These Are the Only Two People to Host ‘SNL’ in Five Different Decades
Hint: All-time hosting leader Alec Baldwin didn’t make the cut
There are not many entertainers who have been funny for 50 years, so it’s no big surprise that only two were consistently popular enough to host Saturday Night Live in five different decades. The iron men of hosting are Tom Hanks, who did the job in the ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s, ‘10s and ‘20s, and Steve Martin, who fronted the show in the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s and ‘20s.
Squint at those decades carefully, and you’ll see the huge missed opportunity: Martin could easily have hosted in all six decades Saturday Night Live has been on the air. He somehow got shut out during the 2010s, despite appearing on the show nine times during that decade. Here’s Martin signing along with Kristen Wiig during her Thanksgiving monologue…
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Goofing around with Alec Baldwin…
Welcoming Justin Timberlake into the Five-Timers Club…
And appearing on other shows with hosts ranging from Melissa McCarthy to James Franco. We couldn’t have given the Franco show to Martin simply for the record?
Somewhat surprisingly, there aren’t many pretenders to the throne shared by Martin and Hanks. Only four others have managed to host in four different decades, including John Goodman, who appeared in the ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s and ‘10s…
Woody Harrelson (‘80s, ‘90s, ‘10s and ‘20s)…
Martin Short (‘80s, ‘90s, ‘10s and ‘20s)…
And Michael Keaton, who joins the club this weekend. Every member of the four-decade club has hosted in the 2020s except for Goodman. If Lorne Michaels gives him a shot by 2029, he’d join Hanks and Martin at the top of the list.
It’s interesting to note one missing name from the list of hosts spanning four decades or more: Alec Baldwin, the man with the most hosting appearances in SNL history. But Baldwin crammed his 17 hosting gigs into only three decades — the ‘90s, ‘00s and ‘10s. His stint as a virtual cast member during the Trump years puts his number of cameo appearances way past Martin as well.
As for five-decader Hanks? His status as one of the show’s ultimate hosts is proven by being asked to deliver the opening monologue on both the 15th and 25th anniversary shows. “I remember thinking, ‘Why did I get saddled with the monologue again? Why am I always the guy with the monologue?’” Hanks remembered in SNL oral history Live From New York. “It’s a terrible job. But then again, to go up there and do it on the 25th-anniversary show, come on, that’s a thrill. And an honor.”
Not many people get to do it — in fact, only two. The only other Saturday Night Live anniversary show thus far has been the 40th, with an opening monologue by, of course, Steve Martin.
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