Eddie Murphy: Absolutely—if any name deserves to be here, he does. He came closer than anyone else has to carrying the entire show by himself. I can’t argue with Phil Hartman. But Chris Rock, and possibly also Bill Murray, when judged strictly by their SNL work, aren’t impressive enough; what they did there was overshadowed by their later careers.
My Hall of Fame would also include John Belushi, maybe Chase, possibly Aykroyd (Omniscient makes a good case), probably Dana Carvey and Mike Myers. Depending on how strict we want to be, maybe Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Chris Farley, Gilda Radner… If not, they’re at least Aces.
All of the current women (Pohler, Rudolph, Dratch, Fey) are somewhere between Yeomen and Aces, possibly full-fledged Aces (especially Pohler), with the chance of climbing even higher.
I agree with JThunder about Kevin Nealon being underrated; I’d put him just a notch below Aykroyd. I’ll also support Mr. Blue Sky’s nomination of Tim Kazurinsky.
Guest hosts who are Aces include Steve Martin, Christopher Walken, and possibly Alec Baldwin.
I can’t agree with any of these; all are clearly talented and, at times, extremely funny.
I think we need a new category: Performers Who, While Not Objectively Duds, Really Just Rub You Personally The Wrong Way. These are the ones whom you can maybe see why other people think they’re funny or talented but for yourself you never want to see them again. For me, this category would include Cheri O’Teri, Molly Shannon, and Chris Kattan. Rodgers01 and I obviously have very different tastes.