'SNL' Should Let Greatest Alumni Host Milestone 50th Season

by Julian Spivey

With the 50th season of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” set to premiere on September 28, we should be finding out the host of the season premiere any day now.

I’m sure the network and producer Lorne Michaels will pull out all the stops this season for the milestone 50th season of the show, with multiple anniversary specials set to air in the early part of 2025. I’m sure we’ll see many famous and fan-loved familiar faces joining the show during this season.
But it’s always been my hope that Michaels and SNL would celebrate the 50th season in a truly spectacular fashion by hosting all 20 of its episodes during the season by former cast members of the show.

Ideally, I’d like to see the show choose stars from each era of ‘SNL’ to host throughout the season. How about Dan Aykroyd representing the original cast? Eddie Murphy for the early ‘80s when he essentially saved the show from extinction. Dana Carvey for the late ‘80s. Adam Sandler for the early ‘90s. Will Ferrell could represent the late ‘90s. Tina Fey or Jimmy Fallon for the early ‘00s. Then, you could take your pick from Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, Andy Samberg, etc. Kate McKinnon could represent the most recent era.

Unfortunately, this dream is probably too far-fetched, especially in the entertainment business that relies so much on Nielsen ratings to measure success. Would the show feature more eyes with, say, Dana Carvey, returning to host it over someone like the summer star of 2024, Glen Powell? Probably not. No doubt, the ‘SNL’ fanatics would be pumped, but it wouldn’t drive the extra viewers that the network and show hope to boost the ratings.

I’m sure familiar faces will return to host the show this year. One’s who are relevant in the pop culture zeitgeist at the moment or are perhaps big enough to sustain a large audience on their own. But for some of the show’s legends, the best we can probably hope for is a fun cameo during the season or maybe on one of the star-studded anniversary specials, similar to what we saw 10 years ago for the show’s epic three-hour 40th anniversary special.

But if I had my choice of how I would like to see the episodes go this year, it would look something like this:

1. Dan Aykroyd & Bill Murray
Ideally, it would be great to let Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray each host a separate episode, but ‘SNL’ rarely has hosts the age of these guys. Aykroyd is 72 and Murray will be 74 by the season premiere. But if they could share hosting duties and swap off the amount of time each would need to appear on screen, I think it could be done. The only problem is whether they would want to do it. Murray is a member of the hailed Five-Timers Club, but he hasn’t hosted ‘SNL’ since 1999. Though Aykroyd has appeared on the show many times since he left after its fourth season, he’s only hosted once, and that came more than 20 years ago. Another thing that would be genuinely cool would be to see Chevy Chase return to the show to say, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night,” one last time. But he’s reportedly been long banned from the show for, let’s say, his cantankerous personality.

2. Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy seems like one of the more likely former cast members to return to host the show for its milestone season. He returned in December 2019, which was his first appearance on the show other than a brief 40th-anniversary cameo since the ‘80s. That 2019 show was an instant classic, and he seemed to enjoy his time on it.

3. Dana Carvey with David Spade (or Mike Myers)
Dana Carvey is one of the greatest cast members in the history of ‘SNL,’ though he may be the person on this list with the least successful post-‘SNL’ career. Still, that hasn’t kept him from returning to host in the past, as recently as 2011. Carvey is only one hosting gig away from the coveted Five-Timer’s Club and, surely, the show wouldn’t want to keep him from that honor. Pairing Carvey with his “Fly on the Wall” podcast host and former castmate David Spade would make perfect sense. Having him co-host a show with his “Wayne’s World” partner, Mike Myers, would also be a huge nostalgic moment. See, ‘SNL,’ there are options!

4. Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler was the biggest “why hasn’t this cast member returned to host the show” question mark for the longest time before he finally made his host debut in 2019. That hosting stint came on the heels of his Netflix comedy special “Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh.” His latest stand-up special, “Adam Sandler: Love You,” just dropped on Netflix, and that, combined with the show’s 50th anniversary, means there’s no better time for his second hosting gig.

5. Will Ferrell
Many consider Will Ferrell the greatest cast member in the history of ‘SNL.’ He was undoubtedly the MVP of his era. So, why wouldn’t you want that guy to return for the significant milestone? He’s probably one of the likeliest former cast members we’ll see host this season. Ferrell has hosted five times, most recently in 2019.

6. Tina Fey & Amy Poehler
Like Aykroyd and Murray before them, I’d be perfectly fine seeing Tina Fey and Amy Poehler host stand-alone episodes, but if you can get these two to do the show together, you definitely should. Fey and Poehler are two of the most successful and vital female cast members in the show’s history, and it was Fey’s turn as head writer of the show that turned the tide from ‘SNL’ as a boy’s club into a show that females could eventually dominate.

7. Kristen Wiig
Kristen Wiig is considered by many to be the MVP of her era, which contained some major heavy hitters and multiple names you’ll see on this list. She just hosted the show last season, her fifth time hosting, so it might be a bit soon for her and the show, but with it being a milestone such as this, they should throw that out the window.

