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Is There A New ‘Saturday Night Live’ Tonight? March 18 Host, Musical Guest Info

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 01:53 PST, Mar 18, 2017

Will there be a new Saturday Night Live episode on tonight, March 18?

After a very well-received episode last week with Scarlett Johansson that showed the actress taking shots at Ivanka Trump, many viewers are hoping for a new episode that can take on Donald Trump’s latest in a string of scandals, including his awkward meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel that included a handshake snub.

Unfortunately, fans will have to wait a little bit longer. There is not a new Saturday Night Live on March 18, though instead the show will fill in with a repeat that actually had some of the most talked-about skits of the year.

As the Fansided blog Hidden Remote noted, Saturday Night Live is actually off to an extended break.

“Beginning this weekend, Saturday Night Live will begin airing encore presentations as NBC shelves its hit weekend series for the next four weeks. When the series finally returns with a fresh episode on Saturday, April 15 NBC will turn to a beloved member of the Saturday Night Live family as The Tonight Show‘s Jimmy Fallon returns to the series that made him a household name as the host of the April 15 episode!”

So with no new Saturday Night Live tonight, what will viewers get to see? The show is instead re-airing the episode with Casey Affleck as the host and Chance the rapper as musical guest. For those who may not remember, this featured one of the most famous sketches of the year, with Alec Baldwin appearing alongside special guest John Goodman in the cold open as Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson.

As WTOP noted, Saturday Night Live is nearing a historic end to its season. The show, which has always been shown live in the Eastern Time Zone at 11:30 p.m. and the Central Time Zone at 10:30 p.m., will soon be broadcast simultaneously from coast to coast. This means viewers in the Mountain Time Zone will see it at 9:30 p.m. and the Pacific Time Zone will see it at 8:30 p.m.

“SNL — enjoying its most popular season in two decades — is part of the national conversation, and we thought it would be a great idea to broadcast to the West and Mountain time zones live at the same time it’s being seen in the East and Central time zones,” said Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment in a statement.

“That way, everyone is in on the joke at the same time. Kudos to Lorne Michaels, the producers and cast for making SNL one of the most relevant and anticipated shows in the zeitgeist.”

The show’s ratings could be a major reason for pushing it up. On the strength of its political commentary and Alec Baldwin’s turn as Donald Trump, Saturday Night Live is off to its highest ratings in the last eight years among the coveted 18-49 demographic and the most viewers overall in the last 24 years.

Fans of the show will actually have a few weeks off, but Saturday Night Live will return on April 8 with one of the most popular hosts — comedian Louis C.K. The rest of the season includes Jimmy Fallon the following week and then actor Chris Pine, with Melissa McCarthy and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson rounding out the season.

So while there may not be a new Saturday Night Live on March 18, viewers will be getting what appears to be a strong ending to the season.

[Featured Image by NBC]

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