Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL Podcast

The promising SNL UK Season One ran just eight episodes, roughly analogous to a U.S. writers’ strike-shortened SNL season, and each episode clocked in at around 58 minutes — about one sketch shorter than its American counterpart. The format is unmistakably SNL: cold opens, a guest host, a musical act, Weekend Update, and commercial parodies. The differences, however, are notable. SNL UK allows profanity, goes to darker comedic places, and takes sharper, more direct shots at politicians — even those its cast likely votes for. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, for instance, is relentlessly skewered week after week, portrayed as an ineffectual, conflict-averse bumbler.

The cast of eleven — Hammed Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, George Fouracres, Ania Magliano, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, Emma Sidi, and Paddy Young — is, top to bottom, stronger than the current U.S. cast. Crucially, most members came from outside traditional sketch comedy backgrounds — serious acting, improv, and musical theater — and that hunger translated into a cast visibly scrapping for airtime and taking comedic risks.

The standout performer of the season is George Fouracres, whose portrayal of Keir Starmer became a recurring anchor of the show’s political comedy. His everyman quality and range across ensemble and impression work drew comparisons to U.S. veteran Jon Lovitz.

The best moments came early. The top three episodes — hosted by Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, and Riz Ahmed — arrived first, and the show gradually settled into comfortable competence as the season progressed. The weakest episode was hosted by Hannah Waddingham, who was deemed a poor fit — asked to carry too much without the comedic range required.

The cast is talented and energetic, the writers are clearly crafting material to their performers’ specific strengths, and the political satire has a pointed wit that U.S. SNL has arguably lost. Some sketches rooted in British cultural nostalgia — references to shows like Noel’s House Party or Mr. Blobby — land differently for American viewers, but the broad strokes translate well.

Both hosts agree: bring back the entire cast for Season Two, which is expected to begin in September 2026. No one needs replacing. The season was not filled with wall-to-wall great sketches, but it was rarely bad — and in the long history of Saturday Night Live, avoiding terrible is a genuine achievement.

We cover all this and much more in this episode of Wasn’t That Special. Please subscribe and join us for a trip through every year of SNL, and consider joining at the Executive Producer level, where you get a whole load of extra commentary and clips that will help you become an SNL expert!

The defining image of Saturday Night Live Season 51 is James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump, standing at yet another press conference podium. Johnson played Trump in roughly 14 of the season’s 20 episodes, almost always anchoring the cold open in the same format.

The frustration isn’t with the impression itself — Johnson’s Trump remains sharp, and the wig was even subtly updated to reflect a more current look — but with the creative laziness surrounding it. A writers’ room stocked with professional comedians ought to be able to find more imaginative entry points into the political moment than a recurring White House briefing. The cold open, which should set the tone and energy for the entire show, became instead a weekly anchor dragging things down before the first commercial break.

If the cold opens represent the season’s most glaring structural problem, Ashley Padilla represents its one unambiguous triumph. She is not just the best performer on the current cast — she’s actively transforming mediocre material into something worth watching, a feat very few cast members in the show’s history have managed so consistently. What New York Times critic Jason Zinoman called the “Padilla Pause” — that charged, unhurried beat she holds before a punchline while visibly working something through — is the mark of a performer operating at a level the rest of the cast simply isn’t matching. With a sketch comedy background rooted in actual improv and sketch training, she does what the best SNL performers have always done: she takes words off a page and turns them into gold.

The supporting cast, by contrast, offered little help. Several new cast members — Tommy Brennan in particular — were nearly invisible by season’s end, and the back half of the season somehow gave them less to do rather than more, which is the opposite of how a transitional season should work. Mikey Day’s persistent breaking became a weekly irritant, recalling the Jimmy Fallon era in the worst possible way. Marcelo Hernandez generated considerable outside buzz on the strength of a stand-up special, but a closer look at his SNL work reveals a performer who tends to play the same note repeatedly rather than demonstrating genuine range. Jeremy Culhane’s Tucker Carlson impression earned real-world acclaim, but the character seemed to be working from a circa-2014 version of Carlson rather than a genuine satirical portrait of who he is today.

One of the season’s more discussed moments was a Ryan Gosling episode built entirely around making the cast break and laugh on camera — a deliberate violation of a 50-year Lorne Michaels rule. The sketch was even announced as such with an on-screen chyron. That SNL chose to finally cross that line and still couldn’t make it into a genuinely funny sketch is, in some ways, the perfect encapsulation of the season: precedent broken, creative dividend uncollected.

The writing room more broadly showed signs of creative exhaustion. A sketch about men spontaneously singing together at a barbecue drew comparisons to a bit from Anchorman that is now more than two decades old. Recurring pieces like the Norwegian film parody and the Shop TV sketches were wheeled out again with little variation, suggesting a staff that has learned to lean on what worked once rather than push toward something new.

The numbers tell the starkest story. For the second consecutive season, not a single sketch received a 5-star grade from either grader — a trend that, notably, began after Will Ferrell’s departure in Season 27 and has been accelerating. Season 51 is a rebuilding year, but it’s not clear we know what the final structure is going to resemble.

