Pete Davidson, Ice Spice, and Bad Bunny will kick off SNL’s return

Returning from a five-month work stoppage, which overlapped with the show’s regularly scheduled summer hiatus, Saturday Night Live will light up Studio 8H once again. SNL will return for its 49th season next week, with host Pete Davidson and musical guest Ice Spice on October 14 and Bad Bunny pulling double duty as host and musical guest on October 21.

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In addition, SNL also announced a new cast member for the show: Chloe Troast. Troast writes and stars in the web series The Basics and appears in the Please Don’t Destroy movie, The Treasure Of Foggy Mountain. How will SNL handle not one but two Chloes? Only time will tell.

Some are probably wondering, “But A.V. Club, how can Saturday Night Live return when its actors are still on strike?” Well, dear reader, if you give us a second, we’ll explain. Per ‌SAG-AFTRA, like Dancing With The Stars, SNL’s cast, host, and guests work under the Network Code, which is not the contract SAG is striking over.

“They are not in violation of SAG-AFTRA strike rules, and we support them in fulfilling their contractual obligations,” a statement from SAG-AFTRA reads. “The program is a SAG-AFTRA non-dramatic production under a separate agreement that is not subject to the union’s strike order.”

“The majority of our members who are regular cast on Saturday Night Live had contractual obligations to the show prior to the strike. Many are under option agreements that require them to return to the show if the producers exercise their option, which the producers have done[…] It is important to recognize that SAG-AFTRA is fighting against the studios and not members who are required to go to work every day under other union contracts or personal service agreements.”

So there you go. The SAG-AFTRA strike continues, and SNL makes its shuffle towards 50.