Self-mockery is a great comic tradition. If Chris Farley laughed at his fat, fine. If he laugha only at his fat, hmmmm… If he physically laughs during his skit because he thinks his lame jokes and crappy repartee is just too damn funny and he has no acting skills or self-control, well… guess it turned out he didn’t have much self-control in other areas either.
socialxray, no not Bordello of Blood. I never saw that movie. The one I’m thinking of was some cop movie with maybe Martin Lawrence? He played some cynical cop or maybe newspaper reporter - and then gets killed. He was half-way decent in that movie. But he stinks to hog heaven in his commercials. Though perhaps that’s part of the charm of his commercials, and he’s doing it on purpose?
Regarding A. Whitney Brown, I can’t seem to remember much, but some of his style. He had a very dry sense of humor. A lot of it was lame, but I remember one joke that was mildly amusing. He was discussing the Gulf War, and how Browns are cowards, thus they survive. Check the phonebook and take a count. Compare to, say, all the Schwartzkoffs. 
I remember that; very funny. I have a couple other lines of his in my quotefile that I always thought were great:
– Bob
Norm McDonald starred a movie. Directed by… BOB SAGET! Oh, the humanity!
who was the blonde guy who did the Nancy Reagan bit all the time? He was real skinny with buck teeth and had to be the most effiminate cast member of all time. He was just damned irritating.
There were so many bad ones in the past, most of them concentrated around the 80-83 seasons, with the exception of Eddie Murphy.
McDonald was funny. Nealon had his moments. For God’s sake, after Colin Quinn ANYONE seems like a comic genius.
Jimmy Fallon–this guy is so lacking in charisma, he’s nearly transparent. His best lines on Update are obviously ones that have been written for him. And his damn oh-so-fashionable-mussed-up-Calvin Klein or psuedo/Carson Daly or whatever the hell hairdo. Jesus, get rid of him and spare us the agony.
I think after 1990, the best SNL shows were dictated by the guest hosts themselves.
My all time favorite guests hosts:
Christopher Walken
Alec Baldwin
Tom Hanks
so am I the only one that found Melanie Hutsell et.al. funny in those “Delta, Delta, Delta” skits? <sigh> . . guess its a gay thing . . .
I think I can safely speak for all of humankind (not counting you) when I say yes.
If I could set up a fight between Anthony Michael Hall and Victoria Jackson on the edge of a cliff, then drive up in a bulldozer and knock them both off, I would.
You can tell Colin Quinn doesn’t write “Weekend Update” because he always reads his lines like he’s reading a stranger’s shopping list that he found plastered to his shopping basket by spilled milk. I’d like to see him in a televised fight to the death with the “Steve Urkel” kid, using only pool cues and cheese graters for weapons.
Melanie Hutsell was funny. Joe Piscopo did a decent Frank Sinatra impersonation. Will Ferrell is decently talented, in my opinion. He guests in a couple of “Strangers with Candy” episodes (little-known series containing occasional spasms of hilarity). Ana Gasteyer is underappreciated and a hottie, which always helps. Didn’t anyone but me like those Tim Kazurinsky spots where he’d play a Gandhi-type Indian guru character taking questions during the news? Maybe it was because I was 13 years old at the time. Also, I may have an unnatural affinity for comic Indian stereotypes - Apu Nahasapeemapetilon kills me every time.
Ever notice how the “new” cast of SNL is always dumped on in the press, but a few of the people nevertheless manage to make it big? Then the press falls in love with them. I’m thinking of people like Adam Sandler, David Spade, that godawful “Mary Catherine something” who’s always smelling her armpits…
Dan Flappy, I agree with you that Jimmy Fallon has bad hair. However, he has a great ability to mimic popular songs and twist the lyrics - his christmas mainstay for the last couple years. IMO he was stellar doing Bono from U2 and he nailed Creed last Saturday. Also, did you see his Robin Williams impression? Uncanny - the voice and mannerisms were dead on.
El Gui, the Delta Delta Delta skit - I remember that! Hey, I thought it was funny (I think, so long ago my brain’s gone fuzzy). And I’m not gay.
City Gent, regarding Molly Shannon - see SNL Skit Blows Chunks! (Pit thread)
Worst cast as a whole? Easily the early 1980s casts. There’s a reason no one’s ever heard of most of them. Although that’s before my time, I’ve seen some reruns and dear God…whew…
Worst SNL cast members?
Colin Quinn is grossly untalented. He can’t act, and he doesn’t deserve to hold Norm Macdonald’s seat on Weekend Update (don’t hate me but I LOVE Norm Macdonald.) Plus, am I the only one who’s noticed that he plays the EXACT same character in the few skits he’s in? ENOUGH with the NY Bronx thing…we get it!
I never cared much for Victoria Jackson or Ellen Cleghorn either.
Some favorites? Mike Meyers, Dana Carvey, Steve Martin, Chris Farley, and Phil Hartman.