Nearly 50 years in, Saturday Night Live’s once exclusive Five-Timer’s Club has become, well, less so.
It’s not because Lorne Michaels has been handing out the jackets to folks who haven’t actually hosted five times (which was this joke on this show this weekend). The reality is that with the addition of Kristen Wiig this past weekend, 25 people have now hosted the show five or more times.
But who will be next to earn the honorary Five-Timers jacket? Our podcast partners at the Saturday Night Network recently compiled a list of the most likely possibilities, those with four episodes already under their belt:
Taking into account that SNL hosts are most likely to take the gig when they have a project to promote, of the twelve celebs who are just one episode shy of entering the club, there are quite a few viable candidates:
With Only Murders in the Building expected to premiere its fourth season on Hulu this summer, Martin Short is certainly a possibility, either for one of the show’s last cycle of three episodes this Spring or when it returns in September. (He last hosted the show alongside fellow OMITB star Steve Martin in 2022.)
Adam Driver just hosted last fall, but he’s a favorite of the show and will next star in Francis Ford Coppola’s big-budget sci-fi epic “Megalopolis,” which is expected to be released later this year.
Charles Barkley hasn’t hosted since 2018, but he’s still a frequent presence thanks to Kenan Thompson, who’s frequently called upon to impersonate the NBA legend. Beyond his job as an analyst on Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley co-hosts a new CNN primetime show with Gayle King, “King Charles.”
Another possibility is Dana Carvey, who currently hosts the popular SNL-centric podcast “Fly on the Wall” with fellow former cast member David Spade. Carvey’s most recent SNL appearances were a pair of cameos in 2016, in which he revived his iconic Church Lady character.
Longer shots, but still contenders are Cameron Diaz and Lindsay Lohan, who both have Netflix films due out this year.
Michael Palin, Eric Idle, and Paul Simon would be surprising choices given their advanced age —all are in their early 80s—but then again, Betty White was 88 when she took the stage.
SNL hasn’t shied away from controversial figures of late, but with James Franco and Louis C.K both largely persona non grata in mainstream entertainment circles in the wake of past sexual misconduct allegations, they would seem to be the least likely among the show’s four-timers to return.
As they say on TV, stay tuned!
