In 2006, Saturday Night Live cast members Will Forte and Andy Samberg appeared in a very surreal sketch about one guy consoling another on a stoop while both munched on two giant heads of lettuce.
“Lettuce” officially christened the SNL Digital Short, a format that a couple of weeks later would become immortal in the show’s history when Samberg called up fellow cast member Chris Parnell on a lazy Sunday about seeing the new Chronicles of Narnia film and getting some snacks beforehand.
“Lazy Sunday” (and later, one certain sketch where Samberg and Justin Timberlake did something very naughty with Christmas boxes) helped redefine what SNL was in the 2000s as the show learned to embrace the rising tide of internet culture. The SNL Digital Short remains a strong pillar of the show’s 21st-century success and gave us the genius of The Lonely Island.
Samberg and his collaborators Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone were behind most all of the SNL Digital Shorts, and their legacy on the sketch comedy series was cemented when that first “An SNL Digital Short” title card came.
The wonder of one of their shorts was, truly, you never knew what they were going to do, or who might pop up as a special guest star … or how many times you would catch yourself humming the song along in the car in the weeks to follow the initial air date.
Most of these SNL Digital Shorts are still cultural mainstays and are fondly remembered by those who caught them live or those who discovered them on YouTube a few years later. As SNL celebrates its 50th season, we’ve ranked the 25 best SNL Digital Shorts. Long live The Lonely Island!
Warning: A lot of NSFW videos below
Even after all of these years, The Lonely Island has (unsurprisingly) still got it. The most recent SNL Digital Short brought Samberg back for a very funny ode to calling the cops on your white neighbors. Charli XCX is a perfect fit for The Lonely Island’s tone, as it’s just absolutely delightful we got another SNL Digital Short this good after more than a decade of these being so infrequent.
“Rescue Dogs 3D” is a perfect satire of the early iPhone age, where Samberg plays a poor sap whose house is getting broken into and is unable to contact law enforcement because his phone keeps giving him advertisements for a children’s film called Rescue Dogs 3D. Samberg’s frantic inability to get past all the Rescue Dogs 3D hurdles is high comedy, and the twist at the end brings it all together. RIP Pizza Hut Delivery Guy.
“Space Olympics” is a nice example of The Lonely Island taking one stupid idea, Samberg singing as a futuristic spokesperson for the Space Olympics, and rerouting it into an equally stupid direction of said Space Olympics falling apart rapidly because of how bad an idea the Space Olympics are. Samberg’s overconfident bravado as the Space Olympics crumble around him is infectious. Also, look at that hairdo and those big, bushy white eyebrows! The costume department delivered.
The setup here is pretty simple and painfully funny. Samberg goes around and punches people right before they eat something. His gifts as a physical comic are on full display here. Samberg’s malevolent foiling of Will Forte’s desperate attempt to eat pizza provides this one’s best laughs.
Andy getting drunk with Paul Reubens’ Pee-wee Herman and “pranking” Anderson Cooper in the process was funny enough as it was. Watching some of Andy’s SNL castmates and some of Pee-wee’s Playhouse pals stage a mutual intervention for them that completely goes awry makes this even better. It’s a darn shame this is just an SNL Digital Short and not a full-length movie.
Samberg and longtime SNL Digital Short player Bill Hader play two police officers in this skit who start to treat their police station like the set of Broadway hit Stomp. The setup is clever enough, but you know this isn’t going to end well. When the Blue Man Group pops up, it most certainly does not. The way these Digital Shorts can change tone so rapidly into absolute chaos is part of why they were so brilliant. The laughs at the end of this one are just merciless. Poor Blue Man Group.
Samberg plays a man who is very, very, very heavily under the influence of cocaine, singing about what a great day he’s having. Of course, his vision of what makes for a great day and what’s actually going on around him are totally different. Samberg’s manic energy keeps this Disney number from Hell afloat, as does the breakneck pacing that matches Samberg’s coked-up jaunt.
“Shy Ronnie” is one of the best SNL Digital Shorts of all time, and its sequel is pretty great, too. Rihanna returns alongside our favorite silent accomplice as the two are robbing a bank (Ronnie & Clyde, get it?). Of course, Shy Ronnie isn’t willing to bring the house down until Rihanna leaves the room, and the results are just as funny as they were the first time. That high-pitched laugh still lingers in our mind, as does that sheepish look on Ronnie’s face when things get awkward.
