SNL announces first 4 shows

SNL has just announced the lineup for their first 4 shows of the season. Its surprising (to me at least) that SNL will start off with 4 episodes in a row. They did 4 shows in a row last year, but that was presumably for the election season. Nevertheless, here is the host/musical guest list for the first 4 shows, and my commentary on the selections.

September 26
Megan Fox/U2
--This one we already knew, and I've already given my thoughts. But I'll reiterate that Megan Fox is big ratings but questionable comedy. It will be interesting how much she wants to do as host. As for U2, I think they were a good choice. Again, its a boost for ratings, as well as some pretty good music in my opinion. This will be an interesting show not only because of the guests, but because of the new castmembers. (Jenny Slate & Nasim Pedrad)

October 3
Ryan Reynolds/Lady Gaga
--Ryan Reynolds does have potential to be a good host. Will he? Maybe, maybe not. To me, Ryan has always seemed vastly overrated as an actor, but maybe SNL will reveal his true comedic talent just like Justin Timberlake proved he has strong comedic skills after hosting the show. Reynolds does have some good stuff--we'll just have to wait and see how he does. Lady Gaga--well, no. She is popular, and some of her songs are quite catchy. But as for live performances, she misses the mark. I doubt after this episode we'll say "Wow, I'm glad she was the musical guest!" More likely the response will be "How can anyone tolerate her?" Hopefully Reynolds will do well and I can stop disliking him :] It should be a pretty good episode to watch.

October 10
Drew Barrymore/Regina Spektor
--Now, here's a good show! Finally we get a good combo of guests. Drew will host for the 6th time, and she always does well on the show. Joining her will be musical guest Regina Spektor, who has a nice sound and a dynamically growing fan base. I like it when the host and musical guest seem to "fit" with each other. Its hard to describe, but Drew Barrymore and Regina Spektor just seem to "fit" together. This should be a great show--my favorite of the 4.

October 17
Gerard Butler/Shakira
--Hmm. Well, Butler is an interesting choice. And by interesting, I mean bad. I don't see a guy like him being funny in an SNL format. Recently, I read an article that said Butler should stick to action/war films ("300") instead of going for the romantic, comedy-like roles ("The Ugly Truth"). I agree with this article--Butler was definitely great in "300" and would be great in movies with a similar genre but that doesn't mean he can translate to the comedy world. I don't think this hosting gig will help his career much. Shakira is a good choice: She has a new album coming out, and has a hot new song climbing the charts. She can actually put on a pretty good live performance (as opposed to Lady Gaga), and I'm hopeful that her presence will make this show better. But even if Shakira does well, the poor hosting choice makes this my least favorite of the 4.

Well, those are the guest listings and my initial thoughts. Feel free to post your own thoughts below!