Abbott Elementary creator Brunson makes her second appearance as host on May 3, with Benson Boone as the musical guest. Goggins, who can still be seen on HBO during the last season of The Righteous Gemstones, and who is somehow still showing up in the gossip pages almost three weeks after the White Lotus finale, headlines the May 10 episode, with once-popular rock band Arcade Fire (whose lead singer, Win Butler, has been accused of sexual misconduct by several women) playing SNL for the sixth time. And Johansson will host for the seventh time at the season finale on May 17, with Bad Bunny (who hosted an episode last season) as musical guest; Johansson, of course, is married to longtime Weekend Update co-host and former SNL head writer Colin Jost, and made a cameo earlier this month in the show’s Trump / White Lotus mash-up. And that’ll bring an end to the show’s 50th season, which saw a large amount of self-celebration and a quality level just as scattershot as ever.
Goggins’ debut is exciting for anybody who’s ever dug any of his excellent TV performances, from Justified to Danny McBride’s HBO shows to Fallout to this year’s season of White Lotus. I don’t know if actors who take their method-like “process” as seriously as Goggins does are well-suited for a show like SNL, which insists on everybody blatantly reading from cue cards, but maybe his commitment will help Goggins thrive. And Brunson seems to have the inside track on becoming one of the show’s regular, dependable guest hosts. This’ll be her second time on the show in two years, and her background in sketch comedy and writing makes her the kind of host who can really anchor an episode. Maybe pencil her in for one of those “five timer” robes around, say, 2030, or so? Of course, Jon Hamm seemed to be on a speed-run for one of those robes back in 2010, crushing through three hosting gigs in like 18 months, before somehow going 15 entire years before returning just this season. And Johnasson is an old pro at this point, as reliable as hosts get these days. Still, don’t ever expect anything from SNL, other than wild quality swings, constant game show and talk show sketches, and Lorne Michaels making every cast member and writer a paranoid wreck desperate for the approval of a creepy old Canadian guy.
SNL airs live, as always, on NBC at 11:30 p.m. on Saturdays, and streams on Peacock. Pretty much the whole episode will be up on YouTube within a few hours, too—unless, like Chappell Roan, you premiere some brand new song that won’t be officially released for several more months.
