John Mulaney and Steve Martin make the argument that stand-up comics are the strongest SNL hosts. Melissa McCarthy, Paul Rudd and Emma Stone are the case for comedic actors. Justin Timberlake and Miley Cyrus could raise their hands on behalf of musicians. But according to Maya Rudolph, the strongest hosts for Saturday Night Live are… pro athletes?
“I’ve always said this — my favorite, favorite hosts whenever they were on SNL were always professional athletes, always,” Rudolph said on this week’s episode of the Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce podcast. Need an example? “Derek Jeter, probably one of my all-time favorite hosts ever.”
Okay, we’ll concede that a few of the jocks can play. Charles Barkley is nearly a Five-Timer. Peyton Manning’s fake United Way commercial is an all-time great. Tom Brady and Michael Jordan were better than expected, and if you count Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as an athlete, there’s another solid choice.
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But oof. Any list of Saturday Night Live’s all-time worst hosts has to include the likes of Lance Armstrong, Andy Reddick, forgotten Olympian Jonny Moseley, Michael Phelps and Jeff Gordon. For Jeter’s sake, I haven’t even gotten to O.J. Simpson.
So why is Rudolph so high on the jocks?
“I think professional athletes are calm. They’re so used to performing live,” she said. “So by the time they get to SNL, it’s like, alright and their bodies are so relaxed because they’ve worked out all morning.”
Calm? Relaxed? Has Rudolph seen Nancy Kerrigan’s monologue? I’m getting nervous just watching her wring her hands.
Of course Kelce was going to agree with Rudolph, considering the family she married into. “I will say I’m biased,” she admitted, “but I do think that my brother-in-law Travis did an outstanding job.”
For the record, Kelce was fine — although SNL writer Rosebud Baker revealed that learning lines may not be his strong suit. “He’s a very sweet, sweet guy, terrible at reading,” she said. Whatever — Rudolph thought Kelce was funny in Happy Gilmore 2.
Why did Yankee shortstop Jeter rank so highly for Rudolph? “There was a sketch that my friend wrote where (Jeter) was wearing, where he came to a party with a perm, and he was just wearing a perm wig and it might be my favorite memory of that night,” she added.
Rudolph didn’t specify, but I’m guessing she’s talking about the Yankees Wives sketch, in which Jeter got dolled up in drag alongside Rudolph, Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch.
No Emmy nominations for Jeter, but give him credit for not lisping his way through the sketch. He doesn’t exactly hit it out of the park, but he puts the ball in play. In a team sport like SNL, that’s all you can ask of any host.