Saturday Night Live is currently riding a streak of winning hosts like Louis C.K. and Anna Kendrick, and they don't plan on ending it any time soon. (Which, not coincidentally, is the same mentality that inspires many of their sketches.) NBC announced the Season 39 finale will bring home former cast member Andy Samberg as host, while the preview two episodes will be hosted by Andrew Garfield and Charlize Theron, respectively.
Two years after leaving the show, the Emmy-winning Samberg is the latest in a long line of comedians who find post-SNL success, winning two Golden Globes for his consistently silly Fox sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The musical guest for the evening will be indie pop singer-songwriter St. Vincent, performing on the show for the first time, two months after releasing her highly acclaimed self-titled fourth album. Of the two, she seems less likely to sing any songs about phalluses in packaging.
But first, Saturday Night Live will return on May 3 with Garfield’s first hosting gig, one day after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 earns a bajillion dollars in its first day in theaters. If that means the night will feature more comic book-themed sketches than usual, I’m down with that. There’s nothing superheroic about the musical guest that night, though, as Coldplay will return for their fifth appearance to promote their upcoming album Ghost Stories, out May 19.
And before falling victim to Seth MacFarlane’s romancing in his old timer raunchfest A Million Ways to Die in the West, Theron will return as host for the second time on May 10. Performing that night will be the bluesy rock band The Black Keys, performing singles from their album Turn Blue, which hits stores on May 13.
These hosting announcements come right as NBC is devoting part of its Thursday night primetime on April 24 for their Saturday Night Live Presents SNL Shorts “best of” special. Samberg played a big part in ushering that series staple into a digital renaissance, so I’m guessing this finale will spawn no less than seven viral videos by Sunday morning. Here's a brief promo for the special, which looks eerily similar to the video above.
SNL is also gearing up for their recently announced 40th anniversary special, which is set to air February 15, 2015. Samberg will almost definitely be a part of that guest list as well, along with just about every funny person you can think of from the past 40 years. Even Dan Aykroyd!
