Henry hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live ten times, appearing first in 1976, and for the last time in 1980. It became a tradition in those four years that he hosted the last show of each season. Henry also hosted the only live remote attempted by SNL, broadcast live from Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Henry's frequent host record would be broken when Steve Martin hosted the 14th season finale in 1989.During the October 30, 1976 episode, Buck Henry was injured in the forehead by John Belushi's katana in the samurai sketch. Henry's head began to bleed and he was forced to wear a large bandage on his forehead for the rest of the show. As a gag, the members of the SNL cast each wore a bandage on their foreheads as well.

Recurring characters on SNL

Howard, a sadistic stunt coordinator
Marshall DiLaMuca, father of Bill Murray's character Todd in the Nerds sketches
Mr. Dantley, the straight man and frequent customer to Samurai Futaba's (John Belushi) many businesses.
Uncle Roy, a single, pedophilic babysitter who disguises his attempts at molesting the children he's watching (played by Gilda Radner and Laraine Newman) as games.