This weekend, Helen Mirren, at the age of 65, will become the ninth oldest host in the history of Saturday Night Live. And while the young and spry are terrific for a variety of reasons, let's not forget that some of the greatest moments in SNL history have come from some of its more seasoned hosts -- including one 80-year-old unknown who resulted from a write-in campaign. (Yes, this happened.)
1. Betty White (88)
What's interesting about the Betty White hosed episode was the amount of... let's say backup plans that were in place that night. Tina Fey, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch and Amy Poehler all were on hand... just in case. And with good reason: White, at the time, was 88 years old. The week spent as SNL host is an exhausting process, and no one wanted White to look bad in case fatigue set in. In the end, however, there were 13 sketches the night Betty White hosted (including the monologue and "Weekend Update") -- she appeared in every single one of them.
2. Miskel Spillman (80)
Probably the oddest hosting story in the history of Saturday Night Live. On an October 1977 episode, Lorne Michaels announced a contest titled "Anyone Can Host" on air; in November, Spillman, along with four other finalists (out of 150,000 entries), were presented on the air with an audience write-in vote determining the winner. Spillman won the write-in vote and hosted (with some help from Buck Henry) the Dec. 17, 1977, show -- you can watch some of the monologue where she
3. Ruth Gordon (80)
Gordon is best known to younger audiences for playing the latter title character in 1971's May-December cult comedy Harold and Maude. An odd choice for SNL host -- put it this way, Gordon was born in the 19th century -- Gordon nevertheless mentions in her monologue that she's up for new things! The night's most well-known sketch didn't include include Gordon, though; The opening sketch centered on John Belushi being in no condition to perform on the show that night -- at least, that is, until his doctor threatened to take his drugs away.
4. Milton Berle (70)
Ah, yes, Uncle Milty. Not only is he on the "oldest host" list, he's also very much on the "worst host" list. Berle was from a different era when it comes to live performances: Exaggerated double takes and preordained standing ovations were on the menu for Berle that evening -- precisely the opposite of the kind of show that Michaels was trying to produce. Not surprisingly, the two didn't get along. More SNL infamy ensued when Berle showed off his renowned large penis for writer Alan Zweibel in Berle's dressing room; as Zweibel told Tom Shales in Live From New York, "He parts his bathrobe and he just takes out this -- this anaconda. And he goes, 'What do you think of the boy?'"
5. Charlton Heston (70)
Charlton Heston's 1993 appearance (his second and last time as host) features one of the most elaborate openings in Saturday Night Live's history. In the cold open, Heston falls asleep; upon awaking, the cast is now made up entirely of apes. What makes this really special is that the opening SNL credits were re-shot, scene for scene, with each cast member wearing an ape mask and introduces each as a Planet of the Apes character. When Heston appears onstage for his monologue, it's as a prisoner of the apes. Even the members of the SNL band are wearing ape masks.
6. Robert De Niro (67)
De Niro's entry was during this current season -- his third time as host overall. De Niro's never been known as a particularly great SNL host but, this time, there seemed to be a little more spring in his step. Say what you will about De Niro's performance, but any criticism can't be for lack of effort.
7. Howard Cosell (67)
When Saturday Night Live first aired, it was referred to as just NBC's Saturday Night. This was because there was already a prime time show on ABC called Saturday Night Live, hosted by Howard Cosell. And the original SNL cast were called the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" because Cosell's show featured three comedians referred to on the show as "The Prime Time Players" -- Bill Murray, Christopher Guest and Brian Doyle-Murray, all future NBC SNL cast members. So it was quite a coup when Cosell, who had to suck up his pride a bit (not a man known to do such a thing), appeared as host on the show that took away his title. "This is Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell," Cosell said in his 1985 monologue. "I would trust there are some of you that recall a weekly prime time television variety program that premiered on A... B... C... TV. It was a decade ahead of its time."
8. John McCain (66)
McCain is the eighth oldest host in the history of SNL -- and this was from his appearance in 2002. McCain famously appeared again as a presidential candidate in 2008, starring in the Tina Fey-as-Sarah Palin "I'm going rogue" QVC commercial. And that was a week before the election! Regardless, McCain actually received high praise for his 2002 hosting duties. The clip below, with McCain singing the hits of Barbara Streisand, demonstrates how he wa
s game for just about anything.
9. Bob Newhart (65)
Seriously, where's the online petition to get Bob Newhart back on SNL as host one more time? If Betty White is a national treasure, then what's Bob Newhart? After originally hosting in 1980, Newhart returned in 1995 to find a very crowded SNL cast and a show overrun with O.J. Simpson trial sketches and jokes. Newhart, as always, was fantastic, but it's a shame what could be his last appearance as host was during one of the worst seasons in the history of SNL. Plus, if Newhart hosted again at his current age of 81, he could jump up to second place on this list. Let's make it happen!
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