- 9 hours ago
Live TV is unpredictable, and no one knows that better than “SNL” hosts who’ve been blindsided by cast members’ antics. From tiny phones and unexpected kisses to surprise ad-libs and legendary character mishaps, these moments left hosts cracking up on air. Join us as we revisit some of the funniest times the “Saturday Night Live” cast caught their hosts completely off guard!
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00:00After each miss, he said, there's got to be a way to do this.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 times SNL hosts couldn't keep
00:13it together thanks to the cast.
00:15Magazines at Supercuts, Dan Cortez.
00:21Number 10, Sean Hayes vs. The World's Tiniest Phone.
00:25You know a sketch is about to go off the rails when Will Ferrell cruises in on a motorized scooter.
00:38As if that's not enough, the props team took the small cell trend to the extreme with a flip phone
00:44so tiny it looks like it belongs in a dollhouse.
00:47Ferrell holds it delicately between two fingers, still fully committed to his over-the-top fashionista persona, pretending to have
00:56a very important conversation.
00:58Hello.
00:59Yes?
01:01Really?
01:02Splendid.
01:04The combination of Ferrell's massive hand compared to that ridiculous bite-sized phone makes Sean Hayes and Jimmy Fallon lose
01:12it completely.
01:13Neither of them stands a chance after that.
01:15And honestly, fair enough.
01:19My Paul Smith does say au revoir.
01:23Number 9, Extremely Stupid or Downright Brilliant.
01:27Some SNL moments just get funnier with time, and this is definitely one of them.
01:32You're not too bright, are you, Fern?
01:34I mean, whatever your name was.
01:38The setup is simple enough, two friends catching up, with Bergen's Fern playing the know-it-all and Gilda Radnor's
01:45Lisa as the lovable airhead.
01:47But when Bergen accidentally calls Lisa by the wrong name, Gilda doesn't miss a beat and uses the flub to
01:53her advantage.
01:54We all can't be brainy like Fern here.
01:58Watching Bergen try to hold it together while Gilda keeps the scene alive is pure comedy gold.
02:05Radnor's quick thinking completely throws Bergen off, and the laughter just snowballs from there.
02:10It's no surprise this sketch is still considered one of the best SNL breaks ever.
02:16Extremely stupid people are discriminated against all the time.
02:20And I should know, and so should Fern, because we are extremely stupid people.
02:28Number 8, Charles Rockett's F-bomb slip.
02:31Charlene Tilton, still riding high from her Dallas fame, hosted this episode,
02:36which spent the night riffing on the famous Who Shot J.R. plot.
02:40Somebody's lying! Somebody here did it! Who did it? I want to know who shot C.R.
02:48During the good night, the cast gathered on stage,
02:51and Tilton asked Rockett how he felt about being shot earlier in the show.
02:56Rockett let slip a word you absolutely cannot say on live TV.
03:00Oh man, it's the first time I've ever been shot in my life. I'd like to know who f***ing did
03:04it.
03:06You can see the shock register on Tilton's face instantly as the cast around her reacts with equal astoundment.
03:13How do you recover after an unexpected F-bomb?
03:16Based on this, with tremendous difficulty.
03:19Everyone was totally blindsided, and this turned into Rockett's fuel for dismissal later that season.
03:33Number 7. A Close Encounter with Breaking
03:36If Jimmy Fallon is SNL's reigning champion of breaking,
03:40then Ryan Gosling is the host who just can't keep it together.
03:55The close encounter sketches are all the proof you need.
03:59As Gosling and Seth Meyers once joked,
04:01you never really know what Kate McKinnon is going to pull out of her hat,
04:05or just how many tricks she has in there.
04:07Um, the other thing about Kate is every time you think she's at, uh, like, the full 10 out of
04:1210,
04:13you realize, like, no, she was at 6.
04:15Oh no, she hasn't, yeah.
04:16Yeah, like, there's 7 more moves.
04:18She waits till the live show to sit on your head or something.
04:20You didn't know that was coming.
04:23And then you get in trouble for laughing.
