Sometimes, life feels like it's heading on a downward spiral to nowhere. And then other days, it's announced the spotlight-wary comedy messiah Dave Chappelle will be hosting Saturday Night Live, and the sky is filled with fireworks displays and the birds are bringing you coffee and mice are making your dress for the ball. Chappelle on SNL! Chant it!
Dave Chappelle will be taking on guest hosting duties for Saturday Night Live for the first time in his 43 years, and the show's 41 seasons. (It would have admittedly been hard for him to host when he was an infant.) The date of the comedian's appearance is almost as important as the appearance himself, as he'll be hosting on November 12, just one week from now. The significance, of course, is that this will be the first episode of Saturday Night Live to air after the presidential election, in a year when the election has given SNL a big boost.
I'm sure he won't make his entire opening about the election, but...yeah, he probably will. Because of course. What has to be insane for Chappelle and everyone on the SNL writing staff is that they can't really know the direction of the political material until late Tuesday night, assuming a landslide doesn't occur. But if we don't see Chappelle as Obama leaving the White House in some ridiculous way, I'll question everything.
As anyone familiar with Dave Chappelle is aware, the comedian took a hiatus from comedy and the entertainment industry after walking away from Comedy Central's Chappelle Show at an early peak. He has moved slowly back into the stand-up life, performing sporadically and showing up on the late night circuit. Last year, he appeared in Spike Lee's Chi-Raq, which was his first movie role in 13 years. This will be his first TV appearance of a scripted sort since an episode of Crank Yankers in 2007.
The musical guest for the November 12 episode will be the previously announced hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, which is a perfect pairing for Dave Chappelle. It's been a big year for Tribe, who suffered a big blow last year with the death of Phife Dawg in March, as they were in the middle of producing their first new album in 18 years. We Got It From Here, Thank You 4 Your Service will come out on Friday, November 11, so performing on Saturday Night Live is about as solid a release celebration as a musical act can hope for.
To say it once more, in case you hadn't already written it down on your arms, the Dave Chappelle-hosted episode of Saturday Night Live is coming on November 12. Don't miss it. To see who else is hosting the sketch series, head to our updated list, and then check out our fall and midseason TV schedules to see what shows are coming to the small screen that won't have Chappelle starring in them.
