SNL

It made sense of SNL to hire Melissa McCarthy for a fifth hosting gig, rather than rely on a weekly Sean Spicer impression. Nonetheless, our first live coast-to-coast SNL show managed to coax McCarthy’s Spicer out for Easter, and with an intriguing twist at that.

It seemed perhaps a little odd that Alec Baldwin’s Trump was nowhere to be found on the first post-inauguration SNL, but Baldwin is more than making up for it. SNL has officially booked a record-setting return for Baldwin as host, and Trump Twitter is officially on notice.

We still miss the classic SNL promo format, but Master of None star and comedian Aziz Ansari nonetheless has some serious moves in his first hosting preview. See for yourself (and get a tiny bonus cameo from his mom) of this weekend’s second 2017 show.

No one knew quite what to expect from SNL after the 2016 election took a different course than predicted, though Kate McKinnon’s moving cold open and Dave Chappelle’s monologue offered a welcoming return. We even got to see some old Chappelle’s Show faces, but the most famous of all was apparently cut over Trump’s electoral win, says writer Neal Brennan.

Any great live performance takes a skilled crew working invisibly behind the scenes, and SNL is no different. See for yourself, as a new behind-the-scenes video shows us exactly what’s involved in transitioning from one set to another, going from Donald Trump’s office to Casey Affleck’s monologue in one fell swoop.

Time will tell if SNL manages to up its Season 42 ratings surge with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, but the latter two weeks of October are shaping up nicely as well. Not only is Emily Blunt confirmed for October 15, but so too will Tom Hanks and Lady Gaga make their SNL returns.

Last week it was Saturday Night Live. This week, it's the  Last Week Tonight show with the hilarious John Oliver. Governor Paul LePage is getting some national attention for doing what we all already know he does best...saying WHATEVER is on his mind...

SNL had always intended to take off the coming weekend in preparation for its final May shows, but given the tragic passing of music icon Prince, NBC will pay tribute to the late star with a special highlight of the artist’s musical performances.

When the 2016 Oscar nominations were announced nearly two weeks ago, the response to the overwhelmingly white line-up of talent proved instantly controversial. Film fans and industry veterans alike gathered around the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag to make their voices heard, especially decrying how films starring black actors and directed by black filmmakers — like Creed and Straight Outta Compton — somehow managed to only receive nominations for the white people involved in making them. With material this ripe, of course SNL was going to take a swipe at the Academy Awards this week.

The moment former Alaskan governor and 2008 Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump for President of the United States, you know the producers at SNL hurried to get Tina Fey on the phone. The beloved former cast member, who just hosted the show last month, famously took on the role of Palin eight years ago and many people believe that her scathing imitation actually did lasting harm to the real Palin’s political chances. In any case, this event allowed SNL to pair Fey’s Palin with Darrell Hammond‘s Trump. Thanks, reality!