Lindsay Lohan Returns to SNL: Why Saturday Night Live Can Save Her Career

NBC's sketch comedy showcase Saturday Night Live will feature actress Lindsay Lohan and musical guest Jack White on the show's episode slated for March 3. Saturday will be Lohan's fourth time hosting SNL; the last time she hosted was in 2006, which came just before Lohan's multiple arrests.

SNL! I love @NBC !!!!!!!!!!!!! Lohan tweeted after NBC revealed that she would host the show on March 3.

This time, Lohan will not be promoting any new films, TV shows or projects. Rather, this appearance will be the beginning of Lohan's return to the acting world, after taking a long career hiatus to straighten out her personal life.

Lohan's career interruptions began in 2006, after producer James Robinson issued a public letter calling Lohan irresponsible and unprofessional, mentioning various late arrivals and absences from the set of the movie Georgia Rule.

We are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real rason for your so-called 'exhaustion,' Robinson said.

Lohan reportedly attended several Alcoholics Anonymous meetings until January 2007, when she checked herself into the Wonderland Center rehab facility in Los Angeles. After 30 days, Lohan tried continuing her life as an actress before her publicist helped her withdraw from her movie projects, telling the crews that Lohan needed to focus on getting better.

In May 2007, Lohan was arrested for DUI after she lost control of her vehicle and ran the car up onto a curb. Police also found a usable amount of cocaine in her car. After she was treated for several minor injuries, Lohan was arrested on a misdemeanor DUI charge and subsequently re-entered rehab. She stayed at the Promises Treatment Center in Los Angeles for 45 days, and upon leaving, Lohan was voluntarily given a SCRAM bracelet to monitor her sobriety.

In July, Lohan was arrested for her second DUI after she refused to take a field sobriety test and was found with a small amount of cocaine in her pocket. She returned to rehab for a third time, this time at the Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Sundance, Utah. She pled guilty to her cocaine and DUI charges and served one day in prison and 10 days of community service. She also paid several fines and completed an alcohol education program.

It is clear to me that my life has become completely unmanageable because I am addicted to alcohol and drugs, Lohan said at the time. I broke the law and today I took responsibility by pleading guilty to the charges in my case.

In May 2010, Lohan did not appear for her scheduled DUI progress hearing and was subsequently ordered to attend weekly alcohol education classes, wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet, refrain from drinking, and undergo weekly drug tests. By July, a judge determined that Lohan had violated her probation and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, even though she only ended up serving 37 total days. She was ordered to submit to random drug and alcohol screenings, and receive psychotherapy and behavior therapy twice a week.

In September, Lohan failed a drug test, which resulted in her probation being revoked. She was soon sent to the Betty Ford Center, her fourth drug and alcohol rehab facility, which she remained for three months until January 2011.

Unfortunately, four stints in rehab was not enough for Lohan. In February 2011, Lohan was caught stealing a necklace from a jewelry store in Venice, Calif. She pled no contest, and served a five-week sentence of home confinement and 360 hours of community service.

In October 2011, Lohan's probation was revoked after failing a random drug test while under house arrest. She was sentenced in November to 30 days in county jail and 400 hours of community service, but only spent less than five hours in the jail due to overcrowding.

Lohan is off to a good start in 2012. She turned heads in January when she dressed up like her idol Marilyn Monroe in her first-ever Playboy spread, and she's received positive marks for her work at the L.A. County morgue and attending her therapy sessions on time.

Lohan has both good and bad experiences with SNL. Even though she starred with former SNL head writer Tina Fey in her biggest movie Mean Girls, Lohan recently sent an angry letter to SNL's executive producer Lorne Michaels after Miley Cyrus hosted the show and sang a song making fun of Lohan's criminal record.

Lohan's upcoming SNL appearance could be the key to saving her damaged career. Lohan has been criticized for her countless missteps -- the arrests, the drinking, the drugs, the partying, and even her bleached blonde hair and her teeth. Yet, Saturday Night Live may be the one platform to show everyone in America that she still has a sense of humor about everything.

People perceive Lohan to be an unprofessional, irresponsible narcissist. A princess. If Lohan can show -- or maybe trick -- audiences into thinking that she actually has a sense of humor, she could start to change the opinions about her.

Lohan needs some good publicity, and showing her on a positive and funny light will be good for her. However, Lohan will need to learn how to laugh at herself if she hopes to turn the tables.

Instead of complaining about disparaging jokes or songs about her criminal record, Lohan will need to be the one making those jokes -- about herself. Everything that's happened to her over the past several years is pretty laughable, so she'll need to own her past if she hopes to succeed this Saturday. The last thing she wants is for audiences to focus on her hair, or her skin, or her teeth, even though they will anyway. But if she can get audiences to laugh, they just might remember that this girl also has some talent left in her still.