Saturday Night Live is staying home one more time this season.
NBC has set a third SNL at Home episode for May 9, which will be the 18th of the season and serve as the finale for season 45. There’s no word yet on a host or musical guest.
Since the coronavirus pandemic shut down production on hundreds of TV and movie projects, Saturday Night Live has aired two episodes with castmembers all filming sketches at their homes. Tom Hanks opened the first show April 11, and Brad Pitt appeared as Dr. Anthony Fauci (and himself) to begin the April 25 show.
SNL followed the lead of its late night counterparts in adapting to remote production, and its first episode back was among the highest-rated of the season. It pulled in 6.7 million same-day viewers — trailing only an Eddie Murphy-hosted episode in December.
The April 25 edition declined some to 6.05 million viewers, slightly below the show’s same-day season average. The episode had markedly higher production values, with more and better graphics and costumes as the show’s crew got more accustomed to remote production.
The SNL at Home episodes have also featured cameos by Adam Sandler, Alec Baldwin (who phoned in as President Donald Trump during “Weekend Update” on April 11), Charles Barkley, Bill Hader, Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis and Fred Armisen. A tribute to the show’s late music producer, Hal Willner, on April 11 also included John Mulaney, Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch.
Watch a promo for the finale, below.
