Saturday Night Live return date: Sam Rockwell hosting; Halsey performing

During tonight’s fall finale of Saturday Night Live featuring host Kevin Hart and musical guest Foo Fighters, we of course had a big announcement. What was at the center of that? The lineup for the next show. There isn’t really some consistent precedent as to who the first host of the new year is — often it’s an actor involved in awards show or is a part of a hit movie — so we didn’t have significant expectations.

So who ended up getting the gig as the host of the next show? Think in terms of Sam Rockwell! The actor is going to be coming on board the upcoming January 13 show as the performer. Meanwhile, Halsey will be the musical guest.

Rockwell as the choice for the host of the show is somewhat of a surprise, mostly because he’s never done it before and he’s a little in the J.K. Simmons mold — a veteran character actor who doesn’t often get his due. This is definitely the show going in the direction of a notable movie actor, someone who should bring an interesting and exciting energy to Studio 8H … hopefully. We’ve got a feeling that this is either going to be a really fun edition of the show or one that crashes and burns. It’s going to depend on what the writers choose to give him.

As for Halsey, they are also getting set to make their first appearance on the show as performers. It’s a little surprising to get both a newbie host and musical guest; yet, the show’s far enough into the season that the cast all are pretty accused to the grind that is working on this show.

What do you think about the choice in next SNL host? Be sure to share now in the comments! Also, be sure to head over to the link here to read our full review for this weekend’s show hosted by Kevin Hart and with musical guest Foo Fighters.

Meanwhile, be sure to like CarterMatt on Facebook to see all of our news right now pertaining to SNL. (Photo: NBC.)