Is Saturday Night Live New Tonight?

After a long couple of months featuring many cast departures, Saturday Night Live returned earlier this month for its 48th season. Airing three straight episodes to kick things off, SNL is taking its first hiatus of the season tonight, October 22nd. It’s first break of the season, NBC will instead air two archive episodes of the live sketch comedy.

The show will then return to 30 Rock next weekend for its Halloween episode on October 29th. Upon its return to Studio 8H, Jack Harlow will make his hosting debut with the program. Pulling double duty, Harlow will both act as host and musical guest. He previously appeared on the show as musical guest during a Season 46 episode on March 27, 2021.

Why did so many cast members leave Saturday Night Live this year?

As series creator Lorne Michaels said earlier this fall, Season 48 will be a “transition year” for the television series as it faces its largest cast turnover in recent memory. “This will be a transition year, and the change years are always difficult,” Michaels said to a media scrum at the Emmy Awards this year. “There are new people, and things are changing, and a different generation comes into the show.”

In total, eight castmates left the program including mainstays Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Chris Redd, and Melissa Villaseñor. Featured player Aristotle Athari left 30 Rock after one year on the program. Andrew Dismukes and Punkie Johnson were promoted to the main cast after two seasons on the show while it added four new faces: Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker.

Where to watch old Saturday Night Live episodes

When the introduction of Peacock, the entire library of Saturday Night Live episodes can be seen on the streaming platform. While the first few episodes were concurrently streamed live on the service, it’s unclear if additional Season 48 episodes will also be simulcast live on the platform.

Regardless, all episodes of the sketch show will available to premium Peacock subscribers the day after it airs live on NBC.