SNL's Continued Downward Spiral Thread

Terry Sweeney was the first. Remember him? Nancy Reagan.

 

According to wiki, Vance doesn't count. Wasn't out at the time.

 

Charles Rocket?

 

I loved the Lincoln/Louie sketch...

 

Aykroyd, Hartman, Murphy, Murray, Ferrell, Ratner. That's the beginning of the list, and quite possibly in that order. Wiig's not in the top 10. Michael's may love her for all the reasons a boss loves an employee. Shows up on time, works her ass off, is successful, doesn't complain, doesn't cause problems with others and works for scale.

 

I'd go:

1. Carvey
2. Hartman
3. Murphy
4. Belushi
5. Aykroyd
6. Murray
7. Ferrell
8. Farley
9. Myers
10. Chase

 

As important as Chevy was to the show, people forget he was only a cast member one season, the first. I'm not sure that gets him in the top 10.

 

"Lincoln, Lincoln you're gonna DIEEEE!"
The routine was gold, too.

 

Well, Mizzou has him at 10th, which I imagine it probably right around where I would have him if I made my own list. He was only on the show one year, but it's probably THE year as far as the biggest impact SNL made, even if some episodes are packed with skits that are almost unwatchable now. (i.e. Carlin and Garrett Morris loaded on cocaine, all the bee and Muppets stuff, etc.)

I was going to say that from his list, I'd probably flip-flop Carvey and Hartman, but it's a razor thin margin for either being the best ever to me anyway. Both had longevity, original characters and impersonations, kind of the triple threat the greatest performers on the list have.

 

I'm torn on that, although you make a very good point. In the early days of SNL, as good as Belushi, Aykroyd, Radner, Curtin & Co. were, I think the show was defined on a pop-culture level by Chevy.

The question is, would that indeed be enough, or does someone like, say, Darrell Hammond, who filled a crucial role for some 10 seasons, deserve to be considered more? He never was the big Kahuna, but he was probably as cutting-edge an impressionist as anyone around over that span.

 

Chevy probably belongs on that top 10 list for the same kinds of reasons Namath belongs in the NFL's hall, as someone who changed the game forever.

 

I love Hammond, but it's tough to argue who you'd take out to put him in. Eddie Murphy and Chase were only there for a year or two plus assorted hosting jobs, but they were The Big Fucking Star when they left. Farley's DVD is the best selling of all-time, I think, although Ferrell might have surpassed him by now. Hammond also probably gets dinged on my own arbitrary scale for mostly being "just" an impressions guy.