Who is Hosting Saturday Night Live Tonight: August 7, 2021

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No SNL tonight! Saturday Night Live is pre-empted for the final weekend of the 2020 Olympics from Tokyo!

It’s sad what SNL fans have to go through every 4 years during the summer months. First, it’s a summer full of what feels like never-ending Saturday Night Live reruns. Then, even those SNL reruns are taken away so that NBC can cover the Summer Olympics. Last year, the 2020 Olympics were cancelled due to a different global competition, one that involved each country’s Covid pandemic numbers.

Now in 2021, the 2020 Summer Olympics are back on and Saturday Night Live is back on hold. But even though we’re not getting SNL reruns this weekend, there is a lot of SNL happenings going on behind-the-scenes. And it’s news that will affect SNL for the next few seasons.

The showbiz newspaper, Variety, (it’s like Sports Illustrated for us gay kids), has reported that it’s contract negotiation time at Saturday Night Live! The entertainment ‘zine says that Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels has wrapped up his summertime European vacation to get back home and start pouring over the contracts of the current SNL cast members.

Lorne sitting down to go over to his cast while bringing in new featured players normally wouldn’t be news. But what puts this annual summer tradition at the top of the entertainment headlines is that Variety has learned from “two people familiar with the matter” that Lorne is starting cast talks earlier than usual this summer and that he’s not planning on making many cuts (if any) to this cast this year.

This past season on SNL, it’s 47th overall, Lorne Michaels had put together the largest cast in the series’ history. 17 cast members were a part of SNL – Season 47. Well, now we know why EP Lorne Michaels has been stockpiling talented sketch comedy performers. He’s looking ahead to SNL 50, the 50th anniversary of the most successful comedy variety show in television history.

According to Variety’s sources, Lorne Michaels wants to put together a memorable Season 50. A lot like he did when the show celebrated its 40th anniversary back in 2015. NBC put together a mammoth SNL 40 prime time special for the network. The 50th should be even more spectacular and Lorne does not want to be in the middle of rebuilding his cast in the next few years when anniversary time rolls around.

The SNL EP most certainly thinks his current cast is one of the best in the show’s history. And whenever there’s a mass exodus from Studio 8-H, it takes quite awhile for a new lead cast to find its footing and chemistry with each other. Lorne Michaels definitely wants Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson and others around to depend on during his golden anniversary.

Locking in his cast members for the next few seasons would line up with the show’s 50th anniversary, but it would also intersect with Lorne Michaels’ own contract. He and the show both have a deal at NBC through 2025. Lorne will be 80 years old by then, and there’s some speculation that he may want to ride this cast through to the end of that deal especially if he decides on pulling the plug on SNL when his latest contract is up.

Even with Lorne Michaels sweet talking his SNL veterans. There’s one that is still publicly dragging her feet about next season. SNL cast member Cecily Strong who’s spending her summer preparing for a media book tour for her new memoir “This Will All Be Over Soon,” revealed she’s been talking with Lorne, but claims she’s still thinking about returning to Saturday Night Live for a 10th season.

Cecily Strong told the New York Times, “Throughout the year, there were times where I felt like a fifth-year senior and I’m just hanging around, dead weight. Then there would be moments that felt so good.” She explained her feelings saying, “There’s things I want to do, and I want to be open for these things. If I’m there, great — if I’m not there, great. I just want it to feel like the right thing.” Cecily Strong’s new book, “This Will All Be Over Soon” will be available everywhere Tuesday, August 10th.

Next weekend, SNL will be back in its regularly scheduled time slot with its regularly scheduled Saturday Night Live rerun. The Summer Games of the 2020 Olympiad will wrap up all its competitions this weekend with the Olympics Closing Ceremony from Tokyo, Japan airing on Sunday. Saturday Night Live is pre-empted tonight for Olympic coverage, so if your interested in watching some quadrennial sporting events instead of sketch comedy reruns, there’s plenty airing tonight in SNL‘s place.

We’ve got Olympic Gold Medal events in prime time tonight during NBC’s non-stop coverage of the Tokyo Summer Games. In most areas, even your late local news will be pre-empted for both live and pre-recorded Olympic events. There’s a 13 hour time difference between Tokyo, Japan which is why we can get some live events in SNL‘s time slot.

Your headliner for tonight’s Olympic coverage will be the Women’s Basketball Gold Medal Game! USA! USA! USA! The USA women’s team has been dominant in Group B play. Tonight, it’s for all the marbles. Actually it’s for the Gold Medal. If they handed these women a bag marbles, we’d all be seriously pissed.

Tonight, the women’s Team USA have a chance to win their seventh consecutive gold medal in 5×5 basketball taking on the Olympic home team, the Japan national women’s team. Team USA knocked off the Serbian women’s team to get to the gold medal game while Japan earned a spot in the finals by defeating France. The USA’s Brittney Griner, who dominated the Serb women with her hoop skills, holds more than just a basketball in her hands tonight. She also holds America’s hope for more Olympic gold. Dramatic enough for you? Tipoff for the Women’s 5×5 Olympic Basketball Gold Medal Game is scheduled to start at 10:30pm et on NBC.

Other coverage tonight includes plenty of Track & Field events. The Men’s Marathon will be decided this evening. Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge won the Gold Medal at the 2016 Summer Games and he’s a heavy favorite to repeat in Tokyo. Well, let’s not say, “heavy.” Most of the marathon runners from around the world, don’t carry a lot of body fat. Other Track & Field events decided tonight will include the Men’s Javelin competition, the Men’s 4×400 relay and the Men’s 1500 meters race.

Women’s Track & Field events tonight include the Women’s 10,000 meters race where Letesenbet Gidey representing Ethiopia is favored to win. There will also be the finals competition for the Women’s High Jump and the Women’s 4×400 relay.

There will also be coverage of the Men’s 10m Diving competition. China is expected to take the Gold and the Silver medals this evening, at the very least. That’s how much of a lock the Chinese have on this event with Yang Jian and Cao Yuan leading the way. If there’s anyone who could upset China in Men’s Diving, it’s Great Britain’s Tom Daley. The adorable world champion diver from England already has one Gold Medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics and he could take home another if he can out dive the Chinese.

Saturday Night Live is pre-empted tonight for coverage of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games from Tokyo, Japan on the networks of NBC.

Next Saturday, August 14th, SNL returns with its regularly scheduled summer rerun episodes, starting with a repeat SNL hosted by Adele with H.E.R. as the musical guest. Saturday Night Live will be back with new shows starting with the SNL – Season 47 premiere later this Fall!

Ernie Tripper
Ernie Tripper