The role Ted Danson called the “scariest thing on the planet” and why he’d “never do it again”
Fear can be a powerful tool for actors, with nerves and trepidation pushing them outside of their comfort zone and into uncharted territory, which often yields greatness. However, if you’re Ted Danson, once was more than enough to make him know he never wanted to do it again.
He definitely has a comfort zone, with the veteran having settled into his groove of being a sitcom guy. It’s a niche he’s been occupying for over 40 years, and the results speak for themselves, with Danson anchoring multiple small-screen comedies over decades, so he’s evidently pretty good at it, too.
From over 200 episodes of Cheers beginning in 1982 to Netflix’s A Man on the Inside being renewed for a third season in 2026, with six seasons of Becker, 34 appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Good Place sandwiched in between, he’s basically sitcom royalty at this point.
And yet, it was comedy of a different kind that gave him a case of the shivers. From the outside looking in, you’d think there aren’t many stars in the business more comfortable than standing in front of a live studio audience and cracking jokes, since that had been his bread and butter for so long.
However, Saturday Night Live is a completely different ballgame from the sitcom surroundings he’d become accustomed to, with Danson confessing that he’d basically shit a brick. On February 11th, 1989, Danson would serve as the show’s guest host for the first and last time, deciding then and there that it was an experience he never wanted to repeat.
He did make a cameo two years later when his Cheers co-star Kristie Alley fronted SNL, but swinging by for a guest spot during her opening monologue was the last time he was ever on the sketch staple. Presumably, he’s been offered the chance to return since then, but it’s something he wouldn’t even consider.
When SNL‘s resident immovable object, Kenan Thompson, suggested that he give it another whirl in 2021, Danson immediately shut it down. “Scariest thing on the planet, I’d never do it again,” he declared, before offering his reason why. “You guys are comedy commandos, and you have a crapload of youth and adrenaline.”
Not only is he too scared, but Danson also thinks he’s too old for it these days. That’s a bit of a defeatist attitude, to be honest, especially when, if he were to host for a second time before turning 80 in December 2027, he’d still only be the fifth-oldest compere in Saturday Night Live history.
Morgan Freeman is ten years older, and he’d love to get the call to front an SNL episode, but Danson remains permanently scarred by the sheer nerve-wracking terror he felt three and a half decades ago.
