‘SNL’ Does The Sensible Thing And Finally Wrangles Aziz Ansari To Host

Acclaimed comedian/unapologetic culinary arts enthusiast Aziz Ansari has been a more than capable candidate to host Saturday Night Live for ages now. We’re not entirely sure what took the Master of None star so long to get on the NBC late night variety staple, but no need to grumble. He’s here now and that’s lovely news.

The SNL index cards of destiny have revealed that Ansari and “Moves” recording artist Big Sean as the guests lined up for the January 21, 2017 edition of the program. According to NBC’s recordkeeping, Ansari will be making the landmark achievement of being the first (FIRST!) host of South Asian descent.

Ansari hosting the show is an inspired choice. Dave Chappelle’s sketch and stand-up comedy chops made for a standout episode and there’s no reason to believe the comic’s Human Giant credentials have turned to dust since switching up his brand of TV. (The odds of The Illusionators or Clell Tickle getting clubbed are pretty limited, though.) The current tone of the show should also provide comfortable footing for our host to veer between political commentary and (hopefully) very silly things.

This will be the first SNL go-around for both Aziz Ansari and Big Sean. The Detroit rapper shared his excitement about the gig on Twitter.

“I’m super excited to announce that I’ll be performing on @nbcSNL for the first time ever, January 21st,” declared Big Sean. “This one is for Detroit.”

Their episode of Saturday Night Live arrives one week following the upcoming edition of the program featuring Rogue One actress Felicity Jones and country troubadour Sturgill Simpson as the star attractions.