Channing Tatum And Zooey Deschanel Lined Up To Host Saturday Night Live

While we have Daniel Radcliffe to look forward to on SNL this Saturday night, Saturday Night Live is lining up the talent for their February episodes. The network announced today that New Girl Zooey Deschanel is set to make her hosting debut next month, as is Channing Tatum.

Saturday Night Live’s been fairly inconsistent this season, which is nothing new for the series in its recent years. Still, this season seems particularly reliant on the host, which in addition to carrying the weight of some of the humor in any given episode, can also be the centerpiece of that particular episode’s set of sketches, shaping it for better or worse. See Melissa McCarthy’s excellent episode from last fall for evidence of that. Will Channing Tatum and Zooey Deschanel deliver laughs and inspire comedic gold from the SNL writers? We’ll find out next month.

NBC announced today that Tatum, who’s set to star in the upcoming 21 Jump Street film alongside Jonah Hill, will host the February 4th episode of SNL. Deschanel, who transitioned from film to TV for Fox’s New Girl this fall is lined up to host on February 11th. These episodes are the first time either actor has hosted the sketch comedy series.

Musical guests for the episodes are Bon Iver (Feb. 4) and “swag pop” music duo Karmin (Feb 11). The fact that I haven’t heard of either suggests that I’m either reaching the age where I am no longer in touch with today’s music, or SNL is branching out a bit... or both.