The last episode of Season 32 is here. Will the season go out with a bang? History says no. Over the five seasons I’ve covered SNL for whatevs (dot org), we’ve yet to get a finale that ranked above the average range. Kevin Spacey’s episode last May perhaps came the closest with that great Usual Suspects parody from Samberg (not to mention a time traveling Falconer, Neil Young’s anti-war CD and the legendary history of Phillip Sarc). Still, often times the sight of that finish line after 20 long episodes proves too much to ignore and the writing gets sloppy, the music gets boring and the show turns into an absolute mess (see Season 29’s Olsen Twins/J-Kwon finale).

Looking to buck this trend, Zach Braff and Maroon 5 have been booked to close out 2006-2007. Braff, who’s latest film “The Ex” debuted at #12 on the box office chart last weekend, is great at getting a few geeky laughs here and there, but I doubt he’ll prove to be as effective as Molly Shannon was last week. With this in mind, I’m curious if SNL went after any stars from the May box office blockbusters? I would have loved a Mike Myers, Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley or hell, even a Thomas Haden Church episode to send the season out in style.

Still, for a season that can probably be viewed as the strongest since the departure of Will Ferrell, maybe they can pull off one more memorable show. Afterall, we are coming off the best episode since Piven stopped by in January. As for this being anyone’s last show? No solid rumors are floating around, but I’ll again guess Hammond and/or Maya. Both have been overdue for years.

In the fall of 2001, Entertainment Weekly’s annual “IT” issue praised SNL’s then crop of female cast members by writing, “Saturday Night Live’s mythic
boys club is officially over thanks to this clan of X chromosomes: Dratch, Gasteyer, Rudolph, and Fey deliver trenchant comedy and flawless impressions on camera.” The accolade was dead on, but failed to point out one thing - the girl power revolution really started in 1995 when Molly Shannon got nervous and smelled her armpits for the first time.

Thankfully, the “Saturday Night Live in the 90’s: Pop Culture Nation” special NBC aired this past Sunday gave her a bit more credit. Within two years of Shannon’s debut, she established two definitive ’90s era SNL sketches: Mary Katherine Gallagher and, along with Gastayer, “The Delicious Dish”. One also can’t forget Molly’s half of “Leg Up”, “Goth Talk”, “Dog Show” or her unapologetic takes on female singers of the time (she tackled everyone from Bjork and Courtney Love to Gwen Stefani and Tori Amos).

Sure she was a little burnt out and less effective by her final season (‘00-’01), and her post-SNL film career can’t exactly be compared to Adam Sandler’s, but Molly’s mark on the show is undeniable. It has been nearly six years since Shannon was last spotted in Studio 8H and I, for one, welcome her back.

With their third studio album “Minutes to Midnight” due for release later this month, Linkin Park rounds out the schedule on the music side. Unlike Shannon, I say, no buzz. Nu-metal. Who cares?

In my preshow comments for the Julia-Louis Dreyfus episode back in March, I pointed out that an emerging trend this season has been Lorne falling back on familiar hosts - probably as counteraction to his slimmed down cast. Scarlett Johansson, who last hosted under 1 ½ years ago, held her own during her SNL debut, but by no means did it warrant such a hasty return. Johansson was likely booked for this weekend to promote “The Nanny Diaries”, but that film has since been pushed to a September release. With this in mind, perhaps she should have been moved to musical guest to support the long-rumored “Scarlett Sings Tom Waits” album instead?

Reasoning aside, a quick revisit of her 1/14/06 episode does bring back fond memories. Johansson handled live comedy very well, but it was strong writing that took center stage as we were given the wonderful “Live Duluth” and “Once in a Lifetime Jewelers” - the later of which is still ranked as an example of Sudeikis‘ best work. If Scarlett once again gives 110% and the sketch caliber is matched, this episode should come out on top of last weekend’s dull Shia LaBeouf outing.

Another guest making her sophomore visit to SNL this weekend is Björk. She first appeared with host Brendan Fraser way back on 10/18/97 - an episode now noted for the first appearance of Chirs Kattan’s Mango. Maybe it was America’s immediate fascination of Kattan’s sexually ambiguous foreigner, but Björk was limited to only one song that evening (for the curious, it was Bachelorette from her not-yet-released-at-the-time “Homogenic” album). With a new CD set for 5/7/07, I’m hoping for two songs this time.

20-year-old Shia LaBeouf is having quite the year. First, he’s appearing in this week’s “Disturbia”, then he’ll be voicing a penguin in June’s “Surf’s Up” and if that wasn’t enough, audiences can watch him square off with the Autobots and Decepticons in “Transformers” this July. Looking at that roster, and also knowing he’s rumored to play Indy’s son in next year’s 4th Indiana Jones film, its clear LaBeouf is capable of a variety of roles - love him or hate him.

I’m counting on this very variety to help out the show come Saturday night. This season has been much better than the 2005-2006 offering, but let’s not kid ourselves, the March episodes definitely saw their share of crap (Manning’s weak “Making 300″ sketch and “Oprah”, “Restless Penis Syndrome” and “Deep House Dish” from the Dreyfus episode regrettably come to mind). With a background including Disney, X-Files and Project Greenlight, LaBeouf is someone the writers shouldn’t feel restricted or limited with. Hopefully this makes for a fun episode free of more Bronx Beat.

After showing up in back-to-back seasons in 2003 and 2004, Avril Lavigne is set to make her third trip to the SNL stage. Neither of those past appearances have been very memorable, save for how bored she looked during her 2003 performance of “Complicated.” With history as my guide, I’m not expecting much in the way of coneys this time around either, especially as a follow-up to Carrie Underwood’s surprisingly strong showings during the last live episode.

Sooner or later, virtually every season gets a host from the world of professional sports. When it was first announced the job was going to Peyton Manning, most media outlets (especially ESPN) used it as a chance to further compare him to Tom Brady. This is fine in sports where they’ve both won a Super Bowl and SB MVPs, but I seriously hope Manning can do a better job than Brady when it comes to live sketch comedy. In a word, Brady’s 2005 episode was pretty lackluster. If it wasn’t for two solid Guero-era performances from musical guest Beck and a great installment of The Falconer, some say it was downright junk*.

Be prepared for tons of cue card help and the inevitable next sketch in the tradition of Derek Jeter’s Taco Hole (12/1/01) and Tom Brady’s Falafel City (4/16/05). It is also interesting to note this episode falls on Manning’s 31st birthday. I’m guessing this equals a monologue joke or two.

When Keith Urban was musical guest last month, it was the first country musical act SNL had seen since the Dixie Chicks in 2003. Just over a month later, we’re already getting the second of this season with Miss Carrie Underwood. I’m guessing the 24-year-old American Idol winner will do a pretty good job. Jenn and I saw her back in 2005 and she definitely proved her worth. Buzz.

*Junk for me, but The Grizz still swears by Brady’s “Behind the Music - The Super Bowl Shuffle” sketch.