History of ''Saturday Night Live'' (2015–present)

Opening montage

The previous season's opening montage returns, but without the special SNL 40 logo. Darrell Hammond returns as the show's announcer. Repertory players are announced first, followed by featured players, the musical guest, and the host.

Bumper format

Various old bumper formats return. Each host has several bumper shots on a solid color faded background, where their image may be repeated or given other various picture effects. Each host also has one or two photos of him or her in costume around NBC Studios. The musical guest for each episode has two bumper photos on solid colored backgrounds.

Cast

The season has a cast of 16 members, including five African American cast members (the most to ever be in the cast at once). As in previous seasons, the cast is separated into a most established repertory company, and a newer featured company. Jon Rudnitsky was the only new addition to the cast prior to the season premiere. Four cast members were upgraded from featured to repertory. (Beck Bennett, Colin Jost, Kyle Mooney, and Sasheer Zamata.)

Notes

• Announcer Darrell Hammond reprised his role as Donald Trump during this season.
• The season premiere featured a cameo appearance by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, in a sketch called "Bar Talk". Kate McKinnon appeared in the sketch as Clinton, while Clinton portrayed a bartender named Val. Darrell Hammond reprised his long-running role as Bill Clinton for the sketch.
• The third episode, hosted by Tracy Morgan, was the comedian's first large comedy appearance since suffering head injuries from a near fatal car crash.^[1]
  • In the cold open, parodying the Democratic primary debate, Alec Baldwin appeared as Jim Webb, an at-the-time candidate. Larry David appeared as Bernie Sanders. McKinnon reprised her role as Hillary Clinton, while Jon Rudnitsky, Taran Killam, and Kyle Mooney portrayed Anderson Cooper, Martin O'Malley, and Lincoln Chafee, respectively.
  • In the monologue, Morgan appeared alongside former 30 Rock castmates Tina Fey, Jane Krakowski, and Jack McBrayer, as well as Baldwin.
  • Tina Fey also appeared as a correspondent during "Weekend Update", her first appearance at the desk since the departure of long-running anchor and friend Seth Meyers.
• The announcement of Donald Trump returning to host on the fourth episode drew controversy for several reasons:
  • Hispanic and Latino organizations called for Trump to be removed as host due to controversial comments he had made regarding immigration. An online petition was formed requesting his removal.^[2]
  • Trump's hosting was filled with the Federal Communications Commission in regards to the equal-time rule. Although no candidate has ever requested an appearance on Saturday Night Live due to equal-time, concerns were raised over whether SNL qualified for an exception to the rule as a live entertainment program.^[3]
  • After the episode with Donald Trump hosting was aired, it quickly drew criticism for not being very humorous, largely because of Trump being cautious about offending voters in Iowa.
• The Elizabeth Banks episode featured no comedic cold open; rather, cast member Cecily Strong issued a solemn address to the city of Paris, as the episode aired the day after the November 2015 Paris attacks, offering condolences in English and French.^[4]
• Amy Poehler and Tina Fey co-hosted the season's December 17 episode, marking the first time an episode has featured multiple hosts since 2004 (the season 29 episode hosted by Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson),^[5] as well as the first time two female cast members have hosted, and the first time since season 12's Christmas episode hosted by Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short that two former cast members have hosted.
• Larry David's hosting on February 6, 2016, marks the first time a cast member from the early 1980s sketch show Fridays hosts Saturday Night Live, as well as the first time since season 26 that a former SNL writer who was never a cast member has hosted (Conan O'Brien was an SNL writer from 1988-1991 and hosted in 2001).
• Following the death of Prince (who had been a musical guest on the show in 1981, 2006, and 2014 and performed during SNL's 15th anniversary special) in April 2016, a planned rerun of the episode hosted by Peter Dinklage was replaced with a retrospective hosted by Jimmy Fallon called Goodnight, Sweet Prince, showing Prince's musical performances (including a never-before-seen-on-TV one from the show's 40th anniversary special and three The Prince Show sketches: one from the season 30 episode with Queen Latifah as host and musical guest, another from the season 31 episode with Steve Martin as host (and Prince returning as musical guest for the first time since the 15th anniversary special in 1990), and one from the season 32 episode hosted by Shia LaBoeuf.
• Tina Fey and Amy Poehler received a historic co-nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a comedy for their roles as co-host of the Christmas episode, which they ultimately won.^[6]
• Fred Armisen is now the latest former SNL cast member to host SNL for the first time (he is the 33rd former cast member to host), and it's the fourth time a former SNL cast member has hosted a season finale,the others being Dan Aykroyd, Will Ferrell, and Andy Samberg.

