Yesterday, on his Watching TV blog, Ken Tucker noted with surprise that he found the Taylor Swift-hosted Saturday Night Live the show’s best episode of the season. Commenters’ reactions were truly a mixed bag. Some, like lei, loved Swift’s performance (“[She's] the female Justin Timberlake of SNL – have her on often and it’s a must watch”), while just as many reacted with outrage (Jonathan Juarbe: “She was horrendous and utterly painful to watch, oh and her voice…how is she making money!”). I thought Swift did an okay job — her awkward Kate Gosselin impression was actually spot-on (though I hate that I know that), and her Shakira bit made me giggle.
One thing most people do seem to agree on is that SNL’s fall season in general has been pretty bad. So who do you want to see host the show, after January Jones and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have their turns this month? We’re thinking Mo’Nique, riding what’s sure to be a still-swelling buzz wave from Precious, would be a great choice. And Katey Sagal, who’s excellent on FX’s Sons of Anarchy, could be hilarious and a refreshing change from baby starlets like Swfit and Megan Fox. If NBC could stand the cross-promotional effect, I’d like to see Courteney Cox from Cougar Town or the very funny Julie Bowen or lesser-known Ty Burrell from Modern Family. Mark Harmon deserves another shot — he hosted once in 1987 (with Suzanne Vega!) and millions of people are obsessed with NCIS. Finally, Zach Galifianakis could offer the youth appeal I know SNL is going for, and has Up in the Air coming out on Christmas day… Leave your picks in the comments!
Photo credit: Albert L. Ortega/PR
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How about Jane Lynch? I mean dear god, Sue on Glee?
YES! This would be amazing! Jane Lynch is the best part of Glee.
Complete ditto this
Jane Lynch all the way!!! She is so amazing!
YES YES YES!!!
Jane Lynch would be amazing.. but she might be TOO good for SNL.
How’s bout giving Natalie Portman another chance? Or Jake Gyllenhaal?
You gotta get yourself some porcelain fountains…
that was ScarJO
Wasn’t she on SNL? Seems like she would’ve been.
Nope. How they missed that boat is a head scratcher, although it would explain the casting woes they’ve had for the last few, well, decades. Maybe they’re just not drawing from deep enough pools. Lorne Michaels does have a bad habit of thinking he knows what’s best and kind of sticking to a formula. Maybe his casting decisions are made the same way.
YESYESYES!!!
Yes! Yes! Yes! Can you imagine the brilliance she would contribute? Oh, wow, idea of the century!
Omg yes to Jane Lynch! She’s done stage work (and currently is) so she would be comfortable with live tv I’d assume
OMG, can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it first. Absolutely agree!
Jane Lynch is brilliant with improv stuff… just go watch “Best in Show” or “A Mighty Wind” to see what I mean! She is my #1 pick for hosting SNL!
OOooo, good one! I agree. I haven’t watched SNL in years, but I would watch if (I knew that) Jane Lynch was the host.
YES! Good idea!
you mean have a funny person on SNL? wow, this would be a drastic change.
Jane Lynch should join the cast. I know she’s got a great career and doesn’t need SNL, but just think how much better the show would be with her on it….
no question about it , an excellent eventuality…maybe once she nabs a best support. actress nom for
Julie & Julia… ya know these gigs are about the right timing….
frak missels!
WHAT?
You know… The explosive projectiles fired at enemy aircraft with the intention of puncturing the hull and thereby killing the pilot inside? Don’t you get the connection to Jane Lynch?
Nathan Fillion really needs to host. The dude has a huge cult following and can expertly ham up anything they throw at him. Plus, he has no problem making fun of himself.
This this this this.
Nathan Fillion would be an amazing host for SNL, anyone who is a fan of ANY of his work can tell you that. If you have doubt, watch the outtakes of Serenity and try not to laugh at it!
Nathan Fillion would be amazing also- really great comedic timing and good off the cuff.
I say Nathan one week, Jane Lynch the next. Perfect!
