It’s one of the most common criticisms of SNL these days, right up there “IT’S NOT AS FUNNY AS IT USED TO BE”: there are too many monologues where the host sings. It doesn’t matter if they’re an actual musician; this season alone has seen singing-and-dancing introductions from the likes of Lady Gaga AND Jim Parsons. So I took a look back at every season since 1994-1995 (transcripts before then get a little spotty) and counted the number of musical monologues, to see if they are actually more prevalent now.
1994-1995 (4 musical monologues/20 episodes)
-Sarah Jessica Parker
-David Hyde Pierce
-John Goodman
-Courtney Cox
1995-1996 (6/20)
-Chevy Chase
-David Schwimmer
-Quentin Tarentino
-Madeline Kahn
-Christopher Walken
-Danny Aiello
1996-1997 (5/20)
-Martin Short
-Rosie O’Donnell
-Kevin Spacey
-David Alan Grier
-Mike Myers
1997-1998 (4/20)
-Nathan Lane
-John Goodman
-Garth Brooks
-David Duchovny
1998-1999 (4/19)
-Kelsey Grammer
-Joan Allen
-Bill Murray
-Drew Barrymore
1999-2000 (2/20)
-Alan Cumming
-Christopher Walken
2000-2001 (2/20)
-Sean Hayes
-Christopher Walken
2001-2002 (3/20)
-Gwyneth Paltrow
-Hugh Jackman
-Jack Black
2002-2003 (7/20)
-Eric McCormack
-Brittany Murphy
-Ray Liotta
-Jennifer Garner
-Christopher Walken
-Salma Hayek
-Dan Aykroyd
2003-2004 (3/20)
-Jack Black
-Megan Mullally
-Christina Aguilera
2004-2005 (6/20)
-Queen Latifah
-Jude Law
-Kate Winslet
-Robert De Niro
-Tom Brady
-Will Ferrell
2005-2006 (5/19)
-Steve Carell
-Catherine Zeta-Jones
-Jack Black
-Scarlett Johansson
-Kevin Spacey
2006-2007 (6/20)
-Jaime Pressley
-Justin Timberlake
-Jake Gyllenhaal
-Forest Whitaker
-Scarlett Johansson
-Zach Braff
2007-2008 (3/12)
-Jon Bon Jovi
-Amy Adams
-Jonah Hill
2008-2009 (4/22)
-Tim McGraw
-Hugh Laurie
-Dwayne Johnson
-Justin Timberlake
2009-2010 (7/22)
-Gerard Butler
-Taylor Swift
-Joseph Gordon-Levitt
-Blake Lively
-Zach Galifianakis
-Tina Fey
-Gabourey Sidibe
2010-2011 (11/22)
-Bryan Cranston
-Jane Lynch
-Scarlett Johansson
-Jeff Bridges
-Gwyneth Paltrow
-Dana Carvey
-Miley Cyrus
-Zach Galifianakis
-Helen Mirren
-Tina Fey
-Justin Timberlake
2011-2012 (6/22)
-Melissa McCarthy
-Charlie Day
-Jason Segel
-Jimmy Fallon
-Zooey Deschanel
-Maya Rudolph
2012-2013 (10/21)
-Seth MacFarlane
-Joseph Gordon-Levitt
-Christina Applegate
-Bruno Mars
-Anne Hathaway
-Jeremy Renner
-Jamie Foxx
-Martin Short
-Christoph Waltz
-Kristen Wiig
2013-2014 (8/14)
-Tina Fey
-Bruce Willis
-Lady Gaga
-Paul Rudd
-John Goodman
-Jimmy Fallon
-Drake
-Jim Parsons
So what did we learn? Well:
1. Musical monologues have skyrocketed in recent years. The three most musical-filled seasons: 2010-2011, 2012-2013, and 2013-2014. I’m guessing this has something to do with Lonely Island-inspired viral success.
2. When Christopher Walken and John Goodman host, they sing.