Finn Wolfhard and Cardi B Lead SNL’s Wildest January in Years

Max Sterling, 1/8/2026 SNL kicks off 2026 with a wild mix of Stranger Things wunderkinds, Grammy contenders, and meme royalty. Expect nostalgia, chaos, and viral moments—a neon-lit handoff from legends to next-gen icons, as 30 Rock becomes the epicenter of January’s pop culture aftershock.

The show launches 2025 with a trio of hosts that barely seem to share a Venn diagram, let alone a dressing room. SNL’s booking feels, once again, like some cosmic bartender is slinging drinks: one a moody dram, the next all bubbles and bite, and, finally, a shot glass full of Scandinavian cool. That’s a pretty wild menu for any TV bar.

First, on January 17, Finn Wolfhard gets tossed into the comedy cauldron. Millions know him as the Eleven-adjacent kid on Stranger Things, but here he’ll be swapping otherworldly monsters for cue cards (and possibly picking up whatever stray oddities Pete Davidson left behind). His appearance comes just after Netflix closed the book on the show that made him a household name—it’s a classic SNL move, grabbing a star on the threshold between adolescent stardom and whatever’s coming next. Maybe not so classic: he’ll be chasing jokes, not demogorgons.

A$AP Rocky, meanwhile, arrives less as a musical guest and more as an event. The rapper appears almost perfectly synchronized with his album drop—Don’t Be Dumb elbows its way onto the charts a day prior. Did anyone ever doubt that SNL still has a preternatural ability to snag these moments, plucking artists while their records are still smoldering? One wonders if it’s luck or a little mad genius in the booking department.

Fast forward a week. January 24. Suddenly, Teyana Taylor takes the host’s baton—and, judging by her recent run, she’ll probably snap it clean in two. Taylor’s fresh off a banner year: One Battle After Another is racking up trophies (Golden Globe and Critics Choice nods, plus an Actor Award nomination for extra sparkle), and—no small thing—her album sits in the running for Best R&B Album at the 2026 Grammys. The drive that brought her through the labyrinthine weirdness of Hollywood should be a powerful asset, especially in a comedy crucible where nerves and quick wits are both required and rewarded.

Backing her up musically: Geese, Brooklyn’s much-buzzed indie rockers, whose apparent litmus test of coolness was getting parodied on SNL’s own stage before they’d ever played it. (Picture: “Random Duet Christmas Spectacular”, Cameron Winter traded in for a winking imitation next to send-ups of pop’s great oddballs.) Being lampooned before one’s debut—surely a good omen, or at least a memorable rite of passage.

Of course, not every episode of SNL plays it straight. Just when it feels like things might be settling down, January 31 yanks the rug again. Alexander Skarsgård steps up to host. If anyone doubted HBO drama and sketch comedy could share a common ancestor, there’s a Norse god ready to prove otherwise. Skarsgård’s icy gravitas—paired with, perhaps, an unintentional comedic streak—offers promising fodder (and, possibly, the most Swedish sketch of the millennium).

But the lineup’s gravitational force, hands down, is reserved for musical guest Cardi B. Her return feels less like a cameo and more like a homecoming parade down 30 Rock’s hallowed corridors. In 2018, she blazed through an SNL Saturday with none other than Chadwick Boseman; five years and astronomical chart movement later, she’s back with Am I the Drama? (which promptly made Billboard’s upper crust its new residence). There’s a tour on the horizon and, rumor has it, more than a few viral fashion gambles in store for the live audience. SNL knows how to bottle that energy—and unleash it at precisely the right moment.

Somewhere amid this swirl—after the flashing lights, social blitz, and greenroom gossip—an era closes almost quietly. Bowen Yang, forever immortalized in the “Delta Sky Club” sketch with pop heaven’s oddest trio (Ariana Grande and Cher, in case memory lapses), is bidding adieu. His run, full of whip-smart weirdness, ends with rare satisfaction. As Yang noted recently, staying “exactly as long as I wanted” counts as a near-miraculous SNL exit; rare air in an industry that isn’t always so generous.

What does all this broadcast for the show’s path forward? SNL is never subtle about its appetite for shaking things up, blending brand-new flavors with the tried and tested. And January’s lineup telegraphs this on a neon-lit, scrolling marquee: You get newcomers poised at the brink, legacy-makers out for one more lap, underdog bands crashing the mainstream, all alongside the familiar backdrop of improv chaos. Not a bad way to crack open a new season.

And, of course, spare a thought for the behind-the-scenes mayhem. Just for a second: Finn Wolfhard half-mumbling punchlines with Kenan Thompson, A$AP Rocky Zooming his stylist (with perhaps too much creative freedom), Teyana Taylor and Geese swapping war stories about live TV anxiety while Lorne Michaels plots the meta monologue to end all meta monologues. Skarsgård and Cardi B, presumably, could be found by the snacks—assembling an afterparty playlist that would make anyone else’s Spotify look like elevator music.

January at 30 Rock remains unapologetically boisterous and, frequently, a little absurd. Some years wobble into relevance. This one? It’s brash, defiant, and might just blast a rerun-proof mark on the pop culture calendar. Expectations are high, but so is the possibility for the kind of nights that spark memes and Monday watercooler rewinds. As the SNL set clears, and the sound of laughter echoes out onto Fifth Avenue, the next act—as it so often does—waits just off stage, ready for that impossibly bright spotlight.

