LOC #84: Top 50 Saturday Night Live Cast Members

[MightyJack]

I got a hold of some bad shrooms didn't I? That's the only way I can explain seeing Robert Downey Jr on this list? 

Yeah your hallucinating, it actually says "the Muppet's". There, now isn't that better?

for those not familiar, these are not the good Muppet's that came later in their own show, these were bad, bad, baaad Muppet's that scarred season 1


* Also: I didn't write a whole lot of personal reflections tonight. It's not that I don't like who you selected, it's just that my brain was tired.

[MightyJack]

Tonight's Host: #5. Buck Henry  7 points
Buck was this likeable, good guy Uncle type… except when he was working with the stunt baby (LMAO) or playing Uncle Roy (these antics were an example of the taboo subject matter the show would tackle in its early years.) I had no idea who this older, square looking dude was back in the day (later I discovered that he co-created Get Smart, and was a screenwriter on classic films like The Graduate). But Buck quickly became a welcome presence, and was the go-to season closer. You always got a great show with Henry.

He was also involved in one infamous accident when John Belushi clipped him with his sword in a Samurai sketch. In the scene you can see a look of shock - and it (briefly) appears as if he might rabbit off stage, before deciding that the show must go on, and he completes the bit… and does his bleeding off camera. Buck’s a trooper and finished the episode with a thick bandage on his head. Which resulted in one of SNLs most spontaneous and funny acts of solidarity. As one by one, cast members showed up in sketches wearing their own bandages (there’s even one seen on Belushi’s Teddy Bear.) Buck hosted 10 times in the shows first 5 years (and acted as co-host for the “Anyone can host” episode), When Lorne and the original cast left, so did Henry. He never made a return to SNLs center stage.

Buck in “Samurai Delicatessen”… http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/samurai-delicatessen/n8627

[MightyJack]

#32. Rachel Dratch

Era: 1999-2006
34 points on 2 of 10 lists - Highest Ranking: #9 (Cole Stratton, Tripe)
Most Memorable Characters: Debbie Downer, Denise, Sheldon, Virginia Klarvin, Angelia Jolie’s mutant child, Harry Potter

Rolling Stone ranked her #16 and said…
If you tuned in to SNL on May 1st, 2004, you saw Dratch as Harry Potter, quaking under the spell of Lindsay Lohan's cleavage — then, a few minutes later, as Debbie Downer at Disney World. One of the best nights any SNL player has ever had. Dratch had no ego — just the will to try anything. Her Sheldon on "Wake Up Wakefield!" was an agonizing portrayal of adolescent overtrying, and only Dratch could make it so soulfully funny.

Rachel as Harry Potter… http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/harry-potter/n11824

[MightyJack]

#31. Tim Meadows

Era: 1991-2000
38 points on 3 of 10 lists - Highest Ranking: #8 (Tripe)
Most Memorable Characters: Leon Phelps, O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, Captain Jim

Paste Magazine ranked him #39 and said…
Tim Meadows was a late bloomer. He was just a guy his first several years on the show, and was even fired after the 1993-1994 season, only to be rehired shortly before the next season started. He was a calming veteran presence as that turbulent 1994-1995 season rolled over to an almost entirely new cast, and was tasked with playing almost every newsworthy black personality of the 1990s. He finally established a memorable character late in his run with The Ladies’ Man, a sexual revolution relic and talk show host who gave frank and foolish advice to callers. Meadows is the kind of competent, reliable role player that keeps a show like this running, and he was so good at it that he lasted for an entire decade.

Rolling Stone ranked him #48 and said…
Whenever a former cast member came back to host, they'd make a joke about how Meadows was still around. Because he always was — he hung around for 10 seasons. Give the man credit: He waited out some lean years, took every crummy part in every crummy sketch he could get, and finally found his niche as the Ladies' Man: "I got my Courvoisier right here."

The Ladies Man on Valentine’s Day… http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/the-ladies-man-valentines-day/n11083

[MightyJack]

#30. Darrell Hammond

Era: 1995-2009
38 points on 3 of 10 lists - Highest Ranking: #1 (C.Jones)
Most Memorable Characters: Sean Connery, Al Gore, Donald Trump, John McCain, Regis Philbin, Dick Cheney, Chris Matthews, Phil Donahue, Phil McGraw, Ted Koppel, Bill Clinton

Paste Magazine ranked him #24 and said…
Darrell Hammond is the best mimic in the show’s history. 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. His Bill Clinton is one of the two or three finest political impressions ever seen on SNL, and he had another 106 celebrity impressions up his sleeves over the rest of his long run. His evisceration of Sean Connery made up one half of Celebrity Jeopardy, one of the best recurring sketches the show’s ever had. He was an invaluable tool for the show during his decade and a half, and now that he’s taken Don Pardo’s role as announcer he’ll probably be working on SNL for the rest of his life.