04:25Indeed, Gosling clearly had no idea just how far she'd go until the cameras were rolling.
04:31From her wild physical comedy to getting way too close for comfort,
04:35McKinnon keeps pushing the envelope, and Gosling is powerless to resist.
04:40Once he starts laughing, there's no turning back.
04:43Looking for the source of the tear, and I was like,
04:46hey, last guy who did that got double-barreled pink eye.
04:57Thanks, Todd, you can sit down.
04:59Number 6.
05:00A Suit Kiss Surprises Jamie Foxx
05:03At first glance, this sketch looks like your standard courtroom reality show set in Bangor, Maine.
05:09But as soon as the judge and bailiff appear,
05:11it's obvious something's not quite right.
05:14Only place you can fill a jar full of maple syrup
05:17as it drips directly from a bald cypress tree
05:21less than a voodoo lobster get to it first.
05:29Everyone, except for the confused defendant,
05:32is acting like they just stepped out of the Louisiana bayou.
05:36Jason Sudeikis launches into a monologue that gets more absurd with every line,
05:40and he quickly realizes Foxx is struggling to keep it together.
05:44Ooh, it's gonna be so spicy,
05:46we're gonna have to tie him up to Uncle Orville's airboat
05:50and drag his bare lily-white butt across the swamp
05:54to put out that ass fire.
05:57Sure, he could have taken a beat to let Foxx regain composure,
06:01but where's the fun in that?
06:02Instead, he plants a gentle kiss on the host's arm.
06:06Foxx's reaction is absolutely priceless.
06:09That's just how I would like doing it down here
06:11and bang the main,
06:12cause this here is main justice, give it to me!
06:20Number 5.
06:21Jason Sudeikis Eats Guac from Armisen's Shoe
06:25Whenever a former cast member hosts,
06:27classic characters tend to return with them.
06:30This time, Fred Armisen revives Regine,
06:33his wildly unpredictable physical comedy queen.
06:36You know, watch what happens when I tickle her behind her knee.
06:38Here, give me that.
06:40Come here.
06:41Come here, you.
06:45In the middle of one of her wild reactions,
06:48her heel goes flying right into a bowl of guacamole.
06:51That alone could have thrown the whole sketch off,
06:54and very nearly does,
06:56but Sudeikis takes it even further
06:58by scooping up the guac and eating it straight off the shoe.
07:02Her foot is in the guacamole.
07:04Doesn't matter.
07:05Doesn't matter.
07:06Makes it better.
07:08Fun fact,
07:09Sudeikis has no sense of smell,
07:11which fans love to say is the only reason
07:13he'd eat shoe guac live on air.
07:15One look at Armisen's face really says it all.
07:20Don't bother me.
07:22Number 4.
07:24Mr. T and Hulk Hogan visit Fernando's Hideaway.
07:27Back when Hulk Hogan and Mr. T were at the height of their tough guy fame,
07:32they dropped by SNL to promote Wrestlemania.
07:35T, why don't you put the sleeper hold on here?
07:38No, thank you.
07:39I don't need to do that.
07:40I don't need the sleeper hold.
07:42I was looking at reruns of Super Train.
07:44I'll tell you, boom, I went out like a light.
07:46Billy Crystal in his prime plays Fernando,
07:48who oozes charm and over-the-top confidence.
07:52During this sketch,
07:53Crystal keeps things lively with quick ad-libs,
07:56even poking fun at the pair right to their faces,
07:59all while staying perfectly in character.
08:07The same can't be said for the musclemen,
08:10whose tough exteriors begin to crack.
08:13Some say this moment helped bring wrestling into the mainstream,
08:16thanks to Crystal's sharp improv
08:18and the way he made Hogan and Mr. T seem like regular guys.
08:23You know when you laugh,
08:23your little things here go bambi, bambi, bambi, bambi, bambi.
08:26Oh, explode that.
08:30Number 3.
08:31No one passed these notes to Ryan Gosling.
08:35As we mentioned earlier,
08:36when Gosling hosts,
08:38it almost feels like the cast is daring him to break,
08:41and this time,
08:42they were ready to take everyone down with him.
