Live From New York

One of the longest running network television shows in the U.S., Saturday Night Live, has been on the air for over four decades. The show is based around skits that are enacted by a core cast and features a famous host and and musical guest.

Gage Skidmore | Wikipedia.com
Gage Skidmore | Wikipedia.com

Oct. 1 introduced season 42 of the acclaimed show. The season premiere boasted Margo Robbie as the host. Robbie’s most recently known success includes her portrayal of Harley Quinn in the 2016 film “Suicide Squad.”

The premiere also included The Weeknd as the musical guest, performing two new songs entitled “Starboy” and “False Alarm.” The next album by The Weeknd, “Starboy,” was announced in September and is also the title of one of the featured tracks.

This season, Alec Baldwin will take over impersonating Donald Trump from Darrell Hammond, who is continuing as the show’s announcer. He begins in the show’s cold open parodying the presidential debates alongside Kate McKinnon playing Hillary Clinton. One of the shows main focuses is parodying political events from all over the world.

An ongoing theme in SNL is to bring up controversial political and social issues that have been the subject of wide debate. During the premiere, the show touches on the gender pay gap and the different assumptions about women in high paying jobs during a skit called “2016 New York Film Festival: Women’s Round Table.”

During the Weekend Update, Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the National Anthem was brought into focus as the anchors discussed the responses of different racial groups to the action. Michael Che and Colin Jost discussed the protest that led up to the decision and the social outrage following the decision.

SNL routinely brings up issues such as these in a more relaxed setting to spread awareness and start an important dialogue.

This season Taran Killam, Jay Pharoah and Jon Rudnitsky have left the cast. Michael Che, Pete Davidson and Leslie Jones all upgraded to repertory status for the season. Recent hires include Alex Moffat and Melissa Villaseñor as featured players.

The new season will also have a 30 percent reduction in advertising, cutting two commercial breaks per episode. This allows for more content.

The Oct. 8 episode will see celebrity host Lin-Manuel Miranda with musical guest Twenty One Pilots.

Episodes air at 10:30 p.m. every Saturday night on NBC.

Leave a Reply