After two weeks off, Saturday Night Live (SNL) is taking April by storm. Hosting SNL for the first time will be Peter Dinklage with musical guest, Gwen Stefani on April 2, 2016. The following week, Russell Crowe will be hosting the comedy sketch show and the musical guest will be Margo Price, followed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus with musician Nick Jonas.
April 2, will be the first time Dinklage has been on SNL. He is best known for his role on HBO’s Game of Thrones, which won him both an Emmy and a Golden Globe award. Dinklage can also be seen, after hosting SNL, in the film, The Boss, which will be in theaters April 8.
Stefani, singer and voice coach for NBC’s The Voice, will be the musical guest on the comedy-sketch show. She has won three Grammys and has released her third album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like. The album debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Top 200.
Crowe will be hosting SNL for his first time on April 9. Crowe is also an Academy Award-winning actor with a new movie, The Nice Guys coming to theaters May 20. April 9 will be musical guest Margo Price’s debut. Price is a country musician whose first album, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, was released March 25. NBC says the album has received positive reviews. Entertainment Weekly has added her to the EW Must List.
April 16, SNL will be hosted by Louis-Dreyfus for the third time. She was an SNL cast member for three years in the mid-80s and has not hosted the show since 2007. She has won seven Emmy Awards in her career. She stars on HBO’s Veep, which will be starting its fifth season on April 24.
The musical guest that Saturday will be Jonas who is a multi-platinum artist. This is not his first time as a guest on SNL but it will be his first time on the show as a solo artist. He will be debuting songs from his newest album, Last Year Was Complicated. His album will not be released until June.
SNL is on NBC, Saturday nights at 11:35 p.m. ET. Saturday Night Live is in its 41st season on NBC. The comedy sketch show has won 45 Emmy Awards and has been nominated 202 times. Since it launched in 1975, it has been the starting point for many successful careers, such as Steve Martin, Dan Akroyd, Tina Fey, Jane Curtain, Gilda Radner, Al Franken, Jay Pharaoh, Adam Sandler, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Jim Belushi, John Candy, Chris Farley, David Spade, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy, Lorne Michaels, Amy Poehler, John Belushi, Seth Meyers, Chevy Chase, Phil Hartman, Molly Shannon, Billy Crystal, Damon Wayans, and Bill Murray. There have been 141 cast members in 42 years.
In 1999, during SNL’s 25th Anniversary special (which won an Emmy Award), The New York Times wrote, “in defiance of both time and show business convention, SNL is still the most pervasive influence on the art of comedy in contemporary culture.” The show has been referred to as a “national institution.”
SNL even has an influence in the political conversation. The show has featured Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin, as well as, talented cast members who have impersonated presidents, such as George Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and President Obama. The show also pokes fun at pop culture and keeps things fresh.
Since the pilot episode aired on Oct. 11, 1975, from Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, SNL has kept their sketches fresh and live so sometimes what was meant to be funny was hysterical and sometimes messed up sketches did not receive any laughs. Either way, the iconic late night television show still maintains the highest rankings in its time slot.
By Jeanette Smith
Sources:
TV Line: Saturday Night Live Taps Russell Crowe, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as April Hosts
NBC Entertainment: ‘SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’ ROLLS INTO APRIL WITH THREE BACK-TO-BACK SHOWS
NBC: Saturday Night Live
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