MY NAME IS PARNS, P TO THE A-ARNS. SCOOPING BARGAINS UP AT ALL THE POTTERY BARNS!
This was the final SNL Digital Short during Samberg’s stint as a regular cast member, an electric sequel to “Lazy Sunday.” Sure, nothing can beat the original, but this is still a gold mine. The chemistry Samberg and Chris Parnell had stayed just as fresh in 2012 as it was in 2005. Being able to recreate a simple template like this with such gusto and intensity is why it’s such a classic.
Unless you have a working knowledge of former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, you might not find the humor in “Iran So Far.” However, this was a very effective way for the SNL Digital Short to dabble its feet in political comedy without losing its signature sense of humor. Fred Armisen makes for a perfect Ahmadinejad, and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine provides a catchy hook that had everyone back in 2007 singing along to this absurd slice of political satire.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GROUND!
Samberg’s over-aggressive, self-righteous beatnik hilariously fumbling his way through calling out the world’s hypocrisies over rage-filled spoken word “poetry” … how can you forget it? “Threw It On The Ground” was a fantastic example of the SNL Digital Short taking one single joke and stretching it out as far as it would go. Samberg fully commits to the bit, as he so often did, and he crushed it.
This John Waters-approved ode to being a creepy guy with slicked-back hair, a pencil ‘stache and horn-rimmed glasses is one of the most underappreciated SNL Digital Shorts. This is the rare short where Samberg, Schaffer and Taccone all get a chance to sing together, and the results are instantly memorable. The physical comedy of these three lurking their way through the song stands out, as does Nicki Minaj’s very enjoyable guest verse. Waters popping up on an old television set to give his blessing to The Lonely Island getting creepy with it was the icing on this very weird cake.
“YOLO” was The Lonely Island’s triumphant return to SNL after the original run of Digital Shorts, and it was an absolute banger. Bringing Levine back and then-budding rapper Kendrick Lamar into the fold was a stroke of genius as all three Lonely Island guys throw down this melodic tribute to hyper-safety. Turning “YOLO” into a paranoid person’s dream manifesto is why we love these guys.
Samberg and Hader tormented SNL head honcho Lorne Michaels with seven “Laser Cats” skits over the original SNL Digital Short run, and the gag somehow never got old. These started out as a silly, DIY sci-fi spoofs and eventually morphed into deeply cinematic tributes to filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Paul Verhoeven (the former two actually appearing in the sketches as themselves). While the SNL Digital Short will primarily be remembered for the songs, “Laser Cats” was a testament to how wonderful it can be to defiantly run a joke into the ground.
You already have this one stuck in your head, don’t you? Musician Akon spent most of the aughts and the beginning of the 2010s as one of our true anthem artists, and he helped The Lonely Island bring their biggest anthem to life with “I Just Had Sex.” This was a ridiculous celebration between Samberg and Taccone of achieving the absolute bare minimum in the bedroom, and the unbridled joy on both of their faces alongside Akon made this one really soar. The people around the world watching these three sing about very average lovemaking was such a funny side gag.
“Shy Ronnie” might be Samberg’s finest moment as a performer in the SNL Digital Shorts. You can’t help but marvel at his ability to go from the nebbish moptop in a sweater who can’t stand to speak while standing beside Rihanna to a hardcore rapper laying down some sick bars. Rihanna’s absolute annoyance at Shy Ronnie’s cowardice to join in the song (particularly his unfortunate accident in his khaki pants) cemented her as one of the best-ever celebrity guests in one of these.
“Natalie Raps” is one of the earliest SNL Digital Short successes, a fantastic showcase for a major celebrity willing to go for broke for the sake of the bit. Portman’s out-of-nowhere heel turn went instantly viral, helping set a tone of what people could expect from an SNL Digital Short. Samberg randomly popping up in a Viking hat for no reason just added to the abject silliness of it all.
“Okay, it turns out Michael Bolton is a major cinephile.” That’s the biggest takeaway from one of the all-time SNL Digital Short bangers, where The Lonely Island hires Bolton to bring together their club tune and in return gets Bolton singing about all of his favorite movies. He’s apparently just watched the Pirates of the Caribbean films, and he’s much more interested in singing about Jack Sparrow, the jester of Tortuga. Bolton digs deep to make this as euphoric as one of his biggest romantic ballads. The Lonely Island let Bolton go wild on this ridiculous concept, and it paid off.
