A Simple Question: Should ‘SNL’ Let Guy Fieri Host An Episode?

The 45th season of Saturday Night Live is humming right along. Phoebe Waller-Bridge has hosted. So has Woody Harrelson. Eddie Murphy is booked to make his big return to the show for the Christmas episode, which settles one of the long-running show’s longest-running topics of debate. And with that one out of the way, it frees all of us up to focus on new issues. New unanswered questions about who should host and when. Questions like, for example, should SNL let Guy Fieri host an episode at some point

It’s a fair question. Should Saturday Night Live, a comedy institution in America for almost half of a century, invite Guy Fieri, noted spiky-haired Food Network cholesterol aficionado, host an episode of the show, possibly as soon as this year Perhaps you have an opinion on this subject. Perhaps you shouted it at your screen as soon as you read the headline. Perhaps you are still shouting. Feel free to tucker yourself out with it. Get it all out of your system now because, below, I am going to present the case for and the case against letting Guy Fieri host SNL and it will be much easier if I don’t have to shout over you.

I will if I have to.

Well, first of all, to the extent this matters, which it does, Guy Fieri is extremely famous. So many people in so many demographics know who Guy Fieri is. Millennials with internet-ravaged brains know who Guy Fieri is. Baby Boomers with basic cable know who Guy Fieri is. Your mom knows who Guy Fieri is, and so does your Nana, probably. Even if they don’t know his name, they’d immediately recognize him if you showed them a picture or even if you just said “the spiky-haired Food Network dude.”

I’m not overstating this. Guy Fieri and the Food Network are ubiquitous in a way I don’t think all of us have fully wrapped our heads around. I was at the doctor’s office a couple of weeks ago and the television in the very crowded waiting room was playing Guy’s Grocery Games. People were into it. Old people, young people, different races and religions. I got into it at one point. The nurse called my name eventually and I almost shouted “NOT NOW, SAMANTHA JUST GRABBED A FROZEN TURKEY.” Guy Fieri is exactly the type of host who can bring Red State and Blue State eyeballs to the screen, which is apparently a thing the show is concerned about. A bunch of people would watch just out of curiosity. It would be a big deal. I promise you this.

Also: I think Guy Fieri would have fun with hosting Saturday Night Live. He’s not an actor or comedian, sure, fine, but neither is Charles Barkley and Charles Barkley is a terrific host. Hosting SNL has very little to do with actual sketch comedy talent and very much to do with committing to a bit and being a good sport. John McCain was a pretty solid SNL host. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning were pretty solid SNL hosts. There’s no reason Guy Fieri can’t do this. He’s definitely a good sport if he has his social media team doing stuff like this, and an even better sport if we all agree to go ahead and pretend Guy Fieri got really good at Photoshop and started doing it himself.