Tracey Morgan is slated to host the October 17 episode of "Saturday Night Live," NBC announced on Monday.
The move comes as a major surprise, coming as it does little more than a year after the deadly traffic accident that nearly cost Morgan his life. The multi-vehicle collision, which killed a fellow passenger and injured several others, left Morgan with traumatic brain damage. In a "Today" show report filed on the anniversary of the accident earlier this year, doctors admitted they still weren't sure when, or even if, Morgan would be able to return to comedy:
"We're really missing information on how to provide a prognosis for these patients," Smith said. "Some become vibrant members of society again and if you met them you would never know they had had a brain injury. Others face a lifetime of disability."
For Morgan, things looked pretty grim right after the accident on June 7, 2014. His lawyer, Benedict Morelli told the Associated Press, "when you have a traumatic brain injury, it takes a very long time to find out how you're going to do and how much you're going to recover. You just don't know. He's still fighting and trying to live his life at the same time and trying to get better, and he's just not better. We're hoping and praying to get him back to where he was. But the jury's out."
When "Saturday Night Live" broadcast its 40th anniversary special earlier this year, Morgan was still not ready to appear in front of the camera. "30 Rock" co-stars Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin appeared instead to pay tribute to the still-recovering comic.
Along with Morgan, NBC announced two other hosts for the beginning of "SNL's" 41st season, Miley Cyrus (Oct. 3) and Amy Schumer (Oct. 10).
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