# Choose the WORST member of the SNL cast - EVER! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2000, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104 "2000-12-05T06:38:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/41 "2000-12-09T20:42:38Z")
Usually too busy on Saturdays to watch the show, and have been for years. Seems to me, though, the worst SNLer is the talentless hack Chris Farley. I never even saw him do a sketch without laughing at his own lame jokes. Lots of geniuses… Al Franken was mediocre on the show, but after reading his _Rush Limbaugh Is A Big, Fat Idiot_ I have to conclude the guy is much cleverer and witty than I thought. When exactly did the SNL people forget that fake profuct names are funnier than real ones; and that satire of the most pathetic items in American life (Jerry Springer, Waco, etc.) just btings them down to that level? Whatever happened to subtle political humour? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/42 "2000-12-09T20:54:20Z")
I agree, I’ve liked Jay Mohr since his early SNL days. My worst, hands down, **Colin Quinn** , and I _liked_ him on Remote Control. I can’t come up with words to describe how badly he delivered even _funny_ jokes on Weekend Update. A new category, highest suck to airtime quotient. Alot of the crap slingers mentioned were fairly low key for the bulk of the shows. Quinn, Miller and MacDonald all rarely made appearances off WU. Of the group, Miller is the most talented, and I always find him funny, but the guy can’t act. He’s a comedian, not a comedic actor. Regardless he doesn’t suck. MacDonald pulled off the sardonic bastard bit well enough to really deliver a decent WU, he has very little talent but was carried by some very good writing which he didn’t fuck up. His few impressions were all very funny, including Letterman, Reynolds and Dole. Quinn had no redeming qualities. Now, the one actor with the highest ever suck to airtime quotient is **Will Farrell**. The guy’s as talentless as they come, and he’s in every fucking skit! In general most of the women charaters are quite annoying, but in general you don;t find many entertaining female comics. Regardless the aren’t as bad as the two guys I’ve mentioned. A sad fact is that I was at Second City and saw Will Farrell and Cheri Oteri (as well as a couple others) performing less thna a year before the move to SNL. I really didn’t find them funny then either, makes you wonder what the recruiters saw in them. Finally: > [@](#): > > Since a grand total of 23 people saw the show from 1980 to 85, and 3/5 of those were high at the time, we’ll never know. That was some bad TV. > > My computer is acting really oddly. I could have sworn that someone just posted that the 1984/85 cast of SNL was the best. Man, these computers sometimes spit out the weirdest stuff. > > My second post was the “director’s cut” comments > > The next funny joke/skit this guy performs will be his first. Whoever told this guy to pursue a career in comedy should be the target of a class-action lawsuit by the American public. Its fitting that lines like these crop up in a SNL thread, these had be rolling on he floor, nothing like a good flame to get the creative juices flowing. BTW, theres only a few peoples opinions that I can really form a arguement against here, there have been alot of comic hemorroids on SNL, far too many to try and pick just one. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/43 "2000-12-09T21:01:33Z")
Couple more things, there are a few SNLers who are funny, but terrible actors. Gilbert Gottfried, and Al Franken are both funny, and far from the “worst”. They however stink on SNL. Gilbert has alot of funny stand-up bits, but the guy gets real old in more than 60 second doses. I liked watching him back on the USA Up All Night movies. Franken is a great comic mind, but he too can’t act and has no range. The fact he probably wrote and created 75% of the funny stuff on the show in the last 15 years is worth some credit, and the guy can really jab at politics which I respect alot. One guy I’d LOVE to nominate for Weekend Update is Lewis Black from the Daily Show. That guy always cracks me up, and the role on TDS is basically exactly what he’d be doing on SNL. I’m sure at the very least he’d make the show his own, unlike the others who have tried to copy Miller. Maybe going back to the Chevy Chase-Jane Curtin style might be nice, you know a little nasty spite for the other anchor. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/44 "2000-12-09T23:48:36Z")
BTW, someone mentioned Charles Rocket earlier (and with darned good reason, I believe), and if I’m not mistaken he was fired from the show for dropping the f-bomb on live TV. Oh, and he had that one skit as the refrigerator repairman where the crack of his ass was very visible. (Why do I remember this? Ewwwwwwwwww.) Colin Quinn’s terrible at doing the news. A lot of Norm’s stuff kind of fell flat (much like a lot of his work - see his stint on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire), so I didn’t really get used to him. I don’t even remember who they had before McDonald but after Dennis Miller… Brain letting me down… Omniscient, I’m with ya on Lewis Black. For that matter, I think just about anyone on TDS is oodles better than anyone on SNL at this point. Damn, that show’s improved since Stewart took over! Oops… sorry for that last paragraph… Errant hijack… ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/45 "2000-12-10T00:45:37Z")
