Photo Flash: First Look - Eli Manning On the Set of SNL

Eli Manning is set to host NBC's SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE this Saturday, May 5. The New York Giants quarterback will appear on the long-running sketch comedy along with Rihanna as the show's musical guest.

In the past, having popular athletes host the comedy has been a ratings-winning strategy for the NBC network. Manning's brother Peyton Manning, and football star Tom Brady have served as past hosts and earned some of the highest SNL ratings of the past decade. Charles Barkley recently hosted a higly rated show as well. So far this season, the highest-rated edition of SNL was hosted by Lindsay Lohan.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, NBC's Emmy Award-winning late-night comedy showcase, entered its 37th season on September 24, 2011 for another year of laughs, surprises and great performances.

Over the last three decades, "SNL" has launched the careers of many of the brightest comedy performers of a generation; and, as The New York Times noted on the occasion of the show's Emmy-winning 25th Anniversary special in 1999: "In defiance of both time and show business convention, "SNL" is still the most pervasive influence on the art of comedy in contemporary culture." At the close of the century, "Saturday Night Live" placed seventh on Entertainment Weekly's list of the Top 100 Entertainers of the past fifty years.

The program has won 32 Emmy Awards and now holds the title for the most nominated television show in Emmy history with 142 nominations. "SNL" has been honored twice, in 1990 and 2009, with the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award and cited as "truly a national institution." "Saturday Night Live" was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame by the National Association of Broadcasters, and the show continues to garner the highest ratings of any late-night television program, entertaining millions each week.

Get a first look at Eli Manning on the set of SNL below!

Photo credit: Dana Edelson/NBC