I loves me some Land of Gorch. The only funny thing SNL ever came up with on a regular basis.
John Lovitz as “Master Thespian”:
Lovitz: Acting!
Other character: Brilliant!
Lovitz: Thank You!
I also loved the commercial for “The Amazing Alexander” In fact it was much better than CATS. I’m going to see it again and again. 
Anyone remember Jeopardy 1999? I think the host was played by Steve Martin, and the categories included Mutant Diseases and Sex.
This went out in the 1970s I think.
What about the "Coneheads’
Nowadays, SNL still has some very good moments. The Tina Fey/Palin skits will be all time classics. They had a couple very good skits last night.
'SNL' Mocks Tea Baggers' Outfits, Signs, And Lack Of Humor (VIDEO) | HuffPost Entertainment From yesterday.
No one mentioned “Toonces, the Driving Cat”? 
Yeah, I remember that one. Everyone in Star Trek shirts and white wigs, and with names like Lee P314. Martin was the host and I think Dan Aykroyd and Larraine Newman were two of the contestants. 1999 seemed like the distant future.
There was a show a few years ago of SNL game show sketches and I watched it hoping for Jeopardy 1999, but no joy.
I opened the thread to see if anyone mentioned Lothar. I sing his theme song when I wash dishes, for some reason. I like how it sounds in the acoustics of my kitchen.
I also loved Simon, the kid who “liked to do drawrings” who sat in the bathtub and talked about his very sad life, living in hotel rooms while his single father did business all around the world. Sometimes another kid (played by the host) in the same predicament would be in the bath with him and he’d warn them not to look at his bum like a cheeky monkey.
I also have a fondness for Helen Madden, licensed joyologist.
Michael Palin’s "Miles Cowperthwaite was only 2 to 3 segments IIRC, but it did bring us the magnificent Captain Ned, leading me to ask my boyfriends many times “Is this the way manly men behave on a man’s ship?!”
The Falconer (Will Forte)
Operaman (Adam Sandler)
Matt Foley (Chris Farley)
Astronaut Jones (Tracy Morgan)
Bill Brasky Buddies (Will Ferrell, David Koechner, Mark McKinney, Tim Meadows, others)
Wasn’t that Canteen Boy?
I know. I thought I had just imagined it until I went through a SNL sketch list.
It was hardly a classic, but I remember a lot of lines from it:
“A vewitable mountain of Mayo! Comes with flag and three plastic goats!”
You know Bill Brasky!? I wanna be your friend!
I’ll turn 50 this year, and I keep thinking of camel-toed Sally O’Malley. “I’m 50! I can kick and I can stretch!”
OK, I got corrected twice- I thought E. Buzz Miller was the same character as Irwin Mainstay, just in different skits. Also, Adam Sandler’s scouting character was indeed Canteen Boy.
Chris Kattan’s character on Goth Talk was Azrael Abyss (“Prrrince of Sorrows!”) while Molly Shannon was either Circe or Cassandra Nightshade, Queen of the Crows. Every once in a while, they would also blurt out their “real” names.
ETA Circe Nightshade, also real names Todd Henderson & Stephanie ???
And Steve Buscemi’s janitor was Tony Baloney Fontaine.
Thank you! That was hilarious & a little unsettling.
Mainway.
(three times ;))
I was in college in the mid-80s. I worked part time in the career counseling office. We got some information from the local Catholic diocese about entering the priesthood. This included a poster of Fr. Guido with the caption “Eat Free in Italian Restaurants.” Smaller print underneath gave more information and who to contact if you wanted to become a priest. As far as we could tell, it was totally serious, and our best guess was that someone in the hierarchy didn’t actually know who Fr. Guido was, or what he did. (We chose not to display the poster.) I’ve always wondered what Don Novello was thinking when he agreed to do that campaign.
Coffee Talk with Linda Richman.
Sadly, no one knows what the hell I’m talking about these days if I happen to say “I’m getting all verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves.”
I came to this thread wanting to mention Willie and Frankie, but Nobody beat me to it.
Those guys were probably my favorite “little remembered characters”, but if we’re just going for “little remembered characters”, my vote goes for Doug and Wendy Whiner. I was like 12 when I first started watching SNL, and about the only thing I can remember from that time was this couple. Pretty irritating, but I guess that was kinda the point.
Oh - and Motorgirl? You’re not the only one who remembers Lothar of the Hill People. Every time I come across the name “Lothar” (which doesn’t happen too often), I have to sing the chorus of his theme song.