Saturday Night Live Surprise Appearances Bring Season 49 Premiere to Huge Viewership

Saturday Night Live managed to pull in some serious numbers during its Season 49 premiere. Audiences numbers were high across the board, with the Pete Davidson-hosted episode pulling in 4.8 million viewers during its initial run time. That total is roughly a 19--point increase when compared to the show's Season 48 premiere.

It's also the highest premiere of any Saturday Night Live season opener on Peacock since the service was launched in 2020, according to Futon Critic. It's one of the most-watched episodes in the SNL library, coming third only behind Dave Chapelle's November 12, 2022 appearance and the February 4, 2023 episode featuring Pedro Pascal and Coldplay. The show's high numbers were largely attributed to surprise appearances from both Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, with over a million social media interactions being tallied as a result of the duo's appearance on the show.

The series still has at least two more new episodes before its first break of the year. This weekend, Bad Bunny is appearing as both host and musical guest on the October 21st show while comedian Nate Bergatze is making his hosting debut on the October 28th edition alongside an appearance by the Foo Fighters.

Who is in the Saturday Night Live cast?

Cast members for Saturday Night Live season 49 include almost the entire cast from season 48 of SNL. Returning stars include Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, James Austin Johnson, Punkie Johnson, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, and Bowen Yang. Featured players that are part of the cast include returning stars Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker, plus the show's only fully new cast member for the year, newcomer Chloe Troast. The comedy troupe Please Don't Destroy, made up of Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy, are also a recurring part of the series. 

New Saturday Night Live Hosts

With the SAG-AFTRA Strike still without a resolution, Saturday Night Live is unable to tap actors to host new episodes since previously they would only appear on the series to promote some new work (prohibited by the rules of the SAG-AFTRA strike). As a result comedians and musicians have been the only hosts confirmed for Saturday Night Live season 49 with Pete Davidson, Bad Bunny, and Nate Bargatze taking the spotlight for the first three episodes.

Saturday Night Live Season 49 is ongoing now with new episodes airing on both NBC and Peacock, starting Saturdays at 11:30 PM ET. All 48  seasons of Saturday Night Live are also now streaming on Peacock.