Conan O'Brien Says Give Elon Musk a Shot at Hosting 'SNL'

Conan O'Brien says non-professional comedians like Elon Musk make perfect 'SNL' hosts ... and funny ones too, so he says viewers might be pleasantly surprised.

We got Conan Wednesday on his way out of the famous L.A. diner Swingers, and he gave us some insight on what Elon and the 'SNL' cast are going through right now. Remember, he was a writer on the show from 1988 to 1991. He revealed it's actually the non-comedians he considered "dream guests" back in the day when he was one of the show's writers.

Conan tells us the fact Elon isn't a comedian or an actor makes him a dream guest -- or at least it did back in his day. Not buying it? Well, watch the clip ... Conan explains his "fish outta water" theory for getting big laughs in sketches.

Our photog tried to get him to suggest some new material for Elon, but Conan's no fool ... and we can't afford his rate.

As for some 'SNL' cast members publicly grousing about Lorne Michaels' decision to have Elon host this weekend -- Conan says a lot sure has changed since his time there.

BTW, we also got Pete Davidson arriving at Rockefeller Center and the funny man sang Elon's praises. Seems he wasn't one of the cast members pissed about working with Elon.