Rolling Stone ranked him #49 and said…
The longest-running cast member (14 seasons!), entirely because of his workmanlike facility with celeb impersonations. He did a pretty good Bill Clinton – but who didn't? Hammond's best (and most original) bit was his Sean Connery, whose pomposity might have helped inspire Ron Burgundy. ("Damn you and your daily doubles, you brigand!") He's back this season to replace Pardo.

Though MacDonald kills in this one as Burt Reynolds, Hammond gets his shots in this Jeopardy sketch… http://www.hulu.com/watch/12203

[MightyJack]

29. Jimmy Fallon

Era: 1998-2004
38 pts on 6 of 10 lists - Highest Ranking: #13 (Pak-Man)
Most Memorable Characters: Weekend Update Anchor, Pat “Sully” Sullivan, Barry Gibb, Jerry Seinfeld, Jerret, Kip Bloater, Joey Mack

Paste Magazine ranked him #34 and said…
You wouldn’t know it now based on how well he’s doing hosting The Tonight Show, but Jimmy Fallon was pretty divisive during his time on SNL. People either loved or hated the fact that he’d frequently break during sketches, but the “is laughing during skits endearing or unprofessional?” debate (for which, for the record, we stand firmly on Team Endearing) tends to diminish or overlook the fact that Fallon was an excellent cast member who did so much more than laugh during his time on the show. The impact of his time behind the Update desk with Tina Fey can’t be overstated—he and Fey brought back the two-anchor format and absolutely slayed at it, with Fallon serving as a charmingly goofy foil to Fey. And we don’t even have enough room here to talk about his arsenal of impressions, which included everyone from Barry Gibb to Jerry Seinfeld.—BS

Rolling Stone ranked him #36 and said…
The Tonight Show is where Fallon was always meant to be — sketch comedy was never his métier, especially since he never shed his rookie habit of snickering on camera. But he killed with his lovingly detailed rock-star impersonations, from "The Barry Gibb Talk Show" to his Guinness-swilling Van Morrison.

Jimmy does Barry Gibb… http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/the-barry-gibb-talk-show/n11739

[MightyJack]

#28. Laraine Newman

Era: 1975-1980
39 points on 4 of 10 lists - Highest Ranking: #11 (Cole Stratton)
Most Memorable Characters: Connie Conehead, Sherry Norwalk, Lina Wertmüller, Shirley Temple, Weekend Update Correspondent, Squeaky Fromme, Dr. Schiffman Child Psychiatrist, Christy Christina

Most of the audition tapes I’ve seen for the originals were pretty weak and didn’t say a whole lot about the performer. But in Laraine’s we see her whipping out Sherry -the Valley girl with the bitchin’ bod- who would became one of her signature characters on the show. Newman was best known as the Conehead’s daughter, Connie, and the various little kids she played, from a Shirley Temple type to her wonderful performance as Dr. Schiffman or the little girl who met Christopher Lee’s “Mr. Death (pictured above) in a classic sketch. I also dug her new wave Lina Wertmüller, Though maybe only myself and Newman liked that one as the comedian was quoted as saying " ...my favorite character that I created at Saturday Night Live, which, I think, only pleased me and no one else, was Lina Wertmüller." She also did a spot on Katherine Hepburn (to Bill Murray’s Cary Grant)

Always a rock steady pro, you rarely ever saw her break character… though I did see her crack a smile and almost lose it when Gilda, playing Howdy Doody’s glassy eyed wife Debbie, kept slamming into her, and got her tangled up in puppet strings during an interview segment. (A season later she would play Debbie’s sister, Dottie Doody)

Rolling Stone ranked her #24 and said…
The most underrated member of the original cast. As the California girl of the bunch, not to mention the second-youngest (after Aykroyd), she now seems ahead of her time — from her pioneering Valley Girl (probably the first time "bitchin' bod" was uttered on national TV) to her oft-disturbing vampire-chick goth characters. Her most brilliant moment: playing Manson girl Squeaky Fromme in an ad for potholders made of human hair — Newman stares a hole in the camera as she commands, "You better buy them, you little piggies. I'm not kidding." It was terrifying, and not in a cute way.

The Coneheads on Family Feud… https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/coneheads-family-feud/n8657

[MightyJack]

#27. Kristen Wiig

Era: 2005-2012
39 points on 4 of 10 lists - Highest Ranking: #5 (anais.butterfly)
Most Memorable Characters: Shanna, Dooneese Maharelle, Mindy Grayson, Cheryl Bryant, Judy Grimes, Penelope, Sue, Target Lady, Gilly, Bjork, Kathie Lee Gifford, Suze Orman

Personable Wiig created these strange mutant quirks of nature, social oddballs that were a wild and breathless. I liked her a lot -- but by the end her characters were soooo overused. It’s like Lorne was Bruce Dickinson and Kristen his cowbell. But when she hit on a character, and while they were still fresh as a Daisy, they were mad fun. I was especially freaked out and delighted by the Lynchian Dooneese, the singer with the high forehead and baby doll hands. An added plus was Wiig’s bright and likable personality that wafted off the screen.