I am amazed by the hatred some people show for certain performers. If you don’t like them, change the channel or turn off your set. The only years of SNL that I thought were bad was from 1979-1984. The women of the show had always gotten short shrift until the 90’s. Gilda(whom I loved) got almost all of the solo spotlight. Jane and Lorraine didn’t get even 10% of the attention. Cheri Oteri does an amazing Barbara Walters impression in the View parodies. Ana does a hysterical Martha Stewart. Ana and Molly together do the NPR parody that I always find hilarious. Nora Dunn had the Pat Stevens bit which I liked a lot, as well as the Attitudes parody with Jan Hooks. Who didn’t find Jan and Nora as the Sweeny Sisters amusing? Dennis Miller rocked. I think he makes a large segment of the population as insecure as a man with erectile dysfunction watching Bob Dole do a Viagra™ commercial. Drink the decaf and get a sense of humor, people. Life’s too short to spend it hating anyone but Britney Spears and her clones. ---
**Author:** ![socialxray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@socialxray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/socialxray)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/46 "2000-12-10T00:53:53Z")
> [@](#): > > AND adds the extremly irritating trait of being a rabid political partisan, which is never funny in a comedian. I disagree. Two words for you: Bill Hicks. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/47 "2000-12-10T00:58:11Z")
Well, I thought Jan and Nora as the Sweeney Sisters were irritating and without redemption. Things got much much worse after 1979-1986… ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/48 "2000-12-10T01:45:20Z")
I’d just like to remind all the Norm MacDonald haters about a skit of his that cracks me up no matter how much I see it: Norm as Charles Kurault, signing off on his last “CBS Sunday Morning” show, talking about having sex with all the people he met across America. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bc8723/32.png) [@Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Lord_Davidson)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/49 "2000-12-10T01:49:07Z")
I think that the worst SNL cast member is Cheri Oteri. Nothing she ever does is funny…ever. I’m a huge Chris Farley fan…he’s a step apart from everyone else. Part of his schtick WAS laughing at himself. You know, the whole weight thing? Kevin Nealon was by far the best WU guy. By FAR. Norm McDonald and Colin Quinn both suck the big goat ass. Dennis Miller was fair at best. Oh, and referring to Will Ferrell’s Celebrity Jeopardy Alex Trebek: he does that on purpose. It’s less an attempt at mimicing Trebek to a T, than as a vehicle for belittling the contestants. I think the Celebrity Jeopardy with Sean Connery and “The rapists” is one of the funniest skits ever. Then again, what do I know. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/50 "2000-12-10T04:51:28Z")
The worst: Anyone from the current cast, and including the past year or so. Anyone from 80-81, when the franchise almost got sunk. (That, I think, also has to do with the change in leadership as much as a bad cast.) The best: Anyone from the late 80s to the early 90s, as well as the first few years. Genius acting and writing. Personal opinions: Norm MacDonald does OK, as long as it’s scripted. I’ve heard him speaking extemporaneously, and he sucks. I like most of Al Franken’s stuff. His commentary in the early years about “How you can help me, Al Franken” were great. Stuart Smalley makes fun of a segment of the recovery population that desperately deserves it. The movie sucked, but the sketches are awesome. Just my opinion, I could be wrong. 🙂 Robin ---
**Author:** ![BobSchroeck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@BobSchroeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobSchroeck)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/51 "2000-12-10T05:29:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*BTW, someone mentioned Charles Rocket earlier (and with darned good reason, I believe), and if I’m not mistaken he was fired from the show for dropping the f-bomb on live TV. > \*\* Yup, I remember that. Charlene Tilton was the guest host, and there was this running gag parody of the “Who Shot J.R.?” stuff from Dallas with “Who Shot C.R.?” strung through the whole show. It was in the last 30 seconds of the show, during the lame little “thanks for watching buh-bye” bit they do. Tilton said something like, “Hey, we never did find out who shot C.R.”, and Rocket, who they’d wheeled out in a wheelchair, said, “Yeah, I wanna find out who the f\*\*\* did it.” Tilton reacted like a junior high-schooler hearing her first dirty word. And I turned to whoever it was in my dorm TV room with me that night and said, “Well, that’s it for _his_ career.” It wasn’t until “Max Headroom” years later that I saw him on TV again… > [@](#): > > \*\*Oh, and he had that one skit as the refrigerator repairman where the crack of his ass was very visible. > \*\* Wasn’t that Bill Murray? – Bob ---
**Author:** ![Uniball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Uniball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniball)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/52 "2000-12-10T06:02:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*Oh, and