The BEST episodes of Saturday Night Live
Every episode of Saturday Night Live ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Saturday Night Live!
Each week, live from New York, a famous guest host appears in sketches and parodies alongside a company of up-and-coming comedians. A popular musical guest, short films, and Weekend Update - a recurring satirical newscast - form the backbone of one of the most influential and culturally significant comedy shows in history.
#1 - Michael Palin/Eugene Record
Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 4/8/1978
Live From New York, It's...Dan Aykroyd Sketches include--"Oscar Awards", "Little Chocolate Donuts", "Tax Deductions", "H&L Brock", "Great Escape", "Nerds Piano Lesson", "The Case of the Scarlet Membrane", "Good Time At Party", "Mr. Bill Pays His Taxes", "Danger Probe"
#2 - O.J. Simpson/Ashford and Simpson
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/25/1978
Live From New York, It's...Gilda Radner Sketches include--"Gilda Answers Audience Questions", "Samurai Night Fever", "Great Moments In Sports", "The Mohawk Master", "The Raid On Nicosia", "Voodoo", "The Franken & Davis Show", "Mandingo II", "E. Buzz Miller's Animal Kingdom", "Hertz Ad", "Celebrity Battle of the Sexes"
#3 - Conan O'Brien/Don Henley
Season 26 - Episode 14 - Aired 3/10/2001
Live from New York, it's...Will Ferrell Sketches include: Bush's Good Health, Subshack, The Boston Teens At The Liquor Store, Moleculo: The Molecular Man, Napster Testimony, Taint-less Ted, Find The Black People At The Knicks Game, VH-1 Diva-Thon, Democratic National Committee, and Sports Century: The White Boxer Don Henley performs: ""Everything is Different Now"" and ""Heart of the Matter"" (the second performance was cut on the NBC rerun and replaced with a DeMarco Bros. sketch where Chris Parnell, Chris Kattan, and Conan O'Brien audition for Don Henley)
#4 - Charlie Sheen/Nelly Furtado
Season 26 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/13/2001
Sketches include ""Dick Cheney,"" ""Iron Chef,"" ""Eric Dickerson's NFL Pre-Game Special,"" ""The Culps,"" ""Patsy March,"" ""Giving Birth to a Grown Man,"" ""T.G.I. Friday's Obnoxious Waiter,"" and ""Charlie and Fleisy.""
#5 - Dylan McDermott/Foo Fighters
Season 25 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/6/1999
Sketches include ""The Practice,"" ""The Jim Gray Show,"" ""Early Show,"" ""The Culps,"" ""Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?,"" ""Mango,"" ""Colette Reardon,"" ""State Lotto Drawing,"" and ""Disbelieving Mom.""
#6 - John Goodman/Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (2)
Season 24 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/10/1999
Sketches include ""Bill Clinton,"" ""Arthur Dugan"" ""Shaun Mondavi Vineyards,"" ""Bobby Wraps it Up,"" ""Hello Dolly,"" ""Santa Clause,"" ""Happy Smile Patrol,"" and ""The Roadside Brothel.""
#7 - Bill Paxton/Beck
Season 24 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/9/1999
Sketches include ""Gingrich and Livingston,"" ""The View,"" ""The Culps,"" ""Titanic Lost Ending,"" ""Fat Albert,"" ""NewsForce,"" ""Postal Services,"" ""Fantastic Voyage,"" and ""Extreme Hunting.""
#8 - Claire Danes/Mariah Carey
Season 23 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/15/1997
Sketches include ""Bill and Hillary Clinton,"" ""Barry Scheck's Apartment,"" ""The View,"" ""The Culps,"" ""Peter Pan,"" ""Mr. Peepers,"" ""CEO Dreamboats Magazine,"" and ""The Louvre.""
#9 - Paul Reiser/Annie Lennox
Season 20 - Episode 15 - Aired 3/18/1995
Sketches include ""Newt Gingrich's Sister,"" ""Where's Superman?,"" ""Mad About You Aliens,"" ""Sparklebrite Toothpaste,"" and ""One Brother Cafe.""
#10 - Bob Newhart/Des'ree
Season 20 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/11/1995
Sketches include ""C-SPAN: Colin Ferguson,"" ""Ricki Lake,"" ""Book Buzz,"" ""Baywatch,"" ""Poster Worker Evaluation,"" ""Hi Bob,"" and ""Sports Beat."" Des'ree performed ""You Gotta Be"" and ""Feels So High.""
#11 - Helen Hunt/Snoop Doggy Dogg
Season 19 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/19/1994
Sketches include ""Rockers Explain Whitewater,"" ""Total Bastard Airlines,"" ""Sexist Director,"" ""Office Space,"" and ""Rob Schneider's Girlfriend Theater."" Snoop Dogg performed ""Gin & Juice.""
#12 - Alec Baldwin/Paul McCartney
Season 18 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/13/1993
Sketches include ""Dateline NBC,"" ""The Mimic,"" ""The Chris Farley Show,"" ""Soap Opera Digest,"" ""Gap Girls,"" ""Naked Woman Theater,"" ""Daily Affirmation With Stuart Smalley,"" ""The Bodyguard,"" and ""French Class"".
#13 - Catherine O'Hara/10,000 Maniacs
Season 18 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/31/1992
""Perot's Press Conference and the Republican Dirty Tricks"", ""Ass Don't Smell Commercial: The Name Says It All"", ""The Richmeister's Halloween Encounter with Death"", ""Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey"", ""Weekend Update with Kevin Nealon"", ""Daily Affirmations with Stewart Smalley"", ""New York's Strangest and Most Bizarre People: Shorty, The Guy Who Can't Cross The Street"".
