The NBC late night series, not * [Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell*, and I do mean single greatest, no teams, and just pick one.
I think I would pick Kevin Nealon. Great utility player, never hammed it in a skit or broke character, his was a friendly “funny” that was never forced, and he was there for quite a while.
Interesting. I always thought Kevin Nealon, both on SNL and after, was the most unfunny “comedian” I’d ever seen.
For my money, I go with Will Ferrell.
For this old fart it’s still John Belushi.
Gilda Radner.
Eddie Murphy. Lots of ups and downs, but funniest body of work.
Most appreciated? I love Kate McKinnon, and Phil Hartman was great too. As were Norm McDonald, Bill Murray, Gilda…and many others.
Another old fart, who watched the original Not Ready For Prime Time Players.
Gilda beats out John Belushi, by a nose, in my book.
I’ve been watching since the first cast. There are so many great candidates, but I’m favoring recent season members of late. I’m gonna go with Bill Hader. Love his characters and his impersonations. Stefon, his Vincent Price, and so many more.
If this is limited to performance on the show then I say Dan Aykroyd. If their post SNL career counts then it’s hard to compete with Adam Sandler.
Joe Piscopo. (Kidding! Seriously, can you imagine? Sorry, Joe.)
Jeez, that’s a toughy as there have been a lot of stellar performers over the decades. Radner, Belushi, Hartmann, Murphy, McKinnon … I guess I’d go with Eddie Murphy but not by a huge margin.
I’ve enjoyed Hader in other things but missed his years on SNL so can’t opine. I’m also a big Tim Meadows fan - a lot of solid work but maybe not on the highest tier by comparison.
Jane Curtin.
Always good on the show, and a two-time Emmy winner.
I thought of Aykroyd first because of what he’s done in addition to SNL; The Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters[/i], My Girl, and an Academy Award nomination for Driving Miss Daisy.
I’ll go with Robert Downey, Jr. but not for work he’s done with SNL. In fact, you’ve probably forgotten that he was an SNL cast member for one season, haven’t you?
If we are doing that, then the the answer is Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Phil Hartman; they didn’t call him “the glue” for nothing.
Phil Hartman is my choice too
Probably Kevin Nealon, IMO.
Dana Carvey. So many great characters!
He’s get my vote also. He had tons of original characters: Church Lady, half of Hans & Franz, half of Wayne & Garth, Massive Head Wound Harry, Grumpy Old Man.
As well as tons of impressions: Johnny Carson, George Bush, Ross Perot, Tom Brokaw, James Stewart
Chris Farley
I would like to keep this to work done on SNL only.