‘Saturday Night Live’ preview: Will Melissa McCarthy strike gold twice?

In just a few short hours from right now, this weekend’s edition of “Saturday Night Live” is going to be upon us, and it will feature front and center a woman who knows more than just a thing or two about making people laugh at this point: Melissa McCarthy. Remember, the star of “Mike & Molly” won countless new fans over with “Bridesmaids,” and she has also since that point done a pretty outstanding job of finding roles that continue to entice … including her new one in “Identity Thief.”

But can she find a way to draw the same level of greatness from her show this weekend as she did the first time around? We’ll have more of a definite answer later, but for now check out some of our pre-show hopes and dreams.

What we hope to see – McCarthy showing her range, and playing more than just the obnoxious characters that come so easy to her. She has so many talents across the board and a great knack for physical comedy, and we hope that “SNL” has really taken advantage of the time off to come up with something fun and original. The two things that we would love to see again? Taran Killam as Andy Cohen, mostly because his interpretation of him as an ego-hungry megalomaniac was completely entertaining to watch.

What we hope to not see – “The Californians,” “J-Pop America Fun Time Now,” “Scared Straight,” “Girlfriends Talk Show,” or “Maine Justice.” Right now, these are probably the five worst recurring sketches that the show does. The first one was funny a couple of times, and the rest were never funny to begin with. We don’t love “What’s Up with That,” but it’s far superior to any of these.

Do you think that McCarthy’s show will be a particularly funny one? If you want to watch a preview focusing on the actress and Taran Killam, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: NBC