Christoph Waltz hosts 'SNL' with musical guest Alabama Shakes

The last time SNL welcomed a critically beloved, heavily-accented host, the resulting show was a pleasant surprise — Sofia Vergara presided over one of season 37's better episodes. Given his amusing promos, recent goofy turns on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Between Two Ferns, and excellent, Tarantino-honed timing, Christoph Waltz seems likely to repeat Vergara's feat.

Sure, Waltz isn't known primarily as a comedic force. And other Serious Actors, like Daniel Craig and Jeremy Renner, have fallen short as hosts this season.

Even so, something about Waltz just screams "old-fashioned showman," and that alone is enough to make him seem like a natural for the SNL stage. After all, he's proven himself adept at finding the dark humor within both a charming, ruthless Nazi colonel and a charming, ruthless bounty hunter in his two most famous big-screen roles. Additionally, Waltz seems like the type of actor who will fully commit to whatever material he's given, which is an essential quality for any good SNL host; if Justin Bieber had pushed himself even a little harder, last week's episode might not have been so dull. As long as Waltz isn't cast as a psychopathic gentleman in every single sketch, his first outing as host should be a bingo. (Is that the way you say it?)

Given Waltz's multilingualism — he speaks German, English, and French fluently, and he believably spoke Italian in Inglourious Basterds as well — a sketch that calls on him to switch between different languages seems like a given. (Please, please, don't let this mean a sequel to Jennifer Lawrence's "Danielle".) For the first time in several weeks, Saturday Night Live's writers also have some good political material to work with; expect to see Jay Pharoah's Obama return for some State of the Union talk and/or a bit about thirsty Marco Rubio, whose reach for water inexplicably became a meme this week.

What else are you hoping to see from Christoph Waltz and SNL in general? (In a perfect world, Kerry Washington will show up for a sketch where she and Waltz band together to murder a bunch of slave owners.) Are you excited about hearing Alabama Shakes rock away the pain of losing three Grammys last week? And how long do you think we'll have to wait before seeing our precious Stefon again? Talk amongst yourselves below, and check back on Sunday for a full recap.

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