In the aftermath of this week’s election, there has been a lot of speculation over just what, exactly, the world needs in order to deal with a Trump presidency. Aside from this Sunday’s Britney Brunch in Somerville, we’re staying out of that arena, but we’ll be damned if we weren’t extremely excited over the potential of this upcoming Saturday Night Live.
The 40-year-old NBC comedy show has had a lot of political fodder to work with in recent weeks, and now it invites Dave Chappelle, of the greatest sketch comics of our time, to come in and host.
Within just two legendary seasons of Chappelle’s Show, whose skits are still firmly embedded in pop culture a decade years later (“I’m Rick James, bitch!”… “Fuck your couch!”… Prince serving pancakes… everything involving WacArnold’s) the the D.C. native tackled racial tension and societal relations like few funnymen before him.
But then he disappeared. This Saturday marks his first return to television since leaving Comedy Central in 2006.
Chappelle alone is some epic shit. But add in musical guests A Tribe Called Quest — who will be promoting new and final album We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service and raising a glass to late co-founder Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor, who died in March — and we have the potential for an explosive and memorable SNL. By the way, the final track on the new Tribe LP is called “The Donald.”
Yesterday, NBC released a teaser for Chappelle’s appearance, and the 15-second clip titled “Dave Chappelle Has Arrived” shows the comic strolling through Rockefeller Center and onto the SNL set. A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It” provides the soundtrack.