Full Cast to Return for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE for Season 46

It was reported today that the full cast of "Saturday Night Live" will return for the show's 46th season when it returns on October 3.

The show's producer Lorne Michaels and NBC are currently ironing out details of safety measures for the cast and crew, including weekly testing and social distancing.

The show will 'originate' from its famous Studio 8H, suggesting that the season will be a blend of live and virtual segments. It is unlikely that a live audience will be present.

"Saturday Night Live" is produced in association with Broadway Video. The creator and executive producer is Lorne Michaels.

"Saturday Night Live," NBC's Emmy Award-winning late-night comedy showcase, enters its 45th season for another year of laughs, surprises and great performances.

Since its inception in 1975, "SNL" has launched the careers of many of the brightest comedy performers of their generation; and, as The New York Times noted on the occasion of the show's Emmy-winning 25th Anniversary special in 1999: "In defiance of both time and show business convention, 'SNL' is still the most pervasive influence on the art of comedy in contemporary culture." At the close of the century, "Saturday Night Live" placed seventh on Entertainment Weekly's list of the Top 100 Entertainers of the past fifty years.

Not including specials and digital series, the program has won 72 Emmy Awards, the most for any show in television history. SNL also holds the title for the most nominated television show in Emmy history with 270 nominations, not including specials and digital series. "SNL" has been honored twice, in 1990 and 2009, with the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award and cited as "truly a national institution." "Saturday Night Live" was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame by the National Association of Broadcasters, and the show continues to garner the highest ratings of any late-night television program, entertaining millions each week.

"SNL" is making headlines and influencing the political dialogue while skewering it at the same time. Beyond politics, the show's cast of recurring characters and take on Pop culture targets remains spot-on. The addition of the show's Emmy Award-winning SNL Digital Shorts continues to keep the show as current today as it was when it debuted.

"Saturday Night Live," which premiered Oct. 11, 1975, is broadcast live from NBC's famed Studio 8H in New York City's Rockefeller Center. The program is a production of Broadway Video in association with SNL Studios. Lorne Michaels is the executive producer.