You don’t normally get Fifty Shades of Grey, the Oscars, and Saturday Night Live in the same sentence, but here it is. Upcoming SNL host Dakota Johnson appears below in a promo with Taran Killam that references the Oscar red carpet snafu where her mother Melanie Griffith steadfastly refuses to watch her daughter’s lewd new movie. And so here’s Killam and Johnson begging her to.
The first part of this ad is nearly as uncomfortable as the back-and-forth between Johnson and Griffith on Sunday evening. Considering how blasé towards the film Johnson has been throughout the entirety of Fifty Shades’ brief existence, her marketing skills seem a little forced, and you just know she mentally balked when that exchange was brought up as one of the ways the writers/producers wanted to promote the episode. Which isn’t to say anything about how great she’ll be on the show itself, as she’s a genuinely talented comedic actress.
If you didn’t see it already, check out how Griffith’s own grey shade below, which could have used some of Killam’s hollering in the background.
The lip-biting Johnson, who made her hosting announcement on SNL 40, predictably also goes through more Fifty Shades of Grey-inspired bits, including a literal list of shades of grey. But the better of the two involves Killam asking her to pick out what tie he should wear, mimicking the film. But he’s just going to a dinner party! Ba dum chee.
But let’s just leave Fifty Shades of Grey back in the Red Room for a second to focus on the peach-pink jacket that Killam “dons” to nonchalantly ask Johnson about her father, the ever-suave Don Johnson. It’s a loud and loving homage to Miami Vice, which I was hoping they would save for the show itself. Maybe they will. Crockett and Tubbs forever!
Tune into NBC on Saturday, February 28 to catch Johnson hosting Saturday Night Live for the first time, with musical guest Alabama Shakes. They’ll presumably present 50 shades of blues rock.
