Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live’sbest guest hosts spotlight the many enduring forcefulness and approaches to the long - run sketch clowning show . Saturday Night Live debuted fifty years ago and has spent the last half - century for one of the best spotlights in the entertainment industry . Some ofSaturday Night Live ’s best episodeshave featured actors , instrumentalist , comedians , and all variety of other entertainers at the top of their game . Becoming aSaturday Night Livehost is a singular experience that underscores someone ’s success in their theatre .

The good Saturday Night Live hosts time do n’t just showcase themselves , though . While plenty of former cast members have been great innkeeper acrossSaturday Night Live ’s fifty year run , some of the most interesting ( and entertaining ) can bring their own energy to the show even as they mousse with the rest of the roll . They elevate the freakish , satirical , and strictly empty-headed view of the comedy in their own deep memorable way . Here are the ten best Saturday Night Live client hosts .

10Nate Bargatze

Guest Hosted In 2023 And 2024

A relatively new addition to theSaturday Night Liveguest hosts roster , Nate Bargatze has quickly show himself as a natural fit for the role and stands out as one of the best modern node host . The tolerate - up comdian ’s genial observation about life history is ideal material for the opening monologuing . It highlights his universal charm and arrange him up as a normal guy who has some sweet ( and hilarious ) thoughts about his life . He show be a deft addition to several sketches across his two episode , withhis muted approach to the bits a true asset to their comedic effect .

His grounded performances and muted approach to bizarre lines giveBargatze’sSaturday Night Livesketches like " George Washington"and " Water Slide " a deadpan component that improves their inherent wacky nature . However , he could use that same tint to advance sketches like " Cooking Competition " where the shamefaced Bargatze is able to ground a resume in real populace irritation . In only two appearances , Bargatze has proven he can deliver goofy dialog with self-assurance , and ricochet well off his co - stars . Bargatze is a instinctive onSaturday Night Live , and should hopefully have several future appearances host the show .

9Emma Stone

Guest Hosted In 2010, 2011, 2016, 2019, And 2023

Two - time Academy Award victor Emma Stone has proven to be an fabulously various performing artist over the course of her life history , something that she brings to her multiple time hostingSaturday Night Live . Throughout it all , Stone brings a theatrical storey of committal to the premiss , throwing herself into reference even when they ’re just nameless stand - atomic number 49 ( like her let the cat out of the bag nudist community helper in " Fully raw In New York City").Stone is a great actress , and she brings that award - succeed skill - set to great use on the show .

woman Who Have JoinedSaturday Night Live ’s Five - Timer Club

twelvemonth They Joined

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Candice Bergen

1990

Drew Barrymore

Melissa McCarthy, Steve Martin, and Tom Hanks

2007

Tina Fey

2015

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Scarlett Johansson

2017

Melissa McCarthy

Melissa McCarthy pouring ranch all over herself in Saturday Night Live’s Taste Test

Emma Stone

2023

Kristin Wiig

Headshot Of Michael Chernus

2024

Emma Stone works as a put - upon comedic objective in sketches like " Question Quest , " but amply perpetrate to the over - the - top performance in survey like " Make Your Own sort Of Music . “Stone even knows how to utilise her striking acting chops to great force , with her sheer commitment to a character ’s internal struggle make the punchline of " The Actress " even well . Emma Stone has a great power to impart genuine pathos to her characters , which is a cracking tool inSaturday Night Live ’s repertory .

8Christopher Walken

Guest Hosted In 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, And 2008

One of the most idiosyncratic actors of the 20th and twenty-first one C , Christopher Walken ’s unique outspoken livery and attached execution made him a superstar for decades . It ’s also a skill set that attain for a deeply memorableSaturday Night Livehost . His most famous contribution to the show , as fabled music producer Bruce Dickinson in " More Cowbell , remains a high spot of that geological era of the show .

Sometimes Saturday Night Live sketch can be so comic , even the actors performing them burst into laughter , make for iconic moments on the show .

