Why is Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hosting NBC’s Saturday Night Live (SNL) episode this week? Ratings, of course.
The controversial billionaire will be hosting the long-running, occasionally funny live comedy television show on Saturday, May 8th at 11:30pm ET/8:30pm PT.
While SNL is notoriously difficult to stream in Canada, especially live, the self-proclaimed lord of Dogecoin’s anticipated episode will stream globally on YouTube in Canada, according to a statement from Frances Berwick, chairman of entertainment networks at NBC Universal, sent to The Hollywood Reporter.
“‘SNL’ is a global phenomenon and this livestream marks the first time audiences around the world will experience the show simultaneously along with the US. It’s incredibly exciting to create this worldwide event with host Elon Musk and musical guest Miley Cyrus. We thank our international partners and YouTube for helping us make it happen,” said Berwick.
Musk hosting SNL is a somewhat unusual move for the comedy program given it usually features prominent actors and musicians. The episode’s musical guest this week is Miley Cyrus, who has previously been on SNL six times. Cyrus has hosted the show in 2013 and 2015.
Ahead of his Saturday Night Live debut, Elon Musk tweeted asking for sketch concepts, later tweeting several incredibly awful ideas that you can find below:
Irony Man – defeats villains using the power of irony
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2021
Baby Shark & Shark Tank merge to form Baby Shark Tank
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2021
Some Saturday Night Live cast members took to Twitter to express concern about the controversial figure hosting the show, including Bowen Yang, a staff writer that joined SNL in 2018. Page Six reports that SNL cast members were given the opportunity to opt-out of participating in the episode.
Musk will likely be featured in a skit where he references Dogecoin, skyrocketing the one-time joke cryptocurrency’s value even further. We’ll also probably see references to the self-proclaimed ‘Technoking’ smoking weed with former Fear Factor host and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms expert, Joe Rogan.
Given that Musk isn’t capable of missing a chance for self-promotion, he also shared the global link to the SNL YouTube stream from his Twitter account earlier today.
Guest starring … pic.twitter.com/buM3bTOWbX
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 7, 2021
The global YouTube stream is available directly on YouTube at this link. Of course, if you for some reason still have a cable subscription, you can watch SNL on Global and through the network’s app.
Image credit: NBC (YouTube Screenshot)
Update 05/9/2021 1:19am ET: The global YouTube link to the SNL episode appears to now be private, however, clips of specific skits are available on NBC’s YouTube channel.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, YouTube, @elonmusk
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