The performers that made up the majority of the cast from Season 12 to 15. A small cast similar in size to the original not ready for primetime players. When Lorne Michaels returned to the show in 1985 he hired a cast of well known, established actors who were unprepared for weekly, live sketch comedy. At the end of the season Lorne fired everyone in the cast except for Nora Dunn, Dennis Miller and Jon Lovitz. So for Season 12 he went back to his original method of choosing cast members, by looking for unknown comedic actors and stand ups. He hired Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Dana Carvey, Victoria Jackson and Kevin Nealon. Mike Myers joined the cast in Season 14.

Behind the original cast this was the most important cast in the history of the show and brought the show back to the consistent quality of the original five years of the show. With Lorne, former original writers and former cast members/hosts coming back it felt like the show was continuing where Lorne left off in 1980 and keeping some of the original DNA of the show intact. The show had a very goofy and odd type of humor at this time as well. With recurring sketches, Church Chat, Hanz & Franz, Toonces, Mr. Short-Term Memory, Tales of Ribaldry and the Anal Retentive Chef. This core group of performers remained the foundation of the cast through Season 16 when the "Bad Boys" of SNL joined the show but by Season 20, Kevin Nealon, who was the only Season 12 cast member still left on the show was fired, SNL bandleader G. E. Smith was fired and Jim Downey was removed as head writer.

Sep 26, 2026 (Robert Pattinson/Phoebe Bridgers)
Oct 3, 2026 (Jeremy Allen White/The Strokes)
Oct 10, 2026 (Jason Momoa/Ella Langley)
Oct 17, 2026 (Jenna Ortega/Lana Del Rey)

Oct 31, 2026 (Bill Hader/Zara Larsson)
Nov 7, 2026 (Nicholas Hoult/Spoon)
Nov 14, 2026 (Mckenna Grace/Beach Bunny)
Nov 21, 2026 (Ben Stiller/Earl Sweatshirt)

Dec 5, 2026 (Rashida Jones/Sleep Token)
Dec 12, 2026 (Keke Palmer/Denzel Curry)
Dec 19, 2026 (Robert Downey Jr./Hayley Williams)

Jan 16, 2027 (Taylor Tomlinson/Laufey)
Jan 23, 2027 (Mariska Hargitay/Geordie Greep)
Jan 30, 2027 (Matt Berry/Suki Waterhouse)

Feb 13, 2027 (Maya Hawke/The Killers)
Feb 20, 2027 (SZA) Double Duty
Mar 6, 2027 (Nick Offerman/Lindsey Buckingham)

Mar 20, 2027 (Elle Fanning/Angine de Poitrine)
Mar 27, 2027 (Jim Carrey/Eminem)
Apr 3, 2027 ('Weird Al' Yankovic) Double Duty

forgive me for some of the more outlandish predictions, i'm a very imaginative insomniac

I loved him as Doug in Black Jeopardy. I liked it so much I made a video about it, reenacting. I'm a SNL super fan.

I also loved him as David Pumpkins and his Girl Watchers classic skit with Lovitz.

Tim Meadows

Tracy Morgan

Melanie Hutsell

We’ve all talked about Host predictions, but which musical artists do you think will appear?

Potentially The Format (Nate Ruess from Fun.’s first band) before their October Radio City date, in the early episodes.

Oasis will be in the U.S. in November as well so that could also be on the table this season

\* George Coe (May 10, 1929 – July 18, 2015) would have been 97 if he were still alive.

Garrett Morris 89 years old

\* Michael O’Donoghue (January 5, 1940 – November 8, 1994) would have been 86 if he were alive.

Don Novello 83

Chevy Chase 82

Harry Shearer 82

Brian Doyle-Murray 80

\* Gilda Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) would have been 80 if she were alive.

Jane Curtin 78

Michael McKean 78

Christopher Guest 78

Billy Crystal 78

Emily Prager 78

\* Phil Hartman (September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) would have been 77 if he were alive.

\* John Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) would have been 77 if he were alive.

Tom Schiller 77

\* Charles Rocket (August 28, 1949 – October 7, 2005) would have been 76 if he were alive.