Plus he’s wicked cute.
yum
I was coming here to say Nathan Fillion myself. Glad I’m not the only one. But does SNL have hosts from popular shows on other networks? Just wondering.
I would love to see Captain Tightpants host an episode!
Neil Patrick Harris hosted and he’s on CBS.
OMG yes!
i’d love to see britney spears try to host again.
ellen degeneres
adam sandler
demi lovato
leighton meester or chase crawford
jennifer hudson
jane lynch
No to everybody you listed except for Ellen and Adam Sandler.
demi lovato?????????????? ru high!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yea..with her bud Seena Gomez..they ccould have a “hook-up” scene…(cue the wayne’s world dream sequence)
No to everyone on your list – I am sick of Ellen and Adam Sandler hasn’t been funny since Happy Gilmore, all of your other choices seem to be geared to pre-teens (in other words pretty people with no real talent)
What about someone from FlashForward, like John Cho? Or Joseph Fiennes? I think they would both be good.
The problem is that neither of them have mass appeal for viewers that have no idea who they are, and then it would just be NBC promoting a show on a competing network.
OMG Monique would be GREAT! Also, has George Lopez ever hosted? Chelsey Handler? Stephen Colbert?
OMG Stephen Colbert! YES!
Yes, yes, YES to Colbert!!! He’d be awesome!
Colbert may be too good for SNL and due to his Comedy Network contractual obligations I would be surprised if he would be allowed to do it – let alone Choose to do it!!
I’m sure Colbert would be allowed to host if he were asked and wanted to do it. And don’t forget, he and Carell are the voices of the Ambiguously Gay Duo.
ANYONE from Gossip Girl – particularly Ed Westwick.
And how about Robert Pattinson!!!!!!! Maybe WITH Kristen Stewart – that would certainly get a LOT of watchers.
Anyone on Gossip Girl? What the hell is wrong with you?
hahahahahaha. Oh, Mary. You slay me.
lol…I will fire up another one to that! tho I do like S’s tommyknockers…
Ewwwww… Ed Westwick is so gross and one-dimensional and skeezy and not attractive at all! The only time I can stomach him is when Joel McHale is skewering him on The Soup. Ick.
kristin chenoweth, please. give the girl something to do now that ‘pushing daisies’ isn’t on and her ‘glee’ stint isn’t permanent. plus, we’d get more lovely kristin and her lovely voice and her lovely lovliness!
Oh my God, she’d be great. Everything she does is adorable.
Jane Lynch and Nathan Fillion are great ideas! How about Jim Parsons or Kristin Chenoweth?
YES YES YES to Jim Parsons! He’s awesome and it would be cool to see him play some other characters besides Sheldon!
KATHY GRIFFIN. She would be hilarious and smart.
She won Emmy’s the last 2 years for her show, and is now hosting a new dance show on ABC.. why not SNL?
Way to annoying
At least she knows the difference between “to” and “too”. See, she’s smart, which makes for a good host.
Obnoxious, annoying, and really creepy-looking from all of the plastic surgery.
Anybody from Glee—but I’m thinking Matthew Morrison more than anyone else.
I concur!
Yes! Matthew Morrison!
FOR FUNNY -
Ricky Gervais
Zach Galifianakis
Jimmy Kimmel
FOR GUILTY PLEASURES
Ryan Seacrest
Robert Pattinson
Ryan Seacrest would be very interesting, I admit…
That is because you are probably easily amused.
Ryan Seacrest should not be given any more jobs! He is taking 2 many people’s jobs as it is. He’s also not funny.
I don’t think Jimmy Kimmel would ever be accused of being funny, his reliance on Guillermo is ridiculous
Ricky Gervais, please! He did have a cameo on SNL once, I think when Steve Carrell hosted… he played himself and they had different versions of The Office from around the world. The Japanese one was hysterical. If you don’t listen to the Ricky Gervais podcast, download it and thank me later for introducing you to Karl Pilkington.