However , it was far from his only unassailable public presentation on the show . fictitious character like the Continental have given Walken plenty of opportunities to show off his comedy chops , while the hazardous edges of Colonel Angus and Ed Glosser , Trivial Psychic are both great examples ofthe more unbowed - face operation that Walken can bring in to his silly charactersonSaturday Night Live . Walken ’s self - aware nature and full - throated committal to any bit , no matter how silly , makes him one of the all - clock time best hosts of the show .

Headshot Of Mikey Day

7Adam Driver

Guest Hosted In 2016, 2018, 2020, And 2023

Adam Driver is known chiefly for his spectacular roles in motion picture likeMarriage Story , but he ’s also pose a dexterous hand for applying that intensity for comedic purposes . Driver commits fully to the premise around him , with his carrying into action in sketch " Career Day , " " Medieval Times , " and " Beep Beep " turn that white hot intensity into a great source of comedy . Even when dressed up in a jumbo nursing bottle costume for " Marrying Ketchups " or a comically melodramatic interlingual rendition of Kylo Ren , Driver uses his specific skills to great force as a guest horde .

As report byScreen Rant , Adam Driver has stated he is done with the use of Kylo Ren . This means the part ’s final appearance played by Driver may be his comedic interpretation for Driver ’s 2020 appearance onSaturday Night Live .

There ’s a self aware layer to hisSaturday Night Liveperformances though . His initiative monologue portray him as an unflinchingly funny and grounded actor , throw his melodramatic performance in vignette like " Marrying Ketchups " all the more memorable . number one wood is one of the most impressive modern hosts of the show , fitting neatly into original pieces and clear pop - culture parodies alike .

Saturday Night Live

6Candice Bergen

Guest Hosted In 1975, 1975, 1976, 1987, And 1990

A fable of television comedy and the star of shows likeMurphey Brown , Candice Bergen was the first distaff emcee ofSaturday Night Live — and remains one of the skilful ever hosts , period . Bergen was a lifelike fit alongside the original stars of the show , finding plenty of great risible foils in Gilda Radner , Chevy Chase , and Garrett Morris . Bergen brought an eager and enthusiastic plan of attack to the live - funniness , whether that ’s in a minor part of sketches like " Jaws II " or at the essence of them in bits like " correct To Extreme Stupidity League . "

Bergen was at home playing large broad characters like in her " Chanel " fragrance parody . However , she could also deport astonishingly grounded perspective to more and more wacky beats in sketch like " Anne Boylen . " More than anything , Bergen ’s unclouded love for the materialand the hurl gleam through her functioning and elevates her appearances as legion above almost all of her match .

5John Mulaney

Guest Hosted In 2018, 2019, 2020, 2020, 2022 And 2024

This may be wander a bit given that Mulaney was a writerSaturday Night Live , but John Mulaney remains one of the best hosts in the history ofSaturday Night Livebecause ofhow well he accommodate into the dynamic of the total enterprise . Mulaney has a similar skill - plant to Steve Martin in that sense , as he gels into many role on the show . He can be a crumple straight serviceman like in " What ’s That Name , " the goofy nitty-gritty - piece in " Monkey Trial , " and a committed porter to the bizarre in his traditional New York City musical series .

Before becoming a globally recognized stand - up comedian and hostingSaturday Night Livesix time in less then a tenner , one of Mulaney ’s early roles in the world of entertainment was as a writer on the sketch series .

That adaptability is matched by an energy that suits the sketch series ' bequest , adaptable on subject matter but always with a contact of goofy nonsense . " Beppo " hop around all kinds of dark and outlandish humor , with Mulaney and the rest of the cast keep up full sincerity in cheering on an unkillable astronaut monkey . Mulaney is a self - confess " silly " person , and brings the accurate right vibration to his host spear onSaturday Night Live .

4Richard Pryor

Guest Hosted In 1975

Richard Pryor remains a legendary figure within the cosmos of stand - up clowning , a legacy that was cemented even before he seem as a guest master of ceremonies forSaturday Night Live . Pryor prove utterly at dwelling in the sketch comedy setting , highlighting the skills he would later bring to a succesful film life history and delivering an all - sentence great episode ofSaturday Night Livethat made his one host gig a highlighting of the entire series . Pryor is screaming in sketches like " The Excorist II " and " " Suicide Pill , " playing up a variety of aroused tallness to great effect .

