'Saturday Night Live' will next feature Lady Gaga, Shane Gillis and Tate McRae

Audio By Carbonatix

NEW YORK (AP) — “Saturday Night Live” will follow up its 50th anniversary celebrations with new shows and some familiar faces — Lady Gaga doing double duty as musical guest and host, and an episode hosted by Shane Gillis with Tate McRae performing.

On March 1, Gillis will host “SNL” for the second time, alongside McRae, who releases her third album “So Close to What” in late February.

On March 8, Lady Gaga will mark her second appearance as “SNL” host and fifth appearance as its musical guest. Her latest album — “Mayhem” — will have dropped the day before.

Gillis has had a fraught history with the show, having been fired as a cast member in 2019 before he officially made his debut. He was dropped from a spot in the “SNL” cast after facing backlash over a 2018 podcast clip where he used an anti-Asian slur and mocked accents. Gillis apologized after the video resurfaced, and said at the time he is a “comedian who pushes boundaries.” He has since become the star and co-creator of the series “Tires,” which returns this year for its second season on Netflix, and hosted “SNL” last February.

“SNL” is basking in the spotlight after its 50th anniversary celebration became NBC's most-watched prime-time entertainment telecast in five years, reaching nearly 15 million viewers.

Sunday night's 3½-hour extravaganza, packed with comedy sketches, superstar musical performances and unexpected cameos, delivered the biggest audience for the network for a night-time entertainment show since the 2020 Golden Globes.

Only the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been a bigger viewership draw in recent years, NBC said Monday.

The sketch show kicked off its valedictory weekend with “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert,” in which Gaga performed twice — stepping in for Justin Timberlake for a Lonely Island medley with Andy Samberg and a host of guest starts, and performing “Shallow” toward the end of the night.