Kate McKinnon’s Alien Abductee Returns for ‘Saturday Night Live’ Season Finale Cold Open

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeDon’t call it a comeback. But thanks to sports, ever-expanding drama franchises and a handful of new hits, the Big 4 broadcast networks managed to avoid another year-to-year collapse during the now-concluded TV season.Football once again ruled primetime, led by NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” while “Thursday Night Football” showed up twice on Nielsen’s top-rated series’ chart due to a quirk of some games airing only on NFL Network, and others simulcast on both Fox and NFL. (This won’t be an issue next year, as “Thursday Night Football” moves to Amazon Prime Video — and off this chart.)But beyond that, network TV’s embrace of procedural dramas is giving broadcasters a fighting chance at survival.

Going hairless wasn’t fun for Simu Liu.

Netflix’s “Russian Doll,” Natasha Lyonne become obsessed with filming a pivotal finale sequence at a location that was her “kind of kink” — the underground cisterns in Budapest.“I have two churches in my life: science and the movies. And what I love about science is that it is so conclusively bigger than me,” Lyonne told Variety during an interview on the upstate New York set of “Poker Face,” her upcoming Rian Johnson-created Peacock series. “I have a real intuitive understanding of the language of cinema and literature and music.

filming “Barbie” for Simu Liu.The “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” star, 33, revealed he underwent a painful beauty regimen for the upcoming movie, confessing that he had to wax all of his body hair.“Waxing has been an education, to say the least,” Liu told the Independent in a new profile. “It was one of the most painful experiences of my life.”The Canadian native continued, “I have such a newfound admiration for the incredibly brave women who go through this on a monthly basis.”Warner Bros.

Buddies despite the breakup. Natasha Lyonne brought out ex-boyfriend Fred Armisen when she hosted the Saturday Night Live season 47 finale just one month after confirming their breakup.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeVillage Roadshow Television has secured the life rights of civil rights, religious and political leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson to adapt his story into a limited series. The company is working closely with Rev.

Saturday Night Live saw one of its biggest exodus in last week’s season finale – with Deadline breaking the news that Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney were leaving alongside Pete Davidson.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeThose “specific people” showed up at the Variety offices in costume as the mysterious guards (aka “pink soldiers”) from “Squid Game,” complete with iconic circle/triangle/square masks. They came bearing an invitation to Netflix’s FYSee Emmy events space at Raleigh Studios, along with a box of donuts.The brutal South Korean drama about class, power, wealth and kiddie games clearly remains an awards priority for the streamer — particularly after this year’s SAG Awards garnered wins including male actor (Lee Jung-Jae) and female actor (Jung Ho-yeon).

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeFormer “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett’s directing debut has finally found a home: BET+ has picked up “B-Boy Blues,” which will debut on the streamer on June 9 in time for Pride Month. As part of the pickup, Mona Scott-Young and her Monami Entertainment has joined the film as a producer and was instrumental in getting the deal done with BET+.“B-Boy Blues” reps the first project for Smollett since being found guilty of making false reports about what he alleged to be a hate crime.

Kate McKinnonThe versatile impressionist’s “Tiger King”-inspired limited series “Joe and Carole,” in which she played Carole Baskin, debuted on Peacock in March. She’s currently filming Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie and voices Lulu, a hairless guinea pig, in “DC’s League of Super-Pets,” which hits theaters July 29.Pete DavidsonHis A24 horror film “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies” opens on August 5 and and he’s filming the retirement home thriller “The Home” from “The Purge” director James DeMonaco. He just signed to star opposite Naomi Scott in David Michôd’s “Wizards!” for A24 and Plan B.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Paramount Network’s “Yellowstone” turned into a bona fide Emmy contender, in its fourth season, as the show’s audience grew beyond its middle America base and managed to reach the coasts — including industry players and Hollywood awards voters. Last year, its only Emmy nomination was for outstanding production design for a narrative contemporary program (one hour or more).

What’s next? Pete Davidson has officially closed his Saturday Night Live chapter, but the comedian remains as booked and busy as ever thanks to his new series, Bupkis.

An out-of-this-world animated series from Maya Rudolph and Natasha Lyonne’s Animal Pictures has been given the green light by Amazon Prime Video.Rudolph and Lyonne will also star in “The Hospital” alongside Keke Palmer, Greta Lee, Kieran Culkin and Sam Smith.“The Hospital” follows Sleech (Lee) and Klak (Palmer) — aliens, best friends and intergalactically renowned surgeons — as they tackle anxiety-eating parasites, illegal time loops and deep-space STIs. Risking their careers to take on a remarkable case, they put existence itself in jeopardy. Although considering their dismal personal lives, oblivion might be an improvement.Palmer’s Dr.