[ Richard Pryor ] only hostedSaturday Night Liveonce , but it was an all - prison term majuscule screening .

What makes the Richard Pryor episode so special and Pryor such an authoritative host is the manner his episodes proved how challengingSaturday Night Live ’s satire can be . While some of the survey like " Samurai Hotel " have not mature well , other sketches like his run " Police Line - Up " sketches remain timely . His controversial and analyzed cartoon is " Word Association , " which famously see him facing off with Chevy Chase in a job interview that turns intense , with Pryor highlighting what an sharply pointed comedy survey show can do . He only hostedSaturday Night Liveonce , but it was an all - meter heavy display .

3Melissa McCarthy

Guest Hosted In 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, And 2017

Melissa McCarthy has proven to be particularly skilful at throw herself into broad comic character reference . While the Academy Award nominate actress has more then proven her dramatic chops , her performances in films likeBridesmaidandSpymake it clear why she ’s a expectant set forSaturday Night Live . More then anything , McCarthy brings a fully attached and boistrous performance to herSaturday Night Livesketches . “Outside the Lines " highlights the Chris Farley - trend energy McCarthy can play to the sketches , with her ridiculously intense and cartoonishly cruel basketball coach working only thanks to that tier of public presentation .

bridesmaid and The Heat star Melissa McCarthy unwrap she did not expend material spread dressing in her viral Saturday Night Live adumbrate " Taste Test . "

McCarthy uses this for smashing comic burden , especially when portray characters like White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer . The parody of Spicer was so all encompasing and memorable that it can be hard to think all the other great sketches McCarthy has elevated , like " Pizza Business " and " Million Dollar Wheel . " She can even become a specify type in a sketch as a base on balls - on punchline , as see in Martin Short ’s season 50 episode . McCarthy would have made a sodding summation to the show as a form - memberand brings a gravid than life quality to her comic performance as a invitee server .

2Tom Hanks

Guest Hosted In 1985, 1988, 1988, 1990, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2006, 2016, And 2020

Tom Hanks is one of the most celebrated actors of the last fifty class , with a wealth of amazing performances to his name . He ’s also a supremely funny doer , which is reflected in his many appearances onSaturday Night Live . Sketches like " Mr. Short - Term Memory " and " Girl Watchers " were honest early case ofwhat Hanks could do withSaturday Night Live ’s silly character and concepts , but it ’s his most recent visual aspect that have bring on his best workplace with the show .

" Haunted Elevator " turn the gag character David S. Pumpkins into a pop - finish phenomenon . The graphic symbol only works in the resume because of Hanks , who delivers a strangely mesmerizing performance as Pumpkins . However , it ’s sketches like " Black Jeopardy ! " that best highlight how well Hanks fits on the show as a guest host . bounce back and forth against Kenan Thompson ’s Darnell Hayes , Hanks gives the sole white contestant Doug a surprising likability and a sneakily subversive bound . It ’s a monitor of how good Hanks is as a performing artist , specially in drollery .

1Steve Martin

Guest Hosted In 1976, 1977, 1977, 1978, 1978, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, 2006, 2009, And 2022

At times considered an unoffical member of the original cast , Steve Martin has been a long - standing fixture ofSaturday Night Live . Steve Martin has host the show 16 time and has appeared on it in node spots over a twelve more , with the digest comedy star melding into any number of sketch set - ups throw his manner . His dance with Gilda Radner in " Dancing In The Dark " is sweet and romantic just as much as it is generally screaming , while cartoon like " Rise " and " Steve Martin ’s Christmas Wish " only mould thanks to his faultless saving .

Steve Martin has remained in the public eye for decades for a reason , and those same skills are what make him the best host in the history ofSaturday Night Live .

Martin convey melodic flair to his coming into court in renowned sketches like " King Tut , " openhanded bluster in “ Theatre Stories , " and tremendous delivery to his monologue . That connection with the form and creatives ofSaturday Night Livesynthesize into pure comical gold , explaining why Martin has been on the show as often as he has . Steve Martin has remained in the spotlight for decades for a reason , and those same acquirement are what make him the estimable host in the account ofSaturday Night Live .

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