Every member of SNL’s ‘Five-Timer Club’

Since 1975, Saturday Night Live became a staple of American television. Created by Lorne Michaels, the variety and sketch show has won 93 Primetime Emmy Awards in the four decades it has aired, making it the most nominated show of all time.

The show is known for its ensemble cast of celebrities who perform skits, often parodying popular culture and politicians, which has led to the show also being praised and criticized. Either way, the show attracts millions of viewers every week, providing audiences with a different celebrity host and a popular musical guest who plays two or three songs.

During the show’s long run, countless guests, the first being comedian George Carlin, hosted the show. Three episodes later, Candice Bergen became the first host and the first to host SNL more than one time. The youngest person to ever host was Drew Barrymore, who appeared on the show when she was just seven years old in 1982, following her performance in AND the extra-terrestrial. The actor has since returned to host the show five more times, making her a member of the Five-Timers Club.

Tom Hanks first mentioned the elusive club in a 1990 episode he presented. In his opening monologue, he shared, “Believe it or not, this is the fifth Saturday Night Live I was lucky enough to host. Now the first time you do the show, you can’t believe you’re here. You can’t believe it. Your head is buzzing with excitement. […] But the fifth time you do the show is the most special moment of all because you get this [holds up a card] …a Five-Timers Club membership card. Come with me… [walks off the stage] I will give you a chance to discover one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.

In the following sketch, fellow “card-carrying” members Elliott Gould, Steve Martin and Paul Simon welcome Hanks to the club. It should be noted that Simon is technically not an official member as he has only hosted four times. However, he has been a musical guest so often that he is now considered an honorary member.

During the skit, it was revealed that the club has its own swimming pool and all of its food is named after former SNL performers. Additionally, Conan O’Brien, just a writer for the series at the time, appeared as the club’s doorman.

At this point, there were only a handful of members in the Five-Timers Club, alongside those just mentioned, Buck Henry, Chevy Chase and Candice Bergen had also appeared five times. In fact, Henry was the first person to enter the club and went on to host five more times. As of 2022, the club has 23 official members, the most recent being comedian John Mulaney.

However, many hosts have long since passed the five-time mark, and there is even a supposed “Platinum Lounge” for those who have hosted more than 12 times, which Martin invited Alec Baldwin to in a 2006 skit. Martin hosted 15 times in total. However, Baldwin has now surpassed him, having presented SNL a whopping 17 times.

Each member of SNL’s Five-Timer Club:

• Alec Baldwin (17)
• Steve Martin (15)
• John Goodman (13)
• Tom Hank (10)
• Buck Henry (10)
• Chevy Chase (8)
• Christopher Walken (7)
• Scarlett Johanson (6)
• Tina Fey (6)
• Elliott Gould (6)
• Spades (6)
• Danny De Vito (6)
• Drew Barrymore (6)
• Candice Bergen (5)
• Bill Murray (5)
• Justin Timberlake (5)
• Ben Affleck (5)
• Melissa McCarthy (5)
• Dwayne Johnson (5)
• Will Ferrell (5)
• Paul Rudd (5)
• Jonah Hill (5)
• John Mulaney (5)
• Paul Simon (honorary member, 4)