Sometimes the best comedic actors falter on SNL, while an athlete or musician can prove
surprisingly funny, and people you're certain will bomb find a way to hold their own.
In celebration of one of television's great institutions, here are the best and worst
hosts to ever step on the SNL stage.
Many people mistakenly believe that Steve Martin was a cast member on SNL.
That's both a testament to the impact he's had on the show and an indication of just
how popular he is with viewers.
Martin is the current runner-up to Alec Baldwin as most frequent host, with 15 episodes to
his name plus countless cameo appearances over the past four decades.
What's perhaps most telling is how frequently Martin appeared in the show's early years.
He hosted for the first time on October 23, 1976, and in less than two years he'd already
joined the illustrious "Five Timers Club."
"Thanks, Mr. Martin."
"Oh please, call me 'Mr. Steve Martin.'"
In those early days he originated the characters that made him an SNL favorite, from "King
Tut" and Theodoric of York, to one of the "Wild and Crazy" Festrunk Brothers.
And of course we can't forget his very famous Christmas wish in one of the show's great
solo sketches.
Sometimes SNL books hosts who aren't professional performers but are just people having a pop
culture moment.
That can be a recipe for disaster, like when Donald Trump hosted in 2004 when The Apprentice
was riding high, and then again in 2015, when he was in the midst of campaigning for president.
The result was predictably high ratings, but not very good comedy, and the show's cast
wasn't particularly happy to have Trump in the building.
Former cast member Taran Killam later described feeling intense shame over the episode, while
Pete Davidson commented that Trump was "weird all week" during rehearsals.
Regardless of how you feel about him as president, we can generally agree that Donald Trump was
not a great SNL host.
Tom Hanks has hosted SNL nine times since 1985, meaning he's starred in classic sketches
in four separate decades.
He's long distinguished himself as a versatile performer, equally adept at dark dramas and
screwball comedies.
In the particular crucible of SNL, he somehow manages to show a different side of himself
again and again, proving just how good and how funny he really is time after time.
There's something very reassuring about seeing Hanks on the SNL stage, as "America's Dad"
gets ready to goof off with the kids for the night.
He's had unforgettable chemistry with numerous cast members in a wide variety of sketches.
He's gotten huge laughs while checking the levels on the mics as a roadie for Aerosmith,
forgetting everything as Mr. Short Term Memory, and donning a black and orange suit as David
S. Pumpkins.
"Any questions?"
Everyone wants to know the dirt on what happens behind the scenes at SNL.
But the show has a reputation as an inviting space for celebrities to come in and try their
hand at live comedy.
So cast members can't necessarily say anything bad about certain celebrities while they're
working on the show.
That means that rude or unpleasant behavior often evaporates into the ether after a host
leaves.
But in some cases, cast members can't stop talking about a disaster, and that was the
case with Justin Bieber, who served as both host and musical guest in 2013.
Former SNL star Bill Hader, who's never been the type to gossip about former hosts unless
they really deserved it, called the Bieber experience his worst in eight years on the
show.
"Yeah, he just was in a bad place."
"Yeah."
"Maybe he's in a better place, but then he was in a very…
It was rough."
Hader also noted that Bieber showed up with a large entourage and was rude to cast members.
But he was also sympathetic with the then-teenage superstar's place in the world at the time.
"He just seemed, like exhausted, or just at the end of a rope, or whatever.
He was just so huge."
Christopher Walken hasn't hosted SNL in a decade, but in his seven appearances on the
show, he's made a mark that few other hosts could ever hope to.
Not every host with a distinct personality can fit into SNL's style.
But others manage to find a way to work their weirdness right into the show's framework.
In Walken's case, that's exactly what happened.
His unique voice, expressive face, and ability to be extremely weird and extremely funny
at the same time suit SNL's writers perfectly, and the result is a series of classic episodes.
"The Continental," his creepy lothario recurring character, always produces plenty of laughs.
And one particular sketch starring Walken as a record producer introduced an iconic
phrase into the world's pop culture lexicon.
"Guess what?
I got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell."
Paris Hilton hosted SNL in 2005 when her reality show The Simple Life and her sex tape scandal
made her particularly infamous.
It made sense for SNL to seek her out to pull in big ratings, but the resulting episode
was far from the show's best.
Hilton's comedy chops left plenty to be desired, and it turns out that behind the scenes she
was an even bigger headache.
Then-head writer Tina Fey was definitely not a fan.
In an interview with Howard Stern, she called Hilton,
"unbelievably dumb and so proud of how dumb she is."
She also noted that the heiress once refused to leave her dressing room after hearing a
sketch idea revolving around her sex tape, and she would continually offer pitches that
mocked various celebrities she didn't like.
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