Let the record show that I think it’s wild that Jack Black hadn’t hosted Saturday Night Live in 20 years before taking the stage last week to host an episode of Season 50. However, there’s another wild fact about the last episode of the sketch comedy series to air on the 2025 TV schedule that we also need to discuss as well. And that is the fact that Jack Black actually hosted the first episode of SNL that Kenan Thompson was ever in.
So, there are levels to this fact that make it pretty mind-blowing to me. The first is simply that Jack Black hosted the very first episode of Saturday Night Live that Kenan Thompson was ever in. While speaking with EW about the host, the SNL mainstay opened up about this, and he spoke about how excited he was for the actor’s return to Studio 8H, saying:
He was my first host. I'm a ginormous fan of his. I'm just excited about this week.
On October 4, 2003, Jack Black hosted Saturday Night Live for a second time, and John Mayer was the musical guest. They kicked off Season 29, and that episode also served as Kenan Thompson’s debut on the show. Alongside him, Fred Armisen was also a featured player, and they were part of an all-star line-up that included Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Will Forte, Maya Rudolph, Seth Meyers and many, many more. Talk about a great SNL cast!
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After that, the A Minecraft Movie star returned to host on December 17, 2005. However, he didn’t come back to helm the show for a fourth time until 20 years later.
In that time, Kenan Thompson has become the longest-running Saturday Night Live cast member. He became this record holder back in 2022 during Season 47 when he hit 20 seasons on the show. Now, three years later, he’s at 23 seasons and 439 episodes (as of Jack Black’s 2025 episode).
Arguably, this makes the fact that the actor hosted the comedian’s first episode even wilder for two reasons. One is I love that Black was there for the star’s very first episode and could come back and host during such a historic season where Thompson is the most seasoned cast member on the show.
The other is that I can’t believe it took SNL this long to bring the School of Rock actor back. Kenan Thompson thought that too, as he said:
It's a long time and it's tough because he's one of our favorites for sure.
Hopefully, it doesn’t take SNL two decades to bring Jack Black back. However, if that is the case, Kenan Thompson has said the next milestone he could hit is “the forever cast member,” so no matter how long it takes to bring the host back, this comedian might still be there.
Jokes aside, it sounds like Saturday Night Live’s iconic cast member was thrilled to have the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle star on the show. Based on the following comment, it seems like he’d love to have him back, too, as he said:
Almost a maniac for comedy. He just has Farley energy, in regards to the physicality, but also being really smart with his approach to comedy and joke telling. So yeah, man, I'm excited.
Now, Jack Black has hosted SNL four times – in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2025.
With that in mind, and considering how beloved he is, it’d be silly not to bring him back and induct him into the Five Timers Club. If that happens, I hope Kenan Thompson gets to be there, considering the long and storied history these two have.
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