The final four episodes of the politically minded season will air live on both coasts, with Jimmy Fallon, Chris Pine, Melissa McCarthy and Dwayne Johnson hosting.

Saturday Night Live is finishing its record-setting season with a string of high-profile hosts and one very big first: After airing live on the East Coast for more than 40 years, the entire country will be able to watch the NBC series as it happens for the final four episodes.

"SNL — enjoying its most popular season in two decades — is part of the national conversation, and we thought it would be a great idea to broadcast to the West and Mountain time zones live at the same time it's being seen in the East and Central time zones," NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said Thursday in a statement. "That way, everyone is in on the joke at the same time. Kudos to Lorne Michaels, the producers and cast for making SNL one of the most relevant and anticipated shows in the zeitgeist."

Each episode will air live at the following times:

11:30 p.m. Eastern

10:30 p.m. Central

9:30 p.m. Mountain

8:30 p.m. Pacific

The show is pulling out all the stops on the hosting front as well. The following foursome will emcee on these dates:

April 15 — Jimmy Fallon

May 6 — Chris Pine

May 13 — Melissa McCarthy

May 20 — Dwayne Johnson