“United Way” got grandfathered into the SNL Digital Short family after its broadcast, making it one of the best of the bunch. Peyton Manning’s SNL episode is the stuff of legend, and it’s still a joy to watch a sardonic version of Manning throw a football at a kid to knock him down and teach this group of youngsters all kinds of awful life lessons. Manning was such a good sport for mocking his All-American persona right after a Super Bowl win in what turned out to be an instant classic for the show and the format.
Samberg and Taccone’s painfully honest admission song of what happens when they get a bit too excited by a beautiful woman (or anything, really) still feels kind of shocking all these years later. It’s such a sophomoric concept, but The Lonely Island made a career of spinning those into comedy gold. The faces that Samberg and Taccone make when … y’know … are absolutely priceless, and it certainly helps that this is one of the best songs musically that the group ever made.
Topping “[Expletive] in a Box” was always going to be a gargantuan task, but Samberg and Justin Timberlake’s outstanding chemistry translated so, so well in “Motherlover.” It’s almost a better song than “[Expletive] in a Box” is, as these two doofuses decide to hook up with each other’s mothers for Mother’s Day. Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson play the lucky (?) ladies, totally bought into the absolute nonsense Samberg and Timberlake are peddling. Listening to these two harmonize over such a deliriously stupid-yet-impossibly catchy song is why the SNL Digital Short exists. Every now and then, you’d get music that was as good as the humor that accompanied it.
Spoofing The OC‘s infamous episode “The Dearly Beloved,” The Lonely Island uses Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” as a backdrop for a bunch of people shooting each other to the song for absolutely no reason. Deep belly laughs abound for the way each actor throws out a cinematic look of shock as the person shoots them, only in turn for the shooter to become the shot in nonsensical fashion. The concept here is one of the finest The Lonely Island ever crafted, as Heap’s auto-tuned “Mmm whatcha say” line will forever be associated with this hysterical random series of betrayals.
“[Expletive] in a Box” was a cultural moment. When it premiered in December 2007, the viral video had only been around for a couple of years. This SNL Digital Short, one where Samberg and Timberlake put their … y’knows … in a Christmas box for their loved ones, immediately blew up and basically redefined the Saturday Night Live experience overnight. If “Lazy Sunday” fired the first shot, “[Expletive] in a Box” fired the first canon through the brick wall. From here on out, this is what people craved out of the SNL Digital Short. The Lonely Island’s musically oriented skits always feel indebted to the genius of “[Expletive] in a Box.” It’s both a great comedic sketch and a great song, which Timberlake underlined in the recent documentary Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music was the goal. Mission accomplished, boys. Mission accomplished.
The second SNL Digital Short ever is the most consequential on this list. Without “Lazy Sunday,” we might not even have SNL Digital Shorts as we know them. Samberg and Parnell’s initial rap about hitting up some snacks before a Sunday matinee of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe broke the internet before one could even break the internet. In an age where anybody can go viral from their kitchen on TikTok, it’s hard to really understate what a groundbreaking moment this was for online comedy. Sure, the sketch originated on broadcast, but “Lazy Sunday” basically brought SNL into the digital age. This redefined the way people consumed the show and put more of an emphasis on getting these viral moments to pop after Saturday night’s broadcast was finished. It helps, all these years later, that “Lazy Sunday” is still an absolute banger.
Get your towels ready; it’s about to go down. The first time “I’m on a Boat” came on SNL, it felt like an asteroid hitting your funny bone. If you were of a certain age, you might have considered this to be the funniest thing you’d ever seen. Watching Samberg, Schaffer and T-Pain sing a breathtaking rap-pop anthem about the wonders of being on a boat felt like being handed something from the comedy gods. To this day, The Lonely Island’s finest hour came on the starboard bow. “I’m on a Boat” is a masterpiece in short-form comedy and the perfect example of how this comedic trio can still make great music out of such a mind-numbing concept as simply being on a boat. One could even argue this was a defining pop culture moment if you were in high school (*clears throat*) T-Pain’s inclusion is legendary, and we’re still giggling about swim trunks, flippie-floppies and nautical themed Pashmina Afghans 16 years later. Like Kevin Garnett, anything is possible.
