For most fans of Saturday Night Live an affection grows for the cast that they watch in their formative years. Most fans have an attachment for their favorite cast members, and love when they come back to the show after leaving Studio 8H.
Almost from the beginning, SNL has shepherded back former cast members to host the program. The first instance was Chevy Chase in Season 3. Former cast members Bill Murray, Dana Carvey, Will Ferrell, and Kristen Wiig have been back many times to host.
But some former cast members have never been asked to host Saturday Night Live. This includes several who have gone on to successful careers elsewhere in entertainment. And it includes a handful of popular cast members never to have bene offered a hosting gig.
Here’s my list of former cast members I wish would host SNL.
Abby Elliott
I’m surprised Elliott has not hosted yet. Her post-SNL career has been brilliant: she has been nominated or won multiple Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards for her work on the critically-acclaimed show The Bear.
Elliott is one of those actresses you can’t take your eyes off of. In every scene she demands attention with her insightful performances. She can be simultaneously strong and sympathetic. She can be dramatic or funny. She’s one of the best scene stealers working.
In four seasons on SNL, Elliott was underutilized. Sadly that’s been a trend for talented women in the cast. Basically, Abby was Ashley Padilla before Ashley Padilla. We need her back on SNL, this time as host.
Bobby Moynihan
Among hardcore fans of SNL, Bobby Moynihan is frequently mentioned as a desired host. While he was never a huge star on the show, Moynihan was the lowkey side cast member who often stole scenes. His best work was on Weekend Update where he killed it with Drunk Uncle and other characters.
Moynihan is always working. He’s currently a supporting character in Reggie Dinkins, the latest Tracy Morgan vehicle for Peacock. As always, Bobby is amazing in his role, providing the everyman, best friend style comedy we come to expect from him.
Tim Robinson
Has SNL ever done a genius comedian more wrong than it did Tim Robinson? The writers and producers in Studio 8H never understood Robinson, who has gone on to create not one, but two programs that have produced more humor per minute than SNL has in the last 15 years.
Robinson’s absurdist humor is daring. And the last time SNL was daring was when Jimmy Carter was president. So, maybe we can understand why Lorne Michaels, Seth Meyers, Steve Higgins, and Colin Jost rarely gave Robinson’s material a chance.
Imagine a world where Robinson was head writer or producer of SNL? How much better would the show have been the last decade? We’ll never know, sadly. But SNL can correct one of its worst mistakes by asking Tim back to host. That week they should let this genius take charge of the writer’s room too.
Cecily Strong
Of the people on this list, I think it’s most likely we see Cecily Strong return to host in the future. She’s only been off the show for a few seasons, and hasn’t had a project to promote, or we would have seen her back in Studio 8H by now.
The strong, talented, popular former cast members don’t need a movie or TV show to promote. We see Amy Poehler, Tina Fey and others come back periodically just because they know how to do the show. That’s why it’s only a matter of time before we see fan favorite Strong back for a hosting appearance.
Jenny Slate
If Chris Rock can host, why not Jenny Slate? Bear with me so I can make the comparison. Rock was on SNL briefly, and without much to wow viewers. Outside of Nat X, Rock didn’t have any moments of note as a performer on SNL. Yet, after his departure and ensuing success as a standup comedian, Rock has been asked back four times to host.
Slate was unceremoniously booted from SNL after one season. She has explained that she never felt comfortable in the competitive environment of the show. She was lost in the shuffle of casts that had fellow female performers Nasim Pedrad and Abby Elliott. The show didn’t give Slate a chance to find her footing.
Yet in her post-SNL career, Slate has proven her tremendous ability as a character actress and standup. She’s as much a personality as we have seen in a female comic in the last 25-30 years. She easily could have been a breakout star on SNL. The fact she wasn’t isn’t a reason to keep her from hosting. Rock was basically a background figure in almost every sketch he appeared in, and he’s been back.
Let’s get some Jenny Slate back in Studio 8H. That’s en episode we would love to see.
Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney
In the pantheon of SNL duos, Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney carved a place as quirky, outrageous, and sometimes bizarre. The pair first met at USC where they were college roommates. They cut their teeth together performing and honing their comedy in improv groups. Together they came to SNL as featured players in the show’s 39th season.
Bennett spent eight years, and Mooney nine on SNL. In their tenure together they were frequently writing partners and co-starred in pretapes and sketches. Few cast members are identified in a duo in the history of SNL.
The show has welcomed former cast member/pals to host as a combo before. Most notable Fey and Poehler in Season 41. The great SNL duos are part of the show’s history, going back to Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, to Chris Farley/Adam Sandler, and a handful of others.
Here’s a call for Kyle and Beck to get their own episode in Season 52. Talk about fan service, that would make the purveyors of the Kyle J. Mooney Award very happy.
Rachel Dratch
One of the unlikeliest stars in SNL history, Dratch was a comedic chameleon capable of losing herself in characters who frequently offered hilarious facial expressions or deadpan deliveries. She spent seven seasons on SNL. Unfortunately she got somewhat overshadowed by the trifecta of women who helped transform SNL in the early 2000s: Fey, Poehler, and Maya Rudolph.
Dratch is a longshot to host, we know. She is a character actress with a ho-hum IMDB page. But every time she gets a job, she delivers hilarity. Whether it’s as a bizarre on-scene walk-on in a sitcom, or as a semi-regular on a streaming show.
SNL could do much worse than to have Dratch host a show. Just watch the last few times Poehler and Fey hosted: neither of those two former cast members have aged well comedically.
Cheri Oteri
It’s shocking that Oteri has never hosted SNL. For a few seasons, she was arguably shoulder-shoulder with Will Ferrell as the star of the show. Her ability to deliver over-the-top characters is nearly unrivaled in the history of SNL. She had an energy on stage that was like a punch to the face. In every sketch, Oteri was committed 100 percent.
Christopher Guest
It’s hard to believe that this Hollywood heavyweight has never hosted Saturday Night Live. He basically invented the mockumentary, which has been imitated countless times since This Is Spinal Tap hit screens in 1984.
Guest has won an Emmy and a Grammy Award. He’s written screenplays, television programs, and musicals that have been nominated and/or won awards. His credits include writing and/or directing/producing Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration, and Mascots. He also acted in the films Little Shop of Horrors and The Princess Bride. Guest is also an accomplished singer, musician, and songwriter. He’s a British Lord, for chrissakes.
Of the nearly 200 people to have been SNL cast members, Guest might be among the top five most talented. He appeared for one season on SNL, Season 10, the year of the “hired guns” that included Billy Crystal and Martin Short.
In Season 18, Guest appeared with bandmates Harry Shearer and Micheal McKean as Spinal Tap. Otherwise, he’s never been asked back to Saturday Night Live. It’s not going to happen now, because he’s almost 80 years old and basically irrelevant to the young viewers the show wants, but Guest is a major oversight for hosting among former cast members.
