The 20 Best 'Saturday Night Live' Hosts of All Time

The 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live was in February, and with a new documentary last week about the history and cultural legacy of the long-running comedy TV show, the series' momentum in 2015 just keeps picking up steam. The documentary, called Live From New York!, covers SNL creator Lorne Michael’s vision (who is described in the trailer as a “strange Canadian” with a “weird idea”): something between 60 Minutes and Monty Python. Though SNL’s popularity has waxed and waned over the recent years, the show has stood the test of time, bearing witness to wars, presidential elections, catastrophic gaffes, the singular rise of Beyoncé, and more.

A great host can carry SNL, while a boring one can ruin it. It’s not that hosts need tremendous technical prowess to carry en episode, either. SNL is famous for the fact that everyone reads from cue cards, even during the live performance. For example, politicians, journalists and professional athletes have all succeeded in making the audience laugh.

But it does take the ability to laugh at yourself, or at least, commit to laughing at yourself for this one hour and a half in front of a live studio audience. And the stellar hosts are not always the ones you would suspect—Adrien Brody, for example, hosted once and was subsequently banned for life from the show. Justin Timberlake, on the other hand, is practically a regular.

Here are The 20 Best SNL Hosts of All Time.

Number of times hosted: 1 (2012)

Best skit: “The Manuel Ortiz Show”

Sofia Vergara brought serious energy to SNL when she hosted in 2012, starting by waving at her son Manolo in the audience and totally embarrassing him. She was game for all the sketches, like the absurdist Pantene commercial she does with Penelope Cruz (played by Kate McKinnon) where half the lines are exaggerated scientific jargon. Her best sketch though, is the talk show with Manuel Ortiz, when Vergara meets her jailbird mom for the first time, and learns she’s been knocking boots with her ex-husband. The five members of One Direction also make an appearance, dancing their way on-stage and wearing matching mustaches.

Number of times hosted: 4 (2004, 2005, 2006, 2012)

Best skit: “Debbie Downer”

We’ve seen Lindsay Lohan through a lot. Her first time hosting was in '04, right after she starred in Mean Girls and Freaky Friday. On stage, she was perky and cute as could be. But after three times as host ('04, '05, and '06), Lohan wouldn't be invited back until 2012, once she finally, sort of cleaned up her act and reportedly begged Lorn Michael to have her back. That opening monologue was hilarious, with cast members cheering her on, but also patting her down and checking her pupils for dilation. Sadly, she was notably absent from most sketches, and only had few lines to read when she made an appearance. Still, Lohan has been in some amazing sketches—like the first ever “Debbie Downer,” where she and Jimmy Fallon cannot stop laughing as Rachel Dratch ruins their family’s trip to Disney World. Womp wooooomp.

Number of times hosted: 3 (1998, 2002, 2005)

Best skit: “Back Home Ballas”

By all measures, Cameron Diaz’s performance last January was just OK, except for one highlight: "Back Home Ballas." In three and a half minutes, Diaz and all the ladies of the cast (Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Sasheer Zamata, Vanessa Bayer, Leslie Jones, and Aidy Bryant) show off what it’s like to be a grown ass woman and come home for the holidays. When the girls arrive home for Thanksgiving, Diaz announces, “For the next four days, we gonna run this bitch.” Their costumes are trashy to the point of hilarity, and the lyrics are exceptional. Strong sings about pretending to nap every time her mom needs help (“It sounds like she really needs help in the kitchen/But if she thinks I’m moving, then that bitch be trippin’”).

Number of times hosted: 2 (2010, 2011)

Best skit: “Bridal Shower Gifts”

Emma Stone has hosted SNL twice, and totally killed it both times. In her opening monologue in 2011, she plugged the new The Amazing Spider-Man movie, until Andy Samberg dropped in—literally—dressed as Spider-Man to audition as her counterpart. When Stone tried to tell him that the role was already filled, Andrew Garfield showed up, and hilarity ensued. (“Garfield?!” said Samberg, “I'm sorry, does Spider-Man hate Mondays now?”) SNL milked Stone and Garfield’s chemistry for all it was worth. When Garfield hosted in 2014, Stone had a cameo in what has to be the most awkward kissing scene of all time.

Number of times hosted: 1 (2014)

Best skit: “Big Joe”

By now, everyone knows that Anna Kendrick got her start in musical theater, but SNL wanted to make sure you totally knew when she hosted. Her opening monologue turned into a musical number from Beauty and the Beast, where Kendrick ran around and sang about how excited she was about hosting at the top of her lungs. Kendrick was also great in the sketches, though SNL went a little overboard with Disney references. Kendrick played a ridiculous version of Ariel who wanted to trade in her voice for legs, but couldn’t stop singing trashy Kesha songs. That sketch also had Jay Pharoah dressed as Sebastian, and the crustacean brought down the house with a rendition of Sean Paul’s “Temperature.” YAASSS.

