John Mulaney Joins Five-Timers Club As SNL Host In February

For a while, it seemed as though stand-up-comedian John Mulaney had been making headlines for his tumultuous personal life rather than his career. This time, however, the first-time father and comedian is making waves for his upcoming "Saturday Night Live" hosting gig. February 26 will not only mark Mulaney's first gig since the birth of his and Olivia Munn's son, Malcolm Hiệp Mulaney, back in November; it will also mean that Mulaney will become a member of the show's elite Five-Timers Club.

As the name suggests, the Five-Timers Club is a club for celebrity guests who have hosted "SNL" at least five times. Though it is not an actual club in the physical sense, the term first appeared in an episode hosted by Tom Hanks on December 8, 1990. It was introduced as both a reference to the fact that it was his fifth time hosting SNL, and as part of a skit featuring an elite, fictitious physical club populated by the other Five-Timer celebrity guests at "SNL." This monologue and sketch can be seen below.

For some, the decision to have Mulaney as an "SNL" host while he's still facing fan backlash and scrutiny for having kind of a messy personal life may seem controversial; however, it makes perfect sense when you consider that Mulaney was an "SNL" writer for four seasons, from 2008 to 2012. Additionally, "Saturday Night Live" hasn't exactly shied away from allowing polarizing figures to host the program before, as evidenced by the much less understandable choice to have Elon Musk host an episode back in May 2021. That decision was met with backlash from both "SNL" viewers and cast members alike, as Musk is known for being an eccentric billionaire CEO who shares horrible takes on Twitter and lacks any of the desirable qualities typically associated with entertainment hosting, such as charisma, comedic ability, and relevant experience.

On the other hand, Mulaney still has all of these qualities — despite the betrayal some fans may feel over how his on-stage persona and the reality of his life fail to match up as seamlessly as they would have liked.

Mulaney's episode of "Saturday Night Live" will also feature the return of musical guest LCD Soundsystem, whose first appearance on the show was in 2017, with Chris Pine as the host. Before Mulaney, Paul Rudd was the most recent Five-Timers Club inductee.