Pete Davidson's  exit over the weekend featured tributes from a long list of big names (girlfriend Kim Kardashian included), but you may have missed Eminem’s appearance on the roster. The famed rapper made a cameo on Saturday in a cut-for-time sketch that parodied his and Dr. Dre's 1999 hit, «Forgot About Dre.»The sketch, «Forgot About Lorne,» is Davidson's thank you to producer Lorne Michaels for his role in shaping so many careers.

Pete Davidson’s final appearance on Saturday Night Live was May 21. His girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, made sure to show love and support during the bittersweet moment.“In case you haven’t heard this lately, I love you.

Pete Davidson will be leaving the cast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live following its season 47 finale this weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, and Kyle Mooney are also expected to leave the show following tomorrow’s episode, which will be hosted by The Russian Doll‘s Natasha Lyonne and feature musical guest Japanese Breakfast.

Pete Davidson‘s final sketches for Saturday Night Live, the comedian called upon Eminem to help pay tribute to the show’s creator Lorne Michaels.It was announced earlier this week that a number of cast members would be bidding farewell to the late night sketch show at the end of its 47th season which came to a close last night (May 21).The cast members leaving the show include Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Addy Bryant and Kyle Mooney, all of whom bid farewell to Studio 8H in their own way during last night’s season finale.Davidson’s farewell reflected on his first-ever appearance on the showin a segment alongside Colin Jost on the ‘Weekend Update’ desk. He then thanked SNL “for always having my back, for allowing me to work on myself and grow” and “for never giving up on me or judging me even when everyone else was”.The ‘Weekend Update’ wasn’t the only sendoff for Davidson: in a Cut for Time sketch, the comedian delivered a third and final Eminem parody dedicated to his mentor and SNL creator Lorne Michaels, much to the irritation of the Detroit rapper himself.Flipping Dr. Dre and Eminem’s 2000 hit ‘Forgot About Dre’ into ‘Forgot About Lorne’, Davidson – using deepfake technology – paid tribute to Michaels’ legacy while namechecking a number of past cast members that went to become household names because of Michaels.However, Davidson’s tribute gets cut short when Eminem stops by the studio and shuts the production down, lambasting the comedian for his Slim Shady-themed parodies over his SNL tenure. “Please, stop.

Four stars of Saturday Night Live just enjoyed the final episode of their final season on the late-night show — and they got a touching send-off for the finisher!

her final appearance as a regular cast member, “SNL” opened with a cold open sketch featuring Rafferty once again escalating how gross and explicit she gets describing what happened to her. And yes, as always it was hilarious.In this installment, the government agents questioning abductees were once again played by Aidy Bryant and Mikey Day, while McKinnon’s fellow abductees were once again played by Cecily Strong and the show’s host, in this case Natasha Lyonee.As always, they joke is that two of the alien abductees had a remarkably easy time during their abductions, with the experience being either fun or just spiritually profound.

Her swan song! After it was announced that Kate McKinnon would depart Saturday Night Live after 10 years, her final cold open sketch brought plenty of nostalgia and emotions.

Natasha Lyonne made her “Saturday Night Live” hosting debut in the final episode of the 47th season, where she joked about the recent arrival of the second season of her Netflix comedy “Russian Doll”.

After it was announced that Kate McKinnon is one of several longtime cast members leaving “Saturday Night Live”, fans were anticipating some truly memorable sign-offs — and they got it right off the bat with a special “Cold Open” sketch.

Saturday Night Live have said goodbye to several cast members as its 47th season comes to a close.Cast members including Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Addy Bryant, Pete Davidson, and Kyle Mooney each big farewell to Studio 8H in their own ways.Davidson’s farewell reflected on his first-ever appearance on SNL in a segment alongside Colin Jost on the ‘Weekend Update’ desk.Recalling his first audition for the show, he recalled: “[Lorne Michaels] looked me right in the eye and said, ‘I don’t think you’re right for this show, so let’s screw this up together.’ And that’s exactly what we did, and that’s why people who don’t think I deserve this job shouldn’t hate me because we have so much in common.“If anything, I should inspire hope — that literally anyone could be on Saturday Night Live. Seriously, you see a guy bumming cigarettes outside a 7/11 at 2 a.m.? That’s not some meth head.

