The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced during the forty-second season of SNL, which began on October 1, 2016.
Action 9 News At Five Television reporters interview survivors of a calamity, but the focus shifts to the survivors' quirks. The "Name Change Office" became a recurring sketch within the larger "Action 9 News at Five" recurring sketch.
Season Episode Host Notes 42 October 1, 2016 Margot Robbie"Eye on Tampa: Sinkhole opens downtown". The news reporters are baffled to learn that Alexandra Kennedy-Schatt (Robbie), a beautiful, rich woman from the Kennedy dynasty, is married to the very average Matt Schatt (Day). The Matt Schatt character became the subject of a separate recurring sketch, where his marriage to an exceptional woman continues to puzzle others. 43 December 2, 2017 Saoirse Ronan "Eye on Phoenix: Gas leak at the American Girl Store". Customer Thomas Dean (Day) tries and fails to convince the reporters that the doll he was about to buy was a gift for someone else. 44 January 19, 2019 Rachel Brosnahan "Eye on NorCal: Ceiling collapse at name change office". A reporter Randall Fields (Day) interviews people who were intending to change their embarrassing names but couldn't due to the disaster, such as Donald McRonald (Kenan Thompson) and Mark Peanus (Kyle Mooney). 46 October 3, 2020 Chris Rock "Eye on Pittsburgh: Superspreader event at name change office". A reporter Dylan Bertram (Day) interviews people who were intending to change their embarrassing names but couldn't due to a COVID-19 superspreading event, such as Edith Puthie (Ego Nwodim) and Mike Rodick (Beck Bennett).
Matt Pat Schatt An unimpressive man's (Mikey Day) marriage to a beautiful woman, played by the host, confuses everyone who interacts with them. Season Episode Host Notes 42 October 1, 2016 Margot Robbie News reporters from Action 9 News at Five (Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong, Beck Bennett, and Leslie Jones) are distracted from reporting on a sinkhole and sports when they learn that bystander Alexandra Kennedy-Schatt (Robbie), a beautiful, rich woman from the Kennedy dynasty, is married to the very average Matt Schatt (Day). The "Action 9 News at Five" became a separate recurring sketch, where the reporters were distracted from newsworthy events by other quirks of witnesses. 45 December 7, 2019 Jennifer Lopez HGTV host Becker Cheeks (Thompson) and staff (Bennett, Bowen Yang) give a surprise home makeover to Schatt and his wife Jacqueline (Lopez), a beautiful human rights lawyer. She allows him to have other sexual partners to better "meet his needs," despite his unemployment and obsession with Smurfs. 48 April 15, 2023 Ana de Armas Game show host Ted Connelly (Thompson) introduces Schatt and his third wife Carmen (Ana de Armas) as contestants on the Dome. She is employed as a dancer in the oldest ballet company in the country, and Schatt is working as a volunteer dog food taste tester. Schatt is also revealed to have "dozens" of nipples.
Debette Goldry Kate McKinnon plays an elderly actress, introduced as "the incomparable Debette Goldry," who talks about how hard her life was during the Golden Era of Hollywood. Season Episode Host Notes 42 October 1, 2016 Margot Robbie Goldry appears at a roundtable with Keira Knightley (Robbie), Marion Cotillard (Cecily Strong) and Lupita Nyong'o (Sasheer Zamata). Karen Domineau senior writer at Glamour.com (Aidy Bryant) moderates. 42 December 3, 2016 Emma Stone Goldry appears at a panel with Leslie Jones, Stone and Jennifer Aniston, all playing themselves. Cecilia Prince Director of Programming at the Paley Center for Media (Zamata) moderates. 42 May 13, 2017 Melissa McCarthy Goldry appears at a panel with Marion Cotillard (Strong), Lupita Nyong'o (Zamata) and another elderly actress named Gaye Fontaine (McCarthy). Jen Freeman of Film Society Lincoln Center (Vanessa Bayer) moderates. 43 October 14, 2017 Kumail Nanjiani In midst of the allegations surrounding Harvey Weinstein, Goldry appears at a panel with Marion Cotillard (Strong) and Viola Davis (Jones). Karen Domineau associate editor at Glamour.com (Bryant) moderates. 44 October 6, 2018 Awkwafina Goldry appears at a panel with Marion Cotillard (Strong), Allison Janney (Heidi Gardner), and Sandra Oh (Awkwafina). Karen Domineau weekend editor at Glamour.com (Bryant) moderates.
