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The 10 Greatest Cast Members Of 'Saturday Night Live'

April 7th, 2008 2:30pm EDT Post a comment

Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! These seven words have been shouted from Studio 8H of Rockefeller Center since Lorne Michaels created "Saturday Night Live" in 1975. The original name of the show was simply "Saturday Night" because at the time ABC had a show entitled "Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell."

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28 Member Comments

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Mon Apr 7 2008 14:34:13 By: SilentBob (

2937)
Great list.
RIP Phil, Chris and John!
No one did it like those guys.

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Mon Apr 7 2008 14:52:14 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
Thanks Silent Bob! Agreed that those guys are missed along with Gilda.

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Mon Apr 7 2008 15:06:12 By: zombiefightsshark (

15)
Great list! The only people I'd add would be Bill Murray and Adam Sandler, but Murray really was only good on SNL retroactively and Sandler was always just... you know... Adam Sandler. Also I wouldn't really want to remove any of the ten you chose... so... yeah. Thumbs up. Oh and I especially think it's awesome that you put Amy Poehler on there... totally love her.

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Mon Apr 7 2008 15:17:45 By: Agent Smith (

5412)
Very disappointed that Billy Crystal isn't on this list.
Amy 'latch on and ride Tina Fey's coattails' Poehler has no business on this list.

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Mon Apr 7 2008 15:20:51 By: rob who had a broken foot (

130)
i'd take jan hooks over poehler. of course, i'd take chris farley playing carney wilson in the 'musicians for free range chickens' skit as a better female cast member than poehler. i loathe poehler. but hooks was strong.

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Mon Apr 7 2008 15:34:56 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@ZombiefightsShark: Agree 100%. That is the reason Murray and Sandler were left off. Murray was great but Belushi was the star.
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@Agent Smith: No way. He was only on for one season and that was the year Ebersol hired big names that were already established. Just like Martin Short and Chris Guest that same season. Ebersol wanted to go out with an All Star Team. Crystal was good, but one of the ten best for one season? I don't see it.

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Mon Apr 7 2008 15:44:13 By: 666_Steinbrener (

984)
Mike R... I agree Billy Crystal not even close to making my list. Toss up for me on Hartman or Belushi.

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Mon Apr 7 2008 16:50:08 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@rob with the broken foot: Hooks was good, but name one character she played other than the Sweeney sisters? And I never really found the Sweeney Sisters that funny.
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@666_Steinbrener: Yeah, those two were tough to pick from. I just thought Hartman was a better supporting character than Belushi. Both were strong in the lead role.

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Mon Apr 7 2008 18:58:31 By: Stewart172 (

21)
Great list Mike, you nailed it. I made a quick list in my head before reading your post. My top 5 in order: Hartman, Ferrell, Murphy, Myers, and MacDonald. I love that you added Norm, way underrated. Perfect tone delivering the weekend update, also an amusing Letterman. Can you sell me a hot dog? From the original cast I prefer Akroyd to Belushi. As a kid my favorite was Steve Martin, didn't realize until the mid-80's that he was never a cast member. Go Sudeikis and Wiig!

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Mon Apr 7 2008 19:01:22 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@Stewart172: Thanks! I forgot to mention for me the hardest one to leave off was Dana Carvey. If this was a top eleven Dana Carvey would have been eleventh.

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Mon Apr 7 2008 19:33:53 By: Mr A Knife (

13)
As I was reading all that kept running through my head is "Phil Hartman better be #1, Phil Hartman better be #1". Thank you for getting that right and saving me from having to go scorched earth and burn the entire internet down. It really saved me from figuring out how that would be possible.
Also Norm to me is still one of the funniest ever. I loved him so much I wouldve put him #2, but then again Colin Quinn makes my top 10 if only for Lenny the Lion... Sometimes we all just have our things(and weekend update was mine).

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Mon Apr 7 2008 20:31:53 By: tan4007 (

523)
Without cheapening this list you could have easily done a top 20.

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Mon Apr 7 2008 20:52:45 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@mr a knife: Colon Quin is funny, but he wasn't at his best on snl.
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@tan4007: yeah I agree, except for the extra hour or two it would have taken to write. But yes, it would not have been that hard to do.

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Mon Apr 7 2008 22:31:14 By: Sinbad (

72)
Amy Poehler absolutely deserves to be on the list. She didn't ride anyone's "coattails" she had established credibility from the terrific Upright Citizens Brigade television show. In my opinion, SNL just finally gave her a forum to showcase her talent and she hasn't disappointed. Also, I've found the first cast to be overrated--funny people, but the shows just aren't that funny in re-runs. They get a lot of credit for being first, but definitely not the best. Also, I had Carvey instead of Lovitz. Interesting case, because I'd argue that most people would feel that way during their time on the show. I personally don't care much for Carvey anymore, and it mostly has to do with seeing him on Tonight Show, etc. He's amost sad to see today--hanging on to old impressions, hamming it up, etc. Lovitz has established much more career credibility. Strong list overall.
"uhhh, ya got any gum?"

