Live From New York!
For such a long-standing and renowned sketch comedy show, you’d think “Saturday Night Live” would feature established comics as hosts, but instead, they choose from an eccentric list of celebrities from various domains, which not only extends the show’s reach, but definitely keeps us on our toes wondering what to expect. For this list, we’ll be looking at five celebrities who are not exactly known for their comedic or acting chops, but who nonetheless killed their hosting duties on “Saturday Night Live.â€
Chance the Rapper
Chance the Rapper received mainstream recognition with his 2013 mixtape “Acid Rapâ€, and three years later took home the Grammy for Best Rap with his follow-up “Coloring Bookâ€. This also led to an SNL hosting gig on November 18, 2017 – easily one of the best episodes of the entire year. Chance seems to have an inherent skill for comedy, as his delivery and timing were immaculate, particularly during that hilarious sketch where he played an NBA reporter who didn’t know a thing about hockey. His ridiculous Steve Harvey impersonation was also on point. What can we say, the man is talented.
The Rock
No, we don’t mean the action movie star Dwayne Johnson. We mean The Rock. That’s how far back his hosting duties go. While The Rock was always a tongue-in-cheek personality, non-wrestling fans were certainly apprehensive about having a wrestler doing legitimate comedy. Luckily, he proved to be a ton of fun and has since become a member of the Five-Timers Club. He’s always game, whether he’s taking meth for his erectile dysfunction, or playing a gun-toting Bambi, and he always makes a joke funny no matter how lame or dark it may be. Such is the power of a great comedic actor.
Kristen Stewart
We’re sure Kristen Stewart is a lovely person, but it’s no secret that audiences were dreading her hosting gig. Even though she can be a good actor, she is primarily known for portraying the endlessly boring and dull Bella Swan, and she is quite a jittery and quiet person, which doesn’t exactly lend itself to live comedy. That said, she was a surprisingly great host. Sure, she was still her fidgety self, but her Totino’s sketch was sexy as hell, and the Family Feud sketch was hilarious. And who can forget the majesty that was her accidental and adorable f-bomb? Her episode was pure entertainment, and really, what more can we ask for?
Peyton Manning
There’s no denying it. Professional athletes can be awful hosts. Luckily, Peyton Manning was one of the good ones. On March 24, 2007, audiences could have been forgiven for expecting another painful show starring a stiff and too-serious athlete, but Manning was game for some truly outrageous skits, and surprised everyone with his charisma and comedic timing. His United Way skit is still fondly remembered and he proved at least a double threat with his dancing abilities. Peyton Manning may be the funniest athlete to have ever graced “Saturday Night Live,†even though we admit that’s not the highest praise around.
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande had appeared as a musical guest before hosting on March 12, 2016. Defying expectations regarding the young diva pop star’s comedic hosting skills, she silenced critics with a truly memorable performance. She started well by singing about her future scandals before delivering some incredible vocal impressions of various artists like Rihanna, Shakira, and Britney Spears. Her spot-on impersonation of the “annoyingly relatable†Jennifer Lawrence was also a huge hit, and one of the standout moments of the night. With this episode, we realized that Ariana Grande is just as funny as she is talented.
These hosts definitely stunned us, but if you want to find out the #1 celebrity that had us laughing while gasping, we have a new video coming out tomorrow on the Top 10 Surprisingly Good Saturday Night Live Hosts, so head over to WatchMojo’s YouTube channel tomorrow!
Until then, let’s look back at some famous SNL flops with our pick of the Top 10 Worst Saturday Night Live Hosts:
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