‘Saturday Night Live’ could return in October after the WGA strike ends

As late night prepares to return to the airwaves following the WGA strike, including NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Like “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” the sketch show is also subject to the SAG-AFTRA Network Code agreement, which is not part of the current guild strike. This means the show, cast and crew can return to work as soon as the deal with the WGA is finalized – or at least the WGA gives the writers full permission to return to work.

Saturday Night Live has been dark since April as the WGA strike began in early May. The latest episode, aired on April 15, featured Ana de Armas as the host and Karol G as the musical guest. The next scheduled episode, scheduled for May 6 and hosted by former cast member Pete Davidson with musical guest Lil Uzi Vert, did not happen.

“SNL will air reruns until further notice starting Saturday, May 6,” NBC said at the time. And it has been like that ever since.

In addition to bringing back writers, the show will also have to determine whether some actors will be willing to cross the SAG-AFTRA picket line and how to recruit leads as the SAG-AFTRA strike continues.

“Saturday Night Live” stars Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman, Punky Johnson and Andrew Dismukes, as well as Weekend Update co-anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost. Guest players include James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker.

The 48-season sketch show, produced by Broadway Video and SNL Studios, is led by series creator Lorne Michaels and director Liz Patrick.