Greatest SNL cast member?

[jfsolo]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?





Mr. Robinson: [ singing ]
"It's a beautiful day in the neigborhood
A beatuful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?

I always wanted to live in a house like yours, my friend
Maybe when there's nobody at home, I'll break in!

So, I married a woman who said she was rich,
Spent all of her money, walked out on the bitch!
Won't you be my..
Won't you be my..
Won't you be my neighbor??"

Hello, boys and girls! [ changes his shoes ] You're probably wondering why Mr. Robinson is putting on his glitter shoes. Now, these are rock and roll shoes, boys and girls. And, do you know why? Let's look at our word for the day. [ points to board reading "SCUMI" ] You can't read it, boys and girls, because it's the Soul Train Scramble Board! [ rearranges the letters to spell "MUSIC" ] There's our word for the day! [ walks over to a set of drums ] See what these are, boys and girls? They're drums. That's a beautiful instrument, you know. You know where drums come from? Africa! You know where these drums come from? Smokey Robinson was at the Apollo Theater, and left his van open in the back of the place. I ripped him off! I wonder how Smokey is gonna sound with no percussion? You know what drums sound like, boys and girls? Listen. [ starts beating the drums, making quite a racket until the phone rings, eliciting a face ] That's the telephone, boys and girls! Let's see who it can be. [ answers phone ] WHO IS IT!! What?! Oh, that ain't loud - this is loud! [ blows his whistle into the phone, then hangs up and smiles ] Now, where were we, boys and girls? [ returns to banging his drums ]

[ a knock is heard at the door ]

Voice at Door: Mr. Robinson! Robinson! I know you're in there! Stop beating them drums! You hear me?

Mr. Robinson: That's my new neighbor. But don't be scared, boys and girls, I just installed a new lock! He'll never get in here!

[ continues to bang his drums, as the door is busted through, and Mr. T enters, grabbing Robinson by the throat ]

Mr. T: Hello, boys and girls. The new word for today.. is "pain". [ to Robinson ] Sing the song!

Mr. Robinson: [ singing ] "A very happy.. tomorrow.. to you.."

Mr. T: Goodnight, boys and girls.

[tjb71]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

no question farley ask any former 90's cast member and they all say farley with phil hartman a close second

[caseyd]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

Murphy, Ferrell, Farley and Hartman (in not particular order) and honorable mention to the greatest guest ever, Christopher Walken.

[trobinson97]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

YEah I think you'd really have to break it down into the different eras. It's hard for me to single out a single greatest cast member, there have been a lot and I don't think that there is one who stood so much out from the rest while on the show.

70's I'm going with Dan Aykroyd. I love the X-Police (This was my favorite skit) and Irwin Mainway (Bag-)-Glass anyone).

80's I give the nod to Eddie Murphy although I thought Joe Piscopo was great on SNL.

90's, man this was the toughest for me, this was the time where I relly started watching the show so a lot of the cast members hold nostalgic places in my heart. Ummmm, I am just gonna go with...man...okay I am gonna go with Will Ferrell.

00's this is tough too, since besides Jimmy Fallon no one really stood out. I am gonna go with Darrell Hammond. He's been a cast member for a LONG time, but the guy is really underrated. his impressions are dead on most of the time.

[Shaver]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

I think you have to give it up for Dan Aykroyd in terms of original cast members. While Belushi got so much pub and Bill Murray certainly became a huge star, Aykroyd was the glue of that early cast. Between his bits on Weekend Update to,one of my favorite characters of all-time, Fred Garvin - Male Prostitute.

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/78/pics/78ofredgarvin1.jpg

The shift into the next group of players was certainly highlighted by Eddie Murphy. That kid was absolutely amazing... and really a baby when he started on that show. He stole every bit he was in and did great work. Really buoyed a pretty weak cast in those days.

I don't think anyone really stood out when you got into the next wave with the Billy Crystals and Martin Short generation. You mostly saw retreads from their standup routines and characters brought over directly from SCTV. If I had to pick a best from that period... I give it to Short just by virtue of the synchronized swimmers on 60 minutes bit.



The funny part is, as rough as that stretch was... it was loaded with talented people that just never really clicked on SNL. Harry Shearer, Chris Guest, Brad Hall... really talented writers that didn't fully translate.

