Will Kumail Nanjiani's SNL gig break down stereotypes?

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Kumail Nanjiani hosted "Saturday Night Live."

KUMAIL NANJIANI made the most of his stint as guest host on Saturday Night Live, last night (Oct. 14) let's hope it opens the doors for other Asian American performers.

He wasn't afraid to make the primarily white viewership a bit uncomfortable touching on topics other comedians have not gone:

• He's Muslim;
• He's an immigrant;
• He married a white woman;
• The Koran on women drivers;
• Sikhs mistaken as Muslims

SNL has gotten so comfortable in the Trump era; it needs to shake things up, like having an Asian American hosting the venerable satiric show.

Nanjiani is the second Muslim and South Asian to host SNL after Aziz Ansari did the job earlier this year. In its 42-year old history, Lucy Liu and Jackie Chan are the only other two Asian Americans to do the show's  opening monologue and Samoan/American Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson did the job last May.

What?! SNL can't find any AAPI performers? Why hasn't Margaret Cho ever been called? Or, Ken Jeong? Or, Constance Wu? Or, Randall Park? All of the aforementioned entertainers have proven comedic acting resumes.

Is there a clause in the Comedy Central contracts that prevent's SNL from calling on Hasan Minhaj or Ronny Chieng?

Here's thinking out of the box: John Cho. Remember, he got his first big break starring as a stoner in the stereotype buster Harold & Kumar comedy franchise.

Since we' brought up Harold & Kumar, what about Cho's costar and fellow stoner Kal Penn, whose credentials include working in the White House.

Hailee Steinfeld and Vanessa Hudgens, both singers and actors, have proven themselves as more than capable hosts, doing the emcee chores for Billboard's Women in Music last year and the Billboard Music Awards this year respectively. Both have substantial fan bases  in that critical Millennial age bracket and they go beyond the just the Asian American community.

At any rate, let's hope that Nanjiani's and Ansari's successful stints opens some eyes at Saturday Night Live that AAPI performers can be funny, hip and express themselves beyond being "inscrutable."
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