Saturday Night Live is finally back for season 51, with a new lineup of celebrity hosts, musical guests, and a cast that looks a bit different.
NBC’s legendary sketch comedy show returns Saturday, Oct. 4, with friend of the show Bad Bunny on hosting duty, while Amy Poehler and Sabrina Carpenter have also been announced as upcoming hosts.
Notably, the Oct. 4 premiere marks Kenan Thompson‘s 22nd anniversary in the cast after debuting on Oct. 4, 2003. Other returning cast members for season 51 include Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernández, James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Bowen Yang, and featured players Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline. Longtime “Weekend Update” anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost will also be back.
But several performers will not be returning. Over the last two months, we’ve learned Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, and featured player Emil Wakim have all exited SNL. Please Don’t Destroy member John Higgins also announced his departure, meaning we won’t be seeing any digital sketches from the comedy trio this season.
But expect to see even more of another member of Please Don’t Destroy as Ben Marshall has officially joined the cast, alongside four other new featured players: Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska.
Read on as we track every new episode date, host, and musical guest for Saturday Night Live season 51. Make sure to check back each week for episode recaps and new host announcements, and tell us in the comments which episode you’re most excited for.
Oct. 4, 2025: Host Bad Bunny with musical guest Doja Cat
Hot off the news that he will be headlining the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, Bad Bunny will host the season opener.
The Grammy winner previously hosted in October 2023, also performing as the episode’s musical guest. He also just served as musical guest in the Scarlett Johansson-fronted season 50 finale in May, making SNL history as the first host or musical guest to be officially billed on two consecutive episodes.
Doja Cat will make her musical guest debut on the premiere.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Oct. 11, 2025: Host Amy Poehler with musical guest Role Model
SNL great Amy Poehler returns home to Studio 8H on Oct. 11, which is also the true 50th anniversary of the show’s premiere episode on Oct. 11, 1975. This will be the Parks and Recreation star’s third time hosting, including cohosting with Tina Fey in 2015. Poehler was an SNL cast member from 2001-2008, including anchoring “Weekend Update” with Fey and later Seth Meyers.
The musical guest for the Oct. 11 episode is Role Model. This is the “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” singer’s SNL debut.
Oct. 18, 2025: Host Sabrina Carpenter with musical guest Sabrina Carpenter
That’s right, Sabrina Carpenter is back and doing double duty on Oct. 18. This marks the Coachella 2026 headliner‘s first time as host and second appearance as musical guest. Carpenter also played a big part in the Emmy-winning SNL50: The Anniversary Special earlier this year, including duetting with Paul Simon and taking part in a “Domingo” sketch after her hit song “Espresso” helped launch the now-recurring character.
Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly