Strangest SNL host band combonations.

Cafe Society
1

I was watching SNL on CC the other night and it was the episode with Steve Forbes. The musical guest was Rage Against the Machine. It was so wierd hearing him introduce them. You could tell he had never even heard of them before because he stuttered thru the intro. It was very uncomfortable. You know RATM was not thrilled about being paired with him.

There was an episode where Sly Stallone hosted and I Can’t remember who was the musical guest but I do remember thinking it was an odd pair.

Any other ones that were just “not right”?

2

Yours was the first one I thought of. Didn’t they hang upside down American flags off their amps or something?

Usually the host and the music sort of match up. I do remember Don Rickles and Billy Idol seeming weird at the time, but now it seems normal.

There was Helen Hunt with Snoop Dogg, and Tony Danza with Laurie Anderson. I can’t imagine those people hanging in the same circles.

3

Oh yeah, Ron Howard and The Clash seemed odd at the time. Opie hanging with Joe Strummer seemed strange.

4

Oh, I don’t know…who hosted with Andrew W.K.?

5

Well, there would have been Andrew Dice Clay and Sinead O’Conner, but Sinead refused to do the show.

You know, this weekends pairing of Jeff Gordon and Avril Lavigne is a bit eclectic.

Who was paired with John McCain? I remember him introducing a band and it seemed odd.

6

metroshane, it was the Rock, which isn’t all that weird; at least, not any more than seeing him in a dress during a skit.

Nathan Lane and Metallica. Just a weird thing for me as a 'tallica fan after my only Nathan Lane exposure had (and still is) commercials for that birdcage movie. It was just an odd juxtaposition of macho rock with a more “theatrical” type actor.

Also, anytime at the end of the show when a rapper is up there with his/her posse, it can very overbearing, esp. if the host is a slightly built caucasian female actress.

7

Ron Howard and the Clash was the first combo I thought of as well. It was some contrast to see Little Opie Cunningham, TV’s All-American Boy, introduce a stunning and scary version of “Straight To Hell.”

The Steve Forbes–Rage Against the Machine teaming seemed a little too manufactured for my tastes.

Also, when Elvis Costello made his infamous first appearance, wasn’t the host a grandmother who won a contest to host the show? And I think Elvis and the Attractions were on only because the Sex Pistols broke up.

8

I saw a really old episode of SNL with Candace Bergen as the host and Frank Zappa as the musical guest. That seemed kind of odd…and ironic given that Zappa performed a song that brazenly jeered the mediocrity of television in general and sitcoms in particular (Bergen of course went on to star in one of the most mediocre sitcoms of all time - “Murphy Brown”.)

9

Host: Jeremy Irons. Musical Guest: Fishbone. Just a strange combination.

10

Christopher Lee hosted when Meat Loaf was the guest. He said something along these lines: “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Loaf. What? Oh! Ladies and gentlemen, Meat Loaf!”

Of course, I’m sure the intro was scripted, but it was pretty funny.

11

Charles Barkley and Nirvana seemed an odd pair. Especially the “hanging out on the stage at the end of the show” bit they always do. Cobain looked like a 10 yo next to Barkley.

12

Was it Mildred Fleener?

13

Steve Forbes/Rage Against the Machine and Tony Danza/Laurie Anderson were the weirdest combinations I thought of. A few weird-but-not-quite-THAT-weird combinations that come to mind:

  1. Don Rickles and Billy Idol

  2. Macaulay Culkin & David Bowie’s Tin Machine

  3. White House Press Secretary Ron Nesses and Patti Smith

  4. Jackie Chan & Kid Rock

14

Wasn’t it weird to see Al Gore introduce Phish? I mean, yeah, it makes sense from a certain political-posturing perspective ("all a you stupid lefties who screwed me by voting for Nader, I’m hip too, dammit!"), but still undeniably odd.

15

I thought it was funny to hear Patrick Stewart introduce Salt n Pepa.

16

Interesting topic.

Here’s a link to I think all or almost all the host/musical guest combos on SNL since 1980:

http://www.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/saturdaynightlive/snlepisodes.jhtml?season=1984

Just click on the links to the left to get the season you want.

I scanned a few years and some odd combos that jump out at me are:

George Foreman/Hole

George Steinbrenner/The Time

George McGovern/Madness (whats with George?)

Looking through the list I noticed most of the pairings were pretty reasonable, and that John Goodman and Alec Baldwin seem to host a show every year! :slight_smile:

17

Charlton Heston and Paul Westerberg. Heston flubbed Westerberg’s name at the end, referring to him as Weston or Westerfield or something like that.

18

Yeah, but did you watch while the credits rolled? Jeremy Irons traded suit jackets with the Fishbone front-man. I thought that was really cool…