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‘Saturday Night Live’ plans a massive 50th anniversary special. Who’s coming and how to watch
This combination of photos shows, top row from left, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, bottom row from left, Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg, and Adam Sandler. (AP Photo)
NEW YORK (AP) — The 50th anniversary celebration of “Saturday Night Live” is so big, it’s not even on Saturday.
Airing Sunday and spanning three hours, the, yes, live “SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration” will assemble a dream team of stars who have helped the show become an enduring pop culture force, including alumni like Tina Fey and Eddie Murphy, notable hosts like Dave Chappelle and Steve Martin and at least four of the surviving original cast members: Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman.
The show will also pack in musical guests, with Paul McCartney, Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny and Miley Cyrus among those scheduled to appear, as well. The special is double the usual 90 minutes of each “SNL” episode.
With so much television and comedy history to cover, here are some key things to know about the “SNL50” show.
NBC will air “SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration” on Sunday beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific.
The anniversary show will also stream on Peacock.
Oh, so many. NBC says in addition to Murphy, Fey and some of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players, you can expect: Adam Sandler, Amy Poehler, Andy Samberg, Chris Rock, Fred Armisen, Jason Sudeikis, Jimmy Fallon, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Molly Shannon, Pete Davidson, Seth Meyers, Tracy Morgan, Will Ferrell and Will Forte. Current cast member Kenan Thompson’s appearance was also touted.
Martin, who has left an indelible comedic mark on “SNL” over the years, will be among the many successful hosts returning for the show’s 50th celebration.
Other prolific and returning hosts range from actors like Tom Hanks, Martin Short, and Scarlett Johansson (who is married to current “SNL” cast member Colin Jost) to athletes like Peyton Manning. Former “SNL” writer John Mulaney will appear, as will Adam Driver, Ayo Edebiri, Kim Kardashian, Paul Simon, Pedro Pascal, Quinta Brunson, Robert De Niro and Woody Harrelson.
No, the show is on a break this week. Timothée Chalamet hosted the most recent “Saturday Night Live” broadcast, on Jan. 25. He did double duty, performing Bob Dylan songs — Chalamet plays Dylan in the Oscar-nominated film “A Complete Unknown” and spent years preparing for the role.
But fans tuning in Saturday night during the regular time slot can see the show’s very first episode, from October 1975 and hosted by George Carlin, beginning at 11:30 p.m. Eastern and 8:30 p.m. Pacific.
Music is a huge part of “SNL” and a mix of global artists are scheduled to make an appearance on “SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration.” It’s important to note that NBC hasn’t specifically said artists like McCartney, Cyrus, Bad Bunny and others will perform.
Lovers of music on “SNL” have other chances to celebrate. NBC has scheduled “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” for Friday night. It’ll stream live on Peacock, beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific.
The Backstreet Boys, Lady Gaga, Post Malone, Bad Bunny, Jack White, Cyrus, Robyn, Bonnie Raitt are some of the planned performances.
The musical legacy of “SNL” is also explored in the documentary “Ladies and Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music,” from Oscar-winner Questlove. It’s currently streaming on Peacock.
“Watching ‘SNL’ those first seasons gave me a musical vocabulary that I don’t think would have happened on its own,” he told The Associated Press last month before the special aired.
The first “Saturday Night Live” cast was known as the Not Ready for Prime Time Players and consisted of Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Laraine Newman, Dan Aykroyd, Garrett Morris and Jane Curtin.
Radner and Belushi have since died. Aykroyd’s absence from the list of returning cast members was unclear, though he posted enthusiastically about the 50th anniversary on social media last week. Aykroyd’s publicist did not return the AP’s request for comment.
As part of its anniversary celebration, Peacock is streaming a four-part documentary series, “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night,” about the show.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
‘SNL’ turns 50: We rank the best cast members in show’s history for anniversary special
What makes a good “Saturday Night Live” cast member?
Is it a Rolodex of classic characters to call upon? Is it a willingness to wear wigs and look stupid? Is it Weekend Update banter, or pure star power?
Over 50 seasons, 167 cast members, once called the “Not Ready for Primetime Players,” have walked across NBC’s Studio 8H stage, some for a few short months and others for over a decade (Kenan Thompson holds the record at 22 years). Alumni have gone on to become Oscar and Emmy winners, box-office superstars, late-night hosts, multi-hyphenate producers and even a U.S. senator. But no matter their success after they leave 30 Rockefeller Center, there is a certain special formula that makes a comedian successful while they’re on “SNL.” And let’s just say no matter how big a box-office draw he has been since, Robert Downey Jr. (1985-86) didn’t hack it on the late-night show.