I love that podcast…and i totally agree karl pilkington is the kind of person you would think is comedic genius or just so stupid its funny
HA oh gosh. robert pattinson. that would be a complete failure.
Zach Galifinnn… would be pretty funny. He could do a “Between Two Ferns” skit!
Joel McHale would be good too I think. He used to be on this local sketch show in Seattle, so he has practice. I remember!
Ooooh! Joel McHale would be a treat!
Yeah! Joel would be perfect!
Joel would be GREAT, and it makes sense because he’s on an NBC show, but I’m not sure enough people know who he is.
YEAH! He would kill it on SNL!
Oh wow, you guys are giving me such good ideas.
Joel McHale would be perfect!!!
So now my tally is:
Jane Lynch
Nathan Fillion
Joel McHale
Oh yeah, Joel McHale would be awesome. They could even do a Soup sketch!
For my own selfish reasons, I’d love to see Kyle Chandler or Connie Britton take a stab at it.
IJUSTLOVEFNLSOMUCH
They were my first two thoughts! But I just don’t know how much pre-show buzz they could produce. How great would it be to have them as dual hosts?!
Great idea!!!
Mo’Nique, Jane Lynch or Kristen Chenoweth would be fab. Or Jim Parsons! But if they have to keep it in the NBC family, then I vote for Joel McHale, who has been fantastic on Community.
Cannot fathom why January Jones is hosting. Yes, I know she is on Mad Men but really? They couldn’t find anyone funnier/more well-known? Really?!
Agreed – how about John Slattery instead…he could be brilliant!
Agreed! Give Roger Sterling the show!
No host can save this show. I’ve been DVRing the show now two years and we fast forward all the bits that are too painful to watch and we can see the whole dang show in less than thirty minutes. Seth Meyers’ Weekend Update isn’t a bit funny and his smarmy look after what he thinks he’s just said was hilarious makes me hit the fast forward button pronto. No more. I’m through looking through 1.5 hours of junk for .25 minutes worth of smiles. It’s time to turn out the lights. The party’s over.
Zach Galifinakis
January Jones
Joseph Gordon Levitt
Jason Schwartzman
Mo Nique
Conan O Brien
Jane Lynch
Peyton Manning
Daniel Radcliffe or Rupert Grint
Stephen Colbert
Zooey Deschanel
Jason Segel
Terry O Quinn or Michael Emerson
Amy Poehler
Steve Carell
George Clooney
Jenna Fischer
Robert Downey Jr.
i like this list. i agree w/ clooney, colbert, monique, conan, poehler, carell and RDJ. i’d also add john krasinski, MERYL STREEP (that would be really fascinating!, plus she’s got a movie coming out), joel mchale, and jim parsons.
also simon baker and nathan fillion. mmmm….wit and man eye candy!
Meryl would be awesome.
Robert Downey, Jr actually used to be an SNL cast member in the 80s!!
JENNA FISCHER!!!
i dont know… i think she would be kind of awkward on the show.
Joel McHale-I think he would be great at this-totally agree
Steve Carrell
Billy Crystal
Jim Parsons (Sheldon from TBBT)
Neil Patrick Harris
Simon Baker
Jane Lynch-absolutely fabulous!
Ha! Jim Parsons would be great!
SC, JP and NPH …good choices
Sorry, forgot Bradley Cooper and Sandra Bullock
I don’t know if he could pull it off, but Ian Somerhalder from The Vampire Diaries would be perfect in the spring. He’s got a hit show, and is going to be returning, in some capacity, to Lost. Jane Lynch is an inspired idea, and with Glee getting solid ratings and therefore appealing to a large market of viewers, I think she might actually have a chance of making it on this season. Robert Downey Jr. would be great in December, and he’s got Sherlock Holmes coming out. I would kill to see Johnny Depp on there while he’s promoting Alice in Wonderland. Gah! That would be so awesome.
Robert Downey Jr would be great, but I don’t think Johnny Depp is terribly comfortable with live tv (even though I love him). Also, duh to Jane Lynch.