Problems with election coverage

As usual during election seasons, SNL has placed particular emphasis on the 2016 presidential election. Given the unusually large field of candidates, some impressions of candidates shift or have shifted based on who remains in the race.

On the Democratic side, Kate McKinnon is the show's current Hillary Clinton. McKinnon debuted as Clinton in Season 40, Episode 15 (though she previously portrayed an actress portraying Clinton).^[7] While they remained in the race, cast members Taran Killam and Kyle Mooney portrayed Martin O'Malley and Lincoln Chafee, respectively, both debuting in Season 41, Episode 3. Former candidate Jim Webb was portrayed by Alec Baldwin, also debuting in the aforementioned episode. Larry David has made recurring appearances to portray Bernie Sanders.

There was media speculation as to who would play whom for the upcoming election prior to the season.^[8] The casting was made problematic because many of the candidates were played by the same impressionists prior to the election. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul had all been portrayed by Taran Killam. Chris Christie was portrayed by Bobby Moynihan, who had also played Cruz. Mike Huckabee and Jeb Bush were both portrayed by Beck Bennett. Additionally, Pete Davidson and Colin Jost were not considered by speculators to be generally desired for the job, since neither was an impressionist. Carly Fiorina had been portrayed by McKinnon on one occasion, while Ben Carson was portrayed by Kenan Thompson. No one on the current cast had portrayed John Kasich.

More issues further complicated the matter. Just prior to the start of the season, SNL announced that Killam would be portraying Donald Trump for the upcoming election,^[9] which meant that Killam would be portraying four of the candidates in the main Republican race. SNL ultimately was forced to wait until their ninth episode to tackle a Republican debate, when the field was sufficiently narrowed.

For the December 19 episode, the first to feature a debate, several impressions were ultimately moved permanently to new cast members. Jimmy Fallon was initially offered the role of Trump on a recurring cameo basis, but a last-minute change resulted in announcer Darrell Hammond portraying him as he had done for fourteen seasons in the cast.^[10] Killam ultimately portrayed Cruz, while Moynihan portrayed Christie. Rubio was played by Davidson, Bush by Bennett, and Paul by Kyle Mooney. Cecily Strong and Jay Pharoah portrayed Fiorina and Carson, respectively, while Colin Jost acted as a stand-in for Kasich, with no lines. Rudnitsky portrayed debate moderator Wolf Blitzer.^[11]

The following episode, on January 16, featured another debate, with a slightly smaller Republican field. Carly Fiorina had been demoted to the earlier undercard debate, and while Paul and Kasich remained on the mainstage, SNL chose not to include them in the sketch. Trump, Cruz, Christie, Rubio, Bush, and Carson were all portrayed by the same people that portrayed them in the earlier episode.^[11]

Despite Hammond's acclaimed impression, speculation remained as to whether he was playing the role because he was needed (as Killam was playing Cruz) or because his impression was superior.^[12] The show ultimately confirmed that Hammond was going to be portraying Trump indefinitely; the following week, he appeared alongside Tina Fey's Sarah Palin in a sketch without Killam, confirming that he would continue to play Trump even if Killam were available (for the time being).^[13] Killam, in turn, was confirmed as the show's indefinite Cruz, in a sketch where he portrayed him when Moynihan was not present.^[14]

Cast

On June 24, 2016, Lorne Michaels announced that Michael Che and Colin Jost would continue as the anchors of "Weekend Update".^[16] Both were featured on SNL special editions of "Weekend Update" for the Democratic and Republican Conventions.

It was also announced that Michael Che, Pete Davidson, and Leslie Jones would all be upgraded from featured to repertory status.^[17]

The above-named changes kept the cast membership for this season at 16 members, with four African American cast members and one Hispanic cast member. As in previous seasons, the cast is listed in two separate groups: repertory and featured players.

Opening montage

The opening montage is the same as in previous seasons, except this time the still photos of the musical guest and host are replaced by short video clips of them.

Notes

• Starting with this season, Donald Trump is now played by Alec Baldwin instead of Darrell Hammond, who will continue as the show's announcer.
• Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah (who were cast members for 6 seasons) were fired. Taran was fired due to filming his movie Killing Gunther at the time, and both had one year left on their contract, featured player Jon Rudnitsky (who only lasted for one season) was let go as well, and they were replaced by SNL writer Mikey Day, Chicago improv comedian Alex Moffat, and stand-up comedian/impressionist Melissa Villaseñor.
• Many reports have stated that Villaseñor is the first Latina cast member, despite Noël Wells being part Mexican. Villaseñor is also the fourth Hispanic cast member after Horatio Sanz, Fred Armisen, and Wells.
• At the end of this season, Vanessa Bayer, Bobby Moynihan, and Sasheer Zamata all left the show.
• As of this season, Vanessa Bayer left SNL as the longest-tenured female cast member, having been a cast member for 149 episodes over the span of 7 seasons (2010-2017). She surpassed the record from Maya Rudolph, who, despite being last 9 seasons (2000-2007), was only credited for 146 episodes.
• Some hosting milestones include:
  • Alec Baldwin hosting SNL for the first time since 2011 (for the premiere of season 37).
  • Scarlett Johansson, Melissa McCarthy, and Dwayne Johnson all got into the Five-Timers Club this year, making this the season with the most hosts introduced into the club.
  • Tom Hanks hosted the show for the first time since 2006.

