SNL 40

NBC is continuing to do everything it can to ameliorate the crippling variety show addiction it instilled in Saturday Night Live star Maya Rudolph by putting her on the air 15 years ago. The network’s efforts began in earnest in May of 2014, when it broadcast The Maya Rudolph Show to reasonably solid ratings and a brief, Andy Samberg-assisted quelling of Rudolph’s insatiable song-and-dance appetites. But a year is a long time when you’re chasing the “let’s put on a show” dragon, and so the network has been working tirelessly to develop a potential weekly platform for the comedian, singer, and actress to quench her needs for celebrity cameos and winking musical numbers.


Recovery is a hard road to walk alone, though, which might explain why comedian and fellow SNL alum Martin Short may have been tapped to co-host the show. The pairing had a trial run during the musical portion of February’s SNL 40 celebration, where the pair introduced the Blues Brothers, King Tut, and Billy Murray’s Nick Ocean character, while Short lusted after Rudolph’s portrayal of Beyoncé as only a semi-immortal pixie man can. Variety reported back in July that Rudolph’s show—which could go forward with the name Maya & Marty in order to alliteratively reflect Short’s addition to the cast—might serve as a companion piece to Neil Patrick Harris’ live variety experiment Best Time Ever, because the only thing audiences have more patience for than one hour of mugging, musical numbers, and prime-time friendly comedy sketches is two of them.