New ‘SNL’ Not on Tonight, NBC Re-Airing Jennifer Lopez Episode Instead

NBC is once again airing a repeat of Saturday Night Live this weekend, giving Lorne Michaels and his team another week to prepare for the show’s long-awaited return. The peacock network is airing the Dec. 7, 2019 episode, featuring Jennifer Lopez as host and rapper DaBaby as performer. The episode featured a handful of surprise appearances, including the SNL debut for Late Late Show host James Corden.

The Lopez-hosted episode will air at 11:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night, in the show’s usual timeslot. It marked the first time Lopez hosted the show since 2010 and only her third time overall. She first appeared on the show as a musical guest in 2000 and first hosted in 2001. It marked DaBaby’s first appearance on the show.

Lopez’s episode kicked off with a long cold open parodying gossip about President Donald Trump at the NATO conference in December. The sketch was packed with surprise appearances, as Jimmy Fallon showed up to play Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Paul Rudd played French President Emmanuel Macron and Corden appeared on SNL for the first time to play U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. As usual, Alec Baldwin played Trump.

Lopez herself starred in several memorable sketches. She brought in fiance Alex Rodriguez to “break up” with her in a pre-taped sketch in which she fell in love with a roadie named “Chad,” played by Pete Davidson.

In “The Corporal,” Lopez played a sister on a television show who is so beautiful her sisters try to keep her locked up in the house so they have a chance with men. The “Hoops” sketch also featured Lopez and Melissa Villasenor as the owners of a jewelry shop that specializes in gaudy hoop earrings.

Lopez’s episode also featured the return of “Them Trumps,” a series in which Kenan Thompson plays President Donald Trump as a black man. In the latest sketch, SNL showed what would happen at a Trump rally if the president was black.

Lopez’s appearance on SNL came just before the awards season kicked into high gear this month. She was widely expected to earn a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Hustlers at the Oscars, but she was surprisingly snubbed. Still, Lopez does not have much time to be sad about it, since she is now getting ready to perform at the Super Bowl in Miami on Feb. 2. Lopez and Shakira are the headliners for the halftime show.

The next new episode of SNL will not air until Saturday, Jan. 25. Adam Driver, who was just nominated for an Oscar for Marriage Story, will host, with Halsey as musical guest.

Photo credit: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images