‘Saturday Night Live’ preview: What to expect from Emma Stone, Shawn Mendes
In a matter of hours later tonight, the latest episode of “Saturday Night Live” will be upon us featuring Emma Stone as the host and Shawn Mendes as the musical guest. What should you expect to see? In looking our crystal ball, we foresee some good things coming your way for many reasons.
Emma’s hosted the show multiple times – She may only be 28, but she’s seasoned as a live performer and knows what the “SNL” experience is like at this point. She’s appeared on the show several times even on occasions where she wasn’t a host, and you get a sense that she holds great reverence for all things live comedy. Sure, she’s got a movie out in “La La Land” that, given the awards buzz around it, she wants to promote. For her specifically, you get the sense that being on the show means more than that.
She’s not afraid to look silly – She’ll wear a ridiculous costume, imitate her past favorite “SNL” characters, or go big, bawdy, and physical to get a laugh. Or, she’ll play sweet and shy. Even if she wasn’t a previous host, you know from her interviews precisely how game she is. Even if a sketch doesn’t work, the effort will be there.
Potentially a little less politics – While there are no moles in Studio 8H handing down information to us, it’d be a surprise to get more than one or two sketches themed around politics. While Donald Trump is still in the headlines, there’s probably not anything worthy of requiring Alec Baldwin’s attention for the week. The hope is that they give this a rest and revisit it later in the month.
Shawn Mendes – The musical guest is pretty game to play along with Emma and Kenan Thompson in the promo below, which is a reflection of what Kenan does exceptionally well on this show: Acting indignant to other people when he doesn’t think that they are worthy. This is very reminiscent of “New Cast Member or Arcade Fire,” one of the greatest all-time Kenan sketches that started with an extremely simple premise.
Mendes will perform, but it’s easy to imagine a situation where he cameos in a sketch or two along the way.
What’s next? – If you missed it, head over to this link to check out the hosting lineup for the remainder of the month! There are some notable names ahead. (Photo: NBC.)