Saturday Night Live is back! Season 47 of the beloved comedy sketch show begins on October 2nd. The premiere’s host was Owen Wilson with musical guest Kacey Musgraves. Owen was a fantastic host, and started the show off with a hilarious monologue. In one of the episode’s sketches, he even hilariously reprised his role of Lightning McQueen. Last season’s tearful finale had the audience believing that longtime cast members Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Cecily Strong, Kate Mckinnon, and Kenan Thompson would be leaving the show for good. Cecily Strong wasn’t entirely sure that she would be returning this season, “I’ll be thrilled if I go back, I’ll be thrilled if that was my last show”. To our surprise, Beck Bennett, cast member for 8 years, and Lauren Holt, who joined the cast last year, have decided to depart. “Gonna miss you so much. Thank you for 8 years of remarkable people and incredible experiences that completely changed my life”, says Bennett in a heartfelt Instagram post. 

Season 46 of SNL had many mixed reviews, especially Jim Carrey and Maya Rudolph’s performances as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. But it was proven to be successful because at this year’s Emmy awards, they received a total of 21 nominations.  They received 8 awards including Outstanding Variety Sketch Series, and Outstanding Guest Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series for Dave Chapelle and former SNL cast member, Maya Rudolph. Fan favorites Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman have been promoted to the main cast, rather than being just featured players. Lorne Michaels, creator of SNL, has added three new cast members to this season’s cast. The new cast members Aristotle Athari, James Austin Johnson, and Sarah Sherman all have experience in standup and/or television. In the premiere, James Austin Johnson got to play Joe Biden in the Cold Open, the first sketch, proving himself soon to be a fan favorite! This premiere was a success, and we are all excited to see what Kim Kardashian has to bring to the table hosting this Saturday, October 9th!