For the first few decades of Saturday Night Live, breaking out on the show was a ticket to movie stardom for comics like John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers and Will Ferrell. In the 2000s, the path led to Emmy Award-winning comedies for Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Andy Samberg. In recent years, however, the big reward for a long run on SNL seems to be a job as a game show host.
That payoff isn’t quite the same as becoming one of the world’s biggest movie stars, but here are seven SNL cast members who got to host quiz shows as a consolation prize…
Colin Jost: Pop Culture Jeopardy!
Fresh off of maiming himself as an Olympics surfing correspondent, Jost is adding game-show host duties to his SNL responsibilities. The new Prime Video show tells you everything you need to know in its title: it’s Jeopardy! for people too dumb to answer questions about history and geography. Scarlett Johansson’s husband put out this public statement when the show was announced this week: “What is: I’m excited.”
Leslie Jones: Supermarket Sweep
Game-show superfan Jones claimed to be thrilled when she left SNL to host this reboot. “Supermarket Sweep was one of those game shows where it was like, you don’t even have to really be smart,” she told Entertainment Weekly in 2020. “I know grocery stores, and I know what the hell is expensive and what’s not. It’s just a show for regular people. (It’s not like) Jeopardy! — you don’t have to know 17 states and shit; you just have to know where the steaks are.”
Jimmy Fallon: That’s My Jam
Tonight Show host Fallon didn’t need a job when took on the musical game show That’s My Jam, but he happily took the paycheck anyway. The show is merely one of his talk show bits expanded to fill a time slot, raising the question: Is That’s My Jam a commercial for The Tonight Show or the other way around?
Jay Pharoah: The Quiz With Balls
Of all the SNL-adjacent game shows, The Quiz with Balls is the most violent. Dumb answers are punished by rolling boulders slamming contestants into an icy pool. “You better be able to swim,” Pharoah warned on the Today Show. “But even if they don’t swim, we have a lifeguard who can help.”
Mikey Day: Is It Cake?
I’m still waiting for the moment when a contestant slices into Day, revealing he’s been a delicious poundcake all along.
David Spade: Snake Oil
Not all SNL game show hosts are cast members from the 2010s. Spade launched Snake Oil last fall, a Shark Tank meets To Tell The Truth mash-up where contestants have to separate real inventions from fake ones. For some reason, the show’s episodes were an hour long, which might explain why Decider said Spade spent the first episode appearing half-asleep.
Mike Myers: The Gong Show
The weirdest entry on this list is bona fide movie star Myers slapping on prosthetics to reboot this 1970s classic. Myers’ name was never mentioned — he insisted on appearing as Tommy Maitland, a “legendary British host” who stole his “cheeky monkey” catchphrase from SNL character Simon. ABC never confirmed Maitland’s real identity, but there was never any doubt that Myers was hiding under the makeup.
The bigger question: Of all the vanity projects Myers could launch, why this one?