If there’s one thing the first weeks of January prove at NBC’s legendary Studio 8H, it’s that there’s no room for winter doldrums—at least, not when SNL storms back onto the air. The post-holiday lull might linger outside, but Saturday Night Live—a behemoth now barreling into its 51st season—wastes zero time firing up the collective pulse of American pop culture. This January, there’s a new mix of faces (and an unmistakable sense that the old guard refuses to quietly vanish).The show launches 2025 with a trio of hosts that barely seem to share a Venn diagram, let alone a dressing room. SNL’s booking feels, once again, like some cosmic bartender is slinging drinks: one a moody dram, the next all bubbles and bite, and, finally, a shot glass full of Scandinavian cool. That’s a pretty wild menu for any TV bar.First, on January 17, Finn Wolfhard gets tossed into the comedy cauldron. Millions know him as the Eleven-adjacent kid on Stranger Things, but here he’ll be swapping otherworldly monsters for cue cards (and possibly picking up whatever stray oddities Pete Davidson left behind). His appearance comes just after Netflix closed the book on the show that made him a household name—it’s a classic SNL move, grabbing a star on the threshold between adolescent stardom and whatever’s coming next. Maybe not so classic: he’ll be chasing jokes, not demogorgons.A$AP Rocky, meanwhile, arrives less as a musical guest and more as an event. The rapper appears almost perfectly synchronized with his album drop—Don’t Be Dumb elbows its way onto the charts a day prior. Did anyone ever doubt that SNL still has a preternatural ability to snag these moments, plucking artists while their records are still smoldering? One wonders if it’s luck or a little mad genius in the booking department.Fast forward a week. January 24. Suddenly, Teyana Taylor takes the host’s baton—and, judging by her recent run, she’ll probably snap it clean in two. Taylor’s fresh off a banner year: One Battle After Another is racking up trophies (Golden Globe and Critics Choice nods, plus an Actor Award nomination for extra sparkle), and—no small thing—her album sits in the running for Best R&B Album at the 2026 Grammys. The drive that brought her through the labyrinthine weirdness of Hollywood should be a powerful asset, especially in a comedy crucible where nerves and quick wits are both required and rewarded.Backing her up musically: Geese, Brooklyn’s much-buzzed indie rockers, whose apparent litmus test of coolness was getting parodied on SNL’s own stage before they’d ever played it. (Picture: “Random Duet Christmas Spectacular”, Cameron Winter traded in for a winking imitation next to send-ups of pop’s great oddballs.) Being lampooned before one’s debut—surely a good omen, or at least a memorable rite of passage.Of course, not every episode of SNL plays it straight. Just when it feels like things might be settling down, January 31 yanks the rug again. Alexander Skarsgård steps up to host. If anyone doubted HBO drama and sketch comedy could share a common ancestor, there’s a Norse god ready to prove otherwise. Skarsgård’s icy gravitas—paired with, perhaps, an unintentional comedic streak—offers promising fodder (and, possibly, the most Swedish sketch of the millennium).But the lineup’s gravitational force, hands down, is reserved for musical guest Cardi B. Her return feels less like a cameo and more like a homecoming parade down 30 Rock’s hallowed corridors. In 2018, she blazed through an SNL Saturday with none other than Chadwick Boseman; five years and astronomical chart movement later, she’s back with Am I the Drama? (which promptly made Billboard’s upper crust its new residence). There’s a tour on the horizon and, rumor has it, more than a few viral fashion gambles in store for the live audience. SNL knows how to bottle that energy—and unleash it at precisely the right moment.Somewhere amid this swirl—after the flashing lights, social blitz, and greenroom gossip—an era closes almost quietly. Bowen Yang, forever immortalized in the “Delta Sky Club” sketch with pop heaven’s oddest trio (Ariana Grande and Cher, in case memory lapses), is bidding adieu. His run, full of whip-smart weirdness, ends with rare satisfaction. As Yang noted recently, staying “exactly as long as I wanted” counts as a near-miraculous SNL exit; rare air in an industry that isn’t always so generous.What does all this broadcast for the show’s path forward? SNL is never subtle about its appetite for shaking things up, blending brand-new flavors with the tried and tested. And January’s lineup telegraphs this on a neon-lit, scrolling marquee: You get newcomers poised at the brink, legacy-makers out for one more lap, underdog bands crashing the mainstream, all alongside the familiar backdrop of improv chaos. Not a bad way to crack open a new season.And, of course, spare a thought for the behind-the-scenes mayhem. Just for a second: Finn Wolfhard half-mumbling punchlines with Kenan Thompson, A$AP Rocky Zooming his stylist (with perhaps too much creative freedom), Teyana Taylor and Geese swapping war stories about live TV anxiety while Lorne Michaels plots the meta monologue to end all meta monologues. Skarsgård and Cardi B, presumably, could be found by the snacks—assembling an afterparty playlist that would make anyone else’s Spotify look like elevator music.January at 30 Rock remains unapologetically boisterous and, frequently, a little absurd. Some years wobble into relevance. This one? It’s brash, defiant, and might just blast a rerun-proof mark on the pop culture calendar. Expectations are high, but so is the possibility for the kind of nights that spark memes and Monday watercooler rewinds. As the SNL set clears, and the sound of laughter echoes out onto Fifth Avenue, the next act—as it so often does—waits just off stage, ready for that impossibly bright spotlight.