In honor of the show’s 50th anniversary special (Sunday, 8 EST/ 5 PST), we’ve ranked the 50 best cast members “SNL” has ever had. We’re talking official cast members only, for the years they were on camera (many started as writers before making their on-screen debuts). So we’re not including hosts or musical guests, no matter how many classic sketches they were a part of (sorry, Steve Martin fans).
Of course everyone’s favorite “SNL” cast is the one they grew up with, so you’ll likely take issue with many of the placements on our list. But you can vote for your favorites in the poll at the bottom of the story, and tell us how wrong we are in the comments.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
The most recently hired cast member to make the list, Yang is a season or two away from cementing his classic status. He uses his strong personality to his advantage, whether in sketches with a uniquely East Asian point of view or when his silly and cheeky side allows him to dress up as anything from a drone to an iceberg on Weekend Update. There is so much comedy left for him, and we can’t wait to see it.
The brassy, brash comedian is certainly not to everyone’s taste, but through the power of his whiny “that’s the ticket!” energy as infamous liar Tommy Flanagan, Lovitz helped “SNL” get through its infamously bad 11th season and become a pop culture institution. He gets credit where it’s due.
No one stood shorter on the Studio 8H stage than Oteri, whose boundless energy matched with her small stature made her a perfect foil for Will Ferrell as a cheerleader in those classic late-1990s sketches and many more.
Understated doesn’t always work on a show as loud as “SNL,” but Dunn won laughs with just a sly smile and a twinkly voice in her signature disaffected Pat Stevens character (the former model thinks fur is murder … to clean). And when paired with giddy castmate Jane Hooks, Dunn (literally) sang.
Never the bride but always the perfect bridesmaid for whatever sketch required his services, Parnell was a solid working man on the series. There’s no “more cowbell” without Parnell’s character getting annoyed at Ferrell. There’s no “Lazy Sunday” without Parnell joining Andy Samberg to see “The Chronicles of Narnia.” He was no show pony, but he was reliably funny nonetheless.
Yes, before “Seinfeld” and “Veep,” the Emmy-winning actress had a brief “SNL” stint. She lasted only three seasons and never unlocked her full potential, but her tenure served as an incubator for her later greatness. And just as in her later work, she never was funnier than when she rolled her eyes or said something cannily stupid.
High-pitched, low-pitched, frantic, slow, Killam could play straight men and ridiculous brain-damaged dancing hippies in the same episode. His brutal (and somehow adorable) 19th-century newspaper critic Jebidiah Atkinson roasted everything from “I Love Lucy” to “SNL” itself.
Before he was Ted Lasso, he was every Ted-like character “SNL” had to offer. His aw-shucks face was his biggest asset as Joe Biden and even the devil himself. Sudeikis retained his likability and goofiness in every sketch, even if sometimes he was one-note. After “SNL,” he used that affability to his huge advantage.
Many eras of “SNL” required a guy to stand in the corner of a sketch and shout with increasing panic about what’s going on. Right now, that’s Day, a bold, loud and expressive performer who steals the show in supporting roles and creates characters that stay just on the safe side of annoying.
Although you may think of NBC’s “Late Night” host as more of a writer than a performer on “SNL,” the endearing comedian was in a shocking number of sketches in his 13-year on-camera run. But it was of course on Weekend Update where he really sang, or shouted “REALLY?!” His charm and bravado won hearts (and his talk-show gig).
From Weekend Update to the Coneheads to a dozen thankless and often sexist roles the writers threw at her, Curtin gracefully played the hell out of every moment in her five years on the show, even when she was the punchline (“Jane, you ignorant slut”). Composure was her superpower.
Bennett joined “SNL” in an era when it didn’t seem like the series needed any more white dudes in its already homogenous cast (in fact, the series was infamously lambasted for not including a Black woman at the time). But Bennett carved out a cozy place for himself with memorable straight-faced characters like the man with the body of a baby and his monotone version of former Vice President Mike Pence.
Morgan was so good on Tina Fey’s “SNL”-inspired sitcom “30 Rock,” just after his “SNL” tenure, that it almost overshadowed the work he did in Studio 8H. But from deranged/idiotic animal show host Brian Fellow to outwardly lusty Astronaut Jones, Morgan specialized in characters that were just a little bit off and could make you laugh by bucking expectations.
