New ‘SNL’ Not on Tonight, NBC Re-Airing Kit Harington Episode Instead

Before heading into the final stretch of its 44th season that also sees the return of Adam Sandler, Saturday Night Live is chilling out for one more weekend and re-airing the very funny episode featuring Game of Thrones star, Kit Harington and musical guest, Sara Bareilles tonight.

It was the first time hosting for the HBO actor, who charmed audiences with a slew of sketches in the 17th episode of the season.

Featuring a fair bit of jokes based off his HBO fantasy series along with a mini reunion with his co-stars, including the likes of Emilia Clarke and John Bradley, Harington brought out a barrel of laughs from audiences at home with highlights ranging from him getting a prostate exam in an Undercover Boss parody and a Michael Jackson impression while singing Frank Sinatra.

Not to mention, the hilarious burlesque number in a bachelorette skit starring the likes of Cecily Strong and Kate McKinnon, had the 32-year-old guest star entering the weird and wacky world of SNL, as Harington showed off his chops in full comedic mode, wearing a corset with long gloves, high heels (“for posture”), and nipple tassels.

Harington also inspired a digital short parody, which included prequels, sequels and spin-offs of the series to keep Game of Thrones fans entertained long after season 8 draws to a close.

While fans were loving the tease, one of the parody spin-offs most brilliantly re-imagined through various promo segments was a nod to NBC‘s longest running drama series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which featured the show’s original stars, Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T. Fitting in most perfectly with the show’s already gruesome themes, the SVU crossover finds Hargitay and Ice-T sporting costumes straight out of the HBO series, but investigating crimes as usual.

Saturday Night Live revealed the hosts for its last episodes for the season, including the return of Adam Sandler on May 4, who fans will notably remember got his big start on the sketch comedy series in 1990 to 1995.

Rounding off the season, SNL will bring out Emma Thompson with the Jonas Brothers on May 11, and Avengers: Endgame star, Paul Rudd with DJ Khaled.

As for Harington, Game of Thrones ends this May and if the Season 8 premiere with its monster ratings was any indication of how things will go from here to the end, it is no joke that fans are getting excited as winter arrives.

Harington and the cast of the HBO series delivered a ratings record thanks to the show drawing in a massive 17.4 million viewers on premiere Sunday, according to Entertainment Weekly, which calculated the numbers from “multiple airings and including some streaming.”

The final season premiere for the fantasy epic boasted an equally epic marketing push in the past few months, marking it the “biggest telecast” in the network’s history and the most-watched scripted entertainment program of the year so far.

Saturday Night Live airs every Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC, while Game of Thrones airs every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

Photo credit: Will Heath/NBC