The forty-fourth

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

comedy series ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' premiered on September 29, 2018, during the 2018–19 television season with host

Adam Driver Adam Douglas Driver (born November 19, 1983) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award; making him one of few performers nominated ...

and musical guest

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

and concluded on May 18, 2019, with host

Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in ...

and musical guest

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station WEDR, 99 Ja ...

Cast

Prior to the start of the season,

Luke Null Lucas Elliot Null (born July 7, 1990) is an American actor, comedian, singer, and musician. Null is best known for his brief tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbre ...

(who joined the cast during the previous season) was let go from the show.

Upright Citizens Brigade The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Adam McKay, Ri ...

alum

Ego Nwodim Egobunma Kelechi Nwodim (; born March 10, 1988) is a Nigerian-American actress and comedian. Nwodim has been a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' since 2018, beginning with the show's 44th season. Life and career ...

joined the cast as a featured player, replacing Null. Nwodim became the seventh African-American female cast member in the show's history.

Mikey Day Michael William Day (born March 20, 1980) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the host of the Netflix show '' Is It Cake?'' He joined ''Saturday Night Live'' as a writer in its 39th season, became a featured player in i ...

, Alex Moffat, and

Melissa Villaseñor Melissa Anne Villaseñor ( ; born October 9, 1987) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, impressionist, artist, singer, and musician. Villaseñor was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2016 to 2022. H ...

, all three of whom were hired in 2016 for season 42, were upgraded to repertory status, while

Heidi Gardner Heidi Lynn Gardner (born July 27, 1983) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She has been a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' since 2017, beginning in season 43. Early life Gardner was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. S ...

and

Chris Redd Christopher Jerell Redd (born March 25, 1985) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, rapper, and singer. Redd was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2017 to 2022. For his work on the show, he won ...

, both of whom were hired in 2017 for season 43, remained as featured players. Aside from Null, all other cast members from the previous season returned to the show, including guest star

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nichol ...

in his role as

President Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

. This would be the final season for Leslie Jones, who had been with the cast for five seasons since 2014. Jones announced her departure on August 27, 2019, in favor of focusing on her movie career.

Cast roster

Repertory players *

Beck Bennett Christopher Beck Bennett (born October 1, 1984) is an American actor, comedian, and writer, who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' for eight seasons (2013–2021). Before then, he performed in AT&T "It's Not Complicated" commercials in ...

Aidy Bryant Aidan Mackenzy Bryant (born May 7, 1987) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the late-night variety series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), beginning in season 38, and leaving at the end of season 47. For her wo ...

Michael Che Michael Che Campbell (; born May 19, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he has served as co-anchor on ''Weekend Update'' alongside Colin Jost, and the two wer ...

Pete Davidson Peter Michael Davidson (born November 16, 1993) is an American comedian and actor. He was a cast member of the NBC late-night sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) for eight seasons, running from 2014 to 2022. Davidson's ...

* Leslie Jones *

Colin Jost Colin Kelly Jost (; born June 29, 1982) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He has been a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) since 2005 and ''Weekend Update'' co-anchor since 2014. He also served as one of the show's co-head write ...

Kate McKinnon Kate McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), of which she was a cas ...

* Alex Moffat *

Kyle Mooney Kyle James Kozub Mooney (born September 4, 1984) is an American actor, comedian, and writer, who was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2013 until 2022. Mooney co-wrote and starred in the film '' Brigsby Bear'', in addition to co-crea ...

Cecily Strong Cecily Legler Strong (born February 8, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. Strong is most notable for being a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2012 to 2022. She is also the longest-tenured female cast member in the s ...

Kenan Thompson Kenan Thompson (; born May 10, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He has been a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' since 2003, making him the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history. He was also th ...

Featured players *

bold denotes "

Weekend Update ''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typic ...

" anchor

Writers

Prior to the start of the season, the show added

Alison Gates Alison Gates (born 1988 or 1989) is an American comedy writer and actress who is currently a head writer for ''Saturday Night Live''. She previously lived in Chicago and worked with the Second City's touring company and an all-female iO Theater t ...

, Alan Linic, Eli Mandel, and

Bowen Yang Bowen Yang ( zh, link=no, 楊伯文; born November 6, 1990) is an Australian-born American actor, comedian, podcaster, and writer based in New York City. He co-hosts a comedy pop-culture podcast, '' Las Culturistas,'' with Matt Rogers. Since Se ...

to the writing staff, while co-head writer

Bryan Tucker Bryan H. Tucker is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He has been the co-head writer for the TV program ''Saturday Night Live'' since 2014. Early life Bryan Tucker was born and raised in Chesterfield County, Virginia. After gradua ...

was designated a senior writer, leaving Colin Jost, Michael Che, and Kent Sublette as the show's remaining head writers. This was the final season for

Katie Rich Katie Rich is an American comedian, writer, producer and actress best known for her work on ''Saturday Night Live''. Early life Rich was raised on the south side of Chicago, where she attended the grammar school St. Bede's, until her family move ...

, who had previously been a writer on the show since

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Episodes

Notes

References

{{Saturday Night Live 44 Saturday Night Live in the 2010s 2018 American television seasons 2019 American television seasons Television shows directed by Don Roy King