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Saturday Night Live (abbreviated as SNL) is a late-night sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. It premiered on NBC, a terrestrial television network, on October 11, 1975 under the title NBC's Saturday Night. The show often satirizes contemporary American popular culture and politics. Saturday Night Live features a two-tiered cast: the repertory members, also known as the "Not Ready for Prime-Time Players", and newer cast members, known as "Featured Players."
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A typical episode of SNL will feature a single host, who delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast. While the format also features a musical guest, and a number of episodes have featured celebrity cameos, the focus of this article is the guest host.
George Carlin was first to host the show; Candice Bergen was the first woman to host the show a few weeks later and again hosted only six weeks after that. Guests that host five times (or more) are members of the Five-Timers Club (see below)—a term that originated on December 8, 1990, when Tom Hanks became the seventh person to host their fifth episode. Every so often, a host will also be the musical guest, such as first seen with Paul Simon on October 18, 1975, and, most recently, Drake on May 14, 2016.
List of Saturday Night Live hosts
Saturday Night Live has featured a wide array of hosts and musical guests. George Carlin served as the show's first host in October 1975; three episodes later, Candice Bergen became the first female host and the first to host more than once. As of February 11, 2017, actor Alec Baldwin holds the record for most times hosting, having performed the duty on seventeen different occasions since 1990; Baldwin took the record from actor Steve Martin who had hosted fifteen times since 1976.
Several former cast members have returned to take on hosting duties. Original cast member Chevy Chase has hosted the most times, eight in total. Bill Murray and Tina Fey follow behind, having hosted five times. On December 11, 1982, Eddie Murphy became the only person to host while still a member of the cast, filling the role at the last minute when the scheduled host (his 48 Hours co-star Nick Nolte) became ill.
Musical guests can be solo acts or bands, who perform two to three musical numbers. Occasionally, the musical guest has also simultaneously served as the host. Paul Simon was the first example, hosting and performing on the second episode on October 18, 1975. As of May 19, 2012, Dave Grohl is the most frequent musical guest, performing on eleven shows since 1992.
In 1982, at age 7, Drew Barrymore became the youngest person to host the show. Actress Betty White is the oldest person to host, having done so at 88 years of age on May 8, 2010. Concerned about White's age and possible fatigue, her episode had Tina Fey, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch and Amy Poehler on standby to replace her; White went on to appear in every sketch. In 2000, singer Britney Spears became the youngest person to both host and simultaneously serve as the show's musical guest, at 18 years and 161 days old.
In addition to making cameo appearances, political figures have also hosted the show. Al Gore hosted in 2002, the first and so far only former Vice President to do so. Presidential candidates, either former, current, or future, have served as hosts: Ralph Nader in 1977, George McGovern in 1984, Steve Forbes in 1996, John McCain in 2002, Al Sharpton in 2003, and Donald Trump in 2004 (promoting the reality TV hit The Apprentice) and again in 2015 as a presidential hopeful. As of 2017, Trump is the only President of the United States to have ever hosted the show.
Five-Timers Club
The Five-Timers Club is the group of performers who have hosted SNL at least five times. The club was first mentioned on the show on December 8, 1990; Tom Hanks was making his fifth appearance as host, and the milestone became the subject of his opening monologue:
Believe it or not, this is the fifth Saturday Night Live I have been lucky enough to host. Now, the first time you do the show, you can't believe you're here. You just can't believe it. Your head buzzes with excitement. The second time you do the show, it means you were funny enough to be asked back - and you're pushing a movie. The third time you do the show, the second time didn't go so well, and you have something to prove to yourself. The fourth time you do the show, you're just blatantly pushing a movie. But the fifth time you do the show is the most special time of all, because you get this [holds up a card] ...a membership card in the Five-Timers Club. Come with me... [walks off the stage] I'm gonna give you a chance to look in on one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.
After Hanks gave his monologue, the show segued to a sketch featuring Hanks, Steve Martin, Elliott Gould, and Paul Simon in the richly-appointed club. Martin and Gould were both five-time hosts; Simon had only appeared as a host of SNL four times, but counting his multiple appearances as a musical guest, was said to be a member of the club. The Five-Timers Club was mentioned to have a swimming pool with perfect 80 degree waters as Elliott had just gotten out of it. The food that is served there is named after known SNL performers. Conan O'Brien (who at that time was a writer on SNL and not a well-known public figure) portrayed the doorman of the "club" named Sean. Jon Lovitz appears as a club waiter. Ralph Nader appears as a former SNL host trying to get into the Five-Timers Club only for Jon to tell him and his group to leave.
The Five-Timers Club has been mentioned again after the mark was reached by hosts Danny DeVito (in 1993), Alec Baldwin (1994), John Goodman (1994), Christopher Walken (2001), Drew Barrymore (2007), Justin Timberlake (2013) and Ben Affleck (2013). The club was also mentioned by host Melissa McCarthy (2016), who stated that she was eligible for the club (her fifth appearance being in the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special). McCarthy's eligibility for the club is in dispute, as it is questionable whether inclusion in the Anniversary Special meets the undefined requirements (being that the original club included a musical guest).
Justin Timberlake's monologue from March 9, 2013 featured the reappearance of the richly-appointed club. The sketch features Paul Simon, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, and Candice Bergen. There were portraits of John Goodman and Drew Barrymore in the Five-Timers Club's Hall of Portraits. The staff at the Five-Timers Club are former cast members, with Dan Aykroyd (1975–79) and Martin Short (1984–85) appearing as the club's bartender and waiter, respectively. Future cast member Mike O'Brien makes an appearance as the doorman who greets Justin. The entertainment at the Five-Timers Club involves making the current SNL performers fight each other to the death, with Bobby Moynihan shown fighting Taran Killam.
Steve Martin was the fastest to join the Five-Timers club, hosting five times in only 546 days. Buck Henry is the only other member to join in less than four years, hosting five times in 671 days. The following people are members of the Five-Timers Club.
a Simon has only guest-hosted four times but has been included in both Five-Timers Club sketches. His fifth appearance on the show was as a musical guest appearance.
b Out of his four appearances as host, Simon acted as both host and musical guest during one episode.
c Out of his five appearances as host, Timberlake acted as both host and musical guest during three episodes. During his most recent appearance on December 21, 2013, he was the musical guest while Jimmy Fallon hosted.
The Five-Timers Club has been referenced in other media since its creation in 1990. The entertainment channel E! placed it #22 on its list of SNL top moments. The club was also referenced by Fox Sports as the basis behind the creation of the "Favre Backup Club" which seeks to be the "NFL's equivalent" to the Five-Timers Club.
The platinum lounge is reserved for guests who have appeared at least twelve times. The lounge was first mentioned on the show on November 11, 2006; Alec Baldwin was making his thirteenth appearance. Steve Martin appeared in the sketch as a member. Paul Simon and John Goodman were mentioned as members. Simon had only hosted 4 times at this point but had appeared as a musical guest 8 times. Martin Short appeared as a waiter.