After WGA recently reached a tentative agreement with Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the comedy show is reportedly preparing for an October premiere date for season 49.
- Sep 26, 2023
AceShowbiz - "Saturday Night Live" is expected to be back on the airwaves soon. After Writers Guild of America reached a tentative agreement with Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Sunday, September 24, the comedy show is reportedly preparing for an October premiere date for season 49.
Deadline reports that "Saturday Night Live" is eyeing either an October 7 or October 14 date. The final decision will be ultimately determined by how the WGA votes when the contract language is finalized.
The news outlet stated that the WGA negotiating committee is expected to recommend the agreement and send it to the WGA West Board and WGA East Council for a vote for Tuesday. That most likely would lift the restraining order, meaning that writers could return to work as the deal is waiting to be ratified.
However, "SNL" will have to face other bumps even after WGA's strike ends. Alongside "Dancing with the Stars", "SNL" is covered under SAG-AFTRA's Network Code, which means that theoretically everyone could come back to work. However, since the actors union is also on strike, certain cast members, like Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang, might choose not to go back to work until an agreement is reached.
Other issues are related to the casting and hosting choices. According to the new report, creator and showrunner Lorne Michaels has been trying to get some new cast members, but hasn't made any final verdicts.
As for the hosting choices, the show would be forced to opt out actors for the hosts for the new season. This may give another headache for the production team since the majority of hosts for last season were actors, including Miles Teller, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Austin Butler, Aubrey Plaza, Michael B. Jordan, Pedro Pascal, Woody Harrelson and Jenna Ortega.
"SNL" cut short its season 48 when the WGA strike began at the start of May. The last episode aired on April 15, featuring Ana de Armas as host and Karol G as musical guest. The next episode, which was initially slated to air on May 6 and featured Pete Davidson and Lil Uzi Vert, was canceled. The NBC show has been airing repeats since May 6.
