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Jennifer Coolidge Was Set To Host SNL This Season—Here's What Happened
Is an SNL debut still in the cards for the White Lotus star?
News continues to trickle in regarding which productions are being impacted by studios’ refusal to make a fair deal with Hollywood screenwriters, and it turns out an episode of Saturday Night Livehosted by Jennifer Coolidge is among the casualties.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the Legally Blonde star was soon to be announced as the host for the upcoming season finale of SNL. Instead, the variety sketch show shut down production on its final episodes, as writers across the industry go on strike to protest the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ dismissive attitude towards ongoing concerns about the current state of and future of the profession.
The episode would have marked Coolidge’s first time hosting the show, despite cast member Chloe Fineman previously impersonating her in a jarringly accurate skit last year. At the time, the actress also admitted she once auditioned to be on the show herself, but didn’t make the cut — something we can all agree was clearly a loss for SNL, but a major gain for every production that was later able to book her because of it.
\u201cAlso, congrats to the new cast members!! I know how hard it is to get on that show, I tried my ass off to be one but you actually made it!! What a feat! Happy holidays to you all!! \u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\udc95\ud83d\udc95\u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\udc95\ud83d\udc95\ud83d\udc8b\ud83c\udfb7\ud83c\udfb7\u201d— Jennifer Coolidge (@Jennifer Coolidge) 1671405437
Had her episode gone into production, the White Lotus fan favorite would have been joined by the Foo Fighters as musical guests. An earlier episode would have seen Kieran Culkin host, with Labrinth performing.
Although there’s still technically a possibility that the strike will conclude, writers will return to work, and the final episodes of SNL will take place as planned, the dramatic discrepancies between the Writers Guild of America’s proposals for a renewed agreement between the union and the studios and the AMPTP’s responses — frequently categorized as a full rejection with no counteroffer — suggest this may drag on for some time.
Hopefully, Coolidge will still be available to swing by SNL somewhere down the line when production has resumed, even if that won’t be until season 49.
Production on SNL has been shut down because its writers are union members and the union is on strike over issues such as using AI for writing, streaming residuals, and an increase in base fees to combat inflation.
Previous episodes of SNL are streaming on Hulu.
SNL is currently in its 48th season and began in 1975.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