Number of times hosted: 1 (2014)

Best skit: “Slumber Party”

Three words: Drake’s bar mitzvah. The black and Jewish rapper has only hosted once, but it was an episode to remember. In his opening monologue, Drake went back in time to his bar mitzvah, and brought together both sides of his family for his special day. It was an important moment for any Drake fan, who probably wish they could have been invited to that party. Drake also notably apologized for making YOLO a thing. (He didn’t know your coworkers would be so annoying about it.)

Number of times hosted: 5 [1975 (twice), 1976, 1987, 1990]

Best skit: “Consumer Probe”

Candice Bergen is a decorated SNL veteran. She was the show’s first host, the first returning host, and one of the only two women in the show’s Five-Timers Club. Back then, she starred alongside the likes of Gilda Radner and John Belushi. In her opening monologue for a Christmas Day episode, Bergen found a way to poke fun of Lorne Michaels.

She was very familiar with everyone on the cast, and it showed when she performed. In one famous sketch, “The Right To Extreme Stupidity,” Bergen forgot her lines, and in trying to mock her counterpart, Radner, Bergen called her own character stupid. The rest of the PSA-style sketch is Radner talking to the camera, making fun of Bergen, and Bergen totally losing it in the background. Classic stuff.

Number of times hosted: 4 (2000, 2002, 2009, 2015)

Best skit: “WWE Promo Shoot”

The Rock’s hosted on four occasions and destroyed it every time, which means it’s just a matter of time before he hits that Five Timers milestone. One of his best sketches is “The Rock Obama,” where the president (played by Fred Armisen or Jay Pharoah) gets mad—really mad—dealing with GOP senators, and turns into a Hulk-like version of himself played by Johnson. Spoiler alert: It ends in the Rock Obama basically throwing everyone out a window.

Number of times hosted: 1 (2007)

Best skit: “United Way”

Professional athletes tend to shine as hosts (except for Michael Phelps, sorry dude), and Peyton Manning was the best. Something about the Broncos quarterback’s largely deadpan voice makes him incredible to watch. Manning’s best sketch is a commercial for United Way, in which he volunteers to teach a bunch of kids how to play football, except he makes a terrible coach and just yells at them the entire time. At least three kids get hit in the back of the head with a football. Manning has them learning to break into cars, run from the cops and never snitch. (“I’ll kill a snitch. I’m not saying I have, I’m not saying I haven’t, you know what I mean.”) He orders one kid to lock himself in the park’s port-a-potty for 20 minutes.

Number of times hosted: 3 (2011, 2013, 2014)

Best skit: “Delaware One”

The fearless Melissa McCarthy has hosted the show three times, most recently the night before the Super Bowl in 2014. She’s able to bring her infectious energy and plucky attitude to every sketch, no matter how grueling, like in 2013 when she hosted for the second time and wore essentially weaponized high heels that had her on the floor half the time. In one of her best sketches, McCarthy plays Congresswoman Sheila Kelly, who goes around terrorizing newscasters and innocent bystanders who question her fundraising (or just look at her funny). “I am going to put you in a stroller, and buckle you up and throw you down a flight of stairs,” she says, moments before knocking out a cameraman.

Number of times hosted: 1 (1975)

Best skit: “Word Association”

Richard Pryor was the first black man to host Saturday Night Live, back during the show’s first season. The widely admired and unrestrained stand-up comedian boosted the show’s reputation with his performance. The episode he hosted in 1975 (which was also the only time he hosted) features some of the most powerful, memorable sketches the show has ever done, with Pryor acting out an acid trip. SNL famously put the live show on a seven-second delay for this episode, with a censor on-call in case Pryor went off-script and started throwing around any expletives.

His most famous moment, however, was the “Word Association” sketch, in which Pryor is subject to a racially charged word association game in the last round of a job interview. It’s hilarious and shows how talented Pryor was a comedian, pushing the envelope just the right amount.

Number of times hosted: 6 (1982, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2009)

Best skit: “White Stripes”

Along with Candice Bergen, Drew Barrymore is the other lady in the Five-Timers Club. Her first time as host was when she was just 8 years old. Homegirl went through a lot after that, and she told it all in an opening monologue in 1999, where she sung about going to rehab and getting her act together. Barrymore is a perfect host, because she’s afraid to make fun of herself. She knows she’s a regular, but that she’s also often impersonated on the show. In her opening monologue in 2009, she let Kristen Wiig impersonate her Aunt Ethel, who was also an actress and had Barrymore’s signature lisp. Great stuff.

