It might be the holiday season, but will SNL air another new episode a day before Christmas Eve to hold its viewers over?
Detractors of Saturday Night Live have been a lot quieter ever since season 43 started. While it’s true that the show started to decline in recent years, it wasn’t because of how long it’s been on the air. Writers and cast members come and go, and SNL will always be around so long as there’s a need for it. But it felt like they were running low on material, which hasn’t been the case ever since a new family moved in to the White House.
Despite its 10-man cast, the skit that most people look forward to is Alec Baldwin’s weekly Donald Trump impersonation. He probably only intended to play the character for three episodes, tops. But because Trump’s constantly making headlines for all the wrong reasons, SNL has to keep bringing him back to keep the viewers happy as well as distracted.
However, strong hosts have been key to SNL’s success this season as well. There have been some rough moments, like when Larry David told Holocaust jokes, but most of the hosts did well. The standouts so far have been Ryan Gosling, Kumail Nanjiani, Chance the Rapper and last week’s host, Kevin Hart.
We know that next episode’s host and musical guest duo is Sam Rockwell and Halsey, but will they be on this week? The answer is no, as SNL is predictably off for Christmas and New Year’s. Their next episode won’t air until Jan. 13, since the cast has likely already headed home for the holidays.
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SNL already aired its Christmas special this week, so having another episode would’ve been overkill. While some would probably prefer to look forward to SNL right before the calendar turns to Christmas Eve, people can instead spend time watching holiday classics including the best Christmas movie of all, Die Hard.