Japanese Breakfast made her Saturday Night Live debut last night (May 21) on the show’s season 47 finale – watch her play ‘Be Sweet’ and ‘Paprika’ below.The singer-songwriter, aka Michelle Zauner, released new album ‘Jubilee’ last year, and appeared alongside host Natasha Lyonne, star of Russian Doll and Orange Is The New Black.Zauner played two of the biggest hits from ‘Jubilee’ on the show. For ‘Be Sweet’, she was dressed in deep red and backed by a four-piece band all in white, before she donned a white frock and was joined by a horn section for ‘Paprika’.Watch the two performances below.Last night’s SNL season finale also saw the departure of longtime cast member Pete Davidson.Fellow cast members Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon and Kyle Mooney also announced they were to leave the show after last night’s episode.The news comes after Davidson remarked in 2021 that he was “ready to hang up the jersey” with regards to his stint on SNL.Elsewhere on the 47th season of the show, Post Malone made his Saturday Night Live debut, with Selena Gomez also be making her debut on the NBC programme as host.During his performance, the rapper was joined by Fleet Foxes to premiere ‘Love/Hate Letter to Alcohol’, a song from his forthcoming album ‘Twelve Carat Toothache’.The May 7 episode of SNL, meanwhile, featured Arcade Fire as musical guests, following the release of their latest album ‘WE’ last Friday.

#SNLFinale pic.twitter.com/7yOZJJSdloDavidson, who has rarely appeared on the show in recent months, said when he started on “SNL” people thought he was racially ambiguous.“Now everyone knows I’m white because I became hugely successful while barely showing up to work,” he cracked.Davidson gave a shoutout to Executive Producer Lorne Michaels, who took a chance on hiring the comic when he was just 21.“He led us through the COVID-era, even though the only time he wears a mask is at his ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ parties,” Davidson joked.“Thank you for believing in me and allowing me to have a place that I can call home, with memories that will last a lifetime. So thank you guys,” he said earnestly to the cast and crew.Lyonne’s monologue played up her “real New Yorker” status, and brought out her friends and former “SNL” cast members Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph, who did impressions of the “Orange is the New Black” star.“‘SNL’ combines everything I like.

Saturday Night Live bid farewell to four veteran cast members tonight, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson and Kyle Mooney. McKinnon, Bryant and Davidson, who have all become household names since SNL launched their careers, all got individual sendoffs with some of their most popular recurring skits. Mooney, who has spent most of his time on the show as a valuable but underrated performer, made an understated — yet dramatic — exit.

Natasha Lyonne is hosting Saturday Night Live for the very first time!

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorSurvive, from New York: “Saturday Night Live” will continue on without four prominent departing cast members, but most of them got a chance to offer up a few final laughs before the show completed its 47th season.Word that Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney and Pete Davidson planned to leave the venerable late-night series after Saturday’s broadcast leaked out late in the week. That made appearances by the actors all the more emotional during NBC’s broadcast of SNL’s season finale. McKinnon made one more run as Ms.

Kate McKinnon is one of several longtime cast members leaving, fans were anticipating some truly memorable sign-offs -- and they got it right off the bat with a special «Cold Open» sketch.In the final episode of the season, McKinnon appeared as her recurring character Colleen Rafferty, a woman who has been frequently abducted by aliens and then interrogated by government agents.Joined by Cecily Strong and host Natasha Lyonne as fellow abductees, the trio answer questions from two agents — played by the departing Aidy Bryant and longtime castmember Mikey Day. And, as fans have come to expect from Colleen Rafferty's tales of alien encounters, things got really dirty really fast.The «Close Encounters» series of sketches was made famous back in Season 41, when the sketch featured host Ryan Gosling, and McKinnon's flawless performance as Rafferty made him break down into fits of laughter throughout nearly the entire sketch.This time around, Colleen's tale was particularly vulgar, but ended on a sweet note when the agents informed the interviewees that the aliens are looking to take one of them permanently in exchange for some advanced technology.«Well, I can read the room.

Russian Doll’s co-creator and star Natasha Lyonne tonight hosted her first episode of SNL, speaking in her opening monologue about her Netflix series and more.

Saturday Night Live opened with one of the show’s most popular skits: Close Encounter, this time with departing cast member Kate McKinnon bidding adieu as Colleen Rafferty really is sent off on an alien spaceship.

Pete Davidson‘s time on Saturday Night Live is coming to an end.

In a heartfelt open letter, Pete Davidson announced his departure from “Saturday Night Live” after starring on the NBC sketch comedy show for eight years. 

Pete Davidson is officially closing the doors of Studio 8H. After reports emerged on Friday that he would be leaving, the comedian addressed the news himself through an emotional message on Dave Sirus' Instagram account ahead of his final show. «This video was taken 8 years ago. Jerrod sent it to me last night and it made me super emotional in the best way.

Pete Davidson has taken to Instagram to reflect on his imminent departure from Saturday Night Live.

All good things must come to an end. Pete Davidson has confirmed he is leaving Saturday Night Live after eight seasons, and the season 47 finale on Saturday, May 21, will be his final episode.