Saturday Night Live has announced the hosts for its first three shows of the upcoming season. Miley Cyrus headlines the season premiere on Oct. 3, followed by perhaps the hottest comedian in pop culture right now. The Summer of Schumer continues with Amy Schumer hosting the following week on Oct. 10.
But the name with the most appeal to longtime SNL and comedy fans returns to Studio 8H for the third show of the season.
Wow. Tracy Morgan will return to host @nbcsnl on Oct. 17, NBC says. Season premiere is Oct. 3 with Miley Cyrus, Oct. 10 with Amy Schumer.
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) August 17, 2015
Of course, it’s always fun when a former cast member returns to host the program. But Tracy Morgan returning to Rockefeller Center is a bigger deal than simply a SNL reunion. Morgan performing on the show represents the comedian’s comeback after suffering critical injuries in a car accident in June 2014.
But earlier this month, Morgan was seen sitting front-row at a Yankees-Red Sox game, looking fully recovered and healthy. Returning to comedy in one form or another seemed inevitable.
There has to be a “Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet” sketch on Oct. 13, right? Hell, performing the monologue as Brian Fellow would be fun too, although maybe too much as a good thing.
Morgan was a SNL cast member for eight seasons, from 1996 to 2003. He previously hosted the show in 2009, while enjoying breakout success (and an Emmy nomination) on 30 Rock.