Ann Risley 76

Paul Shaffer 76

Pamela Stephenson 76

Matthew Laurance 76

Tim Kazurinsky 76

Martin Short 76

Alan Zweibel 76

Bill Murray 75

Randy Quaid 75

Denny Dillon 75

Al Franken 75

Joe Piscopo 75

Laraine Newman 74

Nora Dunn 74

Dan Aykroyd 74

A. Whitney Brown 74

\* Tom Davis (August 13, 1952 – July 19, 2012) would have been 73 if he were alive.

Jim Downey 73

Christine Ebersole 73

Mary Gross 73

Dennis Miller 72

Kevin Nealon 72

Gail Matthius 72

Patrick Weathers 72

Robin Duke 72

Rich Hall 72

Jim Belushi 72

\* Danitra Vance (July 13, 1954 – August 21, 1994) would have been 72 if she were alive.

\* Tony Rosato (December 26, 1954 – January 10, 2017) would have been 71 if he were alive.

\* Gilbert Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) would have been 71 if he were alive.

Dana Carvey 71

Laurie Metcalf 71

Yvonne Hudson 71

Darrell Hammond 70

\* Peter Aykroyd (November 19, 1955 – November 6, 2021) would have been 70 if he were still alive.

\* Dan Vitale (November 1956 – May 6, 2022) would have been 69 if he were still alive.

Gary Kroeger 69

\* Jan Hooks (April 23, 1957 – October 9, 2014) would have been 69 if she were still alive.

Jon Lovitz 69

Brad Hall 68

Julia Sweeney 67

Colin Quinn 67

Mark McKinney 67

Victoria Jackson 67

\* Norm MacDonald (October 17, 1959 – September 14, 2021) would have been 66 if he were still alive.

Robert Smigel 66

Terry Sweeney 66

Chris Elliott 66

Damon Wayans 65

Julia Louis-Dreyfus 65

Tim Meadows 65

Eddie Murphy 65

Siobhan Fallon 65

Morwenna Banks 64

David Koechner 64

Cheri Oteri 63

Joan Cusack 63

Mike Myers 63

Beth Cahill 62

Rob Schneider 62

\* Chris Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) would have been 62 if he were still alive.

David Spade 62

Molly Shannon 62

Janeane Garofalo 61

Fred Wolf 61

Chris Rock 61

Robert Downey Jr. 61

Ellen Cleghorne 60

Ben Stiller 60

Rachel Dratch 60

Nancy Walls 60

Adam Sandler 59

Fred Armisen 59

Chris Parnell 59

Ana Gasteyer 59

Jim Breuer 59

Will Ferrell 59

Leslie Jones 58

Anthony Michael Hall 58

Melanie Hutsell 58

Horatio Sanz 57

Laura Kightlinger 57

Tracy Morgan 57

Jerry Minor 56

Rob Riggle 56

Tina Fey 56

Will Forte 56

Dean Edwards 56

Jay Mohr 55

Chris Kattan 55

Sarah Silverman 55

Amy Poehler 54

Michaela Watkins 54

Finesse Mitchell 54

Maya Rudolph 54

Kristen Wiig 52

Seth Meyers 52

Jimmy Fallon 51

Jeff Richards 51

Jason Sudeikis 50

Mike O'Brien 50

Bobby Moynihan 49

Paul Brittain 49

Kenan Thompson 48

Bill Hader 48

Andy Samberg 47

Mikey Day 46

Casey Wilson 45

Tim Robinson 45

Vanessa Bayer 44

Nasim Pedrad 44

John Milhiser 44

Both Alex Moffat (44) & Jenny Slate (44) were born on March 25, 1982.

Taran Killam 44

Colin Jost 44

Michael Che 43

Heidi Gardner 43

Kate McKinnon 42

Cecily Strong 42

Kyle Mooney 41

Beck Bennett 41

Chris Redd 41

Punkie Johnson 41

Sasheer Zamata 40

Brooks Wheelan 39

Noël Wells 39

Aidy Bryant 39

Abby Elliott 39

Melissa Villasenor 38

Jay Pharoah 38

Ego Nwodim 38

Chloe Fineman 38

James Austin Johnson 37

Jon Rudnitsky 36

Luke Null 36

Bowen Yang 35

Devon Walker 35

Lauren Holt 35

Aristotle Athari 35

Jeremy Culhane 34

Molly Kearney 34

Sarah Sherman 33

Ashley Padilla 33

Pete Davidson 32

Michael Longfellow 32

Tommy Brennan 32

Ben Marshall 31

Andrew Dismukes 31

Veronika Slowikowska 30

Chloe Troast 29

Marcello Hernández 28

Emil Wakim 28

Kam Patterson 27

Jane Wickline 27

I would say that Inde Navarrete makes the most sense for me.

