk Tuah girl Hailey Welch (Chloe Fineman), Chimp Crazy’s Tonia Haddix (Jean Smart), Bad Bunny (Marcello Hernandez) and North Carolina Governor Mark Robinson (Kenan Thompson). First appearance of Emil Wakim as a cast member and he played the Turkish shooter. | |
| Spirit Halloween | An ad for the one store that will always be there, Spirit Halloween. First appearances of Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline as cast members. | |
| Textbook Writer | A textbook writer (Jean Smart) meets with publishing executives to discuss an issue with her math textbook. | |
| Jelly Roll performed "Liar". | Smart's Hacks co-star Hannah Einbinder introduces Jelly Roll's first performance with Smart. | |
| Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che | Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the season premiere week's biggest news like SNL kicking off its 50th season and New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams indictments and the scientists saying an asteroid will become earth’s mini moon. With guests, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (Devon Walker) stops by to discuss his mayorship and his federal indictments and Moo Deng (Bowen Yang) arrived Weekend Update to discuss her newfound fame. | |
| I Love Lucy | A television host (Bowen Yang) takes a look back on a groundbreaking comedy that changed television. Actress (Jean Smart) does not do well on pilot of "I Love Lucy". Also stars Marcello Hernandez as Deci Arnaz, Chloe Fineman and James Austin Johnson. | |
| Charli XCX Talk Show | Charli XCX (Bowen Yang) hosts a talk show with DJ Troye Sivan (Sarah Sherman) and guests (Jean Smart), Kaitlan Collins (Chloe Fineman), and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (Ego Nwodim). | |
| Jelly Roll performed "Winning Streak" | ||
| Real Housewives of Santa Fe Dinner | The Real Housewives of Santa Fe (Jean Smart, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Chloe Fineman, Sarah Sherman, Ashley Padilla) have lunch at a Mexican restaurant to clear the air. | |
| Goodbyes and Closing Credits | Jean Smart thanked Jelly Roll, Maya Rudolph, Jim Gaffigan, Andy Samberg and Dana Carvey, she had the best time. |
Cut-for-Time[]
Cold Open Sketch Pre-recorded Weekend Update Music Performance Other
| Title | Image | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| A Father's Promisse | In this Cut for Time sketch parents (Jean Smart, Andrew Dismukes) attend their son’s (Marcello Hernández) baseball game. | |
| Blonde Dragon People | In this Cut for Time sketch a group of friends (Heidi Gardner, Andrew Dismukes, Devon Walker, Jane Wickline) try to watch a new season of their favorite show. |
Trivia[]
- This is also the first episode with Allie Levitan, Moss Perricone, and Carl Tart as writers.
- Additionally, starting with this episode, fellow writers Dan Bulla (who has been on the writing staff since 2019) and Auguste White (who became a writer back in 2022), are named as the show's co-writing supervisors, alongside Celeste Yim and Will Stephen.
- Also, Rosebud Baker (who joined the writing staff back in 2022) is named as a writer for Weekend Update (alongside Pete Schultz, Dennis McNicholas, KC Shornima, and Megan Callahan-Shah).
- Lastly, in terms of the writing staff, Sudi Green (who was previously a writer for the show from 2015 to 2021) returns temporarily to the writing staff, for the first-half of the season, to cover Yim, who is currently taking a break from SNL.
- Before the goodnights, a photo of Tom McCarthy, former senior vice president and global chief security officer for NBC, who died in the week, is shown in silence.
Trivia/Notes[]
- Also, for the season premiere of SNL 50, Jean Smart and Jelly Roll making their respective Hosts and Musical Guests debuts and joining the all-rookie lineup.
- Jean Smart is the first reigning Primetime Emmy Award Winner for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series to host SNL since Phoebe Waller-Bridge in 2019.
- Dana Carvey says "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" for the 56th time, remains in 3rd place all-time and Maya Rudolph says "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" for the 19th time, tying Kristen Wiig and Bowen Yang for 26th place all-time.
- Michael Che passes Kate McKinnon for Most Episodes as an SNL Cast Member.
| Preceded by: May 18, 2024 (Season 49) |
Saturday Night Live episode | Followed by: October 5, 2024 |