David Schwimmer reveals the SNL internet hosting mistake he made that left him ‘traumatized’
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David Schwimmer has reflected on his time hosting Saturday Night Live back in 1995, and the one mistake he made that left writers fuming with him.
On Monday (January 13), the actor appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where he discussed the SNL episode he hosted 30 years ago.
“I was the first in the cast of Friends to be invited to host Saturday Night Live, and it was a huge honor. It was 1995, just a year after the show aired,” he prefaced.
However, because of the sitcom’s filming schedule, Schwimmer was not able to make it to the SNL set until only two days before the live taping. “Friends, at that time, was shooting on Tuesday nights and we were shooting until sometimes 1 in the morning, and so I had to fly from LA to New York on Wednesday to get [to SNL],” he told the talk show host.
“I really didn’t get to arrive at SNL until Thursday, two days before the Saturday show.”
He added: “And when I walked into the writer’s room, the entire writer’s room looked at me as if I had just slept with their mom… They were not happy to see me and I had no idea.”
Schwimmer said he “got through the next two days but I was kinda traumatized.”
A few years later, Schwimmer discovered that the hosts of SNL were supposed to arrive for rehearsals on Monday and not on Thursday as he did.
“It wasn’t until years later that I was talking to someone else who had hosted the show and they said, ‘No no you’re supposed to show up on a Monday,’” he said. “No one told me and for years I had no idea why.”
Schwimmer then revealed that despite his mistake, he received an invitation to host SNL’s 50th anniversary special on February 16. Although he admitted that he wasn’t sure whether or not he should go in case the invite was some kind of prank.
“It’s been 30 years and I’m thinking, ‘Well maybe they forgot? That they don’t like me?’ Or it’s just some intern that’s tasked with emailing everyone who’s ever hosted,” he said. “I don’t know what to do.”
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Leading up to the sketch comedy show’s anniversary, various SNL comedians have spoken out about their time on the show, including how they spent their first paychecks.
Last month SNL alums spoke with New York Magazine for an Instagram video where they were all asked, “What was your biggest splurge with your first SNL paycheck?”
Pete Davidson was shown first, as he reflected on his eight seasons on SNL before departing the series in 2022. “Do you guys know what they pay us?” he asked, before answering the question. “It’s, like, three grand an episode. So, I think I got dinner.”
SNL will return from its holiday break on Saturday, January 18 with Dave Chappelle returning for his fourth turn as host with musical guest GloRilla.