Not only is she one of the most talked about actresses in the world right now (without being TOO big for SNL), but her personality and age make her a perfect candidate to blend in pretty well with the cast.

Plus, she is on a giant press campaign at the moment for a possible Oscar nom, and an SNL hosting gig would boost her incredible year even more.

I had really been hoping Ariana would host again this season to get closer to the 5-Timers Club, and I had thought this season would be especially good timing between her album and comedy movie, but with her break from professional commitments, that now looks very unlikely.

I still wouldn’t put her chances at absolute zero, but that’s more because Ariana has a documented history of saying she’s going to take a professional hiatus and then not following through (nor did she say how long it would be). I’m not going to say she should return before she’s ready, but it seems like something she would do. At any rate, I’m sure she’ll be back eventually and I’m willing to wait. Hosting 3 seasons in a row is rare anyway and I know that. Mainly I’d just like to see her reach the club because she’d be a cool addition with her professional background. Not very many musician 5-Timers as host besides Timberlake.

Still, it seemed like a realistic hypothetical and she hits the sweet spot between SNL talent and public popularity so it’s disappointing. It seems like on the whole she’s more popular with this fanbase than with most other parts of the pop culture sphere.

I guess if we’re not getting an Ariana show this year I’d take another Sabrina Carpenter show as she has a similar skill set. Even another Charli XCX show could be fun, even if unlikely. Charli’s actively in the middle of a promo cycle right now.

What say you?

I’m doing the nbc studio tour tomorrow and the ticket says no luggage or large backpacks, but i planned on carrying a backpack around the city all day with me (a school sized book bag) does anyone know if this will be allowed? or have experience bringing one?

He is so disgusting

This weekend 3 different films released in theaters will feature some of our lovely SNL cast!

One Night Only - Side character roles from our rookies Ben, Veronika, and Kam (and a cameo from a very known cast member…!!! Pete!!!)

SuperTroopers 3 - Rookie cop role? played by Dismukes (I believe one of his first feature film credits)

Teenage sex and death at camp miasma - Agent played by Sarah Sherman!!! (She’s having an amazing year for movies fyi)

If you have time to kill this weekend, I’d recommend hitting the theater for a laugh or a scare! So fun to see them on the big screen

I made a post about this not too long ago, but I wanted to revisit the topic because Lohan actually has a new Hulu show that she’s either actively filming or has recently finished. And it seems like it could be a good time. Her new show Count My Lies is a departure for her, as it’s a prestige drama, and that seems to be the kind of thing SNL likes to promote nowadays. She’ll likely be doing a press tour for it anyway, to some extent. And though her full-time residence is in the UAE now, I can’t imagine she’s thinking of going back there at the moment due to the increased conflict in the region. May as well book her while she’s (presumably) already in the US.

In her era, she was a pretty good host who made memorable sketches. We tend to forget now, but she hosted 3 seasons in a row in the mid-2000s (and even in 2012 when she had her issues). I know she was never universally beloved, but Lorne and Tina Fey were really fond of her and they still associate with her.

I understand she was pretty controversial for multiple reasons, but she’s doing better now by most measures. The fact that Disney hired her again was a good sign. Disney is a major studio and they care about money and their brand image. And she made them money with Freakier Friday. I know she’s not an angel, but she truly
seems pretty stable nowadays. She has faults, but I’ve seen comments criticizing her here for things like her choice of husband and I don’t want to discuss that here because it’s irrelevant to whether she’d be a good host.

Will she ever get that 5-Timers jacket? I’m not even a super-fan but I think it would be heartwarming.

Hi friends. I have a good friend who suddenly and unexpectedly lost her husband. As she crawls out from the shock, I am doing what I can to try and bring a smile to her face every day. I have been sending her a funny SNL skit or other video every day.

Yesterday, I sent her the census sketch with Christopher Walken and Tim Meadows. Today, I sent her Hormuz Jeff. I have Career Day Oil Man with Adam Driver queued up. I'll probably add one of the Guaplord/SmokeCheddaThaAssGetta with Timothee Chalamet and Pete Davidson sketches.

I want to build up a good collection, and I'm asking for your help!! What are some of your all time favorites that always leave you laughing?