We cover all this and much more in this episode of Wasn’t That Special. Please subscribe and join us for a trip through every year of SNL, and consider joining at the Executive Producer level, where you get a whole load of extra commentary and clips that will help you become an SNL expert!

On this episode, Christian and Scot discuss the debut of SNL UK - how is it similar to SNL and how is it different? Who were the standout performers on the show? Is it built to last?

We know, picking the greatest Saturday Night Live sketches of all time is generally a fool’s errand. After watching nearly 10,000 sketches over the span of 50 years, how can you narrow the list to just 20?

Well, we tried. We each picked our 20 favorite live-action sketches (pre-tapes and commercials excluded) in show history. Listen to our rationale in this week’s podcast - otherwise, our complete lists are below. Enjoy!

Christian’s Picks:

20. Clancy T. Bachleratt and Jackie Snad Sing Songs About Spaceships, Toddlers, Model T. Cars and Jars of Beer (Season 33, Episode 8)

19. Washington’s Dream (S49, E3)

18: Debbie Downer Debut (S29, E18)

17. Amazing Time Savers (S19, E20)

There is a reason this one isn’t on YouTube.

16. Puppet Class (S38, E1)

15. James Brown’s Celebrity Hot Tub Party (S9, E4)

14. Game Beaters: Mr. Short-Term Memory (S16, E8)

Watch Here

13. Ronald Reagan: Mastermind (S12, E6)

12. The Continental (Multiple Seasons)

11. Chippendales (S16, E4)

10. Potato Chip Astronaut (S35, E8)

9. Stand Up and Win (S17, E18)

8. Hot Tub Love-Ahs (S27, E3)

7. Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood (Multiple Seasons)

6. Spelling Bee (S31, E9)

5. Bill Clinton at McDonald’s (S18, E8)

4. The Festrunk Brothers (S3, E1)

(This is a later sketch, not the debut, which was picked for the podcast. The original is only available on Peacock.)

3. Word Association (S1, E7)

2. More Cowbell (S25, E16)

1. Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker (S18, E19)

Scot’s Picks:

20. Massive Headwound Harry (S17, E6)

19. Land Shark III (S1, E6)

18. Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker (S18, E19)

17. Amazing Time Savers (S19, E20)

16. Theodoric of York: Medieval Barber (S3, E18)

15. Morning Drive (Alec Baldwin and Kristen Wiig) (S32, E5)

14. Chippendale’s (S16, E4)

13. More Cowbell (S25, E16)

12. WWE Promo (S40, E16)

11. Wake Up and Smile (S21, E8)

10. Puppet Class (S38, E1)

9. Talk Back (Buck Henry) (S1, E21)

8. Robot Repair (S14, E15)

7. Delicious Dish (S24, E9)

6. Debbie Downer: Disney World (S29, E18)

5. Bill Clinton at McDonald’s (S18, E8)

4. The Sinatra Group (S16, E11)

3. Black Jeopardy! (S42, E4)

2. Fred Garvin: Male Prostitute (S4, E15)

1. Ronald Reagan: Mastermind (S12, E6)

Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Season 51 of Saturday Night Live is upon us, so in this episode, Christian and Scot discuss all the cast changes made over the summer and what they thought of the season debut, hosted by Bad Bunny.

Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

You’ve heard us discuss the best cast members in Saturday Night Live history. You’ve read our list of the best seasons. But what are the best single episodes in show history? (And what are a few of the worst?) All will be revealed in this episode.

Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Presumably you have popped your champagne and donned your finest tuxedo or evening gown and you’re ready to listen to us count down the best 25 SNL cast members of all time.

(And while you’re at it, you can catch up on our rankings of the next 50 cast members here and cast members 76-128 here.)

Without any further ado, here are the best SNL cast members of all-time, ranked (With Christian’s ranking and Scot’s ranking listed.)

25. Billy Crystal (CS 40, SB 18)

24. Joe Piscopo (CS 31, SB 21)

23. Chris Farley (CS 26, SB 26)

22. Molly Shannon (CS 18, SB 31)

21. Martin Short (CS 19, SB 30)

20. Vanessa Bayer (CS 24, SB 22)

19. Jason Sudeikis (CS 33, SB 11)

18. Rachel Dratch (CS 14, SB 27)

17. Kenan Thompson (CS 21, SB 20)

16. John Belushi (CS 23, SB 13)

15. Mike Myers (CS 15, SB 19)

14. Chevy Chase (CS 12, SB 17)

13. Bill Hader (CS 16, SB 12)

12. Kate McKinnon (CS 11, SB 16)

11. Amy Poehler (CS 9, SB 15)

10. Jon Lovitz (CS 13, SB 8)

9. Will Forte (CS 10, SB 10)

8. Kristen Wiig (CS 8, SB 9)

7. Gilda Radner (CS 5, SB 7)

6. Bill Murray (CS 6, SB 5)

5. Dana Carvey (CS 4, SB 6)

4. Phil Hartman (CS 7, SB 2)

3. Dan Aykroyd (CS 3, SB 3)

2. Eddie Murphy (CS 1, SB 4)

1. Will Ferrell (CS 2, SB 1)

Welcome to the second installment of our Saturday Night Live cast member countdown. This time, we tackle the next 50 cast members on our list, from number 75 down to 26. Not only does this one have some rankings that will shock casual SNL viewers (and Tina Fey and Adam Sandler fans especially), it also features some sharp disagreements between your hosts, with some cast members being ranked almost 50 spots apart on their ballots.

