‘Saturday Night Live’ ratings: Scarlett Johansson show dips against Mayweather – Pacquiao fight

While there were a number of forms of entertainment that likely suffered against the competition of the Floyd Mayweather – Manny Pacquiao fight on Saturday (the box office totals for “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” seems to be one of them), “Saturday Night Live” had some of the most direct competition out of anyone. Thanks in part to the match airing later than expected after some pay-per-view delays, the fight was just starting around the time the show began, and before it ended it was revealed that Mayweather was declared the champion.

As a result of this, coupled with it being the first show after a hiatus and airing at a time when there are more opportunities to do other things outdoors, this episode of “SNL” featuring Scarlett Johansson mustered just a 1.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, making it the weakest outing of the season. We don’t really blame the host for it, or even NBC if they felt like the fight was going to be over before the bulk of their show got going (it was also May sweeps, and this is programming tradition to put a show on).

Still, we imagine the new outing next weekend hosted by Reese Witherspoon will be a step in the right direction commercially for the series. She is another big-name movie star, and she also has hosted the show before. This appearance from her will be followed by Louis CK in the finale, and he has been very solid in multiple appearances.

After that, “SNL” has some hard decisions when it comes to its cast. Kenan Thompson is most likely leaving, and while we do not anticipate a bloodbath when it comes to firings, there are one or two fairly expendable people in the cast.

If you missed our review of the show, you can see that over here. Also, sign up now to acquire some other TV updates on everything we cover, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)