In the history of Saturday Night Live, Kenan Thompson stands out as easily the longest tenured cast member as he’s now in his 22nd season (a record previously held by Darrell Hammond’s 14). That means he’s been on SNL for nearly half its existence yet he was the first performer on the show born after its 1975 premiere.
With that many episodes under his belt, he obviously has some significant highlights. Right at the top is Diondre Cole, host of What Up With That? where nothing advances much past the ubiquitous theme song. There’s also his eternal optimist Willie from Update segments. That’s in addition to great impressions including Steve Harvey, Al Sharpton, Bill Cosby and Whoopi Goldberg. His Hollywood Walk of Fame star is placed next to the Lorne Michaels’ star. And Thompson’s star power has been shining for nearly a quarter century. #32 will be up soon!
In the 50th season premiere episodes of Saturday Night Live this month, it has become clear that Bowen Yang has moved into the status of MVP. From taking on the role of VP candidate JD Vance or his Update appearance as viral hippo Moo Deng or as English pop star Charli XCX, it was one Yang showcase after another. He nabs the 34 spot on my top 50 cast members of all time.
He started as a writer in 2018 before joining as a Not Ready for Prime Time player the following year. Notable bits in the past half decade include appearing as the iceberg that sunk the Titanic, as notorious Congressman George Santos and playing the Straight Man to a fawning Sydney Sweeney. It probably won’t be long before Yang gets his feature film or TV series centered around his considerable talents. Hopefully we’ll have him on SNL for a while longer. #33 will be up soon!
When Kevin Nealon departed Saturday Night Live back in 1995, his nine seasons marked the longest tenure on the show up to that point. That record has since been obliterated thanks to Kenan Thompson and others, but Nealon’s lengthy stint on SNL was fruitful.
Whether as Franz of Hans (Dana Carvey) and Franz fame or Mr. Subliminal or Bob Waltman (his clever take on Barbara Walters), Nealon had plenty of humorous moments in a cast era full of all-stars. Carvey, Phil Hartman, and others from the mid 80s to mid 90s will be seen later, but Nealon deserves to make the cut. While his time anchoring Weekend Update couldn’t match some others, his comedic timing is impeccable. On a side note, he’s one of the funniest talk show guests in the medium. Do yourself a favor and search “Kevin Nealon You Got a Minute”. #40 will be posted soon!
My Top 50 SNL Cast Members of All Time has reached number 45 and it’s one of the most gifted impressionists that the show has seen with Jay Pharoah. The stand-up comic handled the second term impersonating President Obama (taking over for Fred Armisen), but the on point mimicry certainly didn’t stop there. Some of the more memorable portrayals include Jay-Z, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Shaquille O’Neal, Stephen A. Smith, and even one of SNL’s own Eddie Murphy.
Unlike Murphy, Pharoah never had a stable of fictional characters that broke out. However, he earns placement here due to his real world imitations. #44 will be up soon!
Before becoming a SAG and Golden Globe winner for his heralded role on Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis was part of one of SNL’s finest ensembles in the show’s first half century of existence. He earns the 47 spot in my top 50 cast members.
Sudeikis memorably played Mitt Romney and Joe Biden while also channeling The Devil in Update bits and appearing alongside Kristin Wiig as one half of the A-Holes. Sudeikis was occasionally overshadowed by costars who will appear higher on this list, but he was a glue guy in a top SNL era. #46 will be up soon!
SNL just began its 50th season and a grand televised celebration is anticipated this spring. I have been a huge follower of the iconic sketch comedy show my whole life. That includes devouring books about its history and memoirs from former cast members.
To mark its half century in existence, I have decided to make a list of my top 50 cast members in the show’s history. Let’s establish an important ground rule. This list covers each member’s time on the show only and not what they did before or after. There’s obvious examples of Not Ready for Prime Time Players who had terrific careers following their stints (some of them short-lived) on Saturday Night Live. Robert Downey, Jr. and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Ben Stiller and Damon Wayans. Chris Rock and Christopher Guest. You won’t find them in my top 50, but they’ve certainly had incredible contributions to film, TV, and stand-up.
I wrote down 70 performers of the 167 total cast members and whittled it down to 50. Not all original members from 1975 made the cut (apologies to Laraine Newman and Garrett Morris). There are current cast members who almost made it like Mikey Day, Ego Nwodim, and James Austin Johnson. In between there were those I struggled to leave off like Beck Bennett, Nora Dunn, Leslie Jones, Chris Kattan, Taran Killam, Tim Meadows, Kyle Mooney, Joe Piscopo, and Rob Schneider. There were a couple that were just never quite my cup of tea… Jim Breuer and Jon Lovitz.
Despite the tough subtractions, the forthcoming list is a treasure trove of talented comedic performers who have kept the show running for half a century. These posts will be a countdown from 50 to 1 (yep, 50 posts) that’ll run through the course of the 50th season. Stay tuned!
This evening we’ve arrived at part four of my personal favorite “South Park” episodes and that means we’ve breached the top ten! If you missed the first three installments covering 25-11, you can peruse them here:
The Season 8 premiere of the show has Parker and Stone going wild playing in the field of Japanese anime. The episode’s song “Let’s Fighting Love” is perhaps my favorite musical montage ever on the program.
