Saturday Night Live Preview - Season 35

Premiere Date: September 26, 2009

Host/Musical Guest: Megan Fox hosts; musical guest U2

Changes in Store This Season: The only major differences when SNL returns for Season 35 will be some personnel changes: two new female cast members, Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad will join the sketch show, while Casey Wilson and Michaela Watkins (both featured players last season) will not be returning. Amy Poehler, who left mid-way through last season, will obviously not be returning either.

Also joining the show this year are some new writers: stand-up comic Hannibal Buress, Second City cast member Michael Patrick O'Brien and UCB performer Ryan Perez.

Upcoming Shows:

• October 3, 2009: Ryan Reynolds with musical guest Lady Gaga
• October 10, 2009: Drew Barrymore with musical guest Regina Spektor
• October 17, 2009: Gerard Butler with musical guest Shakira

Predictions:

Emmy nominee Kristen Wiig -- the only veteran female cast member on the show -- will likely appear in just about every sketch this season.

Without a major presidential race to lampoon (which worked so well for the show last season), SNL will likely back off politics a bit.

Having already demonstrated that he does a very funny Glenn Beck impression on Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday, expect Jason Sudekis (who actually kind of looks like Beck, I'm sorry to say) to be impersonating the failed comedian/talk show host/crazy person on a regular basis.

Abby Elliot will break out this year.

With a MacGruber movie now in the works, expect to see a lot of MacGruber sketches. It can't hurt to get the character really stuck in the public consciousness.

Everyone you know will say the show "isn't as good as it used to be."