No 'SNL' Host Has Ever Beat This Groundbreaking Record That's Over 40 Years Old

For over 50 years, Saturday Night Live has been an impressive fixture in the comedy landscape. Lorne Michaels' sketch show, which is now in Season 51 and features cast members such as Chloe Fineman, Sarah Sherman, Colin Jost, Kenan Thompson, and Marcello Hernández, has impressively launched the careers of many famous comedians, including Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Seth Meyers, and Jason Sudeikis.

So far in Season 51, SNL has featured a number of impressive hosts, including Melissa McCarthy, Glen Powell, Sabrina Carpenter, Ariana Grande, and Finn Wolfhard. Based on the show's seemingly eternal longevity, it's not impossible to imagine someone breaking Alec Baldwin's hosting record of 17 times. However, one record that appears to be permanently intact is Drew Barrymore's astonishing feat of being SNL's youngest host at the age of seven.

'Drew Barrymore' Hosted 'SNL' When She Was 7

When they're blessed with a true pro and comedic genius like Steve Martin or Melissa McCarthy, Lorne Michaels and company are in good hands for that respective show. With others, intense coaching is required to get non-comedic performers in rhythm with the cast members and act naturally with the spare props and set. Preparing a minor for the procedures and flow of an average SNL episode, which oftentimes isn't even ready for showtime, is a whole other ordeal. Unsurprisingly, only a few child actors have taken on hosting duties, with the short list including Jodie Foster, Fred Savage, and Macaulay Culkin.

However, none of these stars was as young as Drew Barrymore, who hosted SNL on November 20, 1982, at the age of seven. Since then, the actor and talk-show host has returned to the stage an additional five times, making her one of the elite members of the Five Timers Club. Barrymore was destined for tremendous success and fame after her breakout performance as the adorable Gertie in E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, the movie that dominated theaters in 1982 and led to her SNL gig. If anything, Barrymore was doing the show a favor, as her episode aired during its creative nadir, an infamous period marked by Michaels' departure and Dick Ebersol's era as showrunner.

Drew Barrymore's First Monologue on 'SNL' Was a Mixed Bag

Barrymore assured audiences in 1982 that she was skilled as a performer beyond her years. At first, it's disarming to see a child walk onto the stage in front of a roaring live audience, but when she introduces herself, you remember why she became such a sensation. Still cute as a button like she was in Steven Spielberg's decade-defining blockbuster, Barrymore was not overwhelmed by the spotlight, even if her lines during the monologue's Q&A session are noticeably rehearsed. She's blessed with having so much charm, vulnerability, and chemistry with an audience that she shakes off the innate awkwardness of child acting.

In hindsight, many of the questions asked by Tim Kazurinsky were not in great taste. Considering Barrymore's troubled history with her parents, extreme emotional distress, and toxic public exposure she received at a young age, questions about which SNL cast member she would marry don't sit right today. A testament to the substantial drop-off in quality of this era, Barrymore has to work with surface-level jokes and cutesy fetishization thrown at a child star's face, but you forgive it because she's so talented. During the monologue, she speaks fondly of Steven Spielberg, a director known for his preternatural skills at working with child actors and protecting them from the exploitative perils of the industry.

A noteworthy sketch in Season 8, Episode 7 of Saturday Night Live features Barrymore reprising her role as Gertie, the youngest sister of Elliott's (Henry Thomas) family in E.T., killing the titular alien. We witness a strange infusion of '80s pop culture when Eddie Murphy arrives, performing his memorable Mr. T impression, looking for his "boy," E.T. Having someone as young and inexperienced as Barrymore helm an entire episode was a bold decision for a show struggling to find its footing in the wake of major creative setbacks. The risk presents itself in many sketches, where the writers recycle similar jokes about Barrymore's innocence and youth, leading to a fair share of duds.

Drew Barrymore's First 'SNL' Appearance Teased Her Future as a Huge Star

The off-kilter, shaggy vibe of the episode represents this period of SNL in a nutshell, where dead-on-arrival sketches seemed even longer and more meandering than before. Barrymore proved she could display electric chemistry with fellow actors and not just puppet aliens in her episode, where she encounters the strangeness of Joe Piscopo and Robin Duke of The Whiners, who adopt her in a highlight sketch. In movies, Barrymore's on-screen rapport with Adam Sandler, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, and David Arquette turned her movies into box office smash hits.

This Saturday Night Live episode from 1982, which would've been forgotten if not for its host's record-breaking achievement of being the youngest host ever, laid the groundwork for Barrymore's rise as a celebrity icon who would continue appearing on the show and frequently perform film cameos and other media appearances. Hosting duties have only increased for Barrymore, who has been the host of her own eponymous daytime talk show since 2020. It's hard to imagine anyone beating Barrymore's record, but perhaps in the next 50 years of the show, another notable child star will take the Studio 8H stage.