As Josh discussed over the weekend, the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live was really good. Host Christoph Waltz brought a lot to the table, most of the sketches were strong (it’s been pointed out by everyone at this point, but Djesus Uncrossed was inspired), and the Alabama Shakes can absolutely wail. It was a window into what they show is capable of when all (or most) the pieces fall into place.
And how will they follow up that excellent effort? With Kevin Hart and Macklemore.
The stand-up comedian, whose mainstream star has been on the rise recently thanks to a role in the sleeper 2012 comedy “Think Like a Man” and his successful 2011 concert film “Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain,” has been tapped to host the March 2 episode of the late-night sketch series for the first time, as announced on [Saturday's] Christoph Waltz-fronted episode. The episode’s musical guests will be hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, whose “Thrift Shop” currently sits atop the Billboard Hot 100. [HitFix]
Three thoughts:
1) I’ll be the first to admit that Kevin Hart doesn’t do much for me. His brand of high-enegy comedy is a little too reminiscent of Dane Cook and Randy from Funny People for my taste, as his many, many appearances during NBA All-Star Weekend confirmed. Dude was … a bit much.
2) That said, Kevin Hart is wildly popular right now. Just bonkers popular. As that HitFix article points out, his BET series — Real Househusbands of Hollywood, co-starring Nick Cannon — debuted to four million viewers last month. Four million. To put that in perspective, FX was THRILLED when Louie pulled in a little over one million viewers last summer. Kevin Hart may not be my cup of tea, and I might not enjoy his episode as much as the one from this past Saturday, but I can’t fault SNL for booking him. Bills don’t pay themselves, you know?
3) I originally thought that said Macklemore would be performing with “Ray” Lewis. I quickly realized my mistake, but even in that brief moment of confusion I was filled to the brim with questions about how the two of them hooked up.
Photo credit: Ira Bostic/Shutterstock
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… in the sleeper 2012 comedy “Think Like a Man”…
“Sleeper” is a new synonym for “awful”.
I find Kevin Hart Hilarious, and I cannot wait for this episode.
agree 100%
Yeah, I’m with Danger, I think the annual Kevin Hart NBA All-Star Week-End appearance is all the Kevin Hart I need. This is going to suck.
I like his stand-up…but he is blowing up, so let the hate commence. Dane Cook blew up, I never found much of his stuff funny so I kinda got the hate for him, but Hart’s stuff is actually funny.
He was pretty hilarious in the 5 year engagement.
Ray Lewis is only at the thrift shop trying to find his White Suit so he can finally burn it and put an end to all those soon-to-be baseless “murdered two people and covered it up” rumors.
Am I the only one that thought Christoph Waltz’s episode was terrible? Even Djesus Uncrossed was the most unoriginal idea you could come up with. That said, Kevin Hart is pretty funny so I may give this a chance.
yeah, I don’t get why people thought Waltz was great. Seems like a good dude, but a terrible SNL host.
Kevin Hart is gonna kill it.
I turned it on in time for the Djesus and yeah, I wasn’t really impressed. There are probably about fifty youtube videos out there with a similar concept and execution [hah!].
High energy comedy? He tells jokes..what do you want? Some Eeyore type dude “Well, this happened to me today.” You love Steven Wright, don’t ya..dude is funny..but if Hart went on stage and sounded like Wright it would be gimmick infringement.
All I said was that he wasn’t for me. You are welcome to enjoy his comedy. I’ll just put on my headphones and listen to John Mulaney’s album again.
I love Eeyore. I never identified more with a cartoon character other than Snarf from ThunderCats… God, I’m messed up.
Eeyore is the shit…My favorite Pooh character…
His stand-up is his style, so you either love it or hate it. I don’t really enjoy him, but that’s just me. But he strikes me as the guy that shows up to a party and everything needs to be about him, so he’ll attempt joke after joke after joke so it seems like he’s a lot funnier even though his “batting average” on jokes is below the Mendoza Line
I watched the celebrity game (because I spend my time wisely) and Kevin Hart would. not. shut. up. It was all just so loud, and that was at an event devoted to the shiny and bright.
I wasn’t floored by his last special, but the earlier stuff was funny. The line about picking up women with car seats in the back was good.
He was great on that episode of “Party Down” too.
Very fair defense of his work, Otto.
“Might as well call it “slave-whippin’ soup”…”
Relevant.
Hmm…won’t let me embed. Here’s the link to the Party Down scene: [youtu.be]
If you don’t love the joke about daughter giving sass, we can’t be friends.
I like Kevin Hart from time to time, and Laugh at my Pain wasn’t too bad. I also like his random appearances on other shows, like Party Down and Modern Family (Manny is the worst).
Bad comedians hosting SNL > Everyone else but good comedians hosting SNL
Not that Hart is bad, but I’ll take anyone that does comedy for a living hosting SNL over Justin Bieber or Michael Phelps.
this
Agreed.
He eviscerated Kenny Smith during All Star Weekend. His on-the-fly responses are amazing, just knocks people down.
Bills don’t pay themselves, you know?
You sound like my banker when he tried to tell me that that having a check “bounce” is a bad thing. What, you want a bunch of sharp, jagged-edged check fragments all over the floor where somebody can step on them and cut their feet all to hell?
Kevin Hart is a smart, funny guy, listen to his episode of WTF.
this could be really really good.
He’s the comedy version of cholera.
“It’s your boy k-hart, aka–” quickly change the station as fast as you can!
I am looking forward to this, but that is because of Macklemore. I do not care about Kevin Hart at all.
Kevin Hart was funny in his cameo in 40-Year Old Virgin and his recurring role on Undeclared. His stand up is a bit much though.
Difference between Dane Cook and Kevin Hart? Kevin Hart’s comedy is more self-deprecating so his jokes are unlikely to become “Guys don’t you just hate it when you have sex with a ton girls?” I like his stand-up. He may not be Patrice O’Neal but he’s definitely in my top 5 of funniest comedians right now.
Him and Anthony Anderson discussing paradoxes in Scary Movie 3 and 4.
[youtu.be]
ain’t nothin’ wrong with Kevin Hart. he’s not the best comedian around or anything but he should be fun.
I’m not the biggest fan of Hart, but, I feel like I can confidently say that he’ll have multiple funny skits.
Great. I’m officially old as fuck. I have no clue who this guy is.