“Saturday Night Live” continues season 50 with Shane Gillis' return and Lady Gaga doing double duty

On the heels of its star-studded anniversary special, Saturday Night Live is picking back up with its 50th season.

Season 50 resumes Saturday, March 1, with fired former cast member Shane Gillis returning for a second time as host, joined by musical guest Tate McRae in her second time on the show as well.

Then on March 8, Lady Gaga returns to do double duty as host and musical guest for the second time after making her hosting debut in 2013 in another double-duty episode. It is the Oscar winner's fifth time as musical guest overall. The "Disease" singer took part in the SNL 50th anniversary celebration this past weekend, including performing "Dick in a Box" alongside Andy Samberg at Friday's SNL50: The Homecoming Concert at Radio City Music Hall.

Related: Every Saturday Night Live season 50 host and musical guest

In 2019, Gillis was announced as one of three new cast members joining for the 45th season, along with Chloe Fineman and then-writer Bowen Yang. But he was fired just four days later following fan outcry over surfaced recordings of him using racist, including anti-Chinese, and homophobic slurs on his podcast.

When announcing Gillis' firing, SNL apologized for not being aware of his prior remarks and admitted that the "vetting process was not up to our standard." Afterward, Gillis released a statement that did not include an apology for using the slurs and even took a jab at the long-running sketch series he was nearly part of: "I'm a comedian who was funny enough to get SNL. That can’t be taken away. Of course I wanted an opportunity to prove myself at SNL, but I understand it would be too much of a distraction. I respect the decision they made. I’m honestly grateful for the opportunity. I was always a Mad TV guy anyway."

Nevertheless, the stand-up comic was invited to host last year. Months later, executive producer Lorne Michaels admitted he had not wanted to fire the controversial comedian from the cast at the time. "That was very strong from the people in charge," Michaels told the The Wall Street Journal. "And obviously I was not on that side, but I understood it."

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The current season kicked off last September with first-time host Jean Smart. Other hosts this season have included Nate Bargatze, Ariana Grande, Michael Keaton, John Mulaney, Bill Burr, Paul Mescal, Chris Rock, Martin Short, and Dave Chappelle, plus Charli XCX and Timothée Chalamet, each doing double duty as their own musical guest.

Current cast members include Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Michael Longfellow, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, Devon Walker, Bowen Yang, and "Weekend Update" co-anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost, plus new featured players Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline.

SNL airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock.

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