{"id":1177,"date":"2025-12-05T09:35:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T09:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2025\/12\/05\/2025-12-05-saturday-night-spotlight\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:08:13","slug":"2025-12-05-saturday-night-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2025\/12\/05\/2025-12-05-saturday-night-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturday night\u00a0spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Anna Rider<\/a> · Contributing Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2014 MSN<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For over 50 years, \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d (SNL) has been on the air, delighting audiences of young and old alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lorne Michaels\u2019 SNL has featured comedy giants since 1975, serving as a career launch-point for countless big names. Heard of Will Ferrell? Amy Poehler? Pete Davidson? Or Adam Sandler? All of these famous actors and comedians were featured on the iconic comedy show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only has the platform served as a jumping-off point for major names, but in the words of New York Times author Andrew LaVellee, it has also permeated society so thoroughly that it has \u201cchanged the way we talk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what\u2019s new with the show this year? SNL\u2019s current season marks its 51st year and the debuts of five new featured players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tommy Brennan, a stand-up comedian who was named the \u201cNew Face of Comedy\u201d in 2023 at the Just for Laughs Festival, joins the main cast this season. Brennan\u2019s debut performance was on the classic \u201cWeekend Update\u201d segment, where he discussed his childhood in the Midwest in his signature stand-up style. Kam Patterson, a stand-up comedian and actor from Orlando, Fla., also joins as a featured player this season. Known for his observational comedy and shock humor, the young comedian also made his first SNL appearance on \u201cWeekend Update.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you enjoy the \u201cPlease Don\u2019t Destroy\u201d skits, you\u2019ll be happy to learn that Ben Marshall, an SNL writer since 2021, has joined the main cast as a third featured player. You might recognize a fourth new addition to the show, Jeremy Culhane, from the online comedy platform Dropout or his appearances in \u201cAmerican Vandal,\u201d \u201cHeathers\u201d and \u201cThe Sex Lives of College Girls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Veronika Slowikoska joins the cast as the first Canadian SNL cast member hired in 31 years. The addition of Slowikoska to the cast also marks the first female Canadian member hired since 1981. You might recognize her name from Slowikoska\u2019s hilarious online sketch comedy, or her podcast \u201cnevermind.,\u201d founded in 2023 with her friend and cohost, Kyle Chase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline, both of whom joined the cast in 2024, are returning this year as featured players. SNL\u2019s classic \u201cWeekend Update\u201d segment is still manned by fan favorites Michael Che and Colin Joost. Both Che and Joost have returned this season as repertory players. The pair have served as \u201cWeekend Update\u201d anchors longer than any past SNL cast members and continue to surpass Seth Meyer\u2019s four-year-long record as hosts of the segment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repertory players Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hern\u00e1ndez, James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang have also returned to \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d this season. Past cast member Darrell Hammond returns as well for his 11th season as SNL\u2019s announcer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With fresh new additions and classic, well-loved veterans, this season of \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d is sure to entertain! Tune in to NBC at 11:30 p.m. on Saturdays to watch the show live or check out episodes on Peacock. If you don\u2019t have live television and can\u2019t score your roommate\u2019s Peacock login info, you can always watch SNL sketches and segments on their YouTube channel!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For over 50 years, \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d (SNL) has been on the air, delighting audiences of young and old alike. Lorne Michaels\u2019 SNL has featured comedy giants since 1975, serving as a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[220],"tags":[126,40,21],"class_list":["post-1177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies-tv","tag-anna-rider","tag-issue-2025-12-05","tag-entertainment"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-19-saturday-night-spotlight-1-v2.jpg",701,388,false],"thumbnail":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-19-saturday-night-spotlight-1-v2.jpg",150,83,false],"medium":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-19-saturday-night-spotlight-1-v2.jpg",300,166,false],"medium_large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-19-saturday-night-spotlight-1-v2.jpg",701,388,false],"large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-19-saturday-night-spotlight-1-v2.jpg",701,388,false],"1536x1536":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-19-saturday-night-spotlight-1-v2.jpg",701,388,false],"2048x2048":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-12-05-19-saturday-night-spotlight-1-v2.jpg",701,388,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"For over 50 years, \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d (SNL) has been on the air, delighting audiences of young and old alike. Lorne Michaels\u2019 SNL has featured comedy giants since 1975, serving as a","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1177"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2181,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions\/2181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}