Another year, another season of Saturday Night Live. The late-night staple is now, incredibly, entering its 45th year on the air and things are looking pretty good for the show.
Ratings are up, the cast has a good mix of fresh faces and fan favorites, and what could be the craziest election year in American history is just around the corner. Meaning the writers won’t be running out of material anytime soon. Even more exciting than all that though, the first slate of guest hosts was announced for the upcoming season on Monday.
Woody Harrelson gets things kicked off on September 28th with musical guest Billie Eilish. Then, a week later on October 5th, Fleabag‘s Phoebe Waller-Bridge hosts with musical guest Taylor Swift, followed a week later by David Harbour and Camila Cabello. SNL is going to take a short break at the end of October, not returning until November 2nd with Kristen Stewart and an unannounced musical guest.
Without a doubt, the biggest name in the first round of hosts this season is former cast member Eddie Murphy, who’s slated to host on December 21st.
Murphy was a cast member on the series from 1980-1984 and last hosted in 1984. The actor has been back in the spotlight recently as his upcoming Netflix film, Dolemite is My Name, drops this fall. He’s also eyeing a return to stand-up as Netflix reportedly offered him a whopping $70 million for a series of new specials. Regardless of all that though, he’s been missed on the SNL stage for the last 35 years and his return is the best Christmas gift fans could’ve hoped for.
The announcement was made on Monday via the show’s official Twitter:
Live from your timeline, we’ve got some news. #SNL pic.twitter.com/7HrcoM8OPg
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) August 26, 2019
SNL season 45 premieres September 28th on NBC.
