Rob Lowe has hosted Saturday Night Live three times. On two of those three appearances, his closing sign-off was crashed by a random celebrity who didn’t even appear on the episode. Not surprisingly, he’s spent a lot of time thinking about what the hell happened, especially in regards to Mummy actor Brendan Fraser who went on stage and repeatedly shouted Bedazzled.
Rob Lowe talked about both unexpected cameos during a recent episode of his podcast Literally. The guest was former SNL star Vanessa Bayer, and the two talked about a variety of fun topics including her impression of Miley Cyrus, but it was the sign-off stuff that had me fascinated. Apparently Lowe was trying to say good night to the audience and the viewers at home when he heard Brendan Fraser start screaming behind him. You can read his version of events below...
I had for whatever reason two people crash my goodnight who weren’t on the show, weren’t affiliated. Twice that’s happened to me. The last time it happened it was Brendan Fraser... I’m going ‘Good night. Thank you. I want to thank everybody’ and in the background he’s yelling ‘Bedazzled. Bedazzled. Bedazzled.’... He had a movie called Bedazzled that was opening that weekend. All I can think of, I’ve spent many years trying to figure out what was going on with Brendan that night, and the nearest I can come to is that he was somehow promised a walk-on during the show and the show ran long and he just was like, ‘Fuck it. I’m gonna go up and yell Bedazzled behind Rob Lowe’s head.
What an absolute time capsule this story is, which took place in October of 2000. First of all, you have late 90s/ early 2000s Rob Lowe. He was playing Sam on The West Wing at the time and was every bit as cool as he still is. Then you have Brendan Fraser who had turned into a huge name after the success of The Mummy in ‘99 (a movie that still holds up). He was about to release Bedazzled opposite Liz Hurley, a film I’ve never seen but vividly remember the marketing materials for that featured her dressed in red and inferring she was the devil. Throw in Eminem as the musical guest, who had just released The Marshall Mathers LP, and many of us should be able to transport ourselves back to exactly what pop culture felt like at that moment.
That’s not exactly specific to that episode though. Saturday Night Live is, for better or worse, often a product of the moment it exists in. Between the hosts and musical guests who are often uniquely famous at the specific time and the subject matter which is often very topical, the episodes can feel like unique lenses into their moments. That’s part of why I love popping in an old episode on occasion and just taking it all in, even the ancillary things like hairstyles and clothes, both of which are spot on in the Lowe/ Eminem episode.
The other unexpected sign-off cameo Lowe talked about during the podcast was one from original cast member Chevy Chase. Despite not being in the episode, he reportedly took to the stage during the goodbyes, though Lowe seems to feel a lot more positively about that unplanned moment as the crowd went wild. You can read his comments on that appearance below, which reference Chase's complicated history with Saturday Night Live...
The first time someone jumped in on my goodbyes was Chevy, who has a very complicated, to put it mildly, relationship with the show and everybody. I don’t think he’d been there. I never did know why. It was really sweet. It was great. I think he’d been around that week and was checking stuff out and was like, ‘I’m just gonna go up.’ And people went crazy, were happy to see him. But it was like my idol.
It’s a great crime that Rob Lowe hasn’t been back to host since 2000. He’s stayed incredibly relevant and famous for the last 21 years and always seems to be working on something fun at any given moment. Maybe he’ll get invited back one of these years. Or maybe Brendan Fraser will get a surprise crack at hosting again. He’s been away from the spotlight for a hot minute but seems poised to make a big return as the lead in popular director Darren Aronofsky’s next film. If he does, I’d love to see nothing more than Rob Lowe run out during his sign-off and shout the name of whatever project he’s promoting.
