The long-running NBC sketch comedy show will begin its 49th season on Oct. 14. Former castmember Pete Davidson will host the premiere; he had been slated to make his hosting debut in May before the show went dark during the writers strike.Ice Spice will join Davidson on the season premiere as musical guest. On Oct. 21, Bad Bunny will serve as both host and musical guest.Saturday Night Live‘s season 48 cast will all return — no surprise given the short turnaround time from the end of the writers strike on Sept. 27. The show has also added Chloe Troast as a featured player; she co-stars in Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain, written by and starring Saturday Night Live writers and performers Martin Herlihy, John Higgins and Ben Marshall (collectively known as Please Don’t Destroy).Saturday Night Live’s return will further round out the roster of late night shows on broadcast and cable networks that went off the air when the writers strike began in May. HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver restarted last week, and the four daily network late night talkers — ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, CBS’ Late Show With Stephen Colbert and NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers — all returned on Monday. The Daily Show is set to resume Oct. 16 on Comedy Central.Actors union SAG-AFTRA remains on strike for a new theatrical and TV contract, but Saturday Night Live castmembers (and hosts) who are members of the union are OK to work on the show because it’s covered under a different contract, the so-called Network Code that also covers talk shows and unscripted productions.In a statement, SAG-AFTRA said that the cast of Saturday Night Live “are not in violation of SAG-AFTRA strike rules, and we support them in fulfilling their contractual obligations. The program is a SAG-AFTRA non-dramatic production under a separate agreement that is not subject to the union’s strike order.“The majority of our members who are regular cast on Saturday Night Live had contractual obligations to the show prior to the strike. Many are under option agreements that require them to return to the show if the producers exercise their option, which the producers have done.”Noting that the current network code agreement includes a no strike clause, the union also stated, “It is important to recognize that SAG-AFTRA is fighting against the studios and not members who are required to go to work every day under other union contracts or personal service agreements. We stand with our union siblings across the industry as we also recognize our obligations under federal labor law.”
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