Jim Carrey to play Joe Biden on SNL, new season starts Oct. 3 - CNET

Saturday Night Live will also kick off season 46 with five live shows in a row, a first in the show's history.

With Joe Biden running for US president, NBC's live sketch-comedy series Saturday Night Live needs a celebrity to play him.  Actor-comedian Jim Carrey has gotten the role, Saturday Night Live announced on Wednesday. .

SNL will also start the new season with five consecutive shows on Oct.

that we would do something we hadn't done before, which was five shows in a row," Michaels said3

And sadly, if the election gets extended, then we'll be doing six or seven shows in a row.".

The show also announced that three new comedians -- Lauren Holt, Punkie Johnson and Andrew Dismukes -- have been added to the cast for the new season