Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American late-night sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. [1] It premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the title NBC's Saturday Night. [2] The show usually satirizes contemporary American popular culture and politics. [3] [4] [5] SNL features a two-tiered cast: the repertory cast members, and newer cast members known as "Featured Players." [6] A typical episode of SNL features a single host, who delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast. The format also features a musical guest, and a number of episodes have featured celebrity cameos. [7] [8]
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George Carlin was the first to host the show. [9] Candice Bergen was both the first female host in November 8, 1975, and the first to host a second time in December of the same year. [10] [11] On occasion, the episode's host also serves as the musical guest; the first was Paul Simon on October 18, 1975. [12] The most recent to pull double duty was Timothée Chalamet on January 25, 2025. [13] The Rolling Stones are the only band to ever serve as both host and musical guest during the same episode, which aired October 7, 1978. [14] Guests who host five times become members of the Five-Timers Club, introduced on the December 8, 1990, episode, when Tom Hanks became the seventh person to host their fifth episode. [15]
The list below shows the people who have appeared on the show. It is split into three sections: "Host", if the person hosted the show at any given time; "Musical guest", if a person was the musical guest on the show at any given time; and "Cameo", which is for a person who has appeared on the show but did not act as host or musical guest.