Election coverage

On September 28, SNL announced that while Kate McKinnon would return as Hillary Clinton for its parodies of the 2016 presidential election, Alec Baldwin would play the role of Donald Trump, replacing Darrell Hammond, who continues as the show's announcer.^[18]

Opening montage

The montage is the exact same as the previous season.

Cast roster

Notes

• During the week of the last episode of season 42, it was announced that Bobby Moynihan (who had been with the show since 2008), Vanessa Bayer (who has been with the show since 2010), and Sasheer Zamata (who joined SNL in early 2014), would not be returning for season 43.
• As of this season, Kenan Thompson is now the show's longest-tenured cast member, as this was his 15th season and he had been a cast member since 2003. He surpasses Darrell Hammond's record of 14 seasons (1995-2009).
• Alec Baldwin announced in early September that he would continue his Donald Trump impersonations on the show, but noted that his busy schedule would result in such appearances occurring on a much smaller scale.
• On September 26, it was announced that Heidi Gardner of The Groundlings, Luke Null of iO Chicago, and stand-up comedian Chris Redd from Second City would be added to the cast. Redd was originally announced as joining the cast the previous season, but did not end up doing so. On that same day, the return of the remaining cast members from Season 42 (repertory and featured) was confirmed as well.^[19] It was also announced that Sam Jay, Gary Richardson, Erik Marino, Andrew Dismukes, Steven Castillo, Claire Friedman and Nimesh Patel would all join the writing team.^[20].
• With Bobby Moynihan's departure, Kenan Thompson is now the only cast member who was hired in the 2000's to still remain on the show.
• As of Vanessa Bayer's departure, Kate McKinnon is now the longest-tenured current female cast member, as she joined SNL in early 2012.
  • Also, with Moynihan's departure, McKinnon is now the second longest-tenured current cast member, after Thompson.
• Some milestones include:
  • John Mulaney (who was a writer on SNL for 5 years: 2008-2013), came back to host this season, making him the third former SNL writer who was never a cast member to come back and host the show. After Conan O'Brien and Larry David (who hosted the show earlier in the season).
  • With the season finale on May 19, 2018, with host (and SNL former cast member) Tina Fey and musical guest Nicki Minaj, the show came full circle for the second consecutive season with a single host and solo musical guest beginning and ending the season, while it marked the seventh consecutive season finale with a solo musical guest. In fact, this season produced the most solo musical acts (16) of any one season in the series’ history.
  • Tina Fey is now the fifth former cast member to host an SNL season finale, after Dan Aykroyd, Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg, and Fred Armisen.
  • She is also the first former female cast member to host a season finale.
• For the first time in the show’s history, there were cameo appearances (live and/or pre-filmed) in every episode of a season.
• On August 15, 2018, it was announced that Luke Null will not return for the show's 44th season. ^[21]

Opening Montage

The intro is changed up this season, after having been the same for the past four seasons. This intro is in black and white and looks at a cast member's whereabouts in New York, and during the cast credits, when a frame freezes, the intro changes to color before a cast member's name pops up. The SNL logo that debuted in 2014 remained and the theme music is a rearrangement of the 2014 theme. Also, the host and musical guest portions are the same as in the past two seasons, in which they're short video clips.

Cast roster

Notes

• On August 15, 2018, it was announced that featured player Luke Null will not be returning after just one season.
• The entire cast of the previous season minus Null returned to the show, with Mikey Day, Alex Moffat and Melissa Villaseñor being promoted to repertory status and guest star Alec Baldwin also reprises his role as U.S. President Donald Trump this season.
• The show hired actress and Upright Citizens Brigade alum Ego Nwodim as its new featured player. Nwodim is the seventh African-American female cast member in the show's history and the third hired in the last five years.
• Michael Che, Colin Jost and Kent Sublette are continuing as co-head writers this season while Bryan Tucker had stepped down to become senior writer. In addition, four new writers had been added to the writing staff: Alison Gates, Alan Linic, Eli Mandel and Bowen Yang.

bold denotes "Weekend Update" anchor