Now that the writers' strike is officially, 100 percent over, we can look forward to countless scripted shows returning to production and getting new episodes back on the air in four to eight weeks. However, fans won't need to wait that long for the return of
Saturday Night Live, which will start back up next Saturday, February 23.
For the triumphant return, the show is pulling out the big guns, as the host will be none other than
Tina Fey. The recent Golden Globe and SAG Award winner for her work on
30 Rock was, of course, a co-anchor of
Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update for four seasons in addition to serving as the show's head writer.
Fey will become the third female former cast member to return as host, following in the footsteps of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Molly Shannon. It will be interesting to see how Fey fares as host, as her tenure in the cast was relegated to Weekend Update. Fey rarely appeared in actual sketches, so this will be an opportunity to see her stretch her comedic muscles.
The following week, the host will be Ellen Page, the young actress winning rave reviews (and an Oscar nomination) for her work in
Juno.
SNL is obviously a fan of that film, as Page's co-star Michael Cera was the guest host of the special stage version of
Saturday Night Live that was performed in front of a theater audience shortly after the strike began to raise money for writers.
The last new episode of
Saturday Night Live was more than three months ago when Brian Williams served as host, and Barack Obama made a special appearance as himself. The current political climate raises one interesting question: how can
SNL continue to provide political satire without a cast member to play Obama, who was become a far bigger player in the Democratic primary than he was even three months ago. The only black male cast member is Keenan Thompson, and short of having gastric bypass surgery, the hefty comedian would not make a viable Obama.
There is still no word on who the musical guests will be for these episodes.
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: New York Times
(Image courtesy of NBC)