08:45When he finally made one,
08:47he tried to celebrate by ripping his t-shirt in half,
08:50but he couldn't do it,
08:52and just stretched it out really bad.
08:57It was weird.
08:58In this sketch,
08:59the writer swapped out the notes the cast had rehearsed with for brand new ones.
09:04Ashley Padilla is the first to lose it,
09:06but Gosling isn't far behind.
09:09There's one Barbie-themed note that he can barely get through,
09:12and honestly,
09:13who could blame him?
09:15I went to see Barbie
09:17with my sister,
09:18and Principal Witt was there.
09:20He bought an entire row for himself.
09:25Every time the Ken character came on screen,
09:28he'd say,
09:30finally something to look at.
09:32There's a beautiful irony in how the sketch is all about pure mistreatment,
09:35yet the writers are doing everything they can to trip the cast up.
09:40Good on Gosling for going with it.
09:42If I were still gay,
09:47I'd do him.
09:50Wow.
09:50Oh my god.
09:51Well, I have...
09:53I refuse to apologize for being right.
09:57Number 2.
09:58Jeff Goldblum vs. Will Ferrell's Infinite AdLibs
10:02In this sketch,
10:03Will Ferrell plays a completely unhinged version
10:06of sports commentator Harry Curay,
10:08who for some reason is hosting a science show.
10:11Hey, now Ken,
10:13we all know that the moon
10:14is not made of green cheese.
10:18Yes, that's true, Harry.
10:19But...
10:20But what if it were made of barbecue spare ribs?
10:23Would you eat it then?
10:25What?
10:26He interviews Goldblum,
10:27who's playing the straight-laced astrophysicist
10:30Dr. Kent Waller.
10:32About a minute in,
10:33Ferrell starts to veer wildly off the script.
10:36You can actually see the moment
10:38Goldblum realizes the cue cards are out the window.
10:41His signature pauses and stammers
10:43turn into real confusion.
10:45It's a simple question, doctor.
10:47Would you eat the moon if it were made of ribs?
10:52Well, I don't...
10:53I don't know how to answer that.
10:54It's not rocket science.
10:56Just say yes and we'll move on.
10:58Watching Goldblum try to keep up
10:59with Ferrell's unpredictable antics
11:02makes his stunned scientist act
11:03feel completely real.
11:05It's no wonder this is remembered
11:07as one of SNL's most legendary
11:09alleged off-script moments.
11:11Hey!
11:12What about this?
11:13If you had a choice between
11:14being the top scientist in your field
11:17or getting mad cow disease,
11:19what would it be?
11:21Well, of course I would choose
11:23to be the top scientist in my field.
11:25Oh, good.
11:26I was worried you'd choose mad cow.
11:27You brought me down, it's so true
11:32You show you're thinking too
11:36Before we continue,
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11:48My heart belongs to you
12:001. Just Stefan
12:02Bill Hader and John Mulaney
12:05may have created Stefan together,
12:07but Mulaney quickly became the mastermind
12:09at catching Hader off guard.
12:11Needless to say, this place has everything.
12:13Skunks, K-Fobs, Cookie Crisp, Dan Cortez.
12:21They had rehearsed the sketches written,
12:24but when it came time for the live show,
12:26Mulaney would sneak in brand new jokes.
12:29A doorman who always high-fives children of divorce.
12:37Even as host,
12:39Hader is reading lines he's never seen before.
12:41Desperately trying to keep it together,
12:43and often hiding behind Stefan's signature hand move
12:46to cover his laughter.
12:48At one point,
12:49Mulaney ditches the cue cards completely
12:51and whispers straight into Hader's ear,
12:54making it almost impossible for him to stay composed.
12:57Even when he's the host,
12:59Hader never stands a chance,
13:00and we love it.
13:02Guy, do people still use the word...
13:06My girlfriend.
13:07Okay, yeah, she's got it.
13:10God, thank you, Sean.
13:12Which time a host was caught off guard as your number one?
13:15Let us know in the comments.
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