The one host in this article I don’t agree with is Jodie Foster. Her hosting/performance was NO where near what the article makes it out to be. I agree she lacked the direction needed to deliver the writing done for her skits that the article notes. However, only about half the skits contained her in them, some were worthy of note, and both her monologue and closing were totally fine. She came out, thanked the audience and cast, stammered slightly to fill a few seconds, brought the cast up, and then smilingly bowed out waving goodnight to the normal applause. It wasn’t a great episode but I also accredit some of it to the audience who literally just seems dead that night even on notably funny bits. I’m not sure who or what episode the writer was referencing but it wasn’t the Jodie Foster episode.

I just watched some of these notorious hosts on Netflix.

Louise Lasser was indeed painful to watch. Even if she was doing the Mary Hartman character, it did not work and was not funny at all.

I laughed out load many times at the Milton Berle show. Some of his jokes were politically incorrect, sexist, slightly racist perhaps, but unlike a lot of the other hosts, he had a seasoned comic’s sense of delivery and timing. 30 years later, his humor has stood the test of time a lot better than many of the other hosts, especially with all their druggie humor, which Uncle Miltie didn’t have to stoop to.

…do an article on that crazy stuff!

joe montana? i can’t remember the whole show, but he was in the skit with phil hartman and jan hooks playing sincere guy stu, where his internal dialogue matches everything he says. “I’ll be in my room masturbating.” that alone deserves props