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Tue Apr 8 2008 08:22:34 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@Sinbad: I agree that arvey's post SNL career has been disapointing. He was very good.

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Tue Apr 8 2008 09:15:22 By: Squints (

2818)
I like the Amy Poehler pick because of he work with Second City and Upright Citizen's Brigade. It's about time people know who she is.

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Tue Apr 8 2008 12:11:11 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@squints: UCB is very well known here in New York. I'm not sure if it is elsewhere. She is kind of considered the queen of UCB.

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Tue Apr 8 2008 12:57:10 By: chiefs09 (

1)
When I think of the top 10 on snl I think legends. Poehler & Norm legends? Sandler (Opera man, Canteen Boy, Gap girl, Cajun man, Eddie Vetter, Springsteen, all the songs, etc.) Dana Carvey (Church lady, Garth (Waynes World), Johnny Carson, George Bush, Ross Perot, etc.) These two are legends.

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Tue Apr 8 2008 13:21:23 By: rob who had a broken foot (

130)
hooks did a pretty good hillary clinton too. plus, she was the female counterpart to phil hartman (mr number 1) all those years. plus plus, she was the lead female player in one of snl's strongest runs. though there are some bright spots, can we really say that snl is in a current strong run? is the current 'weekend update' setup one of the best ever? top five ever? i don't think so. and i'd rather have five minutes of melanie hutsell reading the phone book than any "hey uncle rick!?" skit.

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Tue Apr 8 2008 13:56:02 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@chiefs09: like I said Carvey would be number 11 so I won't argue there. Sandler was good at playing a goof, but he was not a guy who really broke away from playing a goof on the show (unlike his brilliant work in movies like Punch Drunk Love)
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@rob with the broken foot: I will agree with you on one point, if I never see an "uncle rick" sketch again it will be too soon.

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Tue Apr 8 2008 15:12:22 By: AzjimmieD (

3)
The omissions from this list leave me scratching my head. What about Bill Murray & Dan Aykroyd? These two are my 2 all time favorites. Also, Dana Carvey was among the very best of all of them. I don't remember if Martin Short was a regular or not, but if so he was great also. Maybe the list should have been 14 or 15 long. Amy Poehler? C'mon now....

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Tue Apr 8 2008 16:44:34 By: zombiefightsshark (

15)
Bill Murray wasn't as good on the show as people think he was... he was so brilliant in all of the stuff he did AFTER snl, people just kind of assume that his stuff DURING snl was brilliant as well. It really was just kinda okay. And Akroyd fared better, but again, he was way funnier in his post-snl career.
The early seasons of snl, in general, weren't as funny as people claim they are. It was groundbreaking stuff at the time, and there is a lot of good stuff there... but it's still roughly the same hit-to-miss ratio of the current seasons. An hour and a half is a lot of time to fill up with comedy, then or now.

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Tue Apr 8 2008 17:55:52 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@AzjimmieD: Zombiefightshark is correct. When you see the original cast what you are seeing is a 90 minute show trimmed down to 60 or sometimes 30 minutes. Get the DVD's and watch all 90 minutes. Some of it is really hard to sit through.

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Wed Apr 9 2008 12:38:35 By: quin browne (

39)
i squinted through a fast read to see who was #1.
thanks for agreeing with me and making it phil...i actually sobbed when he was murdered. i'd have put chris further up the list, i think.. and yeah, dana should have been on there (i still love the church lady playing the drums skit)... otherwise, you did a great job. wow! you are a writer!
ps i have a van you can have to live in. it's parked, down by a river.

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Wed Apr 9 2008 15:48:21 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@quin browne: Hartman is one of those guys that I will never forget what I was doing when I heard.

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Thu Apr 10 2008 20:02:51 By: Long_live_MUSE1978 (

10063)
I agree with a lot of this list, although I feel that Chris Farley should be ranked much higher...
I love SNL. I still watch it. =)

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Fri Apr 11 2008 14:25:34 By: scooby doo (

158)
wow they actually got it right concerning Phil Hartman, He was one the most talented comedians I have ever seen.
My top ten:
1.Phil Hartman
2.Eddie Murphy
3.John Belushi
3.Chris Farley
4.Gilda Radner
5.Dana Carvey
6.Dan Ackroyd
7.Chevy Chase
8.Will Ferrel
9.Mike Myers
10.Jon Lovitz
Thanks for making us laugh I love you all.

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Tue Oct 6 2009 20:06:01 By: Anonymous User
Steve Martin

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