Saturday Night Live: What to watch for with host Claire Foy

Saturday Night Live is back from its Thanksgiving break with an all-new episode hosted by Claire Foy. Here’s a preview of what to watch for before you tune in.

Things are finally getting back to normal after the Thanksgiving holiday. It may be doing so just before things ramp up for Hanukkah, Christmas, and the rest of the holiday season. But for now, things are settling and that means back to a new Saturday Night Live. Actress Claire Foy will have the hosting honors.

Despite being a first-time host and not exactly known for work in comedy, Foy isn’t sweating the Saturday Night Live gig.  Roles in The Crown, First Man, and The Girl in the Spider’s Web have certainly prepared her for being in the spotlight. Saturday Night Live may be a completely different animal but Foy sounds eager to take the stage.

Foy will look to provide some stability in a Saturday Night Live season that has been inconsistent. Other first-time hosts this year include Awkwafina, Liev Schrieber, and Seth Meyers. The better episodes have come from returning hosts Adam Driver and Jonah Hill. That brings us to the list of what to watch for on this week’s episode.

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Claire Foy’s comedic chops

As mentioned, this will be the first chance American audiences get to see Claire Foy in a comedy setting and acting silly. The fact that she claims not to be nervous is a good sign. And the promos for the week show that she is up for anything thrown her way, even food.

Have limited or no experience in comedy isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. Jokes can land even harder when they come from an unexpected source. Foy’s success will then be more dependent on how the writers do this week.

Liev Schreiber was in a similar situation when he hosted a few weeks back. He’s known for portraying intense characters like the one on Ray Donovan.  He wasn’t exactly given anything too crazy to do on his episode of Saturday Night Live  but he also didn’t seem out of place.

What Trump story to tackle

It’s basically a lock at this point that the cold open will be a political sketch. It’s been that way since week one with Matt Damon as Brett Kavanaugh. The problem this week is deciding on what story, or stories, to spoof.

Alec Baldwin’s legal troubles are partly the reason his Donald Trump hasn’t been seen in a while. That absence will probably continue meaning that other impressions will be relied on. Coming off a holiday break, viewership could be up this week. It makes for a great opportunity for another guest cameo.

The show could go after Ivanka Trump and the story about her emails. Scarlett Johansson has popped up before as the First Daughter. The charges that Paul Manafort lied could mean Robert De Niro back as Robert Mueller.

But assuming the writers were able to work quickly, the most likely story to inspire the open is Michael Cohen’s guilty plea to misleading Congress. That would mean the return of Ben Stiller as Trump’s former personal attorney.

The Crown parody

Sometimes it can be too obvious for a host to reprise a well-known role for the sake of a Saturday Night Live sketch. The writers likely don’t want to be predictable but there is something to be said for giving people what they want. Take for example Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman sketch  from when she hosted.

Most everyone who knows Claire Foy knows her from The Crown. She may be done with the character as the show moves forward and recasts but that doesn’t change her association with the series. She will most certainly play Queen Elizabeth again for Saturday Night Live but it’s no certainty it will be better than Fred Armisen’s version:

Saturday Night Live airs Dec. 1 on NBC at 11:30 ET. Host Claire Foy will be joined by musical guest Anderson .Paak. Check back in with FanSided for an episode grade and immediate reaction. Last Night On will also have all the highlights from the episode!