Saturday Night Live has returned to our screens for its 49th season after a long hiatus due to the writers’ strike.
Actor Timothée Chalamet will be hosting Saturday’s show, quipping in a promotional video for the episode that he can finally talk about his new film Wonka now that the actor’s strike has ended.
It was announced that the actor’s union SAG-AFTRA strike ended on Thursday, 118 days of strike action after they reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood film and television studios.
It is estimated that the strikes have cost the Southern California economy more than $6.5bn and 45,000 entertainment industry jobs, Deadline reports.
With the writers’ strike also ending in September due to an agreement being reached with AMPTP, SNL announced they would return in October for new shows.
The sketch show, which has been running for almost five decades, returned on 14 October with past cast member Pete Davidson hosting the show, with music from rapper Ice Spice.
Singer Bad Bunny, who also provided a musical performance, and comedian Nate Bargatze hosted the following two episodes.
Foo Fighters also performed in the last episode, their first TV appearance since the death of their drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022.
Music on Saturday will be bought by indie supergroup Boygenius. Cast member Bowen Yang made a joke in the promo video about the band and the host all being under 30 and tried to relate to the group by overzealously proclaiming that “the host is a quirked up white boy with rizz, while the musical guests are three rocker baddies rocking it down rocker style!”
The cast is the same as the last season, with the exception of one new actor, rising star Chloe Troast.
Here is everything you need to know about the next episode of SNL:
Who’s hosting this week?
Timothée Chalamet will return as the host of Saturday Night Live on 11 November after a week’s break on 4 November, with supergroup Boygenius providing some live music on the show.
Mr Chalamet, 27, frantically blurted out “Willy Wonka, chocolate, chocolate man, Willy Wonka, chocolate” in the promo video for the episode.
With only over a month left before the movie opens, he joked that he could finally start to promote his upcoming movie Wonka now that the actor’s strikes are over, something they were prohibited from doing while the negotiations were ongoing.
He plays the elusive Mr Wonka himself and will star alongside British acting royalty, such as Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson and Olivia Coleman and will open on 8 December in the UK and 15 December in the US.
Chocolate factories aside, the actor returns to the show on Saturday almost three years after his first stint in December 2020, where he participated in sketches such as “Tiny Horse” and “Rap Roundtable” with the then-castmate Pete Davidson, playing an obnoxious rap duo.
However, the sketch that Chalamet fans went most crazy for was the “Dionne Warwick Talk Show,” where the young actor imitated pop star Harry Styles, donning a knitted jumper synonymous with the singer.
SNL cast member Chloe Fineman then turned up later in the sketch doing an impression of Mr Chalamet himself - we wonder if she will take the next episode as a chance to reprise the persona.
His next project to air was supposed to be Dune 2, but due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, the sequel to the sci-fi hit Dune is predicted to open in March 2024, so it is no wonder he wants to get as much airtime as he can on his other ventures.
The actor has recently been linked to billionaire socialite and personality Kylie Jenner; the unlikely pair were recently spotted together at the WSJ. Magazine Innovators Awards in New York on 1 November.
Timothee Chalamet and Pete Davidson in the 2020 Rap Roundtable sketch— (NBC/Getty Images)
Who’s performing this week?
Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, known collectively as Boygenius, will provide music on the next episode of SNL.
The band is hailed as masters of the sad music genre; however, Ms Baker insisted that in real life they “quite happy people,” while staring deadpan into the camera for the promotional video.
“Live. Laugh. Love,” Ms Bridgers added, also in a monotnous tone.
The supergroup just released their second EP titled ‘the rest’ on 13 October.
The three are each successful solo recording artists but formed as an indie supergroup in 2018 to release their self-titled EP before they split to work on different records, then revived the project in 2023.
The trio released their debut album ‘the record’ back in March before they set out on a world tour that just ended on 31 October.
What time does SNL air?
SNL airs at 11:30pm ET (10:30pm CT, 9:30pm MT and 8:30pm PT) on Saturday nights.
How can I watch?
The sketch show is available in the UK on Sky, on the Sky Comedy channel at 9pm on Sunday evenings.
In the US, the live show will air on NBC each Saturday.
The show can be caught up on NBC’s streaming service Peacock the next day.
Highlights and sketches from the show will appear on the SNL YouTube Channel.