Number of times hosted: 8 [1985, 1988 (twice), 1990 (twice), 1992, 1996, 2006]

Best skit: “Wayne's World With Aerosmith”

Tom Hanks is the quintessential good sport. He’s hosted SNL eight times, and has shown this tremendous ability to make fun of himself (and of course, the cast members). In his opening monologue in 1996, he read the acceptance speech he would have given if he’d won an Academy Award that year instead of Nicholas Cage, and does an amazing fake-cry throughout the whole thing: “I just wanna say, Nicholas Cage, you should’ve won this year!” He’s great. He also did that famous nude beach sketch that has the word “penis” in it more than 40 times—and got more than 46,000 complaints.

Number of times hosted: 5 (2003, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2013)

Best skit: “Immigrant Tale”

Justin Timberlake is one of those guys who was a wildcard the first time he hosted, and blew everyone away to the point he’s now a regular. He’s proven both his comedic ability and his chemistry with the cast members, like Andy Samberg and Jimmy Fallon. His best sketch is arguably the classic “Dick in a Box,” but JT has so many good ones. There’s the recurring sketch where he’s dressed as a singing and dancing store mascot, trying to entice customers to “Bring it on do-o-o-o-own” to various locales, like Omletteville and Wrappingville. Cue the jazz hands.

Number of times hosted: 1 (2010)

Best skit: “Scared Straight”

Betty White won America’s hearts (and ahem, an Emmy) when she hosted the show after a successful Facebook petition to get her on the show. She hosted the show in 2010 with musical guest Jay Z, and blew everyone away. Lorne Michaels actually brought back old-timers like Molly Shannon, Ana Gasteyer, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Rachel Dratch just for the occasion. That episode had the highest ratings the show received in over a year.

Number of times hosted: 3 [2008, 2010 (twice)]

Best skit: “New Senator”

Jon Hamm first hosted in 2008, where the handsome devil played Don Draper in two sketches. But Hamm came back to host twice in 2010, and showed he’s more than just a pretty face. In one of his best sketches, Hamm played Senator Scott Brown who interrupts a meeting of powerful Democrats who are trying to brainstorm strategies for their healthcare bill. Brown sends them all into a reverie. Nancy Pelosi mumbles something along the lines of, “Mama like,” but then quickly corrected herself: “No, I said Obama like!”

Number of times hosted: 13 (1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2013)

Best skit: “Adult Literacy Class”

John Goodman is one of the greats. He’s hosted 13 times, and as recently as 2013. He’s a master impersonator, doing everyone from Elvis Presley, to Anna Nicole Smith, to arguably his best character, Linda Tripp, the whistleblower in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He played her no less than five times during the whole ordeal. He’s also ready and willing to do ridiculous sketches. In his 2013 episode, he does “Last Call,” a recurring sketch about the two saddest, loneliest people left at the bar, and Kate McKinnon ends up licking whipped cream off his face.

Number of times hosted: 7 (1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2008)

Best skit: “Behind The Music: Blue Oyster Cult”

Christopher Walken is one of a kind. Of course, everyone knows he made SNL history as the studio producer who berated the Blue Oyster Cult with his demands for “more cowbell!” But there’s a reason why he’s been invited to host the show seven times, and why he sticks out in everyone’s memory. He has this strange energy to him that might make some guys look extra creepy, but for him, it just works.

Number of times hosted: 15 [1976, 1977 (twice), 1978 (three times), 1980, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, 2006, 2009]

Best skit: “Theatre Stories”

Before “Dick in a Box,” there were Steve Martin and Danny Aykroyd as the Festrunk brothers. Martin and Aykroyd played two guys dressed in matching button-down shirts and newsboy hats who loved to party and popularized the phrase, “We are two wild and crazy guys!” It’s a classic sketch, and another piece of evidence that proves Martin is one of the best SNL hosts of all time. He’s been on the 15 times, and the crowd loves him every time.

Number of times hosted: 16 [1990, 1991, 1993, 1994 (twice), 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011]

Best skit: “NPR's Delicious Dish: Schweddy Balls”

Alec Baldwin has hosted the show more times than anyone, stealing the record from Martin in 2011 with his 16th time hosting. But it’s not just the number of times he’s hosted that makes Baldwin the best host of all time. Like he did on 30 Rock, Baldwin is just able to commit to each bit, no matter how ridiculous it is, like the classic “Canteen Boy and the Scoutmaster” and the quick-witted “Brenda the Waitress.” Besides, he gets a million brownie points for starring in the “NPR’s Delicious Dish” sketch that coined the phrase, “Schweddy balls.”