SNL Season 43 Odds: Will Ratings Surge Continue?

Saturday Night Live managed to stop the leaking last season and sailed to a 24-year ratings high. They’ll be looking to pick up where they left off when season 43 kicks off on September 30th. Ryan Gosling is scheduled to host the season premiere with Jay Z as the musical act.  

Colin Jost and Michael Che will continue to host Weekend Update, Kenan Thompson returns for a record 15th season, and Alec Baldwin is back to rehash his Trump impression. Will the “Trump bump” be as notable this season or will they revert to the ratings start to sag now that Trump has been President for almost a year and the whole world is too sad to laugh?

Here are the odds!

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, SEASON 43 ODDS

Odds viewership increases vs Season 42: 3/1

Donald Trump was a blessing for Saturday Night Live and American comedy in general. Season 42 pulled in the show’s best ratings in over two decades, averaging 11.3 million live viewers for the season.

Season 43 will continue to ride the Trump wave with Alec Baldwin returning to play the President. However, now the novelty of the Trump presidency has worn off and the Trump bump won’t be as much of a boost as it was last season.

Odds Sean Spicer makes an appearance on Season 43: 1/1

Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has been making the rounds lately, appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live and recently making a cameo at the Emmys. In a bit with host Stephen Colbert, Spicer jokingly referenced his bald-faced lie regarding Donald Trump’s inauguration crowd-size, quipping: “This will be the largest audience to ever witness the Emmys, period.”

Spicer is definitely comfortable taking light jabs at himself for his role in the Trump administration, but many are not so forgiving and have expressed their disappointment in Hollywood for being so quick to embrace him. If he’s willing to appear on SNL, then the show will undoubtedly have him on. At the end of the day, it’s all about ratings.

Over/Under on Emmys for Season 43: 1.5

SNL dominated the 2017 Emmys, picking up seven nominations and winning four awards — Outstanding Variety Sketch Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Alec Baldwin), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Kate McKinnon), and Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series (Don Roy King).

However, SNL 41 only picked up one Emmy award (and two nominations) and SNL 40 left empty-handed. Season 43 will land somewhere in between.

Odds Donald Trump criticizes Season 43 via Twitter: 1/2

In typical Trump fashion, the President has hit back at SNL via Twitter. Last season, he criticized Baldwin’s portrayal of him: “Watched Saturday Night Live hit job on me. Time to retire the boring and unfunny show. Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks.”

He’s also called the show biased (“It is a totally one-sided, biased show — nothing funny at all. Equal time for us?”) and just plain “bad” (“Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!”).

The mocking will surely continue, the question is whether it’ll bother Trump enough for him to respond.

Odds to host an episode of Season 43

• Alec Baldwin: 2/1
• Melissa McCarthy: 2/1
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus: 3/1
• Aziz Ansari: 4/1
• Donald Glover: 5/1
• Jimmy Fallon: 5/1
• Sean Spicer: 6/1
• Donald Trump: 19/1