he had that one skit as the refrigerator repairman where the crack of his ass was very visible. > \*\* Wasn’t that Dan Aykroyd? He did the same part in a Nanny episode. ---
**Author:** ![BobSchroeck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@BobSchroeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobSchroeck)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/53 "2000-12-10T06:14:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Uniball \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*\*Oh, and he had that one skit as the refrigerator repairman where the crack of his ass was very visible. > > \*\* > > Wasn’t that Dan Aykroyd? He did the same part in a Nanny episode. \*\* You know, I think you may be right. – Bob ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/54 "2000-12-10T07:47:19Z")
There was a **good** SNL cast member? Okay, a few - Hartman, Carvey. I’ve only seen since late '80s, so I can’t really judge the earlier ones for their SNL bits. You know, with Gilbert Goddfried in the list, how can anyone else be considered? His career has become showing up on shows doing his annoying voice. I’m trying to think of something (other than Aladdin) where he was funny. Someone mentioned “Up All Night” - vague memories of that. I second the listing of the recent cast members Will Ferrell Cheri Oteri Molly Shannon Colin Quinn Nobody has mentioned Adam Sandler yet. These people are funny? Every sketch seems to fall back on them acting exactly the same - whiny ranting in their own personal style. Except for Colin, who is just boring and lame. (Anybody see “Dick”, the comedy movie about Watergate? Will Ferrell plays one of the reporters who broke the story. It comes off has is regular SNL character - as pathetic as ever.) Dennis Miller was good on the news and I think he’s funny, but he can’t act. He was surprisingly good in one movie I’ve seen - can’t recall offhand, but he plays a cynical guy who gets killed. But pretty much every other acting thing he does is lousy. Even the stupid commercials where he plays himself. Although I did watch the show tonight. The new news anchors (Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey) are great. The news was actually funny. It’s finally back to being about the news and not the person reading the script. Oh, and they did a joke where one of the characters was named Tim Kazurinsky. At least I think that’s what they said. If anyone wants to see a **funny** sketch comedy, check out “Hype” on the WB, Sunday nights at 7:30 pm. ---
**Author:** ![Uniball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Uniball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniball)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/55 "2000-12-10T10:30:13Z")
Chris Kattan is annoying. That disgusting “missing link” character is so ew. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/56 "2000-12-10T18:29:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*originally posted by danthman]/i] > **BTW, someone mentioned Charles Rocket earlier [snip]. Oh, and he had that one skit as the refrigerator repairman where the crack of his ass was very visible.** Nope. That was DEFINITELY Dan Ackroyd, as the old Norge Repairman. It was a skit that featured Gilda Radner as Lisa Lupner and Bill Murray as Todd (How can I remember this shit, twenty years + after the fact! God, my brain is full of crap! 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/57 "2000-12-10T19:16:55Z")
**Norm MacDonald** was absolutely _awful_, the only cast member in all the years I’ve watched who was/is truly painful–and I mean_ **painful** _–to watch. I remember watching him bomb in a most excruciatingly pathetic manner on David Letterman years ago. Lord, it was atrocious–you could practically hear the crickets chirping. He deserved to be fired. He _is_ untalented, and _isn’t_ funny, just as he was told. Now someone get his hemorrhoid of a sitcom of the air. ---
**Author:** ![socialxray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@socialxray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/socialxray)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/58 "2000-12-10T21:19:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Dennis Miller was good on the news and I think he’s funny, but he can’t act. He was surprisingly good in one movie I’ve seen - can’t recall offhand, but he plays a cynical guy who gets killed. Are you speaking, by chance, of his role in “Tales From the Crypt: Bordello of Blood?” I saw that in the theater. It wasn’t bad, but it was no great cinematic conquest either. ---
**Author:** ![smilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smilla)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/59 "2000-12-10T23:31:16Z")
So of course I’m biased in favor of those earlier years. But Rob Schneider, without a doubt, has got to be the worst entertainer I’ve ever seen. Ugh! Kevin Nealon is a close second. ---
**Author:** ![Randy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2acd7d/32.png) [@Randy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104/60 "2000-12-11T06:19:33Z")
Garrett Morris. Period. Always messed up his lines. Couldn’t act. He was terrible. If he was in a skit, he usually found a way to ruin it. But then again, he was surrounded by the best group of SNL-ers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-the-worst-member-of-the-snl-cast-ever/44104.md?page=4)