8. Kate McKinnon
It didn’t take long for Kate McKinnon to take over as the ‘SNL’ MVP once Wiig left the show in 2012. For many people, if they don’t consider Wiig the greatest female cast member in the show’s history, then it’s McKinnon they would have at the top spot. Like Wiig, McKinnon returned to host ‘SNL’ just last season, but fans wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to see her every year if offered.

9. Maya Rudolph
Much like the two legendary ladies above, Maya Rudolph hosted ‘SNL’ last season, and it may be too soon for a return appearance as host. But the show has already announced that Rudolph will be reprising her role as Kamala Harris throughout the election, where we will get to see her go toe-to-toe against James Austin Johnson’s terrific Donald Trump impression. Might as well let her host one of the week’s she’s going to be at the show anyway.

10. Jimmy Fallon
I’m legitimately surprised we don’t see Jimmy Fallon host ‘SNL’ on an almost annual basis. He films “The Tonight Show” in the same building, seems to be the biggest fanboy of the show, and is close to Michael. Surprisingly, he hasn’t hosted since 2017. Maybe his day job takes too much of his time? But I’d be shocked if he wasn’t on the shortlist to host in season 50.

11. Seth Meyers
For some of the same reasons I said about Fallon, I’m surprised Seth Meyers hasn’t been back to host ‘SNL’ more often. Since leaving the show in 2014, he has only returned to host once in 2018. He’s less of a performer than Fallon, but I thought his hosting stint in 2018 was rather good. He’s probably the greatest living Weekend Update anchor the show has ever seen.

12. Bill Hader
Bill Hader is one of the most beloved cast members in ‘SNL’ history, both for memorable characters like Stefon and as one of the greatest impressionists the show has ever seen. I don’t know how truthful this is, but I heard on an episode of the Saturday Night Network podcast that it seems like Hader doesn’t have a lot of interest in returning to host ‘SNL.’ He returned twice in 2014 and 2018, but he seems happy doing his own projects. He’d be on my very short list if I were Michaels.

13. Jason Sudeikis
When Jason Sudeikis returned to host ‘SNL’ in 2021, it was one of the most joyous returns from a former cast member returning to host. I’d love to see him back. He may be a bit busy focusing on these rumors as to whether or not his Emmy-winning AppleTV+ series “Ted Lasso” is or isn’t going to return for a fourth season, though.

14. Chris Rock
Chris Rock didn’t have the most successful ‘SNL’ career, which is no fault of his own. Even in the early ‘90s, when he was on the show, the show still didn’t know how to feature an African-American cast member positively. He became a massive star following his departure. He’s returned to host the show three times, most recently in 2020.

15. Tracy Morgan
Few cast members have been as likable in their returns to host as Tracy Morgan, who returned to host in 2009 and 2015. Almost a decade without hosting the show is too long! Morgan has timeless characters, such as Brian Fellows and Astronaut Jones, that would easily play in today’s world.

16. Will Forte
Will Forte is one of those guys whose lack of high-profile work currently could keep him from returning to the show. He recently had a Netflix series, “Bodkin,” that looked promising but gained zero attention in the pop culture zeitgeist. Still, he’s a popular figure within Studio 8H and among hardcore ‘SNL’ fans. So, there’s a reason to hope.

17. Andy Samberg
Andy Samberg was one of the most influential cast members in ‘SNL’ history with the digital shorts he did with his The Lonely Island cohorts. Coming on the show around the same time YouTube debuted helped send his career and videos online into the stratosphere. Samberg has only returned to host the show once since he left in 2012, doing so in 2014. It’s time for him to return.

18. Cecily Strong
Cecily Strong is the only former cast member on this list who hasn’t returned to host the show, but that has a lot to do with her being the most recent on this list to leave the show in December of 2022. I hope her standing with the show is good, as I know she was initially supposed to be in the cold open of an episode last year but backed out after dress rehearsal, supposedly due to how offensive it was. Honestly, the show should’ve cut it. It bombed worse than any cold opening in show history. Hopefully, that’s not something Michaels and the show would hold against a legendary cast member.

19. Molly Shannon
Molly Shannon did a lot of heavy lifting in the late ‘90s on ‘SNL’ so the women of the last 25 years on the show could become the huge stars they are. It was great to see Shannon return to host just two seasons ago, her second hosting stint but first in 16 years. Hopefully, the show doesn’t wait as long between her second and third hosting stints.

20. Conan O’Brien      
So, this one is cheating just a little bit because Conan O’Brien was a writer on ‘SNL’ but never a cast member. It’s crazy that O’Brien has only hosted the show once, back in 1999 when he hosted ‘Late Night’ on NBC. He, of course, had a high profile falling out with NBC since then, getting screwed out of “The Tonight Show” gig. However, O’Brien has appeared on ‘SNL’ since then in a cameo in 2022. He currently has a travel show on Max, so if it were ever time to bring him back to Studio 8H to host, it would be now.