Saturday Night Live is among the longest-running shows in TV history. Started by Lorne Michaels, who remains the producer to this day, it has launched the careers for dozens of comics.
After the kick-off of its first installment in 1975, it quickly created stars that include Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and Gilda Radner. Cast member Eddie Murphy joined in 1980 and has become among the largest box office draws in American cinema. A few years later among the featured players were Mike Myers and Adam Sandler. Sandler went on to have another massive movie career as well.
SNL has also become a profit machine for NBC. By one estimate, it brings the network well in excess of $100 million a year.
To determine the worst SNL host of all time, 24/7 Tempo reviewed audience ratings and other data for all Saturday Night Live episodes from the Internet Movie Database. SNL hosts were ranked based on an index composed of two elements: the average IMDb user rating for all episodes hosted by a guest and the total number of episodes hosted by that guest. Average user ratings were calculated using the number of user votes as a weight. While the average user rating for each host was given full weight in the index, the number of episodes hosted by each guest was given a half-weighting. IMDb ratings data was collected on Dec. 29, 2021.
Guest hosts have been comedians, singers, politicians, future presidents, sports figures, actors and reality-show stars. When a guest host clicks, it’s usually because he or she is able to poke fun at themselves, is on the same page with the comedy troupe, and enjoys the process of doing sketch comedy.
Sometimes a guest host doesn’t have the best comedy material to work with, and if they aren’t primarily a comedy performer, they don’t have the ability to save a sketch. But there have been cringeworthy guest hosts who have been their own worst enemy.
Business and future president Donald J. Trump appeared twice on “Saturday Night Live” and balked at sketches that poked fun at him.
Since its beginning, “Saturday Night Live” has taken chances with its programming, and picking the guest host has always been a part of what keeps the show relevant.
The worst host of SNL was Donald Trump. Here are the details:
> Avg. episode rating: 3.4/10 (856 votes)
> Appearances as host: 2 (Apr. 3, 2004 to Nov. 7, 2015)
> Lowest-rated episode: S41, Ep4 (Musical guest: Sia)
Click here to read: The Worst SNL Hosts Of All Time.
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