SNL's Anti-TV Host Bias: Insiders Try to Explain the Inexplicable | TVLine 

Casey Affleck is many things. A great actor is one of them; a household name is not. He’s certainly no Norman Reedus. Or Kristen Bell.

star to serve as the show’s final host of 2016 underscores a perplexing trend at the long-running late-night sketch show, one in which even marginally known movie stars are considered more viable hosting material than A-list TV talent.

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Consider for a second that the following TV stars have

taken the Studio 8H stage: the aforementioned Reedus or Andrew Lincoln from the well-watched

‘s Ellen Pompeo or onetime leading man Patrick Dempsey, 

‘ Emilia Clarke or Lena Headey… and the list goes on.

In fact, we crunched the numbers, and over the past five-and-a-half seasons, only 20-ish percent of

 hosts have been “TV stars” (i.e. actors whose primary gig at the time was a TV series and

a TV series). And of that 20 percent, many of the TV stars’ hosting gigs

the release of a major movie in which they starred. For example, while Chris Pratt’s Season 40 hosting stint occurred while he was still on

Aside from starring in a buzzy film, two other criteria give TV stars the occasional leg up: being an

alum (see: Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg, Jimmy Fallon, Maya Rudolph), or a singer with a huge following (

All told, since the 2011-12 season — out of more than 100 hosts — you can count on three hands the number of non-

alum TV stars who went “Live, from New York!” Here’s the list:

‘s Christina Applegate and the aforementioned Vergara. And sources close to two of the above A-listers (who requested anonymity) tell me that they had to work fairly hard to sell the

brass on said actor/actress before a commitment was made.

“It’s perplexing for sure,” noted one of the frustrated publicists. “It’s at the point where we don’t even bother pitching them a TV client because we know it’ll be met with silence. Or they’ll say, ‘Yes, we’re tracking them,’ and that’s the last we’ll hear. It’s frustrating.”

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Lest you postulate NBC is loathe to draw attention to a competing show, it would seem that even being on a Peacock series doesn’t give you an advantage. If it did,

star Bell would’ve hosted the season opener, and any cast member of NBC’s breakout hit

would be fronting this weekend’s show. After all, as one insider points out, “Lorne Michaels is not beholden to NBC when it comes to booking guest hosts. He has, for the most part, complete autonomy.” (Michaels declined TVLine’s request for comment.)

One could argue that production schedules are a unique obstacle to TV talent participation. It’s tough for an actor shooting 14-hour days to find the time to go to the grocery store, let alone spend a week in New York in the middle of the TV season. But after talking to nearly a half-dozen studio and network executives, we were hard-pressed to find one example of a guest-hosting overture that fell through due to scheduling conflicts. As one exec insists, “We never had an offer we could not accommodate.” Networks and studios view overhauling a production schedule as a small price to pay for the kind of exposure an

gig can bring (hence ABC’s willingness to let Washington — who is pretty much in every scene of

Another exec at a major TV studio said they would move “heaven and earth” to ensure the star of one of their shows could host

. “Unfortunately,” that insider sighs, “we’ve rarely had that problem.”

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So what’s behind the double standard? The entertainment business as a whole has long since gotten past TV’s “second-class” status, so why not

? Everyone we spoke to was hard-pressed to explain the ongoing slights, with one exec reasoning that perhaps Michaels “feels that TV stars are too accessible and not as ‘mysterious’ as a movie star who only becomes available once a year, when they have a movie to promote.”

Another longtime publicist puts it more bluntly, sniffing, “It’s snobbery, plain and simple.”

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That’s interesting considering they started a #snlhost trend a few months back and I remember a large majority of the responses being TV stars (I personally submitted Tatiana Maslany). Wonder if any of them are being considered. SNL has not been entertaining to me (save a few sketches now and then – David S. Pumpkins anyone?) for several years now anyway, but it does seem a shame that so many talented actors are being overlooked.

I’ve been watching SNL for as long as I can remember. Im also a HUGE tv watcher. I have to say, I have honestly never thought about this. And now it’s all I’m going to think about. Ok, not really. But it seems like they are definitely missing out on a huge talent pool. I can think of a few hosts in the last few years that were just terrible and could have easily been replaced by one of my tv faves.

Jane Lynch also hosted during one of the first seasons of Glee.

Her episode was in October 2010. This study starts with the 2011-12 season.

Casey Affleck? Jesus. Maybe TV doesn’t have enough rapey white dudes with racist girlfriends.

I also find it weird, especially since we now live in a golden age of television – so many great shows with amazing acting talent! I understand that film stars get more attention and that’s why they are hosting SNL so often these days (also considering that most people tune in to SNL nowadays only because of the host, the days of Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig etc. when people tuned in to watch them perform are over), but I say give TV stars more hosting gigs! I think it would be way more fun to have them host.

Too right! It is snobbery. Granted, most “SNL” guest hosts (whether they are hosting for the fourth time of not) are “plugging a movie” as opposed to a TV show which, potentially, could take eyeballs away from NBC.

With TV now providing the best entertainment right now, you’d think “SNL” would be clamoring for this talent. Shoot, why not have Charlie Cox and Krysten Ritter team up for an episode when “The Defenders” drops?

Not any of Ausiello’s faves listed in the first paragraph interested me much. Sorry!

I think SNL does TV Stars a favor. Who wants to be associated with such weekly sub-par writing

I *think* Steve Carrell hosted during “The Office” days, but I always wondered why other cast members (John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Jenn Fischer, Mindy Kaling) never did. Seemed like a great opportunity for both shows and the actors.

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