Saturday Night Live season 51 continued the night of November 15 with its latest celebrity host Glen Powell, who finally got his chance to host four years after COVID-19 delayed his first stint post Top Gun: Maverick, and musical guest Olivia Dean, currently achieving new heights of virality as Sabrina Carpenter's tour opener and with her hit single "Man I Need." However, the show will now be taking a break. For how long, though?
Here's what we know of the show's hiatus, when it will eventually return to the air for the rest of season 51, what we know of the newly announced host and musical guest for its return, plus some highlights from its last episode…
© Getty ImagesWhy is Saturday Night Live taking a break?
For the uninitiated, there's no reason to fret, this is part of the show's regular rollout. SNL always takes a brief hiatus in the leadup to Thanksgiving, but only for a few weeks. It also serves as the precursor to the show's winter break, in which it takes another short break prior to Christmas and New Year's, their midseason hiatus, eventually returning in January.
© Getty ImagesWho is the next host? And musical guest?
It was announced the night of the previous episode that Melissa McCarthy will return to host SNL. The beloved comedian is part of the show's elite Five Timers club, and will surpass that milestone with her sixth time hosting the show when it returns. Joining her, in his musical debut, is singer-songwriter and producer Dijon, who is fresh off releasing his second studio album Baby, his acting debut in One Battle After Another, and his collaborations with Justin Bieber on his Swag albums.
© Getty ImagesWhen does SNL 51 return?
The next episode of SNL is slated to air on December 6. The guests for the following episodes prior to the midseason hiatus have not yet been revealed.
© Getty ImagesGlen Powell's SNL debut
Glen's SNL monologue kicked off with a tribute to his start in Hollywood, aka the Spy Kids franchise, while also looking back on the near miss of his initial hosting debut, and a conversation he had with a UPS driver about it (who he managed to fly out to New York City and showed in the audience). He then starred in sketches about AI photos, a boys' weekend (with Marcello Hernandez busting out an intriguing Sebastian Maniscalco impression), an army of bobs (literally), and several MacGruber skits about the Epstein files.
Olivia performed her new hit "Man I Need" plus the song "Let Alone The One You Love, while the Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che tackled more of the Epstein emails, the Donald Trump and Bill Clinton viral "exchange," and a goodnight introducing December 6's guests.
© Getty ImagesWho else has appeared on SNL 51?
Despite receiving mixed reviews overall so far, this season has already been a star-studded one. Season 51 opened with our coming Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner Bad Bunny, and also included Amy Poehler, Miles Teller and Nikki Glaser as hosts. Doja Cat, Role Model, Brandi Carlile and sombr have appeared as musical guests so far, with Sabrina Carpenter the only one thus far to pull double duty.
