Fey to host SNL season finale
Nicky Minaj will be musical guest on May 19 closer
Tina Fey will return to Saturday Night Live as host next month for the show’s season 43 finale.
Fey will host SNL’s final episode this season on May 19, with Nicki Minaj serving as musical guest, the show announced via social media this week.
The appearance marks Fey’s sixth time hosting SNL since she left the show’s cast in 2006 to star in 30 Rock, which was inspired by her time at the show.
Previously, Fey performed as a cast member for six years, and joined the show as a member of the writing staff in 1997.
Most recently, she appeared as a colonial Philadelphian in SNL’s pre-Super Bowl LII episode on Feb. 3.
Fey’s musical adaptation of her hit 2004 movie Mean Girls opened on Broadway at the August Wilson Theater this month to generally positive reviews. Following the show’s première, the Hollywood Reporter wrote that the musical is “a surprisingly enjoyable and genuinely funny sugar treat with a lot of heart.”
A recent SNL sketch, featuring host (and former writer) John Mulaney, name-checked the musical.
Leading up to Fey’s appearance, SNL will feature hosting duties by actor Donald Glover on May 5 and comedian Amy Schumer on May 12 in her second time as host. Glover’s rap alter-ego Childish Gambino will perform during his episode, and country star Kacey Musgraves is scheduled to perform during Schumer’s episode.
This week, Fey spoke at the première of documentary Love, Gilda at the Beacon Theater in New York. The film details the life of late comedian Gilda Radner, an original SNL cast member who appeared on the show from 1975 to 1980.
As Fey said this week, Radner inspired her to pursue a career in comedy.
“I can personally attest, and I feel comfortable speaking for Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Rachel Dratch when I say that seeing Gilda as a kid [inspired me],” she said, according to USA Today.
“She was who she was on the TV, and we all knew that and said: ‘I want to do that.’ ”