#14 - Sharon Stone/Pearl Jam
Season 17 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/11/1992
Live from New York, it's... Mike Myers and Dana Carvey! Sketches include "Wayne's World," "Jiffy Pop Airbag," "Hitting on a Women," "Sex Games," "Flippy, The Flipping Chihuahua," "Lung Brush," "Pat's Interrogation," "Airport Security Check," "Ernie's," "Tayster's Choice Spermicidal Jelly," "Phil Hartman Creations," and "Pornographic Romance." Pearl Jam performed "Alive" and "Porch."
#15 - Mary Stuart Masterson/En Vogue
Season 17 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/21/1992
Sketches include ""The McLaughlin Group"" and ""Lisa Pograsic, Very Pregnant Undercover Cop.""
#16 - Steve Martin/James Taylor
Season 17 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/14/1991
Sketches include ""Steve Martin Decides to Try,"" ""Theatre Stories,"" ""The Dark Side with Nat X,"" and ""Tarzan, Chris Farley, & Frankenstein.""
#17 - George Wendt/Elvis Costello
Season 16 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/18/1991
Sketches include ""Dennis Miller is Nervous,"" ""Da Superfans,"" ""Mr. No Depth Perception,"" ""Pat Gets a Haircut,"" ""Doo-Wop,"" ""Deep Thoughts,"" ""Burger Barn,"" ""Li'l General Fireworks,"" and ""The Sunrise Show.""
#18 - MC Hammer
Season 17 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/7/1991
Live from New York, it's ... Dana Carvey! Sketches include "Bush's Gift Ideas," "Bad Haircut Support Group," "The Daily Star," "Tales From The Barbecue," "Johnny Letter," "Deep Thoughts," "Remembrances of Love," and "Dick Clark Productions." Hammer performs "Too Legit To Quit," "Addams Groove," and "This is the Way We Roll."
#19 - Steve Martin/The Blues Brothers
Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/22/1978
*Nominated for an Emmy Award* Live From New York, It's...Paul Shaffer Sketches include--"Don Kirshner's Rock Concert", "Hey You!", "Wild & Crazy Guys", "Theodoric of York", "Dancing In The Dark", "Extramarital Foreplay", "Swan Lake", "Troff 'n' Brew", "Nerds Science Fair", "Next Week In Review".
#20 - Jimmy Breslin & Marvin Hagler/Level 42, E.G. Daily
Season 11 - Episode 17 - Aired 5/17/1986
Sketches are ""Mike 'The Menace' Hall,"" ""Kill Kaddafi?"" ""Tornadoville,"" ""Marvin's Knockout Tips,"" ""Lone Wolf McCord,"" ""The Pat Stevens,"" ""Cabrini Green's Assembly,"" ""Jody Hagler,"" ""Midday with Jennifer Hicks: Bond's Supervillains"", ""Weekend Update with Dennis Miller"", ""Sam Kinison's standup act"". Level 42 performs ""Something About You"" and EG Daily performs ""Say It, Say It"" with Jon Lovitz.
#21 - Anjelica Huston & Billy Martin/George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic
Season 11 - Episode 18 - Aired 5/24/1986
Live from New York, it's...Randy Quaid Sketches include: Hands Across America, Moments of Doubt, Glamorous Drinking, National Council of Liquor and Spirits, Actors on Film, Hallmark Cards, Lesbian Pick-Ups, Bocce Ball My Way, Tempting Billy, The People's Second Choice Award, Book Minute, LaBelles At The Movies, My Friend, and Backstage SNL: Lorne Kills The Cast (except for Jon Lovitz, Nora Dunn, and Dennis Miller) George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic perform: ""Let's Take It To The Stage"" and ""Do Fries Go With That Shake""
#22 - Joe Montana/Debbie Harry
Season 12 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/24/1987
Sketches include: ""NFL Video Countdown,"" ""Leslie and Stu,"" ""Pathological Liar,"" ""Church Chat,"" ""The NFL Today,"" ""Michael Jackson Workout,"" ""Chick Hazard: Private Investigator,"" ""Adobe Car Commercial: It's Made out of Clay"", ""A man and his dumb kidnapper"", ""Weekend Update with Dennis Miller"", ""Super Bowl Gambling Memories"", ""The Most Honest Guy in the World"".
#23 - Valerie Bertinelli/Eddie Van Halen, Robert Cray
Season 12 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/28/1987
Live from New York, it's... Phil Hartman! Sketches include "Reagan-Regan Affair," "McSooshi," "Hard News Cafe," "Discover," "Dinner At The Van Halen's," "Ching Chang In Love," "Washington Center Professionals," "Let's Go To The Movies," "On Broadway," and "Opera Singer Doctor." Eddie Van Halen performed "Stompin' 8H." Robert Cray Band performed "Smoking Gun" and "Right Next Door."
#24 - Mark Harmon/Suzanne Vega
Season 12 - Episode 18 - Aired 5/9/1987
""The New Charlie's Angels"", ""People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive 1986"", ""Grown-up Babies in Modern America"", ""Very Smart Theater presents Attila the Hun: The Early Years"", ""The Myowling Bible Commercial"", ""Einstein Express Commercial: When it has to be there the day before yerterday"", ""A Salmon's Reproductive Tale"", ""Ad Council: Wasting your time in various ways for no good reason"".
#25 - Justine Bateman/Terrance Trent D'Arby
Season 13 - Episode 11 - Aired 2/13/1988
""53rd. Debate of the 1988 Republican Presidential Candidates"", ""Learning to Feel with Denise Venetti, Ph.D."", ""Family Ties: If These Old Walls Could Talk (Flashback-Flashback Episode)"", ""Blocked songwriter Derek Stevens loses his Muse"", ""An older man, the bimbo girlfriend Linda and his Judgemental Friends"".