"SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" LANDS TOP TALENT FOR OCTOBER

"SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" LANDS TOP TALENT FOR OCTOBER

Jaime Pressly ("My Name Is Earl"), John C. Reilly ("Talladega Nights") and Hugh Laurie ("House) All Make "SNL" Hosting Debuts

Music From Critically Praised Acts From Diverse Genres: Corinne Bailey Rae, My Chemical Romance and Beck

NEW YORK October 3, 2006 NBC's "Saturday Night Live" loads up some of the hottest names in entertainment for its three October shows. October 7th features Emmy nominee Jaime Pressly from "My Name Is Earl" and U.K. soul singing sensation Corinne Bailey Rae. October 21st brings Oscar nominee John C. Reilly ("Talladega Nights") with music from My Chemical Romance and October 28th features Golden Globe and SAG Award winner Hugh Laurie ("House") and the critically acclaimed music of Beck.

Hosting October 7th is Jaime Pressly whose beauty, talent and screen presence have earned her many solid film and television roles. However, her breakout role as Joy on NBC's hit comedy "My Name Is Earl" opposite Jason Lee has catapulted her to the next level. Her critically acclaimed performance was recognized with a 2006 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress. In its inaugural season, "Earl" received the People's Choice Award, two TCA Awards, and a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series and Emmys for writing and directing. Pressly will soon be seen in the independent feature film "DOA: Dead or Alive," an adaptation of the popular videogame franchise. Previous film credits include "Torque," the teen movie satire "Not Another Teen Movie," "The Adventures of Joe Dirt," with David Spade, "Tomcats" and the hit teen comedy "Can't Hardly Wait."

Hailed by The New York Times as "the most celebrated soul singer of the year," Corinne Bailey Rae joins Pressly as musical guest. Bailey Rae's self-titled debut album is certified gold in the U.S. and has worldwide sales exceeding two million in just six months. The U.K. singer-songwriter debuted at No. 1 on the charts in her native Britain (the first female artist to do so with a debut album) and has been lighting up the States with her hit single "Put Your Records On."

October 21st brings acclaimed actor John C. Reilly to Studio 8H. Reilly recently explored his comedic side with "SNL" alum Will Ferrell in the summer smash "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," after earning substantial acclaim in scores of dramatic films including "The Aviator," "Gangs of New York," "The Hours" and the musical "Chicago" (for which he received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations). The Chicago native made his debut in Brian DePalma's "Casualties of War" and went on to play memorable characters in scores of films from "Hoffa" and "State of Grace" to "The Perfect Storm," "The Good Girl," "Anger Management" and his recent as a singing cowboy in Robert Altman's "A Prairie Home Companion." Reilly has worked with some of the top directors in film, but has enjoyed a specific association with acclaimed writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson starring in three of his praised films: "Hard Eight," "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia."

Joining Reilly and making their SNL debut is boundary-pushing rock band My Chemical Romance. Called "Rock's New Superheroes" by Spin Magazine and "one of the best rock bands in America" by the New York Times, the New Jersey band will perform tracks from their eagerly anticipated epic album, "The Black Parade." "The Black Parade" is the follow-up to the band's platinum-certified 2004 release "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge."

Finally, on October 28th, the doctor is in as "House" star Hugh Laurie toplines SNL. Hailed as one of the best actors on television, Laurie stars in the hit medical drama and has garnered critical accolades as well as a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award and an Emmy nomination. A veteran of groundbreaking British television comedy ("A Bit of Fry and Laurie," "Black Adder," "Saturday Live" and "Jeeves and Wooster"), Laurie has also appeared in films including "Flight of the Phoenix," "Sense and Sensibility," "Peter's Friends" as well as the family hits "101 Dalmatians" and the "Stuart Little" films. Educated at Eton and Cambridge University in the U.K., Laurie was elected president of the venerable Footlights Revue, where he worked with frequent castmates Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson.

Marking his sixth performance on the show is the ever-innovative Beck. Beck will perform selections from his just-released album, "The Information," which is already racking up high praise. Entertainment Weekly called the record "A sonic tour de forcelike 'Dark Side of the Moon' or 'OK Computer'it earns those comparisons." Always re-inventing the idea of what a recording can be, Beck has released this album with no art, but includes stickers for consumers to make their own record cover and has included a DVD of homemade videos for each track. Hailed by Wired magazine in a recent cover story on the future of music as "sharp and spontaneous," Beck's latest "may well be [his] masterpiece" (Hits Magazine).

"Saturday Night Live," which premiered on October 11, 1975, is from SNL Studios in association with Broadway Video. The creator and executive producer is Lorne Michaels. Steve Higgins produces. Marci Klein and Mike Shoemaker are producers. Head writers are Seth Meyers, Paula Pell and Andrew Steele. Don Roy King directs.