SNL: 5 Hosts From Season 46 That Nailed It (& 5 That Totally Bombed)

From Anya-Taylor Joy to Dave Chapelle, SNL brought in some very diverse hosts last season. Some were hilarious, others were a total Debbie Downer.

You Are Reading :SNL 5 Hosts From Season 46 That Nailed It (& 5 That Totally Bombed)

Saturday Night Live has been a pillar of late-night television since 1976. Every season, the show brings in a diverse set of new hosts. Some are comedians, and many are even former cast members. Others are celebrities from the movie, sports, or business world, and they often experience varying degrees of success when they try their hands at comedy for the first time.

SNL faced a unique challenge in season 46. The show had to come back from months away from in-studio production, which was shut down because of COVID-19. Fortunately, many of the guest hosts were happy to carry the torch, and many of them were quite funny.

10 Nailed It: Anya Taylor-Joy

Season 46 wrapped up in May 2021 with Anya Taylor-Joy hosting the season finale. The actress known for her role as a drug-fueled chess player on The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix) brought a surprisingly sweet and honest tone to her role as host.

For her monologue, Taylor-Joy riffed on her character in the show, which was very funny. She brought humor to sketches about women in heaven designing the first man and the bitterness members of the gay community have towards each other in spite of pride month. It was all a great send-off to a pretty good season.

9 Bombed: Elon Musk

SNL fans scratched their heads when they heard Tesla tech guru Elon Musk would be hosting the show in May 2021. Although he previously appeared on The Big Bang Theory, Musk is definitely more known for his eccentric behavior and oddball tweets than his comedic chops.

For his turn as host, Musk joked about electric cars and space travel in his monologue. Since it was the Mother’s Day episode, he also brought in his Mom, which was awkward and not all that funny. The rest of his night as SNL host was largely forgettable, save for a bizarre sketch where he played Wario and his significant other, Grimes, played Princess Peach. It was a dud for the show, but it was great for internet memes.

8 Nailed It: Carey Mulligan

Carey Mulligan’s role in Promising Young Woman earned her an Oscar nomination in 2021. It also helped her land a gig hosting SNL, and she took on the role with ease. After some funny banter with her husband Marcus Mumford, leader of the band Mumford & Sons, during her monologue, Mulligan told jokes about her English heritage and how people often confuse her with Michelle Williams.

Although Carey Mulligan didn’t play any crazy out-of-the-box characters, she did a good job of holding her own in game show, outer space, and mock lesbian period drama sketches. Not many people think of Mulligan as a comedic actress, but her time on SNL showed that she’d be good at comedy movies.

7 Bombed: Maya Rudolph

Saturday Night Live can be very hit-and-miss when the cast and crew have had a long layoff. Such was the case in late March 2021 when the show took a four-week hiatus and came back with a familiar SNL alumnus as host.

Typically Maya Rudolph is a comedy cannon loaded with funny characters, catchphrases, and off-the-wall goofiness. This time, however, the writers didn’t come back with much for her to work with. Instead of relying on classic sketches like “Bronx Beat” with Amy Poehler, Rudolph didn’t bring any memorable guests with her. She was given boring material, and even her impressions of Beyonce and Kamala Harris fell flat.

6 Nailed It: Timothee Chalamet

Timothee Chalamet is a polished actor known for his roles in Call Me By Your Name and the upcoming summer blockbuster Dune. He came to SNL prepared and didn’t mess up his lines. The show even let him nerd-out and do a sketch with his new bro Pete Davidson, which the internet immediately fell in love with.

Another memorable sketch was a pre-taped piece where Chalamet played a farm boy who had to part with a tiny horse. Chalamet also played a New York Jets fan, a Soundcloud rapper, and an inept baker as part of his stint. It was all quite funny and the bromance with Davidson sparked some great memes too.

5 Bombed: Regina King

Regina King landed the Saturday Night Live hosting gig to promote her directorial debut One Night In Miami, a critically-acclaimed film that even landed her an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. Despite her previous comedy acting experience in her reoccurring role as Janine Davis on The Big Bang Theory, King was unable to turn her SNL appearance into anything memorable in season 46.

The show started with King making some tame but racially driven jokes, which weren’t too bad. Kenan Thompson soon showed up as a rap hype man to try to save the monologue, but he was unsuccessful. From there, things didn’t get much better, as the best laughs King could get were mocking women who use Gorilla Glue in their hair.

4 Nailed It: Dave Chappelle

Once again, Saturday Night live brought in Dave Chappelle to host their post-election-day episode, just as they did after Donald Trump won the election in 2016. Chapelle killed it as host again, starting the show by going off with his signature bits of edgy, racially-charged standup comedy. Chappelle’s monologue was nearly 18 minutes long, and every bit of it was gold.

Chappelle didn’t appear on this episode too much, but, when he did, he hit all the marks. He made Peter Davidson laugh during a bit about Uncle Ben’s and Aunt Jemima changing their brand names, which make the sketch even funnier.

3 Bombed: Issa Rae

Sometimes, SNL takes risks on new hosts that aren’t too well known or established in the world of pop culture. Such was the case when Issa Rae, star of the HBO show Insecure, took the stage. Unfortunately, the timing of Rae’s appearance was a bit off, as she was supposed to host in March 2020, but her appearance was pushed to October due to COVID-19 shutting down production. Without anything to promote, this left Rae in a bit of a pickle with weak writing and no experience doing characters or impressions.

During the episode, Rae was only given shallow characters like a news correspondent on “Drake Watch” or an aloof woman on a date who kept getting visits from her past exes. None of the material Rae had to work with was a home run, so her first try as SNL host turned out to be a forgettable strikeout.

2 Nailed It: John Mulaney

As a former head writer and frequent contributor to SNL, John Mulaney has returned to host the show several times and each time he nails it. Mulaney is one of the few hosts in SNL history who can be counted on to deliver. He typically starts with a monologue of new standup jokes, and his cracks about the election and his 94-year old nana were spot-on.

Mulaney is a great Saturday Night Live host because he understands that the show can be goofy while still being smart. His signature sketch appeared near the end of this episode with am NYC centric musical set in a grimy place like a bodega or souvenir store. In any other comedian’s hands, these sketches would fall short; but, when Mulaney hosts, everything is hilarious and perfect.

1 Bombed: Bill Burr

Bill Burr is a very divisive comedian; he’s an edgy comedian known for frequently crossing the line. While fans liked his take on a rebel prisoner in The Mandalorian, his standup on its own can leave a sour taste in the viewer’s mouth. Burr never apologizes for his crudeness, which is ultimately a detriment to his character.

For his monologue, Burr was allowed to tell cringe-worthy jokes about New York City found its edge again after Rick Moranis was attacked, women taking over “woke” culture, and gay pride month being in June. It was all a bit harsh and set the tone for a show that was overly aggressive in its attempt to shock and provoke viewers.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/saturday-night-live-season-46-best-worst-hosts/