Saturday Night Live Fantasy League is back for a third season, fresh off the excitement of Season 40 with renewed expectations for New York’s sketch comedy institution.

Trivia Club is once again opening up our fantasy league for the comedy nerd and everyone who would like to join in! Though I guess you might be asking yourself, or the closest person to you…

“HOW DO I SNL FANTASY LEAGUE?”

Good question! If you’re interested in this odd concept taken to its logical (or illogical, depending on your point of view) extreme, let’s talk about the business of this show.

1) JOIN the SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE FANTASY LEAGUE Group on Facebook

Facebook or Twitter are, of course, the main hubs of communication for the league with Facebook taking the brunt of keeping League members up to date on important dates. It also keeps members of the League in contact for the only episode-to-episode part of the game (which we’ll get to).

2) CHOOSE YOUR TEAM NAME

Choose wisely, we’re celebrating a comedy show after all. Luckily you’ve got a lot of material to work with.

3) DRAFT YOUR CAST & PREDICT HOSTS

The big points come from who you draft from the cast members of Saturday Night Live, while gaining those additional points that will help you win, comes from drafting the correct hosts. When it comes to a time commitment, DRAFT DAY is the only one we ask of you when you join our SNL Fantasy League. Though the numbers are tweaked, so as to better serve the number of participants each season, in the first week or two of September the eight or so REPERTORY LEAGUE members (those involved since the start of the League, coupled with a mix of others) participate in an in-person draft, while FEATURED LEAGUE members (broken into smaller groups) draft through Facebook. Further details of the drafts can be found on this blog, but to put it in the simplest way possible. Draft order is decided randomly, with each round being mixed in a way that is as mathematically fair (putting the nerd in comedy nerd) as possible.

a) You will draft three Cast Members. Like with our Season 40 draft, all cast members will be available up front.

b) You will then draft the eight to ten (depending on League size) Hosts who you predict will host during the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live.

Remember that all of the people that you draft will be getting points based off of this system, so if you believe we’re missing anything important please do make sure to bring that to our attention. Also, if anything happens with either additions to or demotions from the cast, we’ve got a plan for that and a NAME for that PLAN!

4) SIT BACK, ENJOY SNL, & CHOOSE WHICH SONGS THE MUSICAL GUESTS PLAY

After DRAFT DAY the only other way to get points will be, before the start of each episode (Eastern Standard Time), choosing the TWO SONGS (unless they’re Prince) that you believe the Musical Guests will play, and in which specific order. Submitting your SONG CHOICES will also be done through Facebook, simply because it’s easiest to keep track of things when they’re all in one place.

Other than that, enjoy Saturday Night Live this season! It’s been said by members of the Fantasy League in these first two seasons (and I have to agree) that after you draft someone you become more invested in that performer then you thought you would! It even adds a level of excitement to those episodes that you, as a viewer, might otherwise consider an off week.

After each episode a full Breakdown is posted on the Trivia Club blog showing who scored what and how that affects both the score of your team on that episode, as well as throughout the season. The Breakdown also features thoughts on the episode (P’s & Q’s), as well as a preview of what to look forward to in the coming week(s).

It’s just part of the growing community of comedy fans that we’ve found ourselves in, and speaking of which…

5) LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

Yes, the Saturday Night Live Fantasy League has a podcast, in fact that’s how some of you found out about us! Deep Thoughts on SNL is hosted by Rob Moden, who is joined by other members of the Fantasy League each week, including Brian Edwards, Leah Sueko, and Matthew Smith, to talk not only about that week’s episode and the League, but also about the larger Saturday Night Live and comedy world, as well!

So listen in, and if the opportunity arises, and the potential is there, then please feel free to take part!

6) THE WINNER IS YOU!

Finally, since we’re playing a game then there has to be a winner at the end of the season! Naturally, the top score in each League wins a trophy, because we’re sporting people. And since this IS a Trivia Club run event, that trophy has a fair amount of gold to go with it!

With the introduction of the FEATURED LEAGUE, for those new to the Saturday Night Live Fantasy League, we also introduced the GILDED RADNER! The first Gilded Radner was won by Three Legged Jeans, and was accepted by their GM Lori D (we’re like Survivor, we enjoy first names and last initials)!

 For the SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, something of a mathematical impossibility if it also wasn’t just such a wonderful proof of concept for the Fantasy League itself (which is what we say to make ourselves feel better), the PHIL HARTMAN TROPHY was won by the same team, The Ignorant Sluts! The Hartman was accepted once again by the team's GM Matthew Smith, as his team’s MVP for the second year in a row, Kate McKinnon, was too busy filming the Ghostbusters revival in Boston.

Luckily, as we waited to see if Kate would become available to accept the Hartman on The Ignorant Sluts behalf, it did give us a chance to spruce up the Biggest Prize in Comedy-Based Fantasy Leagues!

 That really is a thing of beauty. (sniffle)

And we’ve got even more prizes planned for this year, with the potential return of the Versus head-to-head portion of the League, as well as acknowledging the best in predicting Hosts, Musical Guest song choices, and other such things!

So yes, THAT is how you Saturday Night Live Fantasy League, but if you have any other questions please do contact us on Facebook or Twitter! Also keep a look out on both of those platforms, especially around the first or second weekend of September for DRAFT DAY, as we prepare for Season Forty-One of SNL and the THIRD edition of the SNL Fantasy League! Can’t wait to have you be a part of the game!