Five-Timers Club

"Saturday Night Lives Five Timer's Club"' is a status given to any performer who has either hosted or appeared as a musical guest on "Saturday Night Live" at least five times.

Origins

The first public reference of the club came on December 8, 1990, when Tom Hanks made his fifth appearance as host on "SNL". Hanks described the eligibility process in detail (and with humor) in his monologue:cquote|Believe it or not, this is the fifth "Saturday Night Live" I have been lucky enough to host. Now, the first time you do the show, you can't believe you're here. You just can't believe it. Your head buzzes with excitement. The second time you do the show, it means you were funny enough to be asked back - and you're pushing a movie. The third time you do the show, the second time didn't go so well, and you have something to prove to yourself. The fourth time you do the show, you're just blatantly pushing a movie. But the fifth time you do the show is the most special time of all, because you get this.. [holds up a card] ..a membership card in the Five-Timers Club. Come with me.. [walks off the stage] I'm gonna give you a chance to look in on one of the most exclusive clubs in the world. [ [http://snltranscripts.jt.org/90/90hmono.phtml Tom Hanks' Monologue ] ]

After Hanks gave his monologue, he participated in the now famous "Five Timer's Club" sketch. In addition to Hanks, the sketch starred five (or more) time hosts Steve Martin, Elliot Gould and five time musical guest Paul Simon with guest appearances by Ralph Nader trying to crash, Jon Lovitz as a waiter and a then-unknown Conan O'Brien as Sean the door man. Since the December 8, 1990 show, the Five Timer's Club has been a "running gag" on "SNL". Danny DeVito referenced the club on his fifth show in 1993, as did Alec Baldwin (1994), John Goodman (1994), Christopher Walken (2001) and Drew Barrymore (2007).

A similar sketch was part of Alec Baldwin's November 11, 2006 show. The sketch, featuring Baldwin and Steve Martin, took place in the "Platinum Lounge", which allowed only 12-time hosts, and forbid working cast members. However, Martin tried to distract Baldwin several times (in order to poison him) by claiming to see hosts who had not hosted 12 times.

Cultural references in other media

The Five Timer's Club has been referenced in other media since its creation in 1990. The Entertainment Channel, E!, placed it #22 on its list of SNL top moments. [ [http://talk.livedaily.com/archive/index.php/t-434419.html 101 Most Unforgettable SNL Moments [Archive - LiveDaily Community ] ] The club was also reference by Fox Sports as the basis behind the creation of the "Favre Backup Club" which seeks to be the "NFL's equivalent" to the Five Timer's Club. [ [http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7263872 FOX Sports on MSN - NFL - Buffet: The men behind The Man ] ]

Current members

As of October 2007, there have been a total of 20 members of the Five-Timer's Club. From this number, nine have been celebrity hosts, two have been "SNL" alumni hosts, five have been musical guests, and two have served as musical guest and host. Some of these "Five-Timer" hosts (such as Steve Martin, Christopher Walken, Tom Hanks, and Alec Baldwin) have hosted so many times that special episodes of "SNL" have been compiled and aired as "Best of ..." episodes. Hosts who have been the subject of a "Best of SNL" videotape, DVD, or compilation special are marked with a (•) by their name on the list below (the following people are members of the Five-Timer's Club. This list comes from raw data compiled and listed from the following independently sources: http://snlmusic.parshaparts.com/snlmusic.php and http://snlarc.jt.org/)

References

External links

* [http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/ Official Saturday Night Live Website]
* [http://saturday-night-live.com/snl/weekendupdate.html saturday-night-live.com - Weekend Update]
* [http://www.nbc10.com/slideshow/station/10292469/detail.html]
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/11/18/live-from-new-york-a-sho_n_73164.html]