Posted in: NBC, Peacock, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl

SNL 50 Returns March 1st with Gillis/McRae; Lady Gaga on March 8th

NBC's Saturday Night Live returns March 1st with Shane Gillis and Tate McRae. On March 8th, Lady Gaga serves as SNL host and musical guest.

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 13:20:08 -0600

by Ray Flook

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NBC's Saturday Night Live gave itself a day off after its big primetime 50th-anniversary celebration before getting back to work on SNL Season 50 – and that included dropping some intel on our hosts and musical guests for the first two shows back. On March 1st, Shane Gillis (Netflix's Tires) returns to host – with returning musical guest Tate McRae. On March 8th, we've got what could end up being our favorite show of an already impressive season – with Lady Gaga set to host and perform.

NBC's Saturday Night Live celebrated its 50th anniversary on Sunday night with a three-hour primetime special – and it looks like a lot of us joined in on the festivities. After the final credits rolled on SNL50: The Anniversary Special and the numbers were counted, 14.8 million viewers (with a 2.53 rating in the 18-49 demo) tuned in across both NBC and Peacock in time zone-adjusted Live + Same Day ratings. While the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade still holds the top spot, the anniversary event is NBC's most-watched primetime entertainment telecast – in both total viewers and 18-49 demo – in five years.

In addition, NBC noted that SNL50 was second only to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as the most-watched entertainment simulcast on Peacock – and with 8.7 million social interactions, the anniversary event became NBC's most social entertainment telecast in two years and the highest-performing SNL episode/special on record in terms of social interaction. As for Willie Geist, Leslie Jones, and Matt Rogers-hosted SNL50: The Red Carpet, the pregame show pulled in 6.5 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and E!

NBC's Saturday Night Live Season 50 main cast and featured players include Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim, Devon Walker, Chloe Fineman, Jane Wickline, Ashley Padilla, Andrew Dismukes, Michael Che, Colin Jost, Marcello Hernández, Heidi Gardner, Mikey Day, Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang, and James Austin Johnson. The long-running late-night live sketch comedy and music series, which premiered Oct. 11, 1975, broadcasts live from NBC's famed Studio 8H in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Broadway Video, in association with SNL Studios, produces the program, which is executive-produced by Lorne Michaels.

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