Article Lead Image

Internet picks Louis C.K. to host “Saturday Night Live”

The comedian won out in SNL's first-ever attempt to pick a host by polling Facebook and Twitter.

 

Jordan Valinsky

Streaming

Posted on Oct 26, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 8:39 am CDT

Internet, you’ve done good: Comedian Louis C.K. will host Saturday Night Live next month because you asked for it.

In a blog post Wednesday, an SNL official wrote that Louis C.K. and the band Fun. will appear on Nov. 3’s show was because they were the top suggestions from Facebook and Twitter users.

“Not sure if you all noticed, but we are listening,” said the post. Internet users voting for Louis C.K. is not a surprise, as the FX star has a huge reputation online. He sold a stand-up comedy special directly via PayPal last year, hosted a Reddit AMA session, and circumvented corporate ticketing agencies to offer tickets to his shows through his website.

This isn’t the first time fans have influenced SNL’s choice of hosts. In 2010, the Internet famously rallied for former Golden Girl Betty White to host the show, and she was offered the gig after a Facebook campaign grew too big to ignore.

But this year marks the first time the NBC sketch show is officially crowdsourcing host and musical guest suggestions.

SNL will ask fans roughly once a month for suggestions on its site, Twitter, and Facebook—but only recommendations from that day will be included in the vote. Twitter users are asked to mark their tweets with #SNLHost and #SNLMusic, and Facebook fans need to comment on a designated thread.

Tons of fans on Twitter are asking for Girls creator Lena Dunham, X Factor judge Demi Lovato, and even ice skater Johnny Weir to host upcoming episodes. SNL’s Facebook status racked up 17,000 comments with suggestions ranging from actress Rebel Wilson to the Rolling Stones.

No Ryan Gosling suggestions? How very un-Internet of us.

Photo via thepinkzeppelin11/YouTube

Share this article
*First Published: Oct 26, 2012, 12:51 pm CDT