This would be the final season for longtime cast members Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah, who had both been on the show since 2010, and the only season for Rudnitsky.[5]
Colin Jost, a cast member on the show and anchor of Weekend Update, who has also served as a writer since 2005 (and as co-head writer in 2012), stepped down as co-head writer, although he remained on the writing staff. Rob Klein and Bryan Tucker continued as co-head writers.[7]
This would be the final season for writers Zach Kanin and Tim Robinson (Kanin had been with the show for five years since 2011; while Robinson lasted three seasons as a writer, initially starting in 2013, and overall was with the show for four years, as having briefly been joined the cast for the 2012-13 season).[8]
This was also Klein's final season as head writer (a role he held for three seasons, previously beginning in 2013), but would return to the show the next season as a regular writer.[8] This was also the only season for Sirus, Masella, and Belair in the writing staff.[8]
Miley Cyrus performs "Karen Don't Be Sad" and "The Twinkle Song".
Hillary Clinton (alongside Kate McKinnon's impersonation of her) and Darrell Hammond appear as Val and Bill Clinton, respectively, in "Hillary Clinton Bar Talk". Additionally, Clinton also introduces Cyrus's first musical performance.
The Flaming Lips appears as Cyrus' backing band for her first performance.
Kenan Thompson introduces Cyrus' second musical performance.
Demi Lovato performs a medley of "Cool for the Summer" and "Confident" for their first set and "Stone Cold" for their second, also appearing in "Astronaut Jones".
The choice of Trump was controversial and a number of Latino groups petitioned to have his invitation to host rescinded.[14]
Trump's hosting was filed with the Federal Communications Commission in regards to the equal-time rule. Although no candidate has ever requested an appearance on Saturday Night Live due to equal-time, concerns were raised over whether SNL qualified for an exception to the rule as a live entertainment program.[15]
Mike O'Brien appears in the pretaped sketch "Uber for Jen".
Cecily Strong begins the show with a tribute to France in light of the November 2015 Paris attacks, speaking both English and French. In addition, the SNL logo in the bumpers is colored blue, white, and red, the colors of the French flag. The stage lights after Sam Smith's performance and before Lorde's are also in those same colors.
Maya Rudolph appears in "StarVista" and reprises her role as Jodi Deitz on "Bronx Beat".
Gayle King and Amy Schumer appear in the pre-recorded "Amy and Tina's Dope Squad" segment.
This was the first time an episode had featured multiple hosts since 2004.[21] Tina Fey and Amy Poehler received a historic Emmy co-nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a comedy for their roles as co-host of the Christmas episode, which they ultimately won.[22]
Liev Schreiber appears in a pre-recorded Golden Globes sketch.
The show was delayed for viewers on the East Coast for 45 minutes due to the NFC Divisional Playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona Cardinals going into overtime.[24]
Selena Gomez performs a medley of "Good for You" and "Same Old Love" for her first set and "Hands to Myself" for her second. She also appears in the opening monologue and "Bland Man".
Darrell Hammond and Tina Fey appear as Donald Trump and Sarah Palin, respectively, in the cold open.
Kanye West performs "Highlights" (preceded by "Low Lights") with The-Dream, El DeBarge, Kelly Price, Young Thug, and ASAP Bari and "Ultralight Beam" with The-Dream, Kelly Price, Chance the Rapper, and Kirk Franklin. He, The-Dream, El DeBarge, Kelly Price, and Young Thug also appear in a pre-recorded Kyle Mooney film, "Kyle vs. Kanye".
In the same pre-recorded film, West also performs "I Love Kanye" from his album, The Life of Pablo.
Future performs "Low Life" with the Weeknd and "March Madness" and appears in the opening monologue and in a Weekend Update segment called "News from the Future".
An image of Merle Haggard, who had died three days earlier, is shown in silence following Price's first performance; also, Price's guitar strap has "Margo" stitched in the same style as "Merle" was on some of his guitars.
