These are the best hosts in the history of Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live has become a staple of American entertainment. The late-night show has launched the careers of countless comedians and actors, from John Belushi to Eddie Murphy to Mike Myers to Tina Fey to Jon Rudnitsky.

Most fans have a favorite cast member. Dating back to Season 1, there have been favorites among the ensemble. But while a core cast stays in place for a window of several seasons, the hosts are ever-changing. The list of SNL hosts is a representation of what pop culture is focused on in any particular era, however brief. Louise Lasser hosted, and so did MC Hammer, as well as Tom Green and Ashley Simpson. Those celebrities may have been red-hot for a while, but “all-timers” they are not.

However, SNL has had a share of iconic hosts who have been back to Studio 8H many times, like Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, and recently, Ariana Grande. These people are deft at handling the demands of hosting the show. Some of these multi-time hosts have been great, like Hanks, Martin, and Grande, while others have been, well just ok or dreadful (we’re looking at you Charles Barkley and Amy Schumer).

We’ve turned our attention to our SNL Rankings to make a few lists of the top hosts in the history of the show.

Our list of “best hosts” is not perfect. After all, sometimes a host is dealt a bad hand (poor writing, a lackluster cast). Other times, hosts have the great fortune of appearing in seasons where the show is firing on all cylinders. Still, we thought this would be a nice exercise, to share the findings from our SNL Rankings database with readers.

Our first table is limited to hosts with 2 or more hosting gigs.

Highest Episode Score for Hosts with 2+ Hosting Gigs

Bargatze is off to a fantastic start. Most viewers the last two seasons, when the comedian has hosted agree that his episodes have been outstanding. This despite a cast that isn’t ranked at the top all-time, and on seasons when writing has been spotty. Bargatze brings his considerable comedic chops with him to Studio 8H. In some ways, he’s the Steve Martin of this era, which means we want to see more of him.

Henry, Dennis Hopper, Bergen, Kahn, and Weaver all appear among the top 20 for episode score for multi-time SNL hosts. But they bear mention because, in our opinion their inclusion is largely because they appeared in seasons when great casts were on the show. Most historians of SNL would rate the Seasons 1-5 and Seasons 12-16 as the best casts of all-time. Or at least among the top eras of the program.

Before we make comments on other hosts listed above, we’ll filter the list further. This time, we’ll make the requirement at least 4 host appearances.

Highest Episode Score for Hosts with 4+ Hosting Gigs

Now we’re dealing with heavyweights. There isn’t a bad or overrated host among this bunch. Once you host four times or more, you generally have shown you can deliver. None of the 20 hosts on this second list were carried by the cast or writing all the time.

We highlighted Steve Martin this list because we think he’s the best choice as greatest host of SNL. He’s hosted a whopping 14 times, but his average episode score is still above 90, which means he averages an “A” episode each time he’s hosting the show.

Buck Henry, Bergen, Eric Idle, and Elliott Gould are probably the hosts most helped by their casts on this list, but all were excellent stewards of SNL. Henry was so beloved and so consistent, he was asked to host the finale five times, and hosted twice per season five times.

Of the five hosts with 10+ appearances, Hanks has the lowest episode score, but it’s really about the same as the score for Baldwin and Goodman. All that says is that once to host that many times, your episode scores will tend toward a resting place in the “B” level. Not all shows are “A’s.”

Three former cast members have earned a place among all-time best hosts of SNL: Dana Carvey, Will Ferrell, and Kristen Wiig. That seems appropriate. That trio is almost universally acknowledged among the all-time greats, and all three are likable, and immensely gifted entertainers.

There is a group that seems to have elevated their episodes based on their personal charm, talent, and star-power. In that group I would place Timberlake, Johnson, Chappelle, and the brilliant Emma Stone. Great hosts? Yes, usually. Given their star power, it also helped.

An interesting group are the hosts who delivered excellent performances across multiple episodes in a way that may be surprising considering their public image before being SNL hosts. That group would include Walken, Driver, Baldwin, Goodman, Hanks, and perhaps Hill. These are stars, no question, but they seemed to “get” SNL in a way many celebs don’t. They feel like they basically could have been cast members.