Is ‘SNL’ New Tonight? Season 42 Returns With Live Episodes

After a three-week break, “Saturday Night Live” will finally return with a new Season 42 episode on April 8. Known for taking long breaks towards the end of every month, “SNL” will comeback with a live installment on Saturday night hosted by Louis C.K. The comedian will be joined by musical guests The Chainsmokers.

The NBC show has released a series of promos featuring the host and musical guest which tout C.K. as a “no-frills host.” The other promo includes C.K. telling The Chainsmokers he’s a big fan of the duo until the two tell the comedian he’s actually not a real fan of theirs.

Following the April 8 episode, “SNL” will continue on April 15 with another new episode that will air live across all time zones and will continue until the May 20 season finale — a first for the series.

The live episodes will kick off with the Jimmy Fallon-hosted April 15 episode and will be followed by a two-week break. “SNL” will then return May 6 with Chris Pine, followed by Melissa McCarthy on May 13 and Dwayne Johnson on May 20. The final four episodes will air at 11:30 p.m. EDT, 10:30 p.m. CDT, 9:30 p.m. MDT and 8:30 p.m. PDT on NBC.

“‘SNL’ — enjoying its most popular season in two decades — is part of the national conversation, and we thought it would be a great idea to broadcast to the west and mountain time zones live at the same time it’s being seen in the east and central time zones,” said NBC Entertainment Chairman, Robert Greenblatt.

Thanks to its constant lampooning of President Donald Trump and other political figures, “Saturday Night Live” has enjoyed its best ratings in over 20 years. According to TV Line, Season 42’s viewership numbers are the best since Season 20 and is up 22 percent in total number of viewers from last year.