Tag Archives: Michael Che

Ariana DeBose to Make Her Debut as Host on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”

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Ariana DeBose is preparing for a special late night debut…

The 30-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/singer, who is earning Oscar buzz for her performance in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, will make her debut as host on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.

Ariana DeBose

DeBose will be joined by Live Life Fast pop star Roddy Ricch, who will be making his debut on the show as the musical guest.

DeBose is well known to the late-night show’s creator Lorne Michaels as she plays Emma in Apple’s Michaels-exec produced comedy series Schmigadoon!

It will be the first show of 2022 for SNL and comes after the show rallied impressively for its COVID-19-hit final episode of 2021, a show that featured only Keenan Thompson and Michael Che from its regular cast as well as special guests Tina Fey and Tom Hanks.

The plan for the January 15 show is to be back with a full cast and crew as well as studio audience, according to Deadline, but given the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, a decision will be made closer to the time.

The show will also be streamed live via Peacock with the remainder of season 47 also airing live on the streaming service at 11:30pm ET.

Saturday Night Live is produced in association with Broadway Video.

Oz Rodriguez Signs Two-Year Producing Deal with Universal Television

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There are more Universal projects in Oz Rodriguez’s future…

The Latino Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live director has signed an exclusive two-year producing deal with Universal Television.

Oz Rodriguez,

Rodriguez has been with SNL since 2013, first directing Digital Shorts. He went on to become head of the film unit, and won an Emmy for his behind-the-scenes series Creating SNL.

He’s next set to direct all six episodes of SNL star Michael Che’s new HBO Max sketch series from Universal Television.

“We feel so lucky to be solidifying our relationship with Oz, who has been in the family for many years and has played a key role in our success,” said Jim Donnelly, Universal Television EVP of Comedy Development. “He brings a creative vision and distinct visual style to every project he is involved in, and we couldn’t be more excited for all that’s to come.”

Rodriguez just wrapped the pilot of AMC’s Kevin Can F***k Himself. He directed the pilot and multiple episodes of AP Bio, in addition to the Kal Penn/Mike Schur pilot Sunnyside, both for NBC, as well as episodes of Last Man on Earth for Fox, Detroiters for Comedy Central, Shrill for Hulu, and Mixed-ish for ABC.

He most recently directed NBC & Peacock’s 30 Rock reunion, which aired on July 16.

On the film side, Rodriguez wrote and directed Vampires vs. the Bronx for Universal and Broadway Video, which premiered on Netflix earlier this month.

“I am very excited to continue my partnership with Universal Television,” said Rodriguez. “The studio has been my home for the last eight years, starting with my first season of Saturday Night Live. There are so many opportunities at the studio right now and we have a chance to tell stories that reflect characters that have been missing from television for far too long. It feels great to keep this creative partnership going with the studio that gave me my first big break.”