Image Credit: Dana Edelson/NBC
It’s been an Oscar-caliber season so far for Saturday Night Live. By that, I mean that two of the show’s most popular guests took home golden trophies last week at the Academy Awards, and another was the award show’s host. (And that’s not even counting Best Supporting Actress winner Anne Hathaway, who was no slouch herself when she hosted SNL in November.)
So Kevin Hart stepped into a tight spot on Saturday: he followed Django‘s Waltz, who rocketed into the lead of our Mr. Saturday Night host poll, and he’s got all-timer Justin Timberlake on-deck, set to host next week. Not exactly the ideal place to be for a first-timer. Technically, I suppose, Hart isn’t really a first-timer. As he explained in his opening monologue, he’d auditioned to join the show’s cast before — an experience that didn’t go down too well despite some amazzzzing impressions of Robert De Niro and Denzel Washington. Fortunately for the comic star of Think Like a Man and the upcoming About Last Night remake, Saturday night was a much better experience.
Waltz certainly was a tough act to follow, though: he cruised to a 37-point victory in the latest vote for our favorite host of the season. Christmas-episode guest Martin Short and season-premiere host Seth MacFarlane both lost ground, but are comfortably in second and third place, respectively. Jennifer Lawrence didn’t seem to get much of an Oscar bounce, as her support was slashed in half, but fortunately for her, Justin Bieber‘s fans simply forgot to vote. The worst 19th birthday gift yet for the Biebs: pathetic support that resembled a GPA for a Delta House pledge more than a popularity contest result for one of music’s biggest names. READ FULL STORY »
