Saturday Night Live is back and its first host is a perfect pick

On October 14, at 11:30 pm ET/8:30 pm PT, viewers will be hearing the familiar proclamation once again: "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

Saturday Night Live season 49 is set to return on October 14, the first episode of the sketch comedy show since the writers' strike that began in May caused production to wrap on SNL season 48 early, just a few days before an all-new episode was supposed to air. However, now that the writers' strike is over, SNL season 49 is ready to get going again.

The show is bringing its season 49 premiere full circle, as Pete Davidson has been tapped to host the opener. Davidson, who in 2023 starred in the Peacock series Bupkis and the movie Dumb Money, was previously slated to host the episode of SNL that was cancelled because of the strike. This marks the first time the former SNL cast member is hosting the show, so it's a really nice touch that Lorne Michaels and company are giving him the chance he did not get last spring.

The musical guest for the October 14 SNL premiere is going to be Ice Spice. This marks her first appearance on the show and comes as her music reached more than 4 billion global streams in the past year and she was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards.

Saturday Night Live will have back-to-back new episodes, as NBC also announced details for an October 21 episode, which will be hosted by Bad Bunny, who will also serve as the musical guest.

The other big news is that a new member of the SNL cast has been announced, with Chloe Troast joining the show as a featured player. Troast previously appeared in the 2021 TV miniseries The Basics and is also expected to appear in the upcoming movie Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain, from the Please Don't Destroy comedy group that does digital videos for SNL.

As of publication, there's been no indication that any of the SNL season 48 cast members are leaving before the start of the new season, so as far as we can tell, Kenan Thompson, Heidi Garnder, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Chloe Fineman, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Mikey Day and Bowen Yang are all expected to return.

Saturday Night Live airs, appropriately, live coast-to-coast, starting at 11:30 pm ET/8:30 pm PT on NBC and streaming live on Peacock.