Wiig was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on Saturday Night Live (2009,2010, 2011, 2012) and again for guest hosting on the show in 2013.

Rolling Stone ranked her #14 and said…
One of a kind. You could argue she ran too many characters into the ground — Gilly again? — but she had a knack for high-strung basket cases, from her flirting expert Rebecca Larue ("I'm just really hearing you") to "Cougar Den" host Toni Ward. When Lana Del Rey showed up, she seemed like a real-life Kristen Wiig character. Wiig got the most sentimental send-off of any cast member ever, complete with Mick Jagger singing "She's a Rainbow," and she earned it.

Dooneese… http://www.hulu.com/watch/37752

[Johnny Unusual]

The Ladies Man is an OK character, but I find that Meadows can do a LOT with a little, in his straight man or utility players roles.  Meadows is proving himself to be a stronger player in the last decade, as a recurring character on the Colbert Report (PK Winsom is a great character) as well as appearances on both the Comedy Bang Bang podcast and TV show (as a narrating janitor).

[MightyJack]

And that’s it for now; I’ll be back around this same time tomorrow. But I leave you with the…

SNL Question of the night: Favorite Break or Screw Up?
Anything can happen when you’re live. Props fail, or someone messes up a line, or can’t help themselves and break up laughing in the middle of a sketch. There have been some memorable ones over the decades, but the one that I loved best happened after Mr. Ed died.

As I mentioned in Laraine’s write-up, the originals didn’t break very often. But things do go wrong on occasion - as they did in a Weekend Update bit. In this piece, Bill Murray was supposed to interview Mr. Ed’s Widow. But the horse, a real horse, wouldn’t cooperate. It wanders all over the place and its trainer can barely keep her steady. At one point Gilda –who was providing the voice- improvises, “Where am I going?” and the audience loses it, as did my siblings and I at home. Murray’s a quick wit too and gets in a nice reply to that. The whole thing is falling apart but it’s even funnier that way. Finally the skit ends and the camera cuts to Jane, who can hardly contain herself, and finally she starts cracking up.

It was one of the funniest moments on SNL. Gilda was the one cast member who rarely flubbed a line, and here she proved that not even an unhappy horse could flummox her. So I gained even more respect for her -and Bill- that night. And seeing the usually cool Curtain break, was the icing on the cake.

Writer, Alan Zweibel explains the sketch (though his memory is a bit faulty)…

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/ytFUfAzj370" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/ytFUfAzj370</a>

[MightyJack]

The Ladies Man is an OK character, but I find that Meadows can do a LOT with a little, in his straight man or utility players roles.  Meadows is proving himself to be a stronger player in the last decade, as a recurring character on the Colbert Report (PK Winsom is a great character) as well as appearances on both the Comedy Bang Bang podcast and TV show (as a narrating janitor).

I actually wasn't that wild about him on SNL, he was okay, but I've liked him more in other things in TV, moves (Mean Girls) etc.

[Compound]

Question of the night: Favorite Break or Screw Up?

A quick trio:
Eddie Murphy, while doing a sketch about George Washington Carver, messed up a line and then coming very, very close to cracking up and only managing to calm himself after telling the laughing audience to "Shut up before y'all make me smile."

The first Matt Foley sketch where, while Chris Farley is giving his in character speech, both guest Christina Applegate and especially David Spade are trying very, very hard to keep from laughing.

The one, and I'm pretty sure only time, that Don Rickles hosted. Rickles basically ignored Loren Michaels' whole "stay in character" edict and instead just riffed the sketches and cast throughout the show. I recall watching Rickles follow Joe Piscopo backstage during one sketch, continuing to toss zingers all the while.

Oh, and commercials? Adobe! The little car that's made out of clay!

[Tripe]

#32. Rachel Dratch

Era: 1999-2006
34 points on 2 of 10 lists - Highest Ranking: #9 (Cole Stratton, Tripe)
Most Memorable Characters: Debbie Downer, Denise, Sheldon, Virginia Klarvin, Angelia Jolie’s mutant child, Harry Potter

Just great, and a lovely lady, she comes into Detroit for Improv Fest every year.

[Tripe]

#31. Tim Meadows

Era: 1991-2000
38 points on 3 of 10 lists - Highest Ranking: #8 (Tripe)
Most Memorable Characters: Leon Phelps, O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, Captain Jim

There's a great play called Tigers Be Still that I'd love to see Meadows in, though he might be getting a little to old now.

[Johnny Unusual]

SNL Question of the night: Favorite Break or Screw Up?

Phil Hartman as Frankenstein can't keep it together when he has to say "FIRE BAD" and crash through a wall.  Amazing moment.