10. Steve Carell/Kanye West; Ssn 31
Original Airdate: October 1st, 2005
Steve Carrell is my favourite comedian. Has been since the day I watched my first episode of the Office. Having said that, I saw this before I had even seen the Office and still loved this episode. And that doesn't have everything to do with Carell. His monologue was great, a song and dance number talking about how he's in the big leagues now with other distinguished comedians, and he played a fantastic version of Ray Romano is a satire of celebrities helping in Hurricane Katrina. Yet it was the cast that made this episode so memorable. This was the first show for the three most prominent players on SNL today in Bill Hader, Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig. Hader immediately showed why he belonged there with a spot on impression of Al Pacino in the Katrina skit, then during weekend update Samberg and Hader were introduced and did an 'impression off' where Hader highlighted his many great talents and Samberg showed his wacky wild side. Finally the best moment came in prior to Kanye West's first performance as Lorne Michael's sent Finesse Mitchell into Kanye's dressing room before his performance to make sure Kanye wouldn't say/do anything stupid on air. This came following a telethon for Katrina where Kanye ( presenting with SNL alum Mike Myers) stated 'George Bush doesn't care about black people'. Kanye proceeded to come out of his dressing room to a very awkward Mike Myers standing there where hilarity ensued. Kanye had a great performance, which included a cameo by Adam Levine singing 'heard em say'. All in all a fantastic start to the 31st season.
9. Gerard Butler/Shakira; Ssn 35
Original Airdate: October 17th, 2009
The most recent season was quite consistent in its comedy. Contributing to that list a great deal was Gerard Butler in his hilarious debut on live TV. The episode started out strong with a cameo by Dwayne Johnson reprising his role as 'The Rock Obama' which was hysterical. However once the show got started the skits were pretty consistent in their quality all very funny. The beauty and the beast sketch was hilarious as was Greg the alien another fantastic creation by Bill hader. Also, the weekend update was arguably the best one all season with segments from Butler himself and Kristen Wiig's portrayal as the woman who suffers from consistent orgasms. The clincher was at the end after she had orgasmed several times Seth Meyers simply states 'Well thank you for coming'.
8. Jon Hamm/Coldplay; ssn 34
Original Airdate: October 25th, 2008
Before seeing this episode I had no idea who Jon Hamm was. I'd heard of Mad Men before, however never really sat down to watch it. However, I became a HUGE fan of his after watching this episode, it was absolutely hysterical. Some of the highlights included Finger in butts the fictitious political campaign, Jon hamms John Ham, The halloween pedophile etc. however the best of this particular episode was by FAR Don Draper's guide to picking up women. You didn't even have to be a fan of Mad Men to laugh at this. The four steps including 'blow people away everytime you say anything' and 'disappear for weeks at a time without telling anyone' I was in absolute tears. Sheer and utter brilliance. Not to mention Coldplay's performances were spectacular playing three times rather then the traditional two.
7. Betty White/Jay-Z; Ssn 35
Original Airdate: May 8th, 2010
This episode was the product of millions of people on facebook petitioning for Betty White to host SNL. She did not let her fans down. Her monologue was hilarious, virtually every skit was consistently funny and Jay-Z was outstanding. The only reason this doesn't rank a little bit higher on the list was because after a while they used the same gags over and over again which became a bit tiresome. Yes we understand that an 88 year old woman saying vulgar words and saying dirty things is hilarious, but they could have mixed it up a litttle bit more. Highlight's include the digital short where the cast sings the theme to the Golden Girls in a loving way to Betty, and she responds by singing it screamo style and beating people up with bats. Gold.
6. Will Ferrell/Green Day; Ssn 34
Original Airdate: May 16th, 2010
Will Ferrell is arguably the best cats member of all time on SNL. He has three best of Dvd's to prove it. Thus, whenever he hosts it is guaranteed laughs. From the cold open and his reprisal as George Bush to 'Dave' the TV ticker on halftime basketball, it was from start to finish hilarious, as Ferrell brought back some old characters and even started new ones. Moreover, the ending to the show ( and season) was incredible with the entire cast singing a rendition of 'We all went down together' led by Ferrell with cameos by Paul Rudd, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway, Norm McDonald, Artie Lange and Green Day. The entire thing was nothing short of spectacular, as to be expected by the SNL Legend.
5. John Malkovich/T.I; Ssn 34
Original Airdate: December 6th, 2008
I am personally a fan big of Christmas. I am an even bigger fan of John Malkovich and Christmas. This episode was the second last before the Christmas break and it was phenomenal. Malkovichs monologue was incredible as he read 'the night before christmas' to children adding 'did you know depression and suicide rates are the highest during the holidays. Did you know that? Well It's true' On top of that Malkovich added several memorable performances as characters such as 'Gurdy' the awkward pre-teen from a Judy Blume novel who 'foams at the mouth and blacks out for a day' when thinking about a boy. On top of that, this episode introduced one of the most memorable Lonely Island skits 'Jizz In My Pants'. This skit became a youtube favourite everywhere as Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone starred in the hilarious video with cameos by Justin Timberlake, Jamie Lynn Siegler and Marissa Millar. 'When Bruce Willis died at the end of sixth sense, I Jizzed in my pants'.