Melania Moments A series of short vignettes with Melania Trump (Cecily Strong) contemplating things that happen in her life. Beck Bennett narrates. Written by Julio Torres.
Season Episode Host Notes 42 October 1, 2016 Margot Robbie No. 27: "The Passerby" 42 October 8, 2016 Lin-Manuel Miranda No. 78: "The Dream" 42 October 15, 2016 Emily Blunt No. 102: "The Housemaid"
David S. Pumpkins
Friends enter a horror themed ride, where the operator (Kenan Thompson) opens various doors that initially reveal horror characters that scare them. The doors then open to reveal David S. Pumpkins, a man wearing a black and orange pumpkin-themed suit (Tom Hanks), and his two dancing skeleton sidekicks (Mikey Day, Bobby Moynihan), which the friends find unscary and confusing. Season Episode Host Notes 42 October 22, 2016 Tom Hanks 42 May 20, 2017 Dwayne Johnson Tom Hanks appears briefly as David S. Pimpkins, with similar mannerisms and clothes as David S. Pumpkins, in the pre-recorded video "Rap Song" 48 October 29, 2022 Jack Harlow
Leslie & Kyle love story A mockumentary series depicting the fictional romance between Leslie Jones and Kyle Mooney, and the love triangle that forms between them and Colin Jost.
Season Episode Host Notes 42 November 12, 2016 Dave Chappelle Leslie and Kyle fall in love, with Leslie taking Kyle's virginity in the process. 42 December 3, 2016 Emma Stone Leslie and Kyle hug and kiss in the monologue, which causes Stone to call it "old love". 42 February 11, 2017 Alec Baldwin Leslie auditions for the role of Donald Trump. Her and Kyle's relationship is briefly shown. 42 May 13, 2017 Melissa McCarthy After marrying and having a son together, Leslie and Kyle's relationship is on the rocks as she spends more time with Colin. 43 November 11, 2017 Tiffany Haddish Leslie and Kyle's relationship takes a toll on Kyle and Beck Bennett's friendship. Writer Gary Richardson appears as Leslie and Kyle's son, Little Lorne. 44 September 29, 2018 Adam Driver Inspired by Pete Davidson's relationship with Ariana Grande, Kyle dumps Leslie for Wendy Williams and debuts an edgy new look that is very similar to that of Davidson's. Jones does not appear in the sketch except in a picture with her face cut out. 44 May 18, 2019 Paul Rudd After it's revealed that the prior sketches were all fiction, Kyle and Leslie watch them and fall in love for real. This was the last of these sketches, as Jones left the show after this episode.
A precursor to the sketches, Kyle vs Kanye, was aired on February 13, 2016, during the season 41 episode hosted by Melissa McCarthy. Another sketch, New Cast Member, with Mooney playing both himself and a rarely-featured cast member, was cut for time from the season 44 episode hosted by Idris Elba. New Cast Member featured Jones and had a similar premise to the above sketches, but no mention was made of their relationship. These sketches stopped after season 44, since Jones left the show at the end of the season, but there are several more similar sketches, including one from season 45, titled "Kyle's Transformation", where Kyle transforms his body, so he can get into a sketch about male strippers. There are two of these from season 46, with the sketch "Dancer", with host Issa Rae, where Mooney proves to Rae that he could be Justin Bieber (who was that episode's musical guest)’s backup dancer, only to have his dreams cut short, and in another sketch, but was cut for time, titled "Kyle and Friends" (host Regina King), Mooney reevaluates how he fits in at the world of SNL by putting himself out there. From season 47, there's "Kyle's Holiday", where Billie Eilish served as host and musical guest. In the sketch, Mooney reflects on those that bring him joy, while trying to find Christmas plans. The second one being "Serious Night Live", where host Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Che uncover some of Mooney's problems in a new dramatic, non-comedy series, 'Serious Night Live', those were the last of those sketches, as Mooney left at the end of season 47.