Underrated and underutilized, original cast member Newman was part of the trio of original women on the show including Gilda Radner and Curtin, and all three often upstaged their showier male co-stars. Newman especially had a deadpan delivery that could slap you right through the TV and an unpredictability in the kinds of characters she could play, going from a whiny teenage Conehead to sexy/ditzy TV host easily.
Sometimes it seemed as if Vanessa Bayer was on her own wavelength separate from the rest of the cast, but what a delightfully funny wavelength that was. Her specialty of playing gleeful, spacey characters never got old.
Living proof that bigger is almost always better, Jones, who came from the world of stand-up comedy rather than sketch like so many of her peers, made no effort to fit into the crowd. She always went big and never went home with every character and sketch.
In early 1990s on “SNL,” Chris Farley was bombastic, Adam Sandler was a bro, and Tim Meadows was there to look perplexed and tired. And there was no one with a better incredulous expression and heavy sigh.
Wacky, versatile and with an ability to blend into any aesthetic, Gardner fills the role on the current cast carved out by the likes of Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon: the easygoing, chameleonic leading lady who can get laughs no matter what. Among the current cast, there is no one more reliable.
For 10 years, Bryant delivered comedy and characters that ranged from really disgusting (in a good way) to really quite sweet, all the while never letting herself get painted as “the fat one.” She was a strong third of a magic trio that included Cecily Strong and McKinnon, and kept “SNL” comfortably funny for a decade.
His stand-up, film and “SNL” hosting career overshadowed his time as a member of the cast, but Rock’s cocksure outrage, natural magnetism and singular point of view worked wonders when he hit up Studio 8H on a weekly basis.
The King of “breaking” (giggling on air) might have made it higher on this list if not for his penchant of stopping a sketch in its tracks because he couldn’t keep a straight face. Still, it’s undeniable what Fallon’s many impressions (from Mick Jagger to Adam Sandler), goofy characters (like dreadlocked Jarret) and Weekend Update parody songs did for the 2000s-era, even when he laughed at himself.
An acquired taste, much like his contemporaries Bill Hader and Fred Armisen, the awkward, soft-spoken cast member was more than the dopey MacGruber sketches (yes, his most famous character might actually have been his worst). He didn’t need all the explosions and exclamations, just a really silly concept and commitment, like spelling a word very, very wrong.
For a while in the early 1990s, it was Mike Myers’ (or Wayne’s) world, and the rest of us were just living in it. His lovable rock ‘n’ roll nerd with a basement cable-access show led to two films, but it was his even more ambitious characters, like the “verklempt” talk show host Linda Richman, such a specific and lived-in character, that showed off the range of his skill.
Yes, she was a superstar with smelly pits and awkward big dreams, but she was also a multifaceted performer with a trademark style. During weaker seasons, Shannon brought life and energy to the show, whether playing a soft-spoken NPR host or her iconic Mary Katherine Gallagher, a boisterous Catholic school girl with some serious boundary issues.
Chase was an undeniable force in the original cast, from his looks to his charm to his very detectable smarm. He was on the show for a year but left an indelible mark as the first Weekend Update anchor and some of the best sketches the show ever did, like racial-boundary-pushing “Word Association” with Richard Pryor. If he had stayed longer he’d be higher on this list, but who knows how that would have affected his career.
Macdonald’s derisory line readings brought magic to his Burt Reynolds impression or farcical realism to a “West Side Story”-inspired bit. But his real brilliance was as a cynical Weekend Update anchor, who did everything from sharply critique the O.J. Simpson trial (which reportedly got him fired) to make very easy (but very funny) wordplay about the band Better than Ezra.
She may look demure, and she may have gone for soft-spoken in the infamous “Schweddy Balls” sketch, but don’t be fooled. Gasteyer was as brash, crass and brutal in her humor as any of the guys, an equal match for Will Ferrell in any shouty sketch.
A lovable doofus in live sketches and digital shorts alike, Samberg got miles out of his goofy grin and silly punchlines. The concepts were usually simple (male genitalia in a box), but the execution was so over the top and committed that the laughs went on and on.
