The Muppets have a long history with Saturday Night Live—their roots go all the way back to the show’s very first episode in 1975. Although no Muppet has ever hosted SNL, there’s one beloved Sesame Street character who came close: Cookie Monster.
In 2010, Sesame Workshop launched a campaign to get the lovable blue creature to host SNL. The show’s official YouTube account kicked things off that November with a video titled “Cookie Monster Auditions for Saturday Night Live.”
“Hello, me Cookie Monster,” he said by way of introduction. “Me know many of you think of me as cookie-eating fanatic bordering on glutton—actually, me prefer the term ‘cookie enthusiast.’ But there are more to me than that, and me want to show the world. So, me think that the time to branch out beyond me cookie-eating career. Me ready for next logical step: hosting Saturday Night Live.”
The audition tape—which was directed by David Rudman, the voice of Cookie Monster—saw him run through a mock episode of SNL. It included a quick monologue, a sketch called “Macarooner” (a parody of SNL’s “MacGruber“), and a “Fake News” segment that resembled “Weekend Update.” There was even a musical guest on deck: Monster Gaga (Cookie Monster playing “Cookie Face” on the piano).
Sesame Workshop’s campaign initially began as a parody of a Facebook campaign for Betty White to host—the company even created an official Facebook page called “Cookie Monster should host Saturday Night Live!”
“It was meant to be a fun thing to get people to jump on board and cheer on Cookie Monster and support his cause,” Rudman said in a 2011 interview with The Chicago Tribune.
However, Cookie Monster’s SNL hosting campaign went beyond just a fun, silly idea—it quickly transformed into an internet sensation and a serious effort to get him on the show. The Facebook page garnered 100,000 followers within a week, while Cookie Monster’s audition video amassed 1.5 million views shortly after it premiered.
Fortunately for Cookie Monster, Lorne Michaels was totally on board with the idea of getting him on SNL in some capacity. “The Muppets are in the DNA of the show,” the SNL boss told Chicago Tribune. “We had Kermit the Frog sing with Robert De Niro [during the opening monologue of the Christmas show in 2004]. I have great affection [for them], obviously.”
While Cookie Monster didn’t end up hosting, he got the next best gig. On December 18, 2010, he appeared on the Season 36 holiday show and sang a duet of “Silver Bells” with host Jeff Bridges.
“We wanted something that was charming and vaguely sentimental,” Michaels explained. “This idea captured the moment for us perfectly. From that point, it was just working it out in rehearsal to make sure we get the best out of it.”
It wouldn’t be the last time Cookie Monster got a taste of SNL stardom. In April 2015, he and his Sesame Street friends—Count von Count, Elmo, Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, Snuffy, Murray Monster, Abby Cadabby, the Two-Headed Monster, and a Honker—appeared in a sketch with Taraji P. Henson. The actress played her Empire character, who just so happened to also be named Cookie.
As far as late-night TV goes, Cookie Monster has been around the block. Aside from SNL, he has also guested on The Dick Cavett Show, The Colbert Report, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The Late Late Show with James Corden. Just this March, he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for the third time (along with his pal, Elmo).
Although Cookie Monster didn’t quite achieve his dream of hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live, he still has a special place in SNL history: his “Silver Bells” performance ranks right up there with Big Bird’s memorable “Weekend Update” cameo in 2013. And who knows? Maybe SNL will surprise everyone and finally let a Muppet host an episode for its milestone 50th season. After all, as Lorne Michaels said, they are in the show’s DNA.
