Chris Parnell Names His Least Favorite 'SNL' Host
Give Chris Parnell credit — not all former Saturday Night Live cast will come clean when asked about the worst host they ever worked with. But Parnell had a candid answer on a recent Patrick LabyorSheaux podcast when Labyorteaux asked, “Who was your most nightmare host?”
“It wasn't anything between him and me,” Parnell said, “but I didn’t care for Tom Green.”
Drew Barrymore during the show. (Didn’t happen.)
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“Tom came on the show and really wanted to make it into The Tom Green Show, and Lorne kind of let him,” Parnell said. “It wasn’t my kind of comedy. It just wasn’t my cup of tea. I think Lorne thought he was the next Andy Kaufman or something. He just let these sketches go up that were like, ‘Oh man, I don’t know.’”
“I’m not saying Tom’s not a talented guy,” Parnell said, “but I did not like what he brought to the show that week.”
Here are more Parnell SNL hot takes from the podcast:
His Favorite Host
“Probably Julianna Margulies,” he explained. “Partly, I was smitten with her, but I was just so dazzled by her. I didn’t watch ER. I had zero expectations when she came in.”
Favorite “What Was That?” Musical Guest
That was an easy one for Parnell. Val Kilmer was the host, and his musical guest was U2. “When they performed their number, this is when Bono walked off the stage and walked around the studio singing the song. That was very unrehearsed — nobody had any idea that was going to happen.”
@u2chile
“So they’re bringing up the house lights, and the camera operators are scrambling around to keep the camera on him. I was out there on the floor, so it was all happening in front of me. That would have to be the winner, without a doubt.”
Favorite Cast Member to Perform With
“Will,” Parnell replied, quickly clarifying that he was referring to Ferrell. “Will Forte was great too, but Will Ferrell for sure. For all of the obvious reasons but also such a nice, good person, and just made me laugh so much personally."
Parnell pointed to their infamous Cowbell sketch, a bit that bombed in dress rehearsal. Ferrell took matters into his hands before the live show, raiding the costume department for an even smaller shirt that would expose his belly while banging that cowbell. Parnell applauded Ferrell for always being reliable when it came to delivering laughs, but “you didn’t necessarily know exactly what you were going to get.”
