‘Saturday Night Live’ preview: Ariana Grande takes on height, last-name jokes via Taran Killam

We admit that going into this weekend’s new episode of “Saturday Night Live,” we really have no idea as to what to expect given that for the most part, getting pop singers to host is a massive experiment. We’ve seen it work out really well with people like Bruno Mars and Miley Cyrus, but we’ve also had shows like the ones with Justin Bieber or Katy Perry where either the writing just isn’t good, or (in the case of Bieber) the host just isn’t game to go along with everything.

For the time being, we’re at least betting on Ariana Grande being more of a Miley than a Bieber, if for no other reason than that she is hardly new to the world of being in front of a live audience for comedy purposes. Being on shows like “Victorious” and “Sam & Cat” is perfect training for this show, which is why Kenan Thompson has been able to be so valuable for such an extended period of time.

The promo below is fairly innocent, with Grande being hit with some jokes by Taran Killam about her last name and also her small size. These are both things she’s probably heard for the entirety of her time in the spotlight, so she’s probably used to them and knows exactly how to handle them, as well. There’s really not a way for her to be surprised here.

If nothing else, the biggest reason to have hope here is because she had a really fun cameo back when Chris Pratt hosted the show in one of his sketches as an action-figure character who came to life. If she brings that level of gameness to “SNL” this weekend, she’ll do just fine.

Hey, at least the show has to be better than the surprisingly-weak outing we just got from Jonah Hill this past weekend, though we blame the writing mostly for that.

Want to get some further news right now on everything we cover? Then be sure to sign up over here for our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)

[ot-video]

[/ot-video]