Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Dear SNL: We’ve picked hosts for this season. You’re welcome
Saturday Night Live returns on Saturday with hose Margot Robbie, star of Suicide Squad. And we got to brainstorming potential hosts for the sketch comedy series and came up with enough suggestions to fill out the calendar for its 42nd season (based on last season’s 21 episodes).
Here are our picks, loosely pegged to their forthcoming projects.
1. Lin-Manuel Miranda The Tony-winning Hamilton creator is our pick for the season premiere. He thinks quickly on his feet — even in high-pressure situations. And a Hamilton parody would be SNL gold.
2. Sarah Paulson Paulson just won an Emmy for her standout performance in Ryan Murphy’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story and is a fan favorite in Murphy’s other FX anthology series, American Horror Story.
3. Donald Glover Glover, now earning rave reviews for his FX dramedy Atlanta, previously honed his comedic chops as an actor on Community and a writer for 30 Rock.
4. Rami Malek
When he won an Emmy for his performance on Mr. Robot, Malek’s first instinct was dry humor: “Tell me you’re seeing this too.” Also, Malek and SNL cast member Pete Davidson apparently get mistaken for each other quite often — there has to be a sketch in there somewhere. 5. Emily Blunt
The actress leads next month’s mystery thriller Girl on the Train, and anyone who saw The Devil Wears Prada knows she can be hilarious. 6. Issa Rae
People are really excited about Rae’s forthcoming HBO comedy Insecure (premiering Oct. 9), but it’s the trademark deadpan she delivers in her breakout hit web series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl that has us convinced she’d be great on SNL. 7. Gina Rodriguez
The Golden Globe-winning actress charms in CW’s Jane the Virgin (which returns Oct. 17) and we can already envision a sketch that shows off her insane rap skills: Unassuming middle school teacher defeats one of her students (please be Davidson) in a rap battle.
8. Winona Ryder
On the heels of her Stranger Things comeback, the actress should host the show again — this time, with cameos from the child stars of the Netflix series.
9. Laura Benanti Honestly, we hope Lorne Michaels called the Tony-winning actress immediately after her pitch-perfect Melania Trump impression on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
10. Benedict Cumberbatch
The actor, slated to play the title role in Marvel’s Dr. Strange in November, has a rabid fan following and does a host of celebrity impressions — including one of Tom Hiddleston.
11. Kiefer Sutherland The star of ABC’s new fall show Designated Survivor has experience hosting SNL ahead of a presidential election. In 1991, the man who would become Jack Bauer played a potential candidate with no interest in running against President George H.W. Bush. 12. Owen Wilson
The actor, who stars in Bastards in November, has appeared on SNL as his Zoolander character, Hansel, but has never hosted.
13. Hailee Steinfeld
The Oscar-nominated actress is already getting buzz for The Edge of Seventeen, which also hits theaters in November, and she showed off her expanded skill set as a Barden Bella in Pitch Perfect 2 before releasing a provocative single last year.
14. Rihanna
After her tour ends in November, the singer (who has been a musical guest several times) should take the full hosting plunge. Think of all the jokes at Drake’s expense. 15. Will Smith Somehow, the Oscar-nominated actor, who starred in a very funny ’90s sitcom, has never hosted SNL.
16. Idris Elba
Between his acting and musical talents, the actor would make a great SNL host. In February, he’ll star alongside Matthew McConaughey in The Dark Tower.
17. Emma Watson
The actress will play Belle next year in the highly anticipated live-action version of Beauty and the Beast.
18. Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer from Broad City
The pair should host when their Comedy Central show returns sometime next year. With musical guest Snoop Dogg, obviously.
19. Aziz Ansari
The former Parks and Recreation star, who just won an Emmy for writing his Netflix comedy Master of None, should get a warm welcome at Studio 8H.
20. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele
The comedic duo ended their Emmy-winning sketch variety show last year and are working on separate projects. But Peele recently told Entertainment Weekly that they “will always come back and do things together.”
21. Bill Nye
The beloved “Science Guy” should host an episode ahead of his Netflix talk show Bill Nye Saves the World, expected to premiere in the spring. An unconventional choice? Maybe. Then again, he appeared on Inside Amy Schumer.