Saturday Night Live returns from a two-week hiatus this weekend with a milestone booking—and a pairing fans have been requesting for years.
Jack Black will host for the fifth time, officially joining the Five-Timers Club more than 20 years after his debut, alongside musical guest Jack White, back for his sixth appearance.
Black first hosted on October 4, 2003—8,841 days before this weekend’s show. That gap ranks tied for the third-longest in SNL history between first and fifth hosting gigs, exactly matching Drew Barrymore and trailing only Woody Harrelson (12,146 days) and Martin Short (13,895 days).
Here are five storylines we’ll be watching Saturday night:
Jack-et Delivery
Whenever a new SNL Five-Timer is crowned, the question isn’t if the jacket will appear—it’s how.
Last season, Martin Short’s induction brought out a whopping nine fellow Five-Timers in a memorable Christmas episode Cold Open. But despite the Five-Timers Club’s mythic status, viewers have only been taken “inside” five times: Tom Hanks (1990), Justin Timberlake (2013), Jonah Hill (2018), John Mulaney (2022), and Short (2024).
So in a night full of Jacks, the most important one may be the jack-et—and who presents it.
Will Ferrell, an SNL Five-Timer himself, would be a great pick. He played a major role in Black’s first episode and later cameoed in his monologue during Black’s second hosting stint. Notably, Ferrell’s own Five-Timers milestone in November 2019 went largely uncelebrated at the time, making this a chance for a bit of retroactive acknowledgment.
Black and White
Saturday Night Live knew exactly what they were doing when they booked Jack White as the musical guest for this episode.
Not only is the pairing hilarious in itself, but White has quietly become a legacy act for the show, stepping in at the last minute during the pandemic-era Morgan Wallen controversy in 2020 and playing a prominent role in last year’s SNL50 Homecoming Concert.
While the Five-Timers Club has rarely extended to musical guests—Paul Simon being the most notable exception—White was famously presented with a jacket alongside Woody Harrelson during goodnights when the pair hit the milestone on the same night in November 2023.
White has never appeared in a sketch during his previous stints, but if there were ever a moment to change that, this would be it. And if he were the one to hand Black his jacket, don’t rule out a monochrome twist.
A Transatlantic Doubleheader
Since SNL last aired (for the Harry Styles episode last month), Saturday Night Live UK has debuted with a strong start, featuring Tina Fey and Jamie Dornan as its first hosts.
This weekend marks the first-ever doubleheader for the two shows: Riz Ahmed will host the UK edition roughly six and a half hours before Black takes the stage in New York.
Whether the flagship show acknowledges its new counterpart remains to be seen, but James Austin Johnson’s Trump—known for his meta asides—would be a natural vehicle. Another possibility: a Weekend Update crossover, perhaps featuring a UK correspondent.
It wouldn’t be unprecedented. In 1980, Don Novello’s Father Guido Sarducci appeared live from London to chat with Jane Curtin and Bill Murray.
Bye-Bye Bondi
Saturday Night Live wasted no time addressing Kristi Noem’s exit from the Trump administration earlier this season—and now it has another shakeup to work with.
Attorney General Pam Bondi was dismissed Thursday, giving the show a timely political storyline heading into the weekend. Bondi was portrayed by Ashley Padilla last year and by Amy Poehler earlier this season, adding to to the intrigue.
With many late-night shows still on break, SNL has a clear opportunity to get one of the first comedic takes.
Dismukes Due
Andrew Dismukes has been one of the show’s steadiest performers in recent seasons—but lately, he’s been nearly invisible.
Across the last three episodes (Connor Storrie, Ryan Gosling, Harry Styles), Dismukes has averaged just 1:05 of screen time per episode—a sharp drop from his Season 48–50 average of 4:39.
If there’s a host who can help reverse that trend, it’s Black. The two clicked in a standout Indiana Jones-style game show sketch last season, highlighting Dismukes’ ability to thrive opposite high-energy hosts.
With the season heading into its final stretch, this weekend could mark a timely rebound.
This weekend’s Saturday Night Live airs Saturday, April 4 at 11:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock. Join us at LateNighter.com immediately after for the Saturday Night Network’s live after-show, where SNL experts and superfans share their hot takes on the night’s best and worst moments.
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