The Best One-Time Hosts In SNL History – Looper

As with Carrie Fisher, it’s hard to believe that Betty White only hosted “SNL” once in 2010 at age 88. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason why it took so long; her “Mary Tyler Moore Show” co-stars Moore, Ed Asner, and Ted Knight had all hosted, as had her fellow “Golden Girl” Bea Arthur. On the other hand, maybe 2010, when White was enjoying a third/fourth/fifth career act as the internet’s favorite old lady, was the perfect time for her to host. As she notes in her monologue, she has been doing live TV since 1952, but thanks Facebook above all for giving her the chance to be on “SNL.”

This was one of the show’s occasional Mother’s Day episodes, and White is on hand mostly as the mother or mother figure of existing characters like MacGruber, the Maharelle singing sisters from the Finger Lakes, and soft-spoken NPR hosts Terri and Margaret Jo from “The Delicious Dish” (a returning Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer). She struts around with Shannon’s 50-year-old high-kicker Sally O’Malley and dons a wild wig to scare teens straight alongside Kenan Thompson’s movie-obsessed prison convict. It’s a delightfully daffy episode, featuring cameos from not just Shannon and Gasteyer but also Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph, all of whom clearly relish the chance to play with an old pro like White.