4. Seth Rogen/Spoon; ssn 33
Original Airdate: October 6th, 2007
Season 33 was shortened by the writer's strike producing only 12 episodes. Having said that, in the second episode Seth Rogen provided a dominant performance with some very memorable moments. Rogen's monologue was great as he referenced his humble beginnings in Vancouver when he wrote a monologue for SNL in hopes of hosting some day. From there, there was a steady set of skits including the hysterical 'douchebag of the year awards' where Fred Armisen's portrayal of Gene Simmons was uncanny, and Andy Samberg's Former douchebag of the year had me in tears. 'What? oh sorry I couldn't hear you I was too busy jammin on this p'zone'. Other highlights included the ugly twins, the origins of weed and my personal favourite muppets spoof where andy Samberg and Bill Hader stole the show for their portrayals of the Swedish Chef and Animal. The best episode of season 33 by far.
3. Jon Hamm/Michael Buble; Ssn 35
Original Airdate: January 30th 2010
As seen previously at number 8, Jon Hamm already had a booming start on SNL with an incredible debut, thus this episode was going to have to be astounding in order to be better then the original. It was just that, and more. This episode had some of the best skits of the entire season, including a Political satire of Scott Brown even I was laughing at. I do not know American Politics yet the concept of a handsome young politician on everyone minds was taken to a whole new level. 'I'd like to bring a new item to the floor...it's called your panties'. On top of that the Digital Short was hilarious, Hamm portraying a mythical, shirtless, spaniard named Sergio who pops up playing a saxaphone everytime Andy samberg is doing something important in his life. However, the best skits of the night came one after the other near the end of the night first with a cameo by musical guest Michael Buble (who was equally fantastic in performance) in a skit called Hamm and Buble a restaurant managed by Hamm that serves only champagne and Hamm. Then came a commercial parody called The Closet Organizer that had me on the floor. Will Forte dressed up in a blue unitard, having various things thrown at him like 'shoes, dirt, water, peanut butter, excessive water' not to mention Hamm's testimonial 'I got so laid last night, I went up to this black and was like 'hey, has anyone ever told you you look exactly like beyonce? then when I came in for the kiss I noticed she had like a full mans mustache and I was like, let's do this'. Jon Hamm you will go down as one of the best hosts of all time in my books, bravo my friend, bravo.
2. Rainn Wilson/Arcade Fire; Ssn 32
Original Airdate: February 24th, 2007
Now I may be bias, due to the fact that I am exceptionally in love with the Office, but this episode was incredible right from the cold opening. The intro was a satire on CNN's Wolf Blitzer and the ongoing coverage of the war in Iraq, yet the ticker tape kept rolling stating 'this war stuff is so boring! more anna!' referring to the recent death of anna nicole smith. From there, wilson's cold opening was incredible as it spoofed 'The Office' with uncanny portrayals of Jim by Jason sudeikis, Pam by Kristen Wiig, Stanley by Keenan Thompson, Angela by Amy Poehler and finally Lorne Michaels as Michael Scott. What was best, was as Wilson walked through the set running into each character he passed Rashida Jones (sexiest woman alive) as he simply said hey karen. After an incredible start, the skits remained consistent ranging from the beer boys reminiscing about the first time they heard 'alright now', to nuni and nuni and the hilarious deadpan hazing of the new guy. The best moment though came in the Digitial Short, my favourite of all time. Simply titled 'the business meeting' Wilson plays the boss looking for ways to cut the company budget looking for help from people in the office ranging from gigantic turkey sub ( a talking turkey sub who's suggestion is 'I say we put mustard on it!) to captain pyjama shark, to the arcade fire (yes the actual band). I literally youtubed the video hundreds upon hundreds of time I thought it was so brilliant. I hope one day they get him back, he knocked it out of the park.
1. Justin Timberlake; Ssn 32
Original Airdate: December 16th, 2006
He will go down as one of the greatest hosts of all time on the show. He was so good, Lorne Michaels has said he can stop by whenever he wants to appear in sketches. Timberlake hosted once before and once after this episode, however this was the one that set the mark. This was the final episode before the Christmas break, and again the wonder that is Christmas only added to the epicness of this episode. Starting with the three powerhouse females of Kristen Wiig, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph singing a Christmas carol titled 'santa's my boyfriend' the monologue then featured JT singing his favourite Christmas song with Alvin and the Chipmunks perfectly portrayed by Andy Samberg, Bill Hader and Fred Armisen. We then saw a follow up to Omeletteville, with Christmas Carols sung by JT dressed as a Giant Coffee cup including 'Soup there it is' . Other faves included the Target lady and of course the Barry Gib talk show, yet nothing could have prepared me for the digital short. Dressed in their Miami Vice attire, Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake blew us away with everybody's favourite Christmas Present 'Dick in a Box'. I was in tears, I could not stop laughing. I PVR'd the episode and showed it to literally every family member I had over during the holidays who was over the age of 15. It was the best, by the best. Here's to you JT may your reign as number 1 last for a while.
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