Armisen did a lot (some might say too much) on “SNL.” (It was just wrong when he played President Barack Obama). He used his deeply idiosyncratic personality to create unforgettable characters, including Venezuelan nightclub comedian Fericito or a “Californian,” and sketches that were almost too weird. But you just had to trust him, and the laughs would come.
Before there was Pete Davidson and his self-deprecating stand-up routine or Samberg and his Lonely Island or even Fallon and his puka-shell charm, there was Adam Sandler bringing the bro to “SNL” for all to see. His humor was broad, his appeal was wide and his man/child persona launched a slew of movies and imitators. And one day the “Hanukkah Song” got out of our heads.
You may not want to talk to her at a party, but Strong’s strong work on the series often made her an unsung hero. Her businesslike personality made her a superb (if too short-lived) Weekend Update host, and whether she was roasting George Clooney or playing the wife in a sketch (again), she kept her tight grip on the humor, and the point.
With a brow line that never quit, Hader played some of the show’s best jerks and weirdos, complemented by Armisen and Forte. But his talent shows best in that his most famous character, hyper Weekend Update nightlife lover Stefon, was so against his natural type.
The sardonic comedian’s “SNL” legacy is mostly wrapped up in her time as head writer, breaking into a notorious boys club and bringing sketches about mom jeans and Kotex. But her legacy as a performer nearly begins and ends with her zeitgeist-shattering impression of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential campaign. Her takedown of the ditzy, gaffe-prone Alaskan governor contributed to what seemed like a shocking and unprecedented election cycle. Now it feels quaint and simple.
Three words: “Suck it, Trebek!” Darrell Hammond brought a certain gruffness and disgust to his characters on the series, but for a good reason. From Sean Connery on “Celebrity Jeopardy!” to Bill Clinton in the midst of his biggest scandal, Hammond found the funny when others may not have. He stuck around for 14 seasons of playing those kinds of jerks, the show’s second-longest run, and returned in 2014 as the show’s announcer, replacing veteran Don Pardo after he died.
The series’ sexy, sweet virtuoso, Hooks was the everywoman “SNL” desperately needed in the late ’80s, grounding every sketch with her bright smile. Most memorably in “Brenda the Waitress,” she also brought intense heat and personality, elevating a quiet sketch to something greater. That was always easy for the magnetic star.
One thing about Rachel Dratch was that she was never afraid to look ridiculous. The Boston comedian’s characters were often absurd or total downers, never sexy or smooth. But her total commitment (even when no one could stop laughing on camera) made her Debbie and her “luvah” completely convincing, and completely hilarious.
A replacement for the quickly departed Chase, Murray slotted right into the original group of Not Ready for Primetime Players as if he were always there. Less of a showman than he would later be as a movie star, Murray filled out sketches where needed and provided reliable everyman gags and humor: He made all the “cheeburgers” in the background while John Belushi made the jokes in one of the series’ most famous sketches of all time. A highlight where Murray took center stage is his version of Superman/Clark Kent as a loser who can’t keep Lois Lane happy.
Many “SNL” fans would put Wiig, one of the show’s most valuable players, much higher on any “greatest” list. And there’s no denying the sheer breadth of her characters and bits, from Gilly to the Target Lady to Liza Minnelli trying to turn off a lamp. But while Wiig’s accomplishments were many and great, her style was so specific that it could be limiting or even grating. Her characters were often intentionally exasperating and inane, which made them teeter close to the edge of plain irritating. But thankfully for Wiig and the series, fans flocked to her point of view.
The longest-running cast member has seen some things, and done some things. There are fully fledged adults who have never lived in a world without Kenan Thompson on “SNL.” But the former Nickelodeon star isn’t just a part of the scenery. He’s a journeyman who can hold an entire sketch together, whether he’s the star or the second fiddle. That he has kept an extremely high standard of comedy for more than two decades on a show as physically and mentally grueling as this is an achievement all on its own, but Thompson has grown with it. No matter how much longer he sticks around, his name will always be inextricably linked with “SNL.”
The dependable and earnest comedian was just the man creator Lorne Michaels needed to call last year to play Joe Biden, because in the 1980s and 1990s Carvey was the heart and soul of “SNL.” His impressions aren’t just imitations: They are dark and thoughtful, often revealing something we all needed to see about a public figure, from Biden to Ross Perot to George H.W. Bush.
