Lorne Michaels is no dummy.
After the debacle of the Ramy Youssef show ended with a huge drop in ratings, “SNL” chief Michaels packed it on this past Saturday.
The result was an 18% jump to 4.5 million viewers with Kristen Wiig hosting and a raft of surprise A list guests. Martin Short, Jon Hamm, Matt Damon, Paul Rudd, Ryan Gosling, Fred Armisen, Will Forte all joined Wiig for a wild, and memorable 90 minutes.
It didn’t hurt that the musical guest, Raye, was sensational. Sales of her album, “21st Century Blues,” also kicked up, sending it to the top 20. (Of course, there’s been no follow up since then from her indie label.)
Over 1 million of the 4.75 million viewers were in the key demo, too, which I’m sure thrilled NBC.
“SNL” had been in a rut since returning from Christmas break. But the Wiig show felt like old times. She, and the stars, gave it quite a jolt.
This weekend, “Barbie” and “The Fall Guy” star Gosling will host with superstar country singer Chris Stapleton was musical guest. Expect references to both those Gosling movies, and the eclipse. Should be fun!
Welcome back, “SNL”!
Ryan Gosling's a big @ChrisStapleton fan pic.twitter.com/faGwM0crRZ
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) April 10, 2024
