Anna Phillips October 17th, 2023 - 2:51 PM
Saturday Night Live’s Halloween episode has been announced, with some both new and familiar faces. Comedian Nate Bargatze (Nate Bargatze: Hello World, The Standups) will be hosting the live sketch comedy show for the first time on October 28, along with SNL veterans Foo Fighters, who will take that stage in studio 8H for the ninth time. This will now make Foo Fighters the third most frequent SNL musical guest, behind Paul Simon who has performed 12 times, and Foo Fighters’ very own frontman, Dave Grohl who has performed 14 times, combining his hosting gigs and his musical appearances.
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The Halloween episode will be the third post-strike episode of SNL’s 49th season. Last week on October 14, Pete Davidson (King Of Staten Island) drew in an impressive 4.8 million viewers for the season’s premiere as host, with Ice Spice as the musical guest. This upcoming Saturday, October 21, Bad Bunny will be doing double duty with both hosting and performing as the musical guest.
SNL has to rely on non-SAG-AFTRA members as the union continues to strike. They are able to use musical artists, touring comedians, and any other non-acting personas they deem worthy of the hosting title. Actors who are on strike, so they cannot appear to promote any of the projects they have been in. Future SNL host Bargatze is currently performing on his stand-up tour titled Be Funny, while Foo Fighters are on tour promoting their newest album But Here We Are.
As this is the Halloween episode, audiences and SNL fans are hoping that some recurring spooky characters will make their return to the stage such as Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Toy Story) as David S. Pumpkins, but as of now, it is unclear if there will be a reprise of the sketch.
Watch Saturday Night Live’s upcoming episodes on October 21 and 28 on NBC.
