The forty-eighth season of the NBC sketch comedy series '' Saturday Night Live'' premiered on October 1, 2022, during the 2022–23 television season with host Miles Teller and musical guest Kendrick Lamar, and concluded on April 15, 2023, with host Ana de Armas and musical guest Karol G. The season was originally scheduled to air 21 episodes and conclude on May 20, 2023. However, due to the

2023 Writers Guild of America strike From May 2 to September 27, 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA)—representing 11,500 screenwriters—went on strike over a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). With a duration of 148 days, the ...

, the last three planned episodes were cancelled.

Cast

Eight cast members from season 47 left the show prior to the beginning of this season, making it the biggest cast exodus since

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. The departures of longtime cast members Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, and Kyle Mooney were announced at the time of the season 47 finale, and in September 2022, several weeks prior to the start of this season, the departures of

Alex Moffat Alexander Everett Moffat (; born March 25, 1982) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live''. He started as a featured player in 2016 and became a main cast member in 2018. Moffat left ''SNL'' in 2022, aft ...

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 ...

, Melissa Villaseñor, and featured player

Aristotle Athari Aristotle Athari (born July 28, 1991) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. Athari is best known for his brief tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' during its 47th season between 2021 and 2022. ...

were announced. In response to all these changes, executive producer Lorne Michaels called this season a "transition year". Returning cast member Cecily Strong took a temporary leave of absence early in the season due to her commitments to perform in the Los Angeles revival of the one-woman stage play '' The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe,'' returning to ''SNL'' for the October 29, 2022, episode. Strong then departed several weeks later on December 17 after being on the show for eleven seasons since

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, making her the longest-tenured female cast member in the show's history. On September 12, 2022, Michaels announced that four new cast members would be joining the show: stand-up comedians

Marcello Hernandez Marcello Hernandez (born August 19, 1997) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Hernandez joined the cast of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' as a featured player before the start of the show's 48th season i ...

Molly Kearney Molly Kearney (; born May 2) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Born and raised in Cleveland, they frequently performed stand-up comedy in Chicago, later moving to Los Angeles. In 2019, Kearney was one of the comedians selected for Co ...

(the show's first non-binary cast member),

Michael Longfellow Michael Longfellow (born January 31, 1994) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Longfellow was hired to join the cast of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' as a featured player for its 48th season in 2022, makin ...

, and

Devon Walker DeVon Walker (born November 22, 1985) is a former indoor football defensive specialist who last played Kent Predators of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He played college football at Nevada. High school career Walker attended Gahr High Scho ...

Andrew Dismukes Andrew Vincent Dismukes (; born June 21, 1995) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. Dismukes was hired as a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' in 2017, ahead of its 43rd season. He was then hired to join the ...

and Punkie Johnson, who were both hired as featured players for season 46, were promoted to repertory status this season, while James Austin Johnson and Sarah Sherman, both of whom were hired for season 47, remained as featured players. This season saw the death of longtime production designer Eugene Lee, who died on February 6, 2023, and had worked on the show since the show's premiere on October 11, 1975, with the exception of seasons 6– 10 (1980–1985).

Cast roster

Repertory players * Michael Che * Mikey Day *

* Chloe Fineman * Heidi Gardner * Punkie Johnson * Colin Jost * Ego Nwodim * Cecily Strong * Kenan Thompson * Bowen Yang Featured players *

* James Austin Johnson *

* Sarah Sherman *

bold denotes " Weekend Update" anchor

Writers

Before this season started, Colin Jost and Michael Che (who had been head writers since

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

), resigned from their positions, but still continued to write for this season. Also, Jimmy Fowlie, Ceara O'Sullivan, Auguste White, and KC Shornima were all hired as new writers (with Shornima specifically writing for Weekend Update). Asha Ward joined the writing staff starting with the December 3, 2022 episode. As of the February 4, 2023 episode, regular writers Gary Richardson (who returned to the show this season after a one-year hiatus from season 47), Will Stephen, and

Celeste Yim Celeste Yim is a Korean-Canadian comedian and writer. Career Yim's career began in the mid-2010s, in indie stand-up shows in Toronto. They then were named to the Bob Curry fellowship for The Second City and worked as a juror for the Toronto Sket ...

were promoted to writing supervisors.

Episodes

Episodes cancelled due to writers strike

The following episodes were publicly announced, but cancelled due to the

Notes

References

{{Saturday Night Live Cultural depictions of Joe Biden 47 Saturday Night Live in the 2020s 2022 American television seasons 2023 American television seasons