Who is Hosting Saturday Night Live Tonight: July 24, 2021

SNL is off tonight, but keep that torch lit as Saturday Night Live is pre-empted for NBC coverage of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo!

Even though Saturday Night Live is off for the next few weeks because the networks of NBC are diving full-on into 2020 Olympic coverage from Tokyo, Japan, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still talk a little SNL. Part of the fun (and sometimes sorrow) of being a Saturday Night Live fan is speculating all summer long over who is either returning to or leaving the current cast. We’ve got news on a couple of cast members and where they stand in the thought process of staying or going next season.

First up, the Dean of SNL cast members, Kenan Thompson has given his thoughts on calling it quits or not when it comes to being the longest tenured cast member in the history of Saturday Night Live. Following this past season, (SNL – Season 46), Kenan now has 18 seasons under his belt at SNL. He’s certainly cracked the code on how to not only survive as an SNL cast member, but how to thrive in that environment as well. He received an Emmy nomination for this past SNL season as well as one for “Kenan“, his new prime time sitcom on NBC.

Kenan Thompson spoke with Entertainment Weekly about how much longer he wants to walk the halls of Studio 8-H as an SNL cast member now that he’s completed 18 seasons. He said, “I keep saying I’m trying to get to 20 [seasons].” Kenan Thompson fans should feel relieved that he doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

The man who would get more than one head on SNL‘s Mount Rushmore added that he’s not thinking in terms of just next season. He’s thinking, how many more? Kenan told EW, “So if they don’t throw me out of there before, I’m trying to get to 20. And then, I don’t know if it makes sense for me to leave even after that point. As long as the show keeps going and they want me to be there and I don’t feel like I’m in the way of somebody else’s opportunity, should I just oblige? I don’t really know what to do at this point, as far as leaving is concerned. Like, why should I ever have to leave?” America agrees with Kenan.

Another cast member who finished last season on Saturday Night Live with an Emmy nomination and plenty of questions about her status as an SNL cast member is Cecily Strong. Her number of seasons at Saturday Night Live might pale in comparison to the Grand Poobah of SNL, Kenan Thompson, but Cecily is no rookie either. She’s been an SNL cast member for 9 seasons now, which seems to have flown by.

Cecily Strong recently sat down with Collider to discuss her new musical comedy series, “Schmigaddoon!” co-starring Keegan-Michael Key on Apple TV+. With it being summertime, of course the question on if Cecily Strong was coming back for another season of SNL came up in the conversation.

Cecily was a little bit more on the vague side than Kenan Thompson. She said, “I’m still thinking about it, to be honest. I know that, if I leave, I’m so happy with the time I’ve had there and I’ve been so lucky. And then, if I say stay, it means I get to go back to a place that I love so much. I’m just not sure yet. I know it’s a boring answer, but that’s the truth.” She added, “I’ll figure it out, at some point.” Well, thanks for nothing Cecily.

Other SNL news this week includes a very high honor for the creator of Saturday Night Live, executive producer Lorne Michaels. The SNL EP will be celebrated at the 44th Kennedy Center Honors ceremony in Washington D.C. later this year. He’ll be part of the 2021 class of Kennedy Center Honors which also includes singing-songwriting legend Joni Mitchell, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, and actor-singer-goddess. the Divine Miss M, Bette Midler among others.

This is the second honor bestowed on Lorne Michaels from the Kennedy Center. He received the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Award for lifetime achievement in comedy in 2004. In a statement, Lorne said why he’ll enjoy the Kennedy Center Honors more than his Mark Twain Award. “You don’t have to give a speech at the end, which is huge. You’re just there with your friends.” Enjoy Lorne.

Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein said, “the Kennedy Center Honors celebrates luminaries whose art and creativity have enriched us beyond measure.” Speaking about the SNL creator, David M. Rubenstein added, “Lorne Michaels created the most enduring ‘must-see television’ with Saturday Night Live, a show that is both mirror and muse for life in America.”

Lorne Michaels will be part of the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony being held Sunday, December 5th. The evening celebrating all of the honorees will be filmed for a special airing at a later date on CBS.

That gets us all caught up on Saturday Night Live news for this week. As for what we’ll be seeing tonight in place of Saturday Night Live; it’s coverage of the Olympic Summer Games on NBC. And this weekend, when we talk about hosting, it’s not who’s starring on SNL. We’re talking about Tokyo, Japan, the host city for the 2020 Olympics. Sidebar: Even though it’s really 2021, it’s still be called the 2020 Games due to that whole pandemic thing.

Some of the sporting events you’ll see this evening when you thought you would be watching Saturday Night Live sketches and Weekend Update include the beach volleyball prelims, swimming events, men’s team gymnastics and a new Olympic event this year, 3×3 Basketball which is obviously played with 4 less people and on a half-court.

Another new event being added to the Olympic Games for the very first time, is skateboarding and we’ll see some of that tonight. The inaugural events for skateboarding will include both men’s and women’s competitions. And those skateboarding events we’ll see during Olympic coverage on NBC tonight are divided into two categories, Park and Street Skateboarding.

The Park Skateboarding events will consist of 45 second runs where the skateboarders will be judged on a scale of 0 to 100. The other category is the Street Skateboarding events which will be graded on a 0 to 10 scale and run on a street-like course featuring stairs, handrails, curbs, benches, walls and slopes. The obstacles will be used to employ 5 skateboarding tricks during 45 second runs evaluated by judges.

Olympic coverage will be airing all through the prime time television hours on NBC on Saturday night. Your local NBC affiliate’s news will be delayed a half-hour and will air at 11:30pm et. Then at midnight et, NBC rejoins Olympic coverage from Tokyo.

Saturday Night Live reruns are scheduled to return on Saturday, August 14th to finish out the summer. Then, SNL returns live with the SNL – Season 47 Premiere and brand new shows in late September or the first weekend in October. Stay tuned to the IBang for announcements on Saturday Night Live‘s Season 47 premiere date and who will be hosting the debut.

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