As late night prepares to return to the airwaves post-WGA strike, that includes NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Like “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” the sketch show also falls under the SAG-AFTRA Network Code contract, which is not a part of the guild’s current strike. That means the show, cast and crew are all in the clear to return to work once the WGA deal is finalized — or, at least, the WGA gives the all-clear for the writers to return to work.
“Saturday Night Live” has been dark since April, as the WGA strike began at the start of May. The most recent episode, on April 15, featured Ana de Armas as host and Karol G as musical guest. The following scheduled episode, slated for May 6 and hosted by former cast member Pete Davidson with musical guest Lil Uzi Vert, did not take place.
“‘SNL’ will air repeats until further notice starting Saturday, May 6,” NBC said at the time. And since then, it has been exactly that.
Beyond the return of writers, the show will also have to determine whether some cast members will want to cross the SAG-AFTRA picket line, and how to recruit hosts as the SAG-AFTRA strike continues.
“Saturday Night Live” stars Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman, Punkie Johnson and Andrew Dismukes as well as Michael Che and Colin Jost, co-anchors of Weekend Update. Featured players include James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Marcello Hernández, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker.
Produced by Broadway Video and SNL Studios, the 48-season sketch show is helmed by series creator Lorne Michaels and director Liz Patrick.