Saturday Night Live UK has announced that British comedian Jack Whitehall will host the April 11 episode, and R&B artist Jorja Smith will appear as a musical guest.
Whitehall is best known as a panelist on the comedy game show “A League of Their Own” and the Netflix documentary series “Travels With My Father.” Smith will release his second album, Falling or Flying, in 2023 and is gearing up to headline London’s All Points East Festival with Thames in August.
The series is scheduled to air for eight episodes, then take a week-long hiatus before returning for the next show starting April 25th.
The first season of the classic American comedy with a British twist opened on March 21 with host Tina Fey and musical guest Wet Legs. Last weekend’s show featured Jamie Dornan and Wolf Alice, and Riz Ahmed will next perform with Kasabian on April 4. Shortly before the premiere, Sky revealed that the first season of SNL UK had been extended from six to eight episodes.
The first episode of “SNL UK” brought in solid ratings for Sky, with mostly positive reviews, but the second episode, hosted by Dornan, saw a slight dip in ratings. Scott Bryan wrote in his review for Variety that the show is at its strongest when exploring the greatness of British comedy.
“Thankfully, ‘Saturday Night Live UK’ has pretty much taken the basics that made the US version successful – skit comedy, rotating guest hosts, the unpredictability of live broadcasts – and left it to the Brits. That’s where it works,” Brian wrote. “The sketches are darker and more surreal than the US version, and the comedy is much more deadpan. Even if every sketch didn’t work itself (hey, they kept that feature too), there are enough one-liners to keep you going and give the next sketch a try.”
