Ana de Armas set to host Saturday Night Live this evening as Karol G acts as musical guest

Saturday Night Live returns to our screens this evening (or later in the week for our UK readers who have Sky Comedy), and this week’s presenter is none other than Ana de Armas; an actress who we talked about here at Peopleworld previously thanks in part to her casting in a John Wick spinoff, and no doubt we’ll be talking about more with the release of Ghosted on Apple TV+ April 21. 

Knowing also how Saturday Night Live monologues sometimes draft in friends or co-stars, could we also see a sneaky cameo from her Ghosted co-star, Chris Evans? Evans himself has gone on record to say that he couldn’t present the show - not that he isn’t a fan, but his anxiety would reach peak levels having to address a live studio audience and US viewing public without the safety net of an editing suite. As if we couldn’t appreciate the humble nature of Chris Evans even more, he goes and becomes charmingly self-conscious once again.

The April 15 episode of the long-running NBC sketch show will have a distinctive Latin flair also, as alongside the Cuban born de Armas hosting, Colombia singer Karol G will also be the musical guest on the show. She’s currently number one on the Billboard Top 100, the first all-Spanish album by a female artist to achieve that position, following in the footsteps of Bad Bunny and demonstrating once again that music is a language itself rather than the lyrics being a certain language.

Ana de Armas becomes the eighth female guest host during this season of SNL, which despite having historically had a ratio of 70% male hosts in its history on air has become more equitable with who they have chosen to host, with recent seasons seeing a ratio of more female hosts than male hosts. Some of the most popular moments also in SNL history have a strong female involvement too - from Kate McKinnon’s eerily spot on impressions of Hilary Clinton, to Gilda Radner rightly putting Murphy Brown actress Candice Bergan in her place for fluffing her lines on a live broadcast.

To celebrate another female host for SNL, Peopleworld looks at some of our favourite SNL sketches and moments where a female took the lead in the sketch. Believe us, there is plenty to choose from.

Mary Katherine Gallagher

Mary Katherine Gallagher is a fictional character played by comedian Molly Shannon on the television show "Saturday Night Live" (SNL). The character first appeared on SNL in 1995 and quickly became one of the show's most popular recurring characters.

Mary Katherine Gallagher is a socially awkward and hyperactive Catholic schoolgirl who dreams of becoming a famous actress. She is known for her trademark move, the "Superstar" pose, which involves her jumping in the air and landing on her knees while yelling "Superstar!".

Throughout her sketches, Mary Katherine Gallagher is often portrayed as being obsessed with boys and trying to get their attention. She frequently engages in unusual behaviour, such as smelling her armpits and her own hair, which is played for comedic effect.

Molly Shannon's portrayal of Mary Katherine Gallagher was widely praised for its humour and its ability to capture the awkwardness and insecurity of adolescence. The character became so popular that she was eventually featured in a 1999 spin-off film titled "Superstar," which was written by Shannon and based on her SNL sketches.

Liza Minelli tries to turn off a lamp

It’s a very simple premise - Liza Minelli and her friend are about to head to Broadway to watch a performance of Cats, but Minelli needs to turn off a lamp before they leave the apartment. Cue SNL MVP Kristen Wiig vamping it up in pure Minelli fashion as she dances her way to the map, around the lamp and across the room, but still can’t quite turn off the lamp.

Wiig’s performance in this sketch, along with the deadpan nature of that episode’s guest Jonah Hill, makes the sketch not only a favourite of Wiig fans but as a standout sketch from the sometimes hit-and-miss 37th season of the show. Wiig’s knack of impersonations made us struggle to make just one choice - both her Katherine Hepburn and Drew Barrymore impressions are equally as phenomenal.

Debbie Downer

A regular character portrayed by Rachel Dratch, Debbie Downer is exactly what it says on the tin; a character that despite the jovial attitudes of everyone around her has a knack of opening her mouth and bringing the mood down.

Be it at a birthday party for host Ben Affleck or a wedding reception with Steve Carrell, the character manages to do the unthinkable - make the cast and crew around her break. No greater example of this can be found than her Disney World sketch alongside Lindsey Lohan, and the subsequent destruction of Jimmy Fallon throughout the sketch. You keep a straight face with that brass orchestration playing.

Roseanne Roseannadanna

The late great Gilda Radner can be argued as the first breakout female performer on Saturday Night Live, and some would argue one of the first of a few breakout performers from the early years of the show. She was alongside some heavyweights also - John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray. 

But ask the cast and crew who worked with Radner during her time on the show, alongside a plethora of female SNL performers who were influenced by her years afterwards, and you discover that she was a lynchpin for the show. Her character Roseanne Roseannadanna was one of her most popular characters -  known for her wild hair, thick glasses, and nasal voice, as well as her tendency to go off on tangents and tell long, rambling stories that often end with the catchphrase, "It just goes to show you, it's always something. If it's not one thing, it's another."

The character is meant to represent the stereotypical nosy neighbour or gossip, and her stories often involve bizarre or embarrassing situations involving people she knows or has heard about. She is also known for her humorous commentary on current events and pop culture, as well as her enthusiastic delivery of jokes and puns and her chemistry with Jane Curtin during their Weekend Update segments were some of the best during the halcyon days of SNL’s tenure.