Saturday Night Live has been around since October 11^th of 1975.  They have aired over 900 episodes in the 5 decade history.  Many stars began their career as cast members and went on to become big names on their own. This story is about the hosts.

The original show aired as NBC’s Saturday Night.  Howard Cosell, on ABC, was already using the “Saturday Night Live” name in a show he was hosting.  After Cosell’s show was cancelled, NBC took the name Saturday Night Live and first aired under the new title on March 26^th, 1977.

George Carlin was the first host, and of course everyone knows what show it is, when you hear:

"Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

There have been 24 different hosts that have hosted 4 or more times.

Here are the top 5

Alec Baldwin- has hosted 17 times

Steve Martin- has hosted 16 times

John Goodman- has hosted 13 times

Buck Henry- has hosted 10 times

Tom Hanks- has hosted 10 times

Tom Hanks friend Wilson.

Here are the top 5 Women Hosts 

Drew Barrymore- has hosted 6 times

Tina Fey- has hosted 6 times

Scarlett Johansson- has hosted 6 times

Candace Bergen- has hosted 5 times

Melissa McCarthy- has hosted 5 times

Montana Natives

Dana Carvey- has hosted 4 times

Yep- that was the only Montanan I could find.  At least he is a good one!

According to Ranker, there are 17 people asked to never host again.  You can see the entire list HERE. I picked what I thought was the

Top 5 of “former” hosts

Chevy Chase- allegedly he had issues with the co-stars

Martin Lawrence- allegedly made a few disrespectful comments

Sinead O’Conner- I think I remember when she tore up an image of the Pope

Andy Kaufman- was allegedly to edgy with his performance

Cyprus Hill- was said to partake in drugs while on stage when asked not to

Either way, the show has survived many ups and downs and will have a huge 50 year celebration coming up in 2025.

If you have a story idea or something you want to learn more about, give Randy a call at 406-788-3003 or send me an email at randall.bogden@townsquaremedia.com