Honestly? I don’t watch regularly. From the choices you list, I’d go for the Modern Family choices or Mark Harmon. From the comments my favorite choices are Jane Lynch, Joel McHale, and (especially!) Nathan Fillion.
After seeing Funny People, I would like to see Eric Bana host.
I would nominate Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory as the host and Renee Olstead as the musical guest
I forgot to nominate Zoey Deschanel from 500 days of summer
Good choices, I would add Craig Ferguson – his monologues are the best on tv and his skits are better than anything on SNL – his JK Rowling bit, Angela Lansbury, ESPN England,etc
Kathy Griffin
To echo a few that have already been said, Jane Lynch, Kristen Chenoweth, Joel McHale, and Nathan Fillion. And as mentioned in the original post, I think Katey Sagal or Julie Bowen would be awesome. I’d also love to Lauren Graham or Peter Krause (especially since they’re going to be on NBC later this season).
Lauren Graham would be perfection! Can you imagine the awesome Gilmore Girls sketch it would inevitably birth?
I just don’t think she’s funny funny at all.. and is she still working?
Yeah, she was in a Broadway show not to long ago, it might still be playing
She just got a role on the Maura Tierney-vacated mid-season replacement “Parenthood”. Which is an inspired bit of casting, if you ask me.
For the musical guest/actor I think we can all agree that Lady Gaga was great in her two skits let’s see her on a full show.
With Lost ending they should pick one of the cast and Micheal Emerson (Ben) has both the emmy winning chops and he’s hilarious.
I see a lot of love for Jim Parsons, I don’t know if he would be good doing sketches but his neighbor across the hall and gf Kelly Cuoco.
First, Kelly Cuoco is the weakest part of the Big Bang Theory, I would not be surprised if she is gone in a while – all she does is act exasperated whenever one of the four main guys exhibit one of their quirks. Second, Jim Parsons plays sheldon and he has no gf.
According to this site, real life, Jim and Kelly are a couple.
isn’t her name Kaley Cuoco, not Kelly?
Eck. The Lady GaGa bits were so awkward that I died just a little bit.
Let’s maybe not use phrases like, “I think we can all agree” when you’re clearly insane. Or Lady GaGa’s mother.
Emma, my sentiments exactly! Thanks for the laugh.
I like the Micheal Emmerson idea – have each skit end with a twisted backstabbing by his character…….Fillion, Adam Baldwin, LL Cool J, but what the list needs is some women with heft – Glenn Close, Sigorney Weaver, etc
For my money, the straight-laced guys are always the funniest. Remember when NBC Nightly News’ Brian Williams hosted? He was HIGH-larious!
Kelly Clarkson should host. She’s proven her ability to be funny and candid in her interviews, why not try her hand in scripted comedy?
This!
Jonah Hill
Aziz Ansari
Rainn Wilson
Ed Helms
I think Jonah and Rainn have hosted haven’t they? I know Jonah did.
Yeah, Rainn hosted a few years ago. I’m not surprised you don’t remember. (that’s a dig at SNL, not you btw)
Ugh, not Jonah Hill again. Why does that guy keep getting in movies? My big toe has more talent than he does. Although I like all your other suggestions, and I will second Annie Barrett’s choice of Mo’Nique.
Was *JUST* talking about this at lunch over the weekend… umm, Jane Lynch is an absolute MUST.
I don’t know if he’d be good or not, but it would be a smart PR/image move for Arod to do it
ADAM LAMBERT as host and musical guest! Anyone see him on Best Week Ever? Hilarious!
Yes, yes, oh yay. He has stage and on-camera experience, he’s a great performer, and he’s so sarcastic and self-deprecating. Plus, I think he would draw a big audience, which apparently SNL needs.
Yes!! I want him as the host and Kris could be the musical guest, that would be cool!
Love it! Yes Best Week Ever totally hilarious… He is so smooth and funny in his interviews too, he would be perfect!