New ‘SNL’ Not on Tonight, NBC Re-Airing Kristen Stewart Episode Instead

If you were hoping to spend your weekend laughing away before bed with Saturday Night Live while practicing social-distancing and self-quarantining care of the latest national emergency in the form of COVID-19, better luck next time, TV fans! NBC will not be airing a new episode of its hilarious sketch comedy series on March 14, and instead, re-airing an episode from November starring actress, Kristen Stewart as the evening’s host with musical guest, Coldplay.

While the show is oftentimes taped live in front of a studio audience in New York City, the rerun has nothing to do with health concerns surrounding coronavirus. It was scheduled ahead of time, with the cast preparing for its next guest in former NBC star, John Krasinski who is set to host March 28 for the first time ever ahead of the release of his movie, A Quiet Place II. Though NBCU has halted production of more then 30 shows in light of coronavirus concerns, the episode with The Office alum is currently still scheduled with musical guest, Dua Lipa.

Confirmed by Deadline on Thursday night, the move from the network is just the latest in a sweeping number of postponements and cancellations in the entertainment industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The safety and health of our cast, crew and employees is our top priority,” NBCU said in a statement Thursday night. “Where possible, we are pausing production for two weeks as a precautionary measure, following which we will reassess and determine an appropriate start date. In some cases, we are accelerating plans to wrap up physical production.”

In light of Donald Trump issuing a statement on Friday regarding the global pandemic, fans of SNL will have to wait and see where things stand in terms of a live studio audience before we know for sure if the show will be impacted. The president also urged all states to set up emergency response centers and asked hospitals to begin their emergency preparedness plans so they can “meet the needs of Americans everywhere.”

As for tonight’s episode, SNL is re-airing Stewart’s episode from Nov. 2, 2019, which was in conjunction to the actress’ role in the new Charlie’s Angels movie, while Coldplay — in what was their sixth appearance — were promoting their latest record, Everyday Life.

Stewart previously hosted the show for Season 42, in which she dropped an F-bomb and delivered a memorable monologue, mentioning Trump’s Twitter obsession with her.

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