As Saturday Night Live hits the halfway point of its four-month summer hiatus, show insiders tell LateNighter that Season 52 will premiere on September 26, 2026.
That will make this year’s season opener the earliest for SNL since 2012, when Season 38 premiered on September 15.
If the show’s usual cadence holds, the fall run will consist of three blocks of three consecutive episodes, culminating in a December 19 Christmas show. Typically a festive, star-studded affair, the holiday episode often ranks among SNL’s highest-rated broadcasts of the season.
Seven-season SNL veteran Chloe Fineman was the first cast member to announce her departure earlier this month. The next few weeks could bring news of more cast exits, as SNL contracts typically expire on August 1, although the new season’s cast likely won’t be finalized until sometime after that.
August has historically been the month for in-studio auditions as Lorne Michaels and his team scout for new cast members. That process has already begun, with show reps spotted at Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival last week.
The show added five new featured players last year, its largest group of preseason cast additions since Season 39 debuted with six newcomers in 2013. Two more performers joined that season’s cast later in the year.
Official announcements regarding the show’s cast—both returning and new—usually drop in early September, followed by word of the season’s first hosts.
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Have they fired Jane Wickline yet?