NBC is lining up three back-to-back Saturday Night Live shows in May to close out the sketch comedy giant’s 51st season, with Matt Damon set to return as host on May 9. Noah Kahan will join him as musical guest, marking his second go-round on the show.
The May run starts with Olivia Rodrigo on May 2, when she will host and serve as musical guest, and ends May 16 with Will Ferrell as the finale host and Paul McCartney back as musical guest for the fifth time. Damon’s appearance will be his third time hosting SNL, and it gives NBC a clean stretch of star power to finish a season that is still rolling with new episodes. Saturday Night Live continues on April 11 with host Colman Domingo and musical guest Anitta, airing live on NBC and streaming live on Peacock at 11:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. PT.
The May bookings fit NBC’s plan to end the 51st season with three consecutive Saturday broadcasts, a rare run of marquee names in a short span. Damon will arrive with another high-profile project on deck too: He is next set to appear in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, due in theaters July 17.
What makes the schedule stand out is not just the names, but the way NBC is spacing them. Rodrigo opens the stretch, Damon follows, and Ferrell closes it with McCartney, turning the final month into a deliberate finish rather than a routine end-of-season slate.
For Damon, the return is straightforward: a third turn at the SNL podium, a May 9 slot, and a show built to land with the momentum of a season-end push behind it. NBC has answered the question its lineup raises. The network is not easing into summer; it is going out with three straight live shows and some of the biggest names it could fit into one month.