9. “Woodland Critter Christmas”
Original Air Date: December 15, 2004 (Season 8)
The next spot belongs to the season finale of Season 8 and it’s the Christmas episode that makes Mr. Hankey look positively G-rated. The boys befriend a group of adorable animals only to find out they’re evil Satan worshipers. It’s even weirder than it sounds and side splittingly funny.
8. “You’re Getting Old”
Original Air Date: June 8, 2011 (Season 15)
An absolute stunner of an episode that generated significant publicity because it seemed to signal Parker and Stone’s frustration with having to keep the show going. The final montage set to Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” is surprisingly emotional for a raunchy animated series.
7. “Butter’s Very Own Episode”
Original Air Date: December 12, 2001 (Season 5)
Besides Cartman and Randy Marsh, my favorite SP character would be Butters. In season 5, he got his own episode dedicated to him where he’s presumed dead and his parents are suspected. This leads to a scathing and brilliant condemnation of the Ramsey parents, O.J. Simpson, and Gary Condit in one of the funniest closing scenes in the program’s tenure.
6. “The Jeffersons”
Original Air Date: April 21, 2004 (Season 8)
No one is better at mocking celebrities than this show and their take on Michael Jackson (five years before his death) is incredible. The musical number “Wishing Tree” is classic.
Tomorrow – I’ll announce my all-time top five… stay tuned!
Back at it continuing with my personal Top 25 favorite “South Park” episodes of all time, ahead of its season 18 debut on Wednesday. We’ve arrived at part 3 covering numbers 15-11. We’ll get into the Top Ten tomorrow! If you happened to miss the first two installments covering numbers 25-16, you can find them here:
Leave it to Trey Parker and Matt Stone to come up with the craziest Christmas mascot imaginable. Mr. Hankey made a few appearances on the show, but the first from season 1 is still the best.
14. “The Losing Edge”
Original Air Date: April 6, 2005 (Season 9)
Any episode focusing on Randy Marsh is usually a winner and this one is comedy gold where he can’t control his anger at the parents of teammates on his son’s baseball team.
13. “With Apologies to Jesse Jackson”
Original Air Date: March 7, 2007 (Season 11)
“South Park” has never been shy tackling taboo subjects and the season 11 premiere dared to undertake racial issues in a truly hilarious fashion. The opening “Wheel of Fortune” sequence is dangerous yet the creators pull it off, creating one of the most memorable sequences in the show’s history.
12. “All About Mormons”
Original Air Date: November 19, 2003 (Season 7)
Parker and Stone have famously never been shy about discussing all forms of religion on the program. Their take on Mormonism is brilliant and certainly helped lead to their most famous side project, the Broadway play “Book of Mormon” which is still going very strong.
11. “Kenny Dies”
Original Air Date: December 5, 2001 (Season 5)
One of the show’s hallmarks of “South Park” is Kenny’s death in every episode. It took until season 5 to treat his demise in a “serious” fashion and it’s unforgettable. When Cartman visits Congress and leads the body in a rendition of Asia’s “Heat of the Moment”, one of the program’s best musical moments was born.
And that’s today edition, my friends! The Top Ten will arrive tomorrow…
Time flies, my friends. Want proof? This Wednesday, Comedy Central’s “South Park” begins its 18th season with its 248th episode! The series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone is probably my favorite comedic program of the past two decades. Yes, I’d put it above “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy”. Don’t get me wrong – they’re terrific, too. However, I’m a “South Park” guy. I’ve never missed an episode.
This brings us to my personal list of Top 25 episodes of all time. Simply put, this was hard. Really hard. Like… Sophie’s Choice hard. Yet somehow I’ve managed to do it. Like other lists on this here blog, the top 25 will be a five-part series will additional entries coming everyday until Tuesday, the day before the new season’s debut.
Let’s get to it!
25. “It’s Christmas in Canada”
Original Air Date: December 17, 2003 (Season 7)
Season 7’s season finale and Christmas episode was a brilliant parody of The Wizard of Oz and managed to hilariously incorporate the capture of Saddam Hussein, which had occurred just earlier that weekend.
24. “Fat Butt and Pancake Head”
Original Air Date: April 16, 2003 (Season 7)
No show is better at excoriating celebrities and “Fat Butt and Pancake Head” is a perfect example. Fat Butt is Jennifer Lopez. Pancake Head is Ben Affleck. They were dating at the time. This episode shows Cartman at his crazy best.
23. “Canada On Strike”
Original Air Date: April 2, 2008 (Season 12)
Any episode that has great subplots for Ike and Butters is a winner in my book. The episode’s battle between YouTube celebrities is an all-time classic.
22. “More Crap”
Original Air Date: October 10, 2007 (Season 11)
“South Park” is better than no other at being uproarious yet making important political and social satire at the same time. Yet sometimes – we just want the show to be delicious lowbrow humor. “More Crap” is just that. And it features Randy Marsh at his best and a devastating parody of U2 lead singer Bono.
21. “The Red Badge of Gayness”
Original Air Date: November 24, 1999 (Season 3)
Probably not the favorite episode of Civil War re-enactors, but Cartman’s turn as a frustrated general is comedic gold.
And that’s all until tomorrow when I’ll bring you part two covering numbers 20-16!
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