Saturday Night Live: Melissa McCarthy, Jimmy Fallon, Dwayne Johnson to host upcoming episodes
Today, NBC confirmed that their final run of hosts this season, following Louis CK on April 8, will be Jimmy Fallon (April 15), Chris Pine (May 6), Melissa McCarthy (May 13), and Dwayne Johnson closing out the season (May 20). The Johnson hosting the finale part of this was something we predicted a while back, mostly because he was amazing one of the last times that he hosted, and that he has Baywatch coming out this summer and this serves as an amazing opportunity to cross-promote. Also, will The Rock Obama face off against Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump?
Of course, we don’t want to diminish the wonderful news at all that McCarthy is officially joining the five-timers club just like Scarlett Johansson did just this past weekend! (Hopefully, she does get a little bit more of a celebration for it than Scarlett did.) We figured that we would see Melissa host again just because of how amazing she was as Sean Spicer through two appearances in the role, but it’s still wonderful to have it be confirmed. We weren’t quite sure in turn that we would ever see Fallon host again, just because of how busy he is with The Tonight Show and that job fills up his schedule the vast majority of the year. We feel like his return here will be in part an opportunity to bring back some other alumni and turn it into some sort of reunion show. Also, the clamors for Justin Timberlake to make a cameo are out there already.
Then, there’s Chris Pine. We have no problem with Chris Pine, but this is a huge, intimidating lineup to be a part of to close out the season.
Live in all time zones
This is the part of the announcement that probably is the most interesting given that SNL has never done this in its 42-year history on the air. It’s a way to get even more viewers to the show, and for people on the West Coast to check it out without knowing already what’s coming up.
In a statement, here is what NBC’s own Robert Greenblatt had to say about this decision:
“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 … 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.”
What do you think about getting Melissa McCarthy back in addition to the rest of the hosting lineup? Share now in the comments below!