After a monumental 50th season, full of surprise appearances and extra memorable bits, "Saturday Night Live" is back for season 51. As always, there were some cast exits in the off-season; longtime fans won't see staples including Heidi Gardner,

Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska are the newest featured players on "SNL."

On Oct. 11, former cast member Amy Poehler will host the show, and Role Model will be the musical guest. Then on Oct. 18, Sabrina Carpenter will make her "SNL" hosting debut and also perform as the musical guest. Hosts and musical guests for the subsequent weeks' episodes have not been announced yet.

Saturday Night Live (SNL) returns for its 51st season with a live premiere episode airing tonight, on October 4 at 11:30 PM ET. The long-awaited kickoff follows a summer hiatus since the Season 50 finale, and coincides with the show's 50th anniversary celebrations earlier this year.

From details about the new cast to how to secure tickets to watch the show live, here’s what you need to know about this season of “SNL.”

Taylor Swift closed out "The Life of a Showgirl" press tour with one last stop on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." Appearing on Tuesday's broadcast – Meyers' 1,713th episode, a number that fittingly adds up to 12,