I think Dana Carvey really was the next great to come along. For all the fame that Mike Myers found, he owes 90% of it to his work with Carvey (not too mention Myers is known as a notorious thief of material). Carvey was amazing on that show and created characters that were unique and nailed impressions that people still do today.

Moving into the 90's, I think people want to heep love on Chris Rock and Adam Sandler undeservedly because of the talent and success they've had. Chris Rock was a non-entity during his run on the show. Besides "Nat X", he really did very little to boost the show. SNL kept him from "In Living Color" and then never really used him. Had he gone over to ILC in the early days, I think Rock would have hit much sooner than he did. There was too much "next Eddie Murphy" pressure on him at SNL since he was his protege.



Sandler had some great characters, but, and I know this is part of his appeal, dude could not keep it together during a sketch and really blew a lot of great opportunities.

The early 90's, which was really heaped with underutilized talent Mark McKinney, Chris Elliot, Jeaneane Garofalo, Mark McKeon, etc... really belonged to Hartman and Farley. While I have tons of love for Chris Farley and what he did on that show... Phil Hartman was amazing. Think of how many impressions people do these days that are not impressions of that person, but impressions of Hartman doing that person. I could watch Hartman do Frank Sinatra all day. Classic, classic stuff.



In the late 90's into the early part of the century, it's hard to argue against Will Ferrell. He really went 100% on all of his characters. His George Bush will always be one of my all-time favorite parts of SNL. I think Cheri Oteri also deserves some love as one of the most talented women to ever be a feature player there.

[Dice]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

Moving into the 90's, I think people want to heep love on Chris Rock and Adam Sandler undeservedly because of the talent and success they've had. Chris Rock was a non-entity during his run on the show. Besides "Nat X", he really did very little to boost the show. SNL kept him from "In Living Color" and then never really used him. Had he gone over to ILC in the early days, I think Rock would have hit much sooner than he did. There was too much "next Eddie Murphy" pressure on him at SNL since he was his protege.

You know what...I thought about it and I think your right. I had picked Rock for the 90's cast because of his success after SNL. Rock's talents actually didn't bloom until after his short stint with In Living Color.

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

No love for Gilda Radner? Some her characters were classic, not to mention the great chemistry between her and Bill Murray.

John Belushi was also amazing, and I agree that Phil Hartman was the class of the modern generation (and he was great on 'Newsradio' as well...RIP).

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[SPTO]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

Oh here's an underrated cast member

Joe Piscopo

He started off at the tail end of the 2nd wave of success for SNL but the majority of his time was during the hell hole that was the mid 80s. He was great at impersonations. I always loved his Frank Sinatra.

[GenoG]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

Gilda Radner, very overlooked SNL cast member. I agree that Akroyd, Belushi and Murray were the pioneers. In my opinion the sketches with Billy Crystal and Martin short should not be overlooked. They were hilarious.

[SPTO]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

Gilda Radner, very overlooked SNL cast member. I agree that Akroyd, Belushi and Murray were the pioneers. In my opinion the sketches with Billy Crystal and Martin short should not be overlooked. They were hilarious.

Short was A LOT better on the Canadian sketch show SCTV. His most famous character (I forget his name, you know the weird nerdy looking guy) was way more funnier on SCTV then he was on SNL.

[Pete1210]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

John Belushi

[Sully]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

Belushi was the man.

[caseyd]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

Short was A LOT better on the Canadian sketch show SCTV. His most famous character (I forget his name, you know the weird nerdy looking guy) was way more funnier on SCTV then he was on SNL.

Ed Grimley And you're right. He was funnier on SCTV.

[Knight165]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

"Jane, you ignorant slut"....Ackroyd was fantastic.

I'd have to say the entire original cast was the best as a whole. Murphy was great as was Carvey. Very, very tough to narrow it down to one....but everytime I see the "Jane, you ignorant slut" news piece I crack up. Ackroyd just had this dry sense of humor that got me laughing...

M.K.
Knight165

[roadman]

Re: Greatest SNL cast member?

"Jane, you ignorant slut"....Ackroyd was fantastic.

I'd have to say the entire original cast was the best as a whole. Murphy was great as was Carvey. Very, very tough to narrow it down to one....but everytime I see the "Jane, you ignorant slut" news piece I crack up. Ackroyd just had this dry sense of humor that got me laughing...

M.K.
Knight165

Don't forget the repairman fixing the fridge, he nailed Carter and Nixon, and the two wild n crazy guys.