CREDIT: NBC/Screenshots

The Saturday Night Network podcast recently revealed a countdown of the 50 greatest SNL episodes of the first 50 seasons, as voted on by fans. I was one of those fans, and I actually guested on one of the episodes presenting the countdown. Now that the full fan 50 is available for perusing, I figured I’d present my own personal SNL top 50. Since I’m one of the biggest SNL fans around town, this isn’t exactly a difficult task, save for one snag.

You see, I haven’t actually seen every single episode. And there are some episodes that I’ve only seen hour-long edits of. (The 70s and early 80s are my main blind spots.) I was, after all, born well after the show premiered, so I’ve been playing catch-up while also staying current. Nevertheless, I’ve seen enough that a list of my 50 faves is undeniably overflowing with hilarity. As it turned out, though, I couldn’t quite come up with 50 episodes that I was passionate enough to include on my list. So don’t think of my list as “THE 50 Greatest SNL Episodes,” but instead as “(Almost) 50 of the Greatest SNL Episodes.”

(And as always, if you have your own ranking of personal faves, share ’em if you got ’em!)

47. Jamie Foxx/Ne-Yo (S38E9, 12/8/12)
46. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (S50E3, 10/12/24)
45. Jon Hamm/Coldplay (S34E6, 10/25/08)
44. Seth MacFarlane/Frank Ocean (S38E1, 9/15/12)
43. Steve Buscemi/Third Eye Blind (S23E17, 4/4/98)
42. Christina Applegate/Midnight Oil (S18E19, 5/8/93)
41. Ryan Gosling/Chris Stapleton (S49E17, 4/13/24)
40. Larry David/The 1975 (S41E12, 2/6/16)
39. Betty White/Jay-Z (S34E21, 5/8/10)
38. Tracy Morgan/Kelly Clarkson (S34E18, 3/14/09)
37. Ellen DeGeneres/No Doubt (S27E9, 12/15/01)
36. Candice Bergen/Esther Phillips (S1E4, 11/8/75)
35. John Mulaney/Jack White (S43E18, 4/4/18)
34. Jeff Bridges/Eminem and Lil Wayne (S36E10, 12/18/10)
33. Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Dave Matthews Band (S35E7, 11/21/09)
32. Christina Ricci/Beck (S25E7, 12/4/99)
31. Macaulay Culkin/Tin Machine (S17E7, 11/23/91)
30. Jack Black/Elton John and Brandi Carlile (S50E16, 4/5/25)
29. David Alan Grier/Silverchair (S21E8, 12/9/95)
28. Alec Baldwin/Luciano Pavarotti and Vanessa Williams (S24E9, 12/12/98)
27. Lindsay Lohan/Usher (S29E18, 5/1/04)
26. Kevin Spacey*/Beck (S22E10, 1/11/97) (*-Let’s pretend this episode was hosted by Christoper Plummer)
25. Tom Hanks/Aerosmith (S15E13, 2/17/90)
24. Jon Hamm/Michael Bublé (S35E13, 1/30/10)
23. Sigourney Weaver (S12E1, 10/11/86)
22. Jeff Goldblum/Aerosmith (S19E3, 10/9/93)
21. Miley Cyrus (S39E2, 10/5/13)
20. Eddie Murphy/Lizzo (S45E10, 12/21/19)
19. Donald Glover/Childish Gambino (S43E19, 5/5/18)
18. Jerry Seinfeld/David Bowie (S25E1, 10/2/99)
17. Jerry Seinfeld/Annie Lennox (S17E18, 4/18/92)
16. Eddie Murphy/Robert Plant & the Honeydrippers (S10E9, 12/15/84)
15. Peyton Manning/Carrie Underwood (S32E16, 3/24/07)
14. Candice Bergen/Frank Zappa (S2E10, 12/11/76)
13. Conan O’Brien/Don Henley (S26E14, 3/10/01)
12. Christopher Walken/Christopher Aguilera (S25E16, 4/8/00)
11. Zach Galifianakis/Of Monsters and Men (S38E19, 5/4/13)
10. Richard Pryor/Gil Scott-Heron (S1E7, 12/13/75)
9. Tom Hanks/Keith Richards (S14E1, 10/8/88)
8. Michael Jordan/Public Enemy (S17E2, 9/28/91)
7. Alec Baldwin/The B-52’s (S15E18, 4/21/90)
6. Tom Hanks/Lady Gaga (S42E4, 10/22/16)
5. Will Ferrell/Green Day (34E22, 5/16/09)
4. Steve Martin/The Blues Brothers (S3E18, 4/22/78)
3. Tom Hanks/Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (S16E8, 12/8/90)
2. Jim Carrey/Soundgarden (S21E20, 5/18/96)
1. Jack Black/Neil Young (S31E9, 12/17/05)

Honorable Mention:
I haven’t seen the George Wendt and Francis Ford Coppola/Philip Glass (S11E13, 3/22/86) episode in its entirety, but what I know about it is spectacular.

A version of this Saturday Night Celebration originally appeared in the Official Jeffrey Malone Newsletter. Subscribe here!