'Saturday Night Live': Tracy Morgan, Amy Schumer among new SNL hosts

Morgan, Schumer, and singer Miley Cyrus are reportedly on board as hosts for the first few episodes of the NBC comedy show. Morgan was an 'SNL' cast member and starred on the NBC sitcom '30 Rock.'

Those behind the scenes at the NBC program “Saturday Night Live” have announced the first few hosts for the season.

One will be comedian Tracy Morgan, who was a cast member on the show from 1996 to 2003 and starred on the NBC sitcom “30 Rock.” He was involved in a car accident last year and has been recovering since then. Mr. Morgan has served as host once before, in 2009, since his departure from the show. His show “30 Rock” ended in 2013.

There was recently a special episode of “SNL” honoring its fortieth season and “30 Rock” stars Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin mentioned Morgan during the episode. “I wish my friend Tracy Morgan was here tonight,” Ms. Fey said, while Mr. Baldwin said, “See you at the 41st, Tracy.” 

Morgan will be the third to host a show during the “SNL” 41st season – singer Miley Cyrus will host the first episode on Oct. 3, then Amy Schumer of “Trainwreck” will follow on Oct. 10. Morgan will host the Oct. 17 episode. Those behind the show haven’t yet announced who the musical guests will be.

Morgan commented on the upcoming hosting job on Twitter.

Many cast members of “SNL” have come back to serve as host, the slot is usually given to a celebrity who then often begins the night with a monologue and participates in many of the evening’s sketches. Some of the cast members to have served earliest on the show who have hosted include Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, and Bill Murray, while other alumni who have returned to host include Fey, Billy Crystal, Robert Downey Jr., Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mike Myers, Amy Poehler, and Will Ferrell.

Eddie Murphy, one of the show’s most famous alumni, has not hosted the show since he left in 1984 but did come back for the show’s fortieth anniversary special.