‘Rogue One’ Star Felicity Jones Hosted a Weird First ‘Saturday Night Live’ of 2017

There was even a guest shot from a ghostly Tina Fey

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story star Felicity Jones pulled guest hosting duties for the first new SNL of 2017, and she proved a game player, even if quality sketches were few and far between. 

Jones’s monologue was perhaps one of the brighter moments of the night as former head writer and current comedy superstar Tina Fey appeared as a ghostly adviser to Jones on how the show really works — doing a pretty effective job of poking fun at SNL itself in the bargain.

In “Shondra & Malik,” key players Kenan Thompson and Leslie Jones played a man and woman with some key differences who finally end up bonding — sort of — over car issues. It was a funny set-up for cast stalwarts who don’t often get enough screen time as the central figures in a sketch.

“Beard Hunk” was perhaps the best sketch of the night, skewering as it did The Bachelor. Beck Bennett played “Nick,” the “hunk” in question, and he was basically the straight man to hilarious competitors for his affections played by Cecily Strong, Vanessa Bayer, Felicity Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Aidy Bryant.

Otherwise there was the usual political humor and numerous throwaway sketches that seemed to aim more for memorable weirdness than actual jokes. SNL can do strange humor brilliantly sometimes, but this episode was mostly a miss. 

The next Saturday Night Live on Jan. 21 will be hosted by comedian Aziz Ansari.