5 Times ‘SNL’ Was Hosted By Multiple People
One of the most common complaints about latter-day Saturday Night Live is that the cast is too big. That problem gets compounded when SNL enlists multiple people to host at the same time.
How does the show handle that juggling act? As you’ll see below, not very well — when it comes to hosting, less is usually more.
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Check out these five examples of two people fighting for stage time while hosting Saturday Night Live…
The Olsen Twins
The early aughts might have been apex creepy at SNL. Shows featured teenage guests from Lindsay Lohan to Britney Spears to Sarah Michelle Gellar getting hit on by older male cast members under the guise of comedy, while Horatio Sanz was allegedly doing the same thing to fans.
The Olsen Twins episode in 2004 was no exception. Their opening monologue, understandably scrubbed from the Peacock version, features the 17-year-olds complaining about missing prom. Cue Jimmy Fallon and Will Forte in tuxedos, ready to show them a night of high school romance. Forte eventually gropes Mary-Kate on the dance floor. It doesn’t get better during the goodnights, when the twins squeal, “We’re legal in four weeks!”
Steve Martin and Martin Short
The permanently attached-at-the-hip exception to the rule that two people can’t successfully host SNL. Between their endless road tour and Only Murders in the Building, Martin and Short have joined Abbott and Costello, Key and Peele and Cheech and Chong as inseparable comedy duos.
No one is complaining at SNL. Both guys are show royalty, with Short as a former all-star cast member and Martin as Saturday Night Live’s most trustworthy host. The show they hosted together in December 2022 was the highest-rated of the season.
Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas
This had to feel weird — Moranis and Thomas were stars of SCTV, the Canadian sketch show that served as a friendly rival to Saturday Night Live. After John Belushi, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner left, it wasn’t hard to argue that SCTV had surpassed SNL.
Even weirder — the duo was introduced for their opening SNL monologue as their SCTV breakout characters, Bob and Doug McKenzie. Their topic? How SNL wasn’t as good as it used to be. That would have been like the stars of MADtv or In Living Color showing up to kick dirt on their competitor’s show.
Beau and Jeff Bridges
That same year, a pair of real brothers hosted as well. And if you thought sketch characters from competing comedy shows were uncomfortable, get a load of baby-oiled, shirtless Jeff rubbing down his nearly naked brother. I don’t think I’m a prude, but the moment when Jeff kneads Beau’s buttocks and then lets his hand slip between his brother’s thighs was a Bridge too far.
Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman
DeVito (Taxi) and Perlman (Cheers), still technically married though they’ve been separated since 2017, were sitcom royalty when they hosted together in 1983. These weren’t golden years for SNL, and their joint monologue proved it — a parody of lame award-show banter that the couple read woodenly from cue cards.
It’s an interesting concept, but bad jokes are bad jokes. The two pros do their best to sell the bit, but they’re literally begging for laughs. Comedy royalty deserved better.
