Is ‘Saturday Night Live’ New Tonight and Who’s Hosting? (April 12, 2025)
The ever-iconic Saturday Night Live has officially entered its landmark 50th season. Created by Lorne Michaels, the late-night sketch comedy show has been airing on NBC since 1975, with the inaugural episode hosted by stand-up legend George Carlin, which was portrayed in Jason Reitman‘s Saturday Night, which is now streaming on Netflix. The series has received a whopping 84 Emmy wins, the most out of any other television show in history, and has been hailed by many as one of the greatest TV shows of all time. The series is headlined by a supremely talented ensemble of comic performers, a host (often there to promote a new project), a musical guest, and numerous cameos.
Saturday Night Live has helped skyrocket the careers of some of the biggest names in film and television, including John Belushi, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Chris Rock, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, David Spade, Adam Sandler, Norm Macdonald, Molly Shannon, Will Ferrell, Tracy Morgan, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, Will Forte, Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Kyle Mooney, and Pete Davidson; and that’s just to name a few. The sketch show has even branched out of television and has turned some of its fan-favorite sketches into feature films, such as Wayne’s World, The Blues Brothers, Coneheads, MacGruber, and Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain.
Will There Be a New Episode of ‘SNL’ Tonight?
Yes, there will be a new episode of SNL tonight. Since its inception, Saturday Night Live has always aired live from New York on NBC, and that’s probably not ever going to change. Season 50, Episode 17, will air on Saturday, April 12, at 11:30 pm EST, both on NBC and streaming on Peacock. The new episode will also be available to stream on Peacock afterward, along with every other season of the show.
Who Is Hosting ‘SNL’ This Week?
Tonight’s episode of SNL will be hosted by Emmy winner Jon Hamm. This will mark Hamm’s fourth time hosting the show after taking the stage in Season 34, Season 35, and Season 36, with tonight marking the first time in nearly 15 years that he’s hosted the show. However, Hamm has made countless cameos on the show and has become a fan favorite.
Hamm’s appearance is timed to the release of his new Apple TV+ series Your Friends and Neighbors, which was released on the streaming service this week. The show, which hails from Banshee and Warrior creator Jonathan Tropper, has Hamm playing Andrew Cooper, a recently divorced New York hedge fund manager who is fired from his job after inadvertently becoming embroiled in a scandal. With no new avenues to maintain his wealth, Coop resorts to stealing items from his wealthy neighbors’ homes, but this criminal life becomes even more complicated than he had ever expected it to be. The series also stars Olivia Munn (The Newsroom), Amanda Peet (Fatal Attraction), Mark Tallman (First Wives Club), Hoon Lee (Banshee), Lena Hall (Snowpiercer), and Aimee Carrero (The Menu). The new series marks Hamm’s first true leading role on television in an ongoing series since Mad Men.
Hamm is best known for his role as Don Draper on Mad Men, playing the ambitious and ultra-charismatic advertising executive in all seven seasons of the hit AMC series, earning him his first and only Emmy win. While Hamm hasn’t had a leading role in an ongoing series since the aforementioned series ended in 2015, he has still maintained a large presence on the small screen. Hamm played the supporting roles of Monty Miller in Taylor Sheridan‘s hit series Landman, the Elon Musk-type figure Paul Marks in The Morning Show Season 3, Archangel Gabriel in Good Omens, Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the Narrator in Legion, The Falcon in Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, and Dr. Drew Baird in 30 Rock. In addition, Hamm also played one of the leading roles in Fargo Season 5 and appeared in the Black Mirror episode “White Christmas.”
Hamm has also appeared in numerous films throughout his career, including Ben Affleck‘s The Town, Edgar Wright‘s Baby Driver, Clint Eastwood‘s Richard Jewell, Craig Gillespie‘s Million Dollar Arm, Joseph Kosinski‘s Top Gun: Maverick, Steven Soderbergh‘s No Sudden Move, Paul Feig‘s Bridesmaids, Drew Goddard‘s Bad Times at the El Royale, Scott Z. Burns‘ The Report, the 2022 comedy reboot Confess, Fletch, the R-rated comedy Tag, and the movie musical adaptation of Mean Girls.
So far, the Season 50 host lineup has included Hacks‘ Jean Smart, stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze, Wicked‘s Ariana Grande, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s Michael Keaton, stand-up comedian John Mulaney, stand-up comedian Bill Burr, pop superstar Charli XCX, Gladiator II‘s Paul Mescal, former cast-member Chris Rock, Only Murders in the Building‘s Martin Short, stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle, A Complete Unknown‘s Timothée Chalamet, Tires‘ Shane Gillis, Grammy winner Lady Gaga, Anora‘s Mikey Madison, and A Minecraft Movie‘s Jack Black.
Who Is the Musical Guest on This Week’s ‘SNL’?
Grammy-winning pop star Lizzo will be the music guest on tonight’s episode of SNL, marking her fourth time on the show after performing on Season 45, Season 48, and pulling double duty as the host and musical guest on Season 47.
While Lizzo had released two albums before 2019, Lizzobangers in 2013 and Big Grrrl Small World in 2015, her third album, Cuz I Love You, was a breakthrough hit. In 2022, she released her fourth album Special, which is soon to be followed by her forthcoming fifth album Love in Real Life. She has also released numerous hit singles, including “Truth Hurts,” “Good as Hell,” “Juice,” “Boys,” and “About Damn Time.”
The musical guest lineup has included Jelly Roll, Coldplay, Stevie Nicks, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Mk.gee, Charli XCX, Shaboozey, Gracie Abrams, Hozier, GloRilla, Timothée Chalamet, Tate McRae, Lady Gaga, Morgan Wallen, and Elton John & Brandi Carlile.
Who Is in the Current Cast of ‘SNL’?
As with any long-running television program, the cast of Saturday Night Live has radically changed through the years. Credited as “repertory players” for Season 50 are Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Michael Longfellow, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, Devon Walker, Bowen Yang, and Weekend Update anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost.
Featured players this season include newcomers Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline. Staff writers Martin Herlihy, Ben Marshall, and John Higgins, known as the comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy, also appear in digital videos that appear in nearly every episode and often feature the host interacting with the three young comedians.
Who Is Hosting the Next Episode of ‘SNL’?
As of right now, the hosts for the next episodes of SNL after Hamm, have not been announced. But they should be soon.
