Posted in: NBC, Peacock, Preview, TV | Tagged: aubrey plaza, nbc, sam smith, saturday night live, snl

Saturday Night Live Welcomes Aubrey Plaza, Sam Smith; Plaza Talks SNL

NBC's Saturday Night Live released a video welcoming host Aubrey Plaza and musical guest Sam Smith; Plaza discusses her time working at SNL.

A new year brings the midseason return of NBC's Saturday Night Live, and now we know when the show will be returning as well as who the hosts and musical guests will be for the first two episodes back. First up, Aubrey Plaza (The White Lotus, Agatha: Coven of Chaos) hosts on January 21st with musical guest Sam Smith. That means it's time to fire up the promotional week engines as we kick things off with SNL extending a formal video welcome to this week's host and musical guest. But it's tomorrow's midweek sketch that we're really looking forward to (assuming that's still a thing in 2023, which we hope it is because it's a nice addition to the read-thru coverage later in the day.

After this weekend, we have Michael B. Jordan (Creed 3) hosting on January 28th, with Lil Baby as the musical guest (with reports that we should be getting another new episode on February 4th). Here's a look at Plaza & Smith's intro video for this weekend's episode, followed by Plaza discussing with late-night host Jimmy Fallon what it was like working at SNL before her career took off:

NBC's SNL Season 48 includes Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Punkie Johnson, Colin Jost, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, Devon Walker, and Bowen Yang. Executive produced by Michaels, SNL is directed by Liz Patrick, with alum Darrell Hammond announcing. Based out of Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, the long-running late-night sketch comedy/music series is produced by SNL Studios in association with Universal Television and Broadway Video.

Lorne Michaels on Saturday Night Live Season 48, SNL's Future & More

Speaking with The New York Times, SNL creator Lorne Michaels addressed the casting changes, labeling the upcoming season as "a year of reinvention" that could lead to some "exhilarating" change. He also had some reassuring words for "Weekend Update" fans and teased what's in store for SNL's big 50th-anniversary celebration. Here are some of the highlights:

COVID-19 Fallout Resulted in Much Larger SNL Cast Than Usual: "The pandemic had put us in this position where no one could really leave because there were no jobs. And at the same time, if I don't add new people every year, then the show isn't the show. There have to be new people, for both our sake and also for the audience."

Michaels Believes Cast Departures are Good Things for SNL: "We got to a point where we had a lot of people, and people weren't getting enough playing time. The way the series has survived is by that level of renewal. The price of success is that people go off and do other things; their primary obligation is to their talent and to keep pushing that. And there's something so much better about the show when all that matters is the show. There's a time to say goodbye, and there's a natural time for it, but the natural time just got interfered with by the pandemic."

… Except with Colin Jost, Michael Che & "Weekend Update": "Particularly, coming into a midterm election, I just need that part ['Weekend Update' with Che & Jost] to be as solid as it is."

SNL's 50th Anniversary/Season? Think Big: "The 50th will be a big event. We'll bring everyone back from all 50 years and hosts and all of that. It will be a very emotional and very strong thing. There won't be as many plus-ones, I can tell you that much."

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