From cameo-filled cold opens to VP debate sketches, Saturday Night Live’s landmark 50th season is sure to feature plenty of election coverage. However, don’t expect any real-life candidates to make an appearance on the show any time soon.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lorne Michaels revealed that SNL had not reached out to any candidates, and explained why the show had no plans to do so before the 2024 election.
“You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions,” Michaels said, referring to the FCC’s equal time rules. “You can’t have the main candidates without having all the candidates, and there are lots of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in, like, three states and that becomes really complicated.”
SNL’s 50th season premiere saw Maya Rudolph and James Austin Johnson reprise their roles as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, while introducing Jim Gaffigan and Bowen Yang as Tim Walz and J.D. Vance, respectively.
The cold open also featured the return of Dana Carvey, who is the ninth actor to portray Joe Biden on SNL. Meanwhile, Andy Samberg took over the role of “Second Gentlemensch” Doug Emhoff (previously played by Martin Short).
Nevertheless, real-life candidates have been on SNL in past election seasons. Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin famously appeared in a sketch alongside her SNL counterpart Tina Fey in 2008, less than a month before the presidential election. Additionally, in November 2015, Trump—then a candidate in the Republican presidential primary—hosted the program (though not without controversy).
“People had different opinions about [Trump] being there at that time, but during that week, he was in second place in Iowa, behind Ben Carson,” SNL writer Bryan Tucker told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017. “He was definitely a national phenomenon, but he was not imminently going to be president.”
That being said, Michaels hasn’t ruled out any post-election cameos. In the meantime, however, the cast will just have to give SNL fans plenty of material to tide them over.
