Great topic!
Gosh I can’t fathom how any such list could be compiled without Phil Hartman. The man was the ne plus ultra of ensemble comedy!
I agree. I think Farley, Murray, and Hartman (the first three on my list) are the only absolute essentials. Most of those other chumps are replaceable.
John Candy? He was on SCTV, not SNL.
I don’t have an ultimate cast, but if I did, Horatio Sanz would be on it. He makes me laugh my ass off.
Michael O’Donoghue. Writer from the first five seasons, frequent on-air performer for first five seasons (most notably as the evil “Mister Mike” and his “celebrities with long steel needles plunged into their eyes” impersonations). He was the first person to appear on the show, as the English instructor teaching John Belushi such phrases as “I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines.”
How could I have forgotten O’Donoghue? He was a man with a foppish exterior and a very sick, twisted psyche. When Mademoiselle magazine cropped half him out of a photo of the SNL cast, he wrote them: I’d like to come over there and kick you all in the c*nts if it wouldn’t spoil the shine on my shoes.
My list:
Phil Hartman - best mimic they EVER had
Mike Myers - brilliant mind
Molly Shannon - willing to fling herself ass over teakettle into every skit
Jane Curtin - solid, snarky centering presence
Gilda Radner - vulnerable, risk taking, hilarious
Amy Poehler- wise ass nonpariel
Dan Ackroyd - another brilliant mind
Tim Meadows - he does it for me with “The Ladies Man”
Darrell Hammond - second best mimic
Horatio Sanz is not funny. The only reason he’s still on is that they can’t find another “fat guy”.
HAHAHAHAHA! It’s been a LONG time since I’ve thought of that quote. So wrong, so rude, so funny!
“And now, Gig Young’s groceries.”
-DocJon
I seem to be the only one who HATED Norm McDonald on Update. He wasn’t funny, at all. I’ve seen too money skits where it was practically dead the entire time, and few times where his “jokes” actually got negative reactions from the crowd. It was hard to watch the man bomb that consistantly. The only person I think could have possibly been worse was Colin Quinn. Ugh. However, I do love Norm’s Burt Reynolds.
My favorites for Update? Kevin Nealon and Dennis Miller. The Tina Fey/ Jimmy Fallon team was pretty good too.
When it comes to my cast list - I’m just going to post the major players from my favorite SNL time period, 1986-1994. The show has been pretty horrible since 1995.
Dennis Miller
Al Franken
Dana Carvey
Phil Hartman
Jan Hooks
Victoria Jackson
Jon Lovitz
Kevin Nealon
Mike Myers
Chris Farley
Tim Meadows
Adam Sandler
Rob Schneider
David Spade
Julia Sweeney
I know thats way more than 9, but I can’t in good conscience remove any of those people. Besides, according to this, more than 9 people have been involved in one cast.
I haven’t looked at everybody else’s answers yet, so somebody may have the same list, but here’s mine:
Bill Murray
Phil Hartman
Mike Myers
Jon Lovitz
Gilda Radner
Chris Farley
Jan Hooks
Norm MacDonald (Update Anchor)
Crap, I can’t believe I didn’t catch that.
I mean, many.
None of these hacks–
Will Feral
David Spade
Adam Sandler
Tim Meadows
Molly Shannon
Rob Schneider
Jimmy Fallon
Chevy Chase
Bill Murray
Dan Ackroyd
Dennis Miller
Gilda Radner
Phil Hartman
Chris Farley
Al Franken
Mike Myers
Dana Carvey (maybe)
Big names I wouldn’t keep but who are still talented–
Chris Rock
John Belushi
Eddie Murphy
Norm McDonald
Martin Short
Yeah, I’m pretty surprised anybody included Chris Rock - I like him now, his stand-up, but he totally sucked on SNL. Really weak material and delivery there - he always looked like he was trying not to laugh at his own jokes.
Featured: Molly Shannon, Sarah Silverman, Darrell Hammond, Tracy Morgan
Weekend Update: Tina Fey
Hosting would alternate between Alec Baldwin, Lucy Lawless, Alec Baldwin, Christopher Walken, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, [random celebrity of the moment], Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin.
Hmm…OK: (I’m following SolGrundy’s paradigm–I realize it’s technically against the rules, but it gives me more choices. If that’s a problem, just cut out the “Featured” section and replace Jon Lovitz with Tina Fey–I gotta have her on there.)
John Belushi
Gilda Radner
Jane Curtin
Dan Aykroyd
Jon Lovitz
Phil Hartman
Bill Murray
Mike Myers
Eddie Murphy
Featured: Al Franken, Norm MacDonald, Christopher Guest, Janeane Garofalo
Update: Tina Fey