After its landmark 50th birthday celebration, “Saturday Night Live” will return in March with back-to-back episodes.
Shane Gillis will host for the second time on March 1 with musical guest Tate McRae, who also makes her second appearance on “SNL.”
Lady Gaga will pull double duty on March 8, serving as host and musical guest for the second time. Gaga has previously hosted “SNL” once and performed as the musical guest four times.
Gillis’ Netflix comedy series “Tires” returns for Season 2 sometime in 2025, while McRae’s third album “So Close to What” will drop on Feb. 21. Gaga, who recently performed at the “SNL” concert at Radio City Music Hall, will release her next album “Mayhem” on March 7. The 14-time Grammy winner will headline Coachella in April.
“SNL50: The Anniversary Special,” a three-plus-hour live special featuring just about every heavy hitter from Studio 8H, aired Feb. 16 and became NBC’s most-watched primetime entertainment telecast in five years (that doesn’t include news or sports). It nabbed 14.8 million viewers on NBC, a number that is more than 200% above the season average.
The special featured guests like Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler; fan-favorite sketches like “Black Jeopardy,” “Close Encounter” and “Scared Straight”; and a memorable monologue from Steve Martin.
“SNL” went all out for its big anniversary. Leading up to the special was a “Homecoming Concert,” livestreamed on Peacock from Radio City Music Hall, which featured Cher, Jack White, Miley Cyrus, the Lonely Island, Post Malone with the surviving members of Nirvana and more. Morgan Neville directed a four-part docuseries highlighting the show’s past, and Questlove dug into the series’ musical history with a three-hour doc. Plus, there was an immersive “SNL” experience at Rockefeller Center, where fans could feel what it’s like to host the show.