“‘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,” NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said 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.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the episode will air live at 11:30 p.m. in the Eastern time zone, 10:30 p.m. in the Central time zone, 9:30 in the Mountain time zone and at 8:30 p.m. on the Pacific time zone.
Actor Melissa McCarthy, who took a notable turn as President Donald Trump’s communications director and White House press secretary Sean Spicer, was announced as the host of the May 13 show.
Hosts for episodes airing April 15, May 6 and 20 will be late night talk show host and former ‘SNL’ cast mate Jimmy Fallon, actor Chris Pine and actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, respectively.
Finishing Season 42 with four great shows! #SNL pic.twitter.com/D87eCaADmS
— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) March 16, 2017
'SNL' announced on Twitter on Tuesday that one of its popular segments, "Weekend Update," will air as a separate special program in primetime for four weeks in the fall. The first episode is Aug. 10.
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