2024 gave late-night TV fans a lot to appreciate. The election year provided monologues and sketches with plenty of material. Add hundreds more celebrity interviews, musical performances, and content outside of TV, and it was an amazing year. But 2025 will be better.
In many ways, 2024 didn't turn out the way a lot of people in late-night TV would have hoped. The election will completely change how hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert approach 2025.
It was also a year of change over at Saturday Night Live. Speculation followed Lorne Michaels, but the SNL creator has no plans to retire. Cast changes and behind-the-scenes drama kept things exciting. And like the rest of late-night, SNL has big things planned for 2025.
It's just one part of what should be an incredible, and hilarious, year. Here's what late-night TV audiences have to look forward to in 2025.
Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary celebration
Saturday Night Live has had an eye on 2025 for a decade. The major milestone will bring together legendary names in comedy and pop culture to celebrate a half-century on the air.
No matter where you look, SNL will have something to help honor the anniversary in 2025. The show's Instagram account is highlighting 50 sketches leading up to the live TV special.
A documentary on Peacock will take viewers behind the scenes, showing how the cast is selected and how some of the most memorable SNL moments came to life. It all leads up to the 50th anniversary special, set for Sunday, February 16 at 8 p.m ET on NBC and Peacock.
Jon Stewart isn't going anywhere
Jon Stewart turned up the hype for 2024 in late-night TV when he announced his return to The Daily Show. Although he only hosted once a week, Stewart proved he still has no equal in late-night TV.
The original plan indicated Stewart would guide The Daily Show through the 2024 election and then walk away again. But something changed along the way, and the comedian agreed to stick around for 2025, too.
That means another year of hearing Stewart's unmatched mix of wit, satire, intelligence, and passion. No matter what happens in 2025, fans will be happy that Stewart will be there with something to say about it.
Conan O'Brien's return to television
As if one late-night TV legend back on our screens wasn't good enough, another will also be much more visible in 2025. Conan O'Brien has big things planned for the new year.
Of course, his podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend isn't going anywhere. At the same time, he's preparing to host the 2025 Academy Awards. The ceremony is scheduled for March 2, 2025.
We should also get season two of Conan O'Brien Must Go. The travel special premiered on Max in April and almost immediately got renewed for season 2.
A release date hasn't been announced. But the Team Coco Instagram account has shared pictures of O'Brien and his team in Austria, New Zealand, and Spain.