SNL's Zamata Makes Debut

And Drake puts on a really good show as guest host
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 19, 2014 10:51 AM CST

Sasheer Zamata, the much anticipated first black female to join Saturday Night Live's ranks since Maya Rudolph's 2007 departure, made her debut on last night's show, and the AP describes it as "low-key but notable." Zamata played a teenage Rihanna in a Blossom knockoff and appeared in a sketch called "Resolution Revolution." "Last night's show was a soft introduction," writes Rebecca Thomas at MTV, in a run-down of all her appearances. "She appeared rather frequently but in limited roles that didn't require her to carry the comic load. Just getting her feet wet."

Guest host Drake, meanwhile, dusted off his acting chops in a show-stealing performance, writes Miriam Coleman at Rolling Stone, bringing "his easy Canadian charm" to the monologue and "channeling a range of characters from a dorky dad at a slumber party to a smitten high school student in detention." Kate McKinnon hilariously spoofed Justin Bieber in the Cold Open. (More Saturday Night Live stories.)

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