Yesterday I posted my thoughts on who I felt were the greatest cast members in the history of Saturday Night Live, which of course got me thinking about its current cast. While they had an up and down season last year in my opinion, every cast member will be returning next season. With that in mind, I'll give you my thoughts on how the current SNL cast members stack up, so you'll be well aware of who you're most likely going to see...again.
The Current SNL Cast
14. Paul Brittain (2010 - Present) - Paul who? Exactly
13. Abby Elliot (2008 - Present) - Just did not get a lot of material on this year, and it's really been hit or miss when she does
12. Taran Killam (2010 - Present) - Doesn't do a bad job in supporting roles, but give him his own sketch (Les Jueves de Paris) and it might not go so well.
11. Jay Pharoh (2010 - Present) - Does he do anything that isn't a black celebrity impression? His impressions are brilliant, but he needs to broaden his range a lot.
10. Vanessa Bayer (2010 - Present) - The best of the newbies, the only one with a recurring sketch (The Miley Cyrus Show) along with several nice supporting roles. Easily the most visible of the new cast members this past season.
9. Nasim Pedrad (2009 - Present) - Still seen more in supporting roles, Nasim is a nice well rounded cast member that just needs to write herself better material for a hit sketch (because that girl who won't leave her parents is definitely never going to be a hit)
8. Bobby Moynihan (2008 - Present) - The guy still doesn't have a recurring sketch or hit character, but he breathes energy into every single one of his sketches and you can tell how excited he still is to be on Saturday Night Live. He looks like a great guy to hang out with, but still not the guy you'd give a movie deal.
7. Jason Sudekis (2005 - Present) - Ordinarily Sudekis would be much higher on this list, but this year he really took a step backward in his visibility on the show, most likely due to Will Forte's departure (Sudekis had partnered with him many times before) and Sudekis's focus on his movie career. It was a genuine shock that Sudekis returned for another season, but I don't think he'll stick around too much longer.
6. Kenan Thompson (2003 - Present) - Kenan has the opposite problem of Pedrad and Moynihan in that he has quite a few recurring characters, but they all have been sucked dry already. What Up With That and Scared Straight have been done, and it's time for them to go into retirement. While Kenan may drag out some sketches too long, his little bit character parts on Update or in a sketch are always a delight (Charlie Wrangle, The Rent is too Damn High)
5. Fred Armisen (2002 - Present) - The main reason that Armisen stays relevant every week on the show is because of Obama. If you think of what Armisen has been doing on the show minus Obama is hasn't been a lot this past year. Most likely he's suffering a little burnout seeing he's been on the show for quite some time. However, when he does get a sketch or two on he rarely disappoints.
4. Seth Meyers (2001 - Present) - Seth Meyers has the potential to be number 1 on this list: if he would just get a freakin' co-anchor. Update character pieces have become a little more frequent, because Meyers is simply at his best when he has someone to play off of. When Amy Poehler returned to host this season Update was awesome because the two have great chemistry, but when he's going solo the Meyer's Update is usually good, not great. It's still the most solid portion of the show most weeks, but it has the potential to be so much more.
3. Andy Samberg (2005 - Present) - The master of The Digital Shorts turned out some impressive shorts this year, three of which are now up for Emmys. Not only that, but Samberg did just about every role imaginable this year, he did impressions, big sketches, small Update pieces, and of course The Digital Shorts, and he was pretty dang good in most of them. Like all cast members he had some ups and downs, but Samberg definitely grabbed some more spotlight following Forte's departure.
2. Kristen Wiig (2005 - Present) - The star of the show for the past couple of years didn't do as much as usual this past year, probably because she was focused on her big movie Bridesmaids, which as many of you know opened to critical acclaim. Wiig has been retiring some of her old characters and sketches (take note Kenan) which has given her less to do, but she is still your best bet to turn a crappy sketch around. Wiig breathes an astonishing amount of life into each character she does, all while being really funny.
1. Bill Hader (2005 - Present) - No doubt about it, Hader was the big man on campus this year. He had Julian Assange, Charlie Sheen, and John Boehner for great impressions, as well as great turns in sketches that would have most likely failed without him. In my opinion, he was also the star of the funniest sketch of the year (Don you go rounnin my roun to re ro). Along with a number of great characters, Stefon now being the most recognizable but Herb Welch is one of my favorites, it's not suprise that Hader wants to come back and clean up some more.
Those of my thoughts on SNL's current cast, feel free to give me yours!
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