Dave Chappelle did an excellent job hosting Saturday Night Live four years ago as he got the country laughing again after one of the most brutal and unpredictable elections in the history of the country.
Once again, he’s being called on by Lorne Michaels to come on SNL to relieve what has been a bad start to this unprecedented season on the show that has been hampered by lazy writing and a toned down production that has to remain constantly aware of the threat of COVID.
But it’s possible that Chappelle, who will also be likely promoting the arrival of the Chappelle Show on Netflix might not even know who the winner of the election is when it’s time to take the stage.
And even if he does, the show will have only the shortest of windows to prepare.
It’s completely possible they’ve got scenarios worked out for a Biden win, a Trump win, or an undecided election but it doesn’t make the actual work easier. This is going to be a challenging task.
We also can’t lean all of this on Chappelle either. It’s going to be up to Alec Baldwin and Jim Carrey to lift their respective games and make us laugh at these stale Trump and Biden impersonations. These are two all time greats but these performances haven’t been funny.
The music this year has been on point. And SNL will likely get it right again with The Foo Fighters backing up the show as musical guests. Paired with the host and circumstances, this is one of the most formidable line ups ever.
On paper, the slump should end Saturday. Right when the country is ready to emerge from a tough 2020 altogether. And we can all use a few laughs right now.