Season 51 of Saturday Night Live is shaping up to be one star-studded start: The venerable late-night institution’s first three October episodes will feature a mix of international star power, showbiz favorites, and the year’s biggest breakout pop phenom. NBC announced an opening night hosted by Bad Bunny, with Doja Cat appearing as a follow-up guest; an episode led by Amy Poehler with Role Model; and a month-ender headlined by Sabrina Carpenter, who will try to pull off hosting-and-musical-guest.
Who Is Hosting SNL in October: The Confirmed Lineup
Bad Bunny, another musician who can actually carry a sketch, hosts again. His last turn featured sharp timing, bilingual sketches and a comfort level with live comedy that helped the episode overperform on social media. He’s one of the hottest virtual-ticket sellers in North America, one of the most muscular touring footprints in the world, a multiple Latin Grammy winner — exactly the type of cross-market booking SNL has pursued under its expanded cultural bandwidth.
The second trip of the month is hosted by Amy Poehler, who will be making her third return to hosting duties and second outside the confines of (now) 30 Rock since she left her SNL cast member days behind. Alumni-hosted episodes sometimes come with a built-in burst of nostalgia, so here, Poehler’s Weekend Update lineage and sketch versatility provide the writers room to stretch out for some old reliables while still experimenting within new(ish) formats. Look for an economical, joke-laden show; few hosts know the machine as well as she does.
To finish the month, Sabrina Carpenter will do double duty as host and musical guest. Double-duty slots are essentially a trust fall from the producers; in recent years they have gone to music stars whose reach goes beyond playlists, who share personality-driven appeal. Carpenter’s pop tenure — including a series of chart-toppers worldwide and one Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 — makes her exactly the sort of multihyphenate SNL enjoys testing across sketches and songs.
October Music on SNL: Who Is Performing When
Doja Cat teams up with Bad Bunny on opening night, an arrangement designed to push the show as wide as possible. She’s one of streaming’s most reliably giant names, and Luminate follows billions in annual on-demand plays, with her live TV sets as the sort that spike next-day chatter across TikTok and X. Expect high-concept staging and memeable moments — the kind that SNL’s YouTube channel invariably cashes for seven-figure views by Monday.
Role Model will also join Poehler for the second show of the month.
The rising pop act has been succeeding on the strength of intimate songwriting and sticky hooks, exactly the kind of vibe that translates well to SNL’s abbreviated two-song format. For up-and-coming artists, the show is still a career accelerant; labels and managers frequently cite measurable lifts on Spotify and Shazam following a solid 8H set.
Carpenter’s self-contained conclusion promises to be watercooler-worthy. Double-duty episodes historically deliver strong engagement — last visitations by the likes of Bad Bunny and Harry Styles attracted hefty real-time conversation and solid next-day streaming bumps. With momentum on the charts and a talent for winking, character-forward turns, she’s primed to muddy lines between pop star and sketch player — just the kind of crossbreed that SNL tends to lavish.
Why This October SNL Lineup Matters for the Season
The October schedule triangulates three audiences: global Latin pop (Bad Bunny), legacy SNL fans (Poehler) and the present-tense pop conversation (Carpenter). That spread is intentional. Nielsen numbers have long suggested that SNL’s week-to-week shifts in audience largely track host comfort and musical virality; an opening combo of event fodder, alum presence, zeitgeist closer creates multiple on-ramps for different demos.
It’s also a utilitarian writers’ room play. In the middle of a month, a veteran alum can just stabilize a show, free up risk on each side for slightly more experimental sketches — say, bilingual set pieces with Bad Bunny or music-driven concept comedy with Carpenter. For NBC, the combination gives promo teams easy storylines to sell: international crossover, homecoming favorite and double-duty star turn.
Quick Episode Guide for SNL in October with Hosts and Musical Guests
- Episode 1 of October: Host Bad Bunny; musical guest Doja Cat.
- Episode 2 of October: Host Amy Poehler; musical guest Role Model.
- Episode 3 of October: Sabrina Carpenter will pull double duty as host and musical guest.
As always, the bookings communicate a story before the cold open even begins rolling. If the past few seasons are any guide, these three shows will set the season’s tenor — balancing spectacle, nostalgia and just enough cultural heat to be sure that SNL is central to the conversation headed into Monday and beyond.
