“Saturday Night Live U.K.” has revealed that British comedian Jack Whitehall will host the April 11 episode with R&B artist Jorja Smith as the musical guest.
Whitehall is best known for his time as a panelist on the comedy game show “A League of Their Own” and his Netflix docuseries “Travels With My Father.” Smith released her second album, “Falling or Flying,” in 2023 and is gearing up to headline London’s All Points East Festival alongside Tems in August.
The series, which is set to run for eight episodes, will then take a weeklong hiatus and return for its next batch of shows starting April 25.
The first-ever season of the British twist on the U.S. comedy staple kicked off on March 21 with host Tina Fey and musical guest Wet Leg. Last weekend’s show featured Jamie Dornan with Wolf Alice, and Riz Ahmed is up next on April 4 with Kasabian. Just before its premiere, Sky revealed that the first season of “SNL U.K.” had been extended from six episodes to eight.
“SNL U.K.‘s” first episode delivered solid ratings for Sky and mostly positive reviews, while the Dornan-hosted second episode experienced a slight dip in viewership. In his review for Variety, Scott Bryan wrote that the show is strongest when leaning into what makes British comedy great.
“Thankfully, ‘Saturday Night Live U.K.’ largely took the basics of what makes the U.S. version successful — sketch comedy, rotating guest hosts and the unpredictability of live television — and left the Brits to it. That’s where it works,” Bryan wrote. “The sketches are darker and more surreal than its U.S. counterpart, the comedy much more deadpan. Even if all the sketch itself doesn’t work (hey, they kept that feature too) there’s enough one-liners to keep you going and try out the next.”
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