Posters Pete Davidson plays a student with posters (for example, characters from a Black Panther-like superhero movie) in his room. He dreams about them telling him not to drop out of school, instead helping him work hard and focus on his studies. However, one such poster is of airheaded glamour model Krissy Knox (Emma Stone), who instead focuses on the product she is posing with.
Season Episode Host Notes 42 December 3, 2016 Emma Stone Snowboarder Dillon Stanley (Mikey Day), an unnamed video game character (Kate McKinnon) and stand-up comedian Walton P. (Kenan Thompson) tell Shaun (Davidson) not to drop out of school. However, Krissy is only focusing on seductively eating a hot dog. 44 April 13, 2019 Emma Stone Shaun, now in college, is educated by rapper Lil' Percocet (Day), superheroes Black Puma (Thompson) and Jaguara (Ego Nwodim) and wrestler Mad Dog Dugan (Beck Bennett) on why history isn't a boring subject to study. However, Krissy is only focusing on seductively pouring water onto herself with a garden hose.49December 2, 2023Emma StoneMarcello Hernández struggles with his physics homework while David Beckham (Day), wrestler Troy McCoy (Thompson), and an unnamed video game character (Nwodim) attempt to demonstrate how physics are used in their daily lives. Krissy also shows off how she uses physics, mostly involving her seductively bending over the car she is working on.
Pete Davidson's First Impressions Pete Davidson critiques the looks of various people involved in politics.
Season Episode Host Notes 42 January 14, 2017 Felicity Jones Pete critiques Donald Trump's picks for the Supreme Court. 42 March 11, 2017 Scarlett Johansson Pete critiques people involved in the Trump administration. 44 November 3, 2018 Jonah Hill Pete critiques politicians running for office in the 2018 midterm elections. Include an infamous joke about future Rep. Dan Crenshaw.
Dirty Talk A woman (Melissa Villasenor) attempts to talk dirty with her boyfriend (played by the host), but ends up unintentionally turning him off with inappropriate methods. Season Episode Host Notes 42 January 21, 2017 Aziz Ansari 43 May 5, 2018 Donald Glover
Guy Who Just Bought A Boat Alex Moffat plays a man who uses slang to show that he is wealthy, which compensates for his small penis.
Season Episode Host Notes 42 February 11, 2017 Alec Baldwin Valentine’s Day themed dating tips 43 September 30, 2017 Ryan Gosling Gosling appears as his cousin, "Guy Who Just Joined Soho House" 43 December 16, 2017 Kevin Hart Christmas themed dating tips 44 February 9, 2019 Halsey Respectful Valentine’s Day themed dating tips 45 November 23, 2019 Will Ferrell Ryan Reynolds appears as "Guy Who Knows the Owner" 46 April 3, 2021 Daniel Kaluuya Post-Covid dating tips 47 October 23, 2021 Jason Sudeikis Halloween themed dating tips (cut for time) 47 January 22, 2022 Will Forte Football tailgating tips. Pete Davidson also appears to comment on the news that he and Jost bought a Staten Island Ferry. 47 May 21, 2022 Natasha Lyonne Romantic summer travel tips. Last sketch, as Moffat left the show following this episode.
The Duncans Leslie Jones and Mikey Day play a couple who discuss their sex lives on Weekend Update.
Season Episode Host Notes 42 February 11, 2017 Alec Baldwin The Duncans discuss their experience with trying S&M. 43 December 2, 2017 Saoirse Ronan The Duncans talk about their usage of the Kama Sutra.
Eric and Donald Trump Jr.