The forty-fourth season of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

comedy series ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' 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, recognized for his collaborations with auteur filmmakers. Driver made his film debut in ''J. Edgar'' (2011) and played supporting roles in ''Lincoln (film), Lincoln'' (2012), '' ...

and musical guest

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

and concluded on May 18, 2019, with host

Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. Rudd studied theatre at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before making his acting debut in 1991. He was included on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 li ...

and musical guest

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

Cast

Prior to the start of the season,

Luke Null Lucas Elliot Null (born July 7, 1990) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the U ...

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

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

alum

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

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 and comedian. He was hired as a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' before its 39th season in 2013. He was then promoted to on-air cast status and beca ...

, Alex Moffat, and

Melissa Villaseñor Melissa Anne Villaseñor ( ; born October 9, 1987) is an American comedian, actress, musician, and illustrator. First garnering attention for her stand-up shows and impressions, Villaseñor found wider success when she was hired to join the cast ...

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

Chris Redd Christopher Jerell Redd (born March 25, 1985) is an American comedian and actor. After several years performing stand-up comedy, Redd was hired to join the cast of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' ahead of the show's 43rd s ...

, 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 and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...

in his role as

President Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. Despite mounting rumors that this would be the last season for

Kenan Thompson Kenan Thompson (; born May 10, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He has been a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' since Saturday Night Live season 29, 2003, making him the longest-tenured cast member in the ...

, Thompson insisted he would not be leaving ''SNL'' anytime soon. 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 and comedian. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' for eight seasons, joining for its 39th season in 2013 and leaving at the end of its ...

* Aidy Bryant *

Michael Che Michael Che Campbell (; born May 19, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Che is best known for his work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'', where he has served as co-anchor on '' Weekend Update'' al ...

Pete Davidson Peter Michael Davidson (born November 16, 1993) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He began his career in the early 2010s with minor guest roles on ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', ''Friends of the People'', ''Guy Code'', and ''Wild 'n O ...

* Leslie Jones *

Colin Jost Colin Kelly Jost (; born June 29, 1982) is an American comedian, writer, and actor. Jost has been a staff writer for the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' since 2005, and co-anchor of '' Weekend Update'' since 2014. He also serv ...

* Kate McKinnon * Alex Moffat *

Kyle Mooney Kyle James Kozub Mooney (born September 4, 1984) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter and film director. Mooney was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2013 to 2022. In 2017, he co-wrote and starr ...

Cecily Strong Cecily Legler Strong (born February 8, 1984) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2012 to 2022. She is the longest-tenured female cast member in the show's histor ...

Featured players * Heidi Gardner *

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 been featu ...

" anchor

Writers

Prior to the start of the season, the show added Alison Gates, Alan Linic, Eli Mandel, and

Bowen Yang Bowen Yang (born November 6, 1990) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, and writer. Yang was hired to join the writing staff of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' in September 2018, ahead of its 44th season, and a year la ...

to the writing staff. Co-head writer Bryan Tucker was promoted to senior writer, while Colin Jost, Michael Che, and Kent Sublette remained as the show's head writers. In March 2019, writer Anna Drezen (who joined the writing staff in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

) was promoted to co-writing supervisor, alongside

Streeter Seidell Streeter John Seidell (born December 2, 1982) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and TV host. Seidell was part of the cast of ''CollegeHumors online sketches. His video series ''Prank Wars'' was viewed tens of millions of times, which e ...

, Fran Gillespie, and Sudi Green. This was the final season for longtime ''

'' writer Katie Rich, who had previously been a writer on the show since

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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