Source: Entertainment Weekly

Saturday Night Live is giving fans a chance to catch up on season 51 as it takes a brief hiatus.

The legendary NBC sketch show is airing reruns of earlier episodes before it closes out 2025 with three star-studded installments in a row in December.

The network previously announced that tonight’s episode would be a repeat of the Oct. 4 season premiere hosted by Bad Bunny with musical guest Doja Cat and special appearances by Jon Hamm and KPop Demon Hunters singers Rei Ami, Ejae, Audrey Nuna. It also marked the debut of SNL’s five new featured players, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska. But make sure to check local listings as college football may preempt things.

On Wednesday, Nov. 26, catch A Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving special highlighting memorable Turkey Day-themed sketches from years past, airing from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, and streaming the next day on Peacock.

There will be another repeat episode on Saturday, Nov. 29, as the cast and crew enjoys the chance to celebrate with their loved ones.

SNL will return with a new episode on Saturday, Dec. 6, with fan-favorite host Melissa McCarthy, joined by singer-songwriter Dijon as musical guest. The Bridesmaids star has earned an Emmy nomination for each of her five previous episodes, winning for her most recent appearance in 2017. She also memorably popped up a handful of times to play former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Following McCarthy is host Josh O’Connor (The Crown) with musical guest Lily Allen on Saturday, Dec. 13. O’Connor will be on to support his turn as a hot priest in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, which will be hitting Netflix that weekend. Meanwhile, Allen will be performing songs from her David Harbour divorce album, West End Girl, so don’t hold your breath for a cameo from the Stranger Things cast that week.

Then, the final episode of the year will be fronted by the powerhouse duo of host Ariana Grande and musical guest Cher. The Wicked: For Good star — currently recovering from Covid — has hosted SNL twice previously, including once doing double duty as musical guest, plus two additional stints as a solo musical performer. But for this episode, she’ll be handing over music duties to the one and only Cher.

The Oscar winner last sang on the Studio 8H stage in her SNL debut on Nov. 21, 1987, although she did perform “If I Could Turn Back Time” during SNL50: The Homecoming Concert at Radio City Music Hall in February.

Previous episodes this season have been fronted by SNL alum Amy Poehler, with cameos from her former costars Tina Fey and Seth Meyers; Sabrina Carpenter doubling as her own musical guest; Eternity actor Miles Teller; comedian Nikki Glaser; and The Running Man star Glen Powell.

Season 51 also saw the departures of cast members Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, and Emil Wakim.

“That show was my longest relationship ever,” Nwodim said on a recent episode of Sherri. “I started to get the seven-year itch and I’m like, we don’t have kids, I’m gonna see other people!”

She also reflected on her departure leaving the show without any Black female cast members. “I felt honored to be the seventh Black woman in that cast,” she said. “I hope that there will be more Black women. Punkie Johnson came on the show after me. Who knows who else they’ll find as they explore and seek out other talents, but I felt honored to represent for us.”

Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.