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Melissa McCarthy And Saturday Night Live: A Match Made In TV Heaven

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 05:22 PST, May 20, 2017

Melissa McCarthy is probably the best thing to happen to Saturday Night Live (SNL) this season. OK, that’s not one hundred percent fair; Donald Trump is the best thing to happen to SNL in probably a decade – the jokes write themselves! But the Trump administration brought us Sean Spicer, which brought us Melissa McCarthy’s impersonation of him, which has made this season one of SNL’s most memorable in years.

All in all, expect SNL and Melissa McCarthy to have a long and hilarious relationship, joining the ranks of Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, and a handful of other great actors and comics who have made the long-running NBC sketch-comedy show a big part of their careers.

The Best Female SNL Host This Season

Saturday Night Live‘s 42nd season, which, by the way, concludes tonight with host Louis C.K., has been one of the most viral, most memorable, and highest-rated seasons in the show’s four decades on the air. Nine women hosted this season, and according to Gold Derby, she’s the fan favorite by a mile.

On May 13, Mother’s Day, McCarthy’s host turn of course included “Spicey” – fans would have rioted if it hadn’t – but Melissa’s best moment in the show wasn’t her Sean Spicer bit. Rather, it was the monologue, when Melissa grabbed an unsuspecting older lady from the audience, took her backstage, and made her a part of the show. Later, she showed off her physical acting chops, taking multiple pies to the face as a hapless game show contestant.

In fact, her turn as “Spicey” was probably the weakest Sean Spicer sketch to date, being best by production missteps and a missed cue by either Melissa or Alec Baldwin, not sure which. Either way, it was a disappointing sketch, as Spicey goes, but Melissa’s turn as host wasn’t going to be marred by one poorly-executed sketch.

About That Sean Spicer Impersonation…

According to the Washington Post, the Spicer impersonation grew out of a conversation Melissa and Kristen Stewart had on a plane. Stewart was headed to the Big Apple for her hosting gig, while Melissa was headed there for a movie shoot. Melissa, knowing that Kristen had a reputation for not liking interviews, started pitching ideas to her about how she could do her opening.

Meanwhile, back in SNL‘s writer’s room, writer Kent Sublette and the other writers were carefully watching Sean Spicer’s press conferences, knowing there was comedy gold in there. The right man for the job would have been Chris Farley, but he, of course, had died decades ago. But, Melissa McCarthy had herself played Chris Farley on an SNL sketch. Sublette put two and two together.

“It was a Tuesday, and one of our producers, Erik Kenward, told me that Melissa had flown out with our host and had a monologue idea. That’s when I just blurted out, ‘Melissa should play Spicer.'”

The rest, as they say, is history.

Whether or not Melissa McCarthy will be back as Sean Spicer next season remains to be seen. As Melissa is a busy Hollywood A-lister, SNL producers can’t exactly be expected to work around her schedule. Meanwhile, there’s the very real possibility that Sean Spicer may be fired, making this whole conversation moot.

Of course, Spicey or no Spicey, it’s clear that there will always be a seat at the table, so to speak, for Melissa McCarthy at Saturday Night Live.

[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]

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