The forty-third

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 30, 2017, during the 2017–2018 television season with host

Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. Prominent in independent film, he has also worked in blockbuster films of varying genres, and has accrued a worldwide box office gross of over 1.9 billion USD. He has received ...

and musical guest

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

, and concluded on May 19, 2018, with host

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...

and musical guest

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

. Like the final four episodes of season 42, season 43 was broadcast live in all four time zones within the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

, with the exception of the

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

episode due to the network's commitment to the NFL.

Cast

Prior to the start of the season,

Bobby Moynihan Bobby Moynihan (born January 31, 1977) is an American actor, comedian and writer who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 until 2017. He also voiced Louie Duck on Disney's ''DuckTales'' from 2017 to 2021, Panda in ''We Bare Be ...

Vanessa Bayer Vanessa Bayer (born November 14, 1981) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for being a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2010 to 2017, which earned her an Emmy nomination. She co-created, co-executive produces, and h ...

, and

Sasheer Zamata Sasheer Zamata Moore (; born May 6, 1986) is an American actress and comedian known for her work as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2014 to 2017 as well as her leading roles in the TV series ''Woke'' (2020–2022) and ''Home Econom ...

left the show after spending their respective nine, seven, and four seasons on the show. Following Moynihan, Bayer, and Zamata's departures, the show hired three new featured players: comedian and writer

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 ...

The Groundlings The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniques ...

iO Chicago iO, or iO Chicago, (formerly known as "ImprovOlympic") is an improv theater and training center in central Chicago, with a former branch in Los Angeles, called iO West and in Raleigh, North Carolina called iO South. The theater taught and hosted ...

alum

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 ...

, and stand-up comedian

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 ...

, who previously did sketch comedy at Second City. Redd had been incorrectly reported as joining the cast during the previous season.

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 ...

continued as featured players until they upgraded to repertory status in the following season. With this announcement came the confirmation that the rest of the cast from the previous season would return, 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 ...

. With his return,

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 ...

surpassed

Darrell Hammond Darrell Clayton Hammond (born October 8, 1955) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2009, and has been its announcer since 2014. Upon his departure, Hammo ...

's record as the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history, with a total of fifteen seasons compared to Darrell Hammond's fourteen seasons from

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 ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. This is the only season for Luke Null, who was let go after the season's end.

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 ...

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 ...

Featured Players *

* Alex Moffat *

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

Crew

Writers

Prior to the start of the season, the show added Steven Castillo,

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 ...

, Claire Friedman, Sam Jay, Erik Marino,

Nimesh Patel Nimesh Patel (born 1986) is an American comedian and television writer. In 2017, he became the first Indian Americans, Indian American writer on ''Saturday Night Live''. Early life Nimesh Patel was born in Parsippany, New Jersey, Parsippany-Troy ...

, and Gary Richardson to the writing staff. Also prior to the season, head writers Chris Kelly and

Sarah Schneider Sarah Schneider (born September 10, 1983) is an American writer, actress, and comedian. She got her start in entertainment as a writer and actress for the comedy website CollegeHumor before becoming a writer for the television sketch comedy ser ...

departed the show. On December 12, 2017, Jost and Che were named co-head writers, making Che the first African American head writer. Jost was previously the head writer for 3 years from

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 ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Episodes

Specials

Notes

References

{{Saturday Night Live 43 Saturday Night Live in the 2010s 2017 American television seasons 2018 American television seasons Television shows directed by Don Roy King