It’s taken me days to ruminate on this, but I’ve decided to go with Phil.
Best host? Justin Timberlake. Maybe.
You are? Pretty sure nobody else is…
“I’m shocked nobody has yet mentioned Chevy Chase, and you’re not.”
I think Farley was the funniest and stole most scenes. But he didn’t really have a lot of range as an actor.
So it depends on how you define greatest.
He was certainly the most fearless. The guy would do anything for a laugh.
Yeah, I second that. But I count what he did after SNL as what made him great. He showed glimmers of it on SNL but forged a unique style and identity in his late work. IMHO.
I like Hartmann, Belushi, and Murray, and I’ve grown into Kenan Thompson (who is getting his own show - The Kenan Show - this fall). Among the women, Radner, Wiig and McKinnon stand out. I also liked Ana Gasteyer.
BTW, Jack Handey was a character, not a cast member, played by Senator Al Franken.
Anyone for Luke Null? … Anyone? … Anyone? …
You might be thinking of Stuart Smalley.
Jane was an ignorant slut…
Phil Hartman has a certain quality in that he worked well in almost any sketch you put him in. He could be something wacky like an Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer or he could play the straight man to someone else’s crazy character. I’m going to nominate him simply because he fits into so many different skits.
Whoa!!! You are absolutely correct. Major brain fart.
John Belushi. The other originals are just behind. Bill Murray is just behind them.
Including Larraine Newman and Garret Morris?
Dan. The answer is always Dan.
The best host was Steve Martin.
I have been watching SNL from the day it premiered – Trivia note: It premiered on Bill and Hillary Clinton’s wedding day – although I missed many seasons. It turned to complete crap after the firing of the original cast, then I was living in Thailand or going to graduate school here in Hawaii or living in Albuquerque with no TV. But I did see quite a few middle episodes and have watched it regularly since returning to the US four years ago. To my mind, the all-time best cast member is a tie between today’s Colin Just and Michael Che. I would dump all the others including the original cast if I could just watch those two all day.
If the category was great comedians who didn’t do much on SNL, it’s gotta be Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who is might be the greatest comedy actor in TV history but people often forget she was even on SNL.
Oh this one’s easy: Tim Mazurinsky 
Quite milquetoast for me, however he’s one of the funniest (dry, self-deprecating) interviewees I’ve ever seen.
I’ll go with Buck Henry or Micheal Palin
Uuuuuuuhhhhhh oooooookaaaaaaaayyyyyeee.
Exact same observation. However, he did supply IMO SNL’s funniest moment in their history when his Mr. Spock character had a nervous breakdown.
Agreed.
He had probably the most impressive/substantial post-SNL career.
Interesting that I can’t think of any of them faring better after leaving the show. [Well, in terms of outright funniness, which, I suppose, is easier to maintain in a shortened sketch format than an extended film one (especially over time)].
That skit also gave us Garret Morris’s funniest line (IMO): “Right on, Buck Rogers. Is that an order, baby?”
I think there’s a difference between who was the single greatest cast member, and which cast member was most impressive after SNL. As much as I love Dan Aykroyd, I don’t think he’d win the second category.