'SNL' Closes out February With Returning Alum John Mulaney, James Bond Star Daniel Craig Hosting

It is a good thing 2020 has a Leap Day, because it means Saturday Night Live has the perfect [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

It is a good thing 2020 has a Leap Day, because it means Saturday Night Live has the perfect opportunity to bring John Mulaney back to Studio 8H. Mulaney will host the Feb. 29 episode, with David Byrne as the musical performer. The March 7 episode will feature James Bond star Daniel Craig as host, with The Weeknd performing.

Mulaney, who launched his career as a writer on Saturday Night Live, has turned SNL hosting gigs into an annual occurrence now. This will be his third consecutive year returning to host, following his April 14, 2018 and his March 2, 2019 episodes. He won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for his 2018 Netflix special John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid. In 2011, he shared an Emmy win with Justin Timberlake, Seth Meyers and Katreese Barnes for Timberlake's monologue on SNL.

Most recently, Mulaney hosted the hilarious Netflix special, John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch, a children's television special that covered very adult material. The hour-long special was packed with surprising celebrity cameos, including two sketches featuring Byrne.

Byrne is an Oscar-winning musician and best known for his time as the frontman for Talking Heads. His most recent project is American Utopia, a Broadway show based on his 2018 studio album. The show is scheduled to run at the Hudson Theatre thought Feb. 16. Byrne previously appeared on SNL in 1979 with Talking Heads and as a solo artist in 1989. Hopefully, a live performance of "Pay Attention" and "Tiny Apocalypse" will be on the setlist.

Craig will appear on SNL for the fist time since 2012, when he was promoting Skyfall. This time, he is promoting No Time To Die, which is expected to be his last James Bond movie. He most recently starred in Rian Johnson's surprising box office hit Knives Out as Detective Benoit Blanc. The SNL writers should have a blast making Craig show off his incredible skill at playing different American accents.

As for The Weeknd, this will mark his first time performing on SNL since 2016, when Margot Robbie hosted. He also performed in 2015, and made surprise appearances alongside Ariana Grande in 2014 and Future in 2016. The singer has not released a new album since 2016's Starboy, and released the EP My Dear Melancholy in 2018. In November, The Weeknd released the singles "Heartless" and "Blinding Lights."

The next new episode of Saturday Night Live airs on Saturday, with RuPaul hosting and Justin Bieber performing. It is RuPaul's fist time hosting.

SNL airs at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC Saturdays.

Photo credit: Getty Images

0comments
Start the Conversation

of