Era: 1985-1986. Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz and Mike Myers might have been the superstars during her stint on the show, but Hooks and her similarly versatile colleague Phil Hartman kept it running. More importantly she was the head writer during one of the show’s better stretches in the early ‘00s, and probably the most famous head writer the show’s ever had. The original cast (L to R): … … The Best SNL Cast Members Of The Past Decade By Nina Starner /Jan. Yeah, Joe Piscopo is better remembered as a punchline than a performer, but his SNL work was popular at the time, and some of it is still pretty funny today. Garrett Morris was the first Black cast member, and although he had some memorable characters and sketches, he rarely has much positive to say about the experience. Some of his material holds subversive appeal for adults, but mostly his work on SNL was too juvenile and too vulgar to truly admire today. Mikey Day. Sometimes she might be a little too over-the-top—we were never a fan of her Ruth Bader Ginsburg—and she’s best used as the lead of a sketch and not a supporting player. Lorne Michaels could save them all, but only rescued Jon Lovitz. He’s an all-time great who could’ve been greater with a little more restraint. That’s the main reason he was on SNL and why they kept him around for 14 seasons, the longest stint in the show’s history. He hosted while he was still a regular, for crying out loud. What’s sad is, as obnoxious as Mary Katherine Gallagher and Sally O’Malley could be, Shannon was often great in other sketches when she reined in her propensity for overacting and catchphrase-spouting. Robert Downey Jr. is a comic genius. Wikimedia list article. Seriously, we’re not downgrading Chase because of the miserable reputation he’s cultivated over the last 30 years. But no “SNL” regular has yet won Best Comedy Supporting Actor, though not for a lack of trying. Already almost 40 when he joined the cast in 1986, he quickly established himself as the most valuable player in one of the two deepest and most talented casts in the show’s history. We remember the Church Lady for her catchphrases and pop cultural ubiquity, but the character was a brutal mockery of the conservative Christian movement that grew throughout the 1980s. Chris Farley Lovitz was the breakout star of that troubled season, and was at the vanguard of the late ‘80s glory days that saved the show. And somehow the thing she’s now best known for, her scathing but fair portrayal of Sarah Palin, didn’t even happen until after she had officially left the show. Tina Fey was a great Weekend Update anchor, smart and acerbic but still warm, and easily one of the three or four best in the show’s history. It still feels weird to think that Billy Crystal was only on SNL for one year. The concept of that sketch is so dark and depressing but Murphy is keenly aware of how to confront racism and society’s indifference towards inner city poverty in a way that’s both challenging and hilarious. He might be a limited performer compared to some, but despite his limitations he did as much great work as almost everybody else on this list. Bill Murray is one of the show’s greatest hosts, and almost everything he did during his three season stint as a regular was fantastic. Nat X, the militant host of a BET late night talk show, might be one of the best remembered characters from the 1990s, but Rock largely fell into playing token minorities and background characters. Eddie Murphy deserves all the credit for saving SNL from cancellation after its abysmal 1980 season, but he wasn’t entirely alone at the time. Somehow his mix of absurdity and mayhem worked better on film—his first few movies were some of the best lowbrow comedies of the era. So let’s take a look at the best cast members in SNL history, newly updated for 2020. Andy Samberg is a likable guy. Weekend Update is where she shined, and she was smart to leave a show that clearly never really knew what to do with her as soon as she got a better opportunity. Forget what he’s become: in his day Dennis Miller was a groundbreaking figure on SNL, and the show’s first great news anchor since the original cast members left in 1980. He was responsible for some of the show’s most enduring and beloved characters and impressions, from Gumby to Stevie Wonder, and his Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood legitimately might be the best and most subversive thing the show’s ever done in its four plus decades. Davidson stars in The King of Staten Island as Scott Carlin, a 20-something trying to adjust to his mom's new boyfriend. SNL was notorious for its rowdy, frat house style mentality under Adam Sandler, Chris Farley and friends in the early 1990s. She was able to fill pretty much every role perfectly—when she was the lead in a sketch, she could fill as much space as needed, but when she was playing support or even just in the background she would contribute in ways that always improved the sketch without stealing any of the spotlight. Ana Gasteyer joined the cast in 1996, one year after Cheri Oteri and Molly Shannon, and was one of its more reliable talents through 2002. Armisen created a number of recurring characters during his eleven seasons on the show (the fourth longest tenure ever), but his best bit of musical comedy was a one-off sketch with Bryan Cranston that can be seen here. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. She also had a few outright stinkers on her ledger, including Gilly and game show contestant / stage actress Mindy Grayson, who both still returned over and over. "He was just in a bad place. Most of these impressions are pre SNL for Fineman and seem to be just for fun. In her years on the show she never turned in a weak or lackluster performance. Our list sprinkles in the best of the best throughout the Top 30, hoping to give fairness to favorites across the decades. But whether he was playing it straight next to memorable characters like Stefon or penning some of the era’s best political humor (those Sarah Palin “I can see Russia from my house” sketches from ‘08, which he co-wrote with Tina Fey), Meyers quietly delivered one of the most impressive runs on Saturday Night Live.—Bonnie Stiernberg. Crystal is one of the biggest stars to ever be a cast member on the show, and is one of the few to become a regular after already establishing himself in the public eye. He was far from the first SNL performer to repeat his characters too often (that’s been happening since the first season) but few have had as many characters repeated as frequently as Myers. Posted: 6 Jun 2020 12:30 pm. Cast. He’s a more dynamic performer than Parnell or Meadows, though, and has embodied a number of memorable roles, including Drunk Uncle, second-hand news reporter Anthony Crispino, and Niff, the hostile retail worker. Tour our photo gallery to see our full list of choices, but keep in mind that none were considered for their work beyond “SNL” with great film and/or television careers. The Best Shows and Movies on Netflix in May. See our latest prediction champs. He’s not on this list because of any of his sketches or characters, though. Joe Piscopo. Take, for example, her rendition of the National Anthem—one of those rare sketches that puts all its eggs in the basket of a single performer doing basically one thing for three minutes—which pokes fun at the melisma-heavy way people oversing, or her musical impressions of Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera and Beyonce, or even her appearances as one-third of Gemini’s Twin.—BS. Here’s one of her best skits, opposite Alec Baldwin. Chris Farley could do physical bits with the best of ‘em—see, for example, his Lillehammer Olympic figure skating sketch or the legendary Chippendales audition—and some of his finest moments on the show came from his willingness to go over-the-top, like in the hidden-camera coffee commercial or his many appearances as Matt Foley, but underneath all of those big performances was a sweet, Midwestern sensibility, one that came through especially in sketches like Zagats and the absolutely genius Chris Farley Show.—BS. 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