First-timers Aubrey Plaza and Michael B. Jordan to kick off this year's SNLs
Sam Smith and Lil Baby will serve as musical guests, respectively, for the two hosts
And so it begins: The tide of movie stars, comedians, and occasionally deeply bizarre and embarrassing choices that will make up yet another year of Saturday Night Live hosting picks. To be fair, the show seems to be off to a pretty good start for its first two outings of 2023, announcing today (via its tried-and-true Post-It notes system) that Aubrey Plaza and Michael B. Jordan will both be hosting the show for the first time this January.
Plaza’s up first, arriving in 30 Rock on January 21, presumably on the back of her new Guy Ritchie movie, Operation Fortune—but also, if we had to guess, on the fact that Aubrey Plaza has just had a pretty damn good couple of years. Jordan, meanwhile, will follow on January 28. He’ll be out ahead of Creed III, which is currently set for a March 3 release date, and which will see Jordan in the director’s chair for the first time, in addition to the boxing ring.
Judging how well any first-time host will handle Saturday Night Live is always a tricky prospect; even talented and charismatic presences can find themselves chewed up and spit out by the show’s relentless pace (and also just some lackluster writing and crappy sketches). That being said, Plaza and Jordan both feel like good “fits”; both have presences strong enough to stand out even buried under wigs and costumes, while also seeming game enough to toss themselves into any ideas that get pitched to them.
Meanwhile, musical duties on the two episodes will be handled by Sam Smith and Lil Baby, with Smith appearing on the January 21 episode, and Lil Baby on Jan. 28. Smith’s new album, Gloria, is out later this month, on January 27.