'SNL' Taps Aubrey Plaza and Michael B. Jordan to Host First 2023 Shows

By Daniel S. Levine

The first Saturday Night Live episodes of the year will be hosted by more stars who have not visited Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center before. The White Lotus star Aubrey Plaza will host the first show of the year on Jan. 21, while Black Panther's Michael B. Jordan will host the second on Jan. 28. These will also be the first episodes of the season since Cecily Strong exited as a cast member.

Plaza is coming off an incredibly successful 2022. She starred in the critically acclaimed crime drama Emily the Criminal, which she also produced. Plaza also played Harper Spiller in The White Lotus Season 2 and voices Laura Feinberg in the FX animated series Little Demon. Plaza is familiar to NBC viewers as April Ludgate, her breakthrough role on Parks and Recreation.

Sam Smith will be the musical guest for Plaza's episode. This will mark their third appearance on the show, as they previously performed in March 2014 and October 2017. Smith's new album Gloria will be released on Jan. 27. It includes the singles "Love Me More" and "Unholy." This is Smith's first album since 2020's Love Goes.

Jordan's SNL episode will air a few weeks before his new movie, Creed III, hits theaters. It will hit theaters on March 3 and marks Jordan's directing debut. In 2022, Jordan made a cameo appearance as Erik "Killmonger" Stevens in Marvel's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Jordan also narrated the National Geographic Disney+ documentary series America the Beautiful.

Rapper Lil Baby will perform during Jordan's episode. Although this is his first time as a main musical guest, he made joined DJ Khaled for a medley of "Jealous" and "You Stay." Lil Baby, whose real name is Dominique Armani Jones, released his album It's Only Me in October 2022. The album includes the singles "In a Minute" and "Heyy."

SNL Season 48 began with the most drastic cast overhaul since 1995. Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Pete Davidson, and Kate McKinnon all left after the Season 47 finale. Before the show returned, Alex Moffat, Chris Redd, Melissa Villasenor, and Aristotle Athari all left. Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker were cast to replace them.

Strong missed the first three episodes of the season because of her commitment to a Los Angeles state revival of The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. However, the Dec. 17 episode turned out to be Strong's last. Guest host Austin Butler joined the cast to sing "Blue Christmas" in her honor.

SNL airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET. All 48 seasons are available to stream on Peacock.

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