There is very little Michaels and “SNL” didn’t ask Rudolph to do during her seven seasons (and the many times she has been back since then). She did it all, from Beyoncḗ to the Bronx Beat to Barbra Streisand. Rudolph is a chameleon who blends into any impression or sketch because she just feels right. She is so infinitely watchable and adaptable that it’s unlikely Kamala Harris’ unsuccessful presidential bid will be the last we see of Rudolph on “SNL.”
Like your dad if he put a fish in a blender and called it a “Bass-O-Matic,” Akyroyd was the paternal embrace of the original “SNL” cast. Authority, warmth and absurdity all equally ruled his comedic style. His Julia Child impression goes far beyond the idea of a man playing a woman, his half of the Blues Brothers brought gravitas to Belushi’s silliness, and his raised eyebrow brought cynicism and depth to all his sketches.
Not since Wiig and Ferrell has any performer dominated “SNL” the way McKinnon did at her peak. She played Ellen DeGeneres, an alien abductee, a babushka and a cat lady. It felt as if she were the star of every sketch. McKinnon’s physical comedy outpaced almost any other “SNL” performer; she never failed to put her whole body into a character. And while plenty of “SNL” players broke out laughing, McKinnon made others do so while staying cool as a cucumber, or as cool as a woman who had aliens playing with her knockers.
When Farley attacked a sketch on “SNL,” it was as if a tidal wave crashed through the studio. Whether he was a motivational speaker who LIVED IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER or an aspiring Chippendales dancer, he was a gale-force wind who would knock you out. His trademark bombast made some of his quieter sketches, as when he interviewed celebrities on a fake talk show, all the more affecting and sweet.
Poehler was the rare cast member who started off great and got even better with every appearance, honing her comedy muscle (and Hillary Clinton impression) to a sharp edge. She was a force in sketches and on Weekend Update and had chemistry with every cast member she acted with (especially with bestie Fey), even while pregnant − for that alone she should receive some kind of medal. For all the laughs she gave us, we can only say thank you.
Dominant is the best word to describe Ferrell’s time on the show: physically dominant from his towering height, vocally dominant with his audacious shouts and screams, and dominant of the spotlight with the sheer number of sketches in which he took the lead. As a writer and performer, he was responsible for some of the most beloved bits of all time, from “More Cowbell” to “Celebrity Jeopardy,” but all the while he could also just lose his cool to generate uproarious laughter.
John Belushi was weird. There was no denying it, especially in 1975, when both he and “SNL” were unknown quantities. But he was weird in just the right way, at just the right time. He was a killer bee, a “Soul Man,” a Captain Kirk and a samurai. He was loud and brash but soft and understated when he needed to be. He took the live element of the show right to the edge with bloody accidents and then-taboo bits. “SNL” made him a rock star of comedy, and he helped make it must-watch TV.
Watching Gilda Radner do sketch comedy is like watching an NBA all-star take a layup. It’s easy, effortless. Radner, who died in 1989, was just naturally effervescent, charming and funny. Her characters were sweet but cringey, wholesome but edgy, funny but devilishly smart. You never got the sense that she was trying very hard, but whether she was “nerd” Lisa Loopner (with Murray as fellow nerd Todd) or Roseanne Roseannadanna, she just opened her mouth and the funny came out. That’s a rare talent.
The showiest, most famous and popular “SNL” players often play blustery characters who take up all the air in the room. Hartman wasn’t that kind of guy, but his value was unquantifiable. While Farley shouted about his van by the river, Hartman wore khakis and kept his cool as the grown-up in the room. But sketches don’t work without a straight man, and Hartman was always the smooth operator gluing a million wacky sketches together with a casual smile. His Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan were funnier than anyone else’s, his Sinatra was almost as suave as the real thing, and his “up for it” attitude made plenty of comedic genius.
No cast member has made a bigger impact on the show or created a better launching pad for their career than Eddie Murphy. For five years, the man was “SNL”; the linchpin on which every sketch was built and every joke was centered. From Mister Robinson’s neighborhood, which parodied Fred Rogers with a biting satire of what white people think of the “ghetto,” to manic mumbling Little Rascal Buckwheat to a too-perfect impression of James Brown singing and dancing in a hot tub, it was impossible to take your eyes off Murphy on Saturday nights. He wrote his sketches, performed them with a magnetism unseen on TV, and shepherded the series through half a decade without Michaels while keeping things achingly funny − a pop culture achievement for the history books.
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