Hosting "Saturday Night Live" is a massive career milestone, but it also comes with intense pressure to deliver laughs on live TV alongside the funniest in the business.
Ahead of the sketch comedy staple's 50th anniversary, three Canadian stars — Tom Green, Pamela Anderson and Jason Priestley — reflect on their time as guest hosts.
TOM GREEN TAKES A BATH WITH LORNE MICHAELS
Green remembers feeling overwhelmed when he was asked to host "SNL" on Nov. 18, 2000. It was just months after the absurdist Ottawa comic underwent surgery for testicular cancer, and he was still in considerable pain.
“I was dealing with a lot happening at once — physically, emotionally, just life changes," he says.
"And then to be thrust into that kind of environment, I didn't really know how to navigate it.”
He told Lorne Michaels it would be “a dream come true” if his longtime friends and “The Tom Green Show” collaborators — co-hosts Glenn Humplik and Phil Giroux, and writer Derek Harvie — could also work on the episode.
“He said, “Yeah, you know, we’re all Canadian.’ So he gave us a little office…. We came up with some really weird and funny ideas. Lorne Michaels was super cool and let us do it.”
The episode broke the usual "SNL" format to give audiences the full, unhinged Tom Green experience. In one sketch, Green sat in a bathtub across from a deadpan Michaels, making nonsensical noises while fiddling with rubber ducks. In another, he and Will Ferrell, donning eagle costumes, climbed over audience members and made out. A “live wedding” to his then-fiancé Drew Barrymore was teased, only for the comedian to have a teary meltdown after getting stood up at the altar.
Green has read “bitter comments” over the years from viewers upset he was given so much creative control.
“If anybody has a problem with it, they need to understand these things were made under the context of me being a wide-eyed, naive kid from Canada who had literally just been thrust into this thing. I couldn't believe I was going to do this, and was like, ‘Let's try to make this the craziest episode ever!’”
PAMELA ANDERSON FED OFF THE AUDIENCE
Coming off the heels of her critically panned 1996 action film “Barbed Wire,” Anderson got a rare chance to flex her funny bone as “SNL” host on April 19, 1997.
“This is quite a departure for me to be on ‘Saturday Night Live’ doing this comedy thing, after having committed myself for so long to serious drama,” she quipped during her opening monologue, before disrobing in a mock attempt to calm her nerves.
Looking back now, the B.C.-born actress says “it was one of the best things I've ever done and the most fun I've ever had.”
“I love that era of 'SNL,' so I was really fortunate that I got to do that. I mean, you never know, maybe I’ll do it again.”
A standout moment for Anderson is her sketch with the Roxbury Guys — Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan’s recurring, head-bobbing partygoers. After literally bumping into her at the club, the oblivious pair continue invading her space at the gym, sauna and jacuzzi as she desperately tries to escape their misplaced confidence.
She recalls feeding off the live energy of the crowd.
“The audience is part of it. They’re a character in it. There’s nothing like it, that kind of energy. I just think 'SNL' is very unique, and it'll be on forever.”
Anderson will get to tap into her comedic side again when she stars opposite Liam Neeson in the “The Naked Gun” reboot, helmed by “SNL” alum and The Lonely Island member Akiva Schaffer.
The actress says she’s been inspired by Michaels’ “tenacity” over the years.
“It just shows that you have to have a vision for yourself. It's those rebel moves that define your life. Don't let other people define you. It's not what happens to you. It's what you do that defines you.”
JASON PRIESTLEY WAS 'TOO TERRIFIED' TO BREAK CHARACTER
Jason Priestley recalls feeling surprised by the “pressure cooker” pace of the week leading up to “SNL,” which he hosted on Feb. 15, 1992. There were long days of table reads, followed by long nights of partying.
“I was 23, running around in New York City. I was definitely burning the candle at both ends.”
Priestley, who starred on “Beverly Hills, 90210" at the time, says his "SNL" episode was one of the first to feature a star from a teen drama.
The Vancouver-born actor says it was no coincidence Scottish rockers Teenage Fanclub were booked as the musical guest, adding that the band's name was "a tip of the hat" to the episode catering to a younger demographic.
“Lorne and the staff were super smart," says Priestley, whose show was considered the defining high school drama of the '90s.
Priestley recalls connecting with Michaels over their shared heritage: “Lorne is a very proud Canadian, as am I, so we definitely bonded over that. And then we also bonded over the Heineken he keeps in the mini fridge in his office.”
But he says the "SNL" creator wasn’t afraid to act like a CEO when he needed to.
“His advice to me was very similar to the things that ('902010' creator) Aaron Spelling used to say to me, which was generally, ‘Don't eff this up, kid.’”
Among his favourite skits were a cold open that saw him play an accident-prone Olympic figure skater, and “Love Werks,” a dating show hosted by Mike Myers’ German intellectual character Dieter, in which disaffected contestants — including cast member Phil Hartman in drag — compete for Priestley’s love. The episode went smoothly, with Priestley never cracking.
“I was too terrified to laugh,” he says.
Although things went well, he says the appearance didn’t really open other doors for him.
“Everybody still thought I was that kid from that teenage show. I had no right to be there,” he cackles.
But it did lead to his “90210” co-stars Luke Perry and Shannen Doherty hosting “SNL” the following year.
“So obviously the kid from that show did OK because they invited two more kids from that show.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2025.
Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press