All is explained in the episode. Enjoy! (And make sure to catch our rankings of cast members 76-128 here.)

The rankings: (with Christian and Scot’s ballot position added.)

75. David Spade (CS 86, SB 64)

74. Joan Cusack (CS 73, SB 76)

73. Leslie Jones (CS 81, SB 67)

72. Garrett Morris (CS 53, SB 93)

71. Laraine Newman (CS 68, SB 72)

70. Gary Kroeger (CS 66, SB 73)

69. Andrew Dismukes (CS 93, SB 44)

68. Beck Bennett (CS 76, SB 60)

67. Christopher Guest (CS 79, SB 51)

66. Alex Moffat (CS 67, SB 63)

65. Al Franken (CS 44, SB 83)

64. Ana Gasteyer (CS 64, SB 62)

63. Bowen Yang (CS 59, SB 66)

62. Tracy Morgan (CS 52, SB 71)

61. Jim Belushi (CS 75, SB 47)

60. Robin Duke (CS 36, SB 85)

59. Nasim Pedrad (CS 56, SB 65)

58. Taran Killam (CS 65, SB 53)

57. Julia Sweeney (CS 34, SB 73)

56. Mary Gross (CS 46, SB 59)

55. Mikey Day (CS 62, SB 41)

54. Cecily Strong (CS 72, SB 29)

53. Heidi Gardner (CS 45, SB 55)

52. Tina Fey (CS 43, SB 56)

51. Sarah Sherman (CS 38, SB 61)

50. Chris Kattan (CS 49, SB 50)

49. Seth Meyers (CS 50, SB 46)

48. Jan Hooks (CS 47, SB 49)

47. James Austin Johnson (CS 48, SB 48)

46. Colin Jost (CS 57, SB 38)

45. Chris Parnell (CS 55, SB 40)

44. Kevin Nealon (CS 60, SB 34)

43. Ego Nwodim (CS 54, SB 35)

42. Cheri Oteri (CS 30, SB 57)

41. Michael Che (CS 58, SB 28)

40. Norm Macdonald (CS 61, SB 23)

39. Jimmy Fallon (CS 42, SB 42)

38. Adam Sandler (CS 41, SB 43)

37. Victoria Jackson (CS 27, SB 52)

36. Tim Meadows (CS 20, SB 59)

35. Aidy Bryant (CS 39, SB 36)

34. Andy Samberg (CS 17, SB 54)

33. Rob Schneider (CS 32, SB 37)

32. Maya Rudolph (CS 22, SB 45)

31. Dennis Miller (CS 51, SB 14)

30. Fred Armisen (CS 25, SB 39)

29. Darrell Hammond (CS 37, SB 25)

28. Tim Kazurinsky (CS 28, SB 33)

27. Bobby Moynihan (CS 29, SB 32)

26. Jane Curtin (CS 35, SB 24)

Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Of all the reasons to start a podcast, spite seems to be near the top of the list. For too many years, we have seen ridiculous “best of” lists ranking Saturday Night Live cast members, seasons, and sketches that were clearly written by people who had only watched a small fraction of the show. Norm MacDonald the seventh-worst cast member of all time? Jenny Slate ahead of Bobby Moynihan? Beth Cahill above Joe Piscopo? Pamela Stephenson ahead of Will Forte?

If SNL had a justice system, these would be capital crimes.

Naturally, any good holder of grudges would spend two years watching 1,000 hours of SNL to set the record straight, and that is what we did. Based on our careful notes and observations we made our own list of best cast members, and we’re starting to count them down with this list.

Some ground rules to start: We picked out 38 cast members who only served one season or less and excluded them from our ranking. There is simply no way to rank this morass of people. Think of them all being tied for number 129.

You may note that some notable cast members only served one year - Billy Crystal, Martin Short, and the like. We left these people in because the changes to the show were structural - they were not related to the performance of the cast member.

With these loose rules in place, the excluded cast members list (alternately known as the “thank you for your service” list) includes: Aristotle Athari, Peter Aykroyd, Morwenna Banks, Paul Brittain, Beth Cahill, George Coe, Jim Downey, Christine Ebersole, Dean Edwards, Siobhan Fallon, Janeane Garofalo, Lauren Holt, Yvonne Hudson, Laura Kightlinger, Matthew Laurance, Laurie Metcalf, John Milhiser, Jerry Minor, Luke Null, Mike O'Brien, Emily Prager, Rob Riggle, Tim Robinson, Jon Rudnitsky, Tom Schiller, Sarah Silverman, Jenny Slate, Pamela Stephenson, Ben Stiller, Chloe Troast, Dan Vitale, Nancy Walls, Michaela Watkins, Patrick Weathers, Noel Wells, Brooks Wheelan, Fred Wolf, and Alan Zweibel.

From then on, we move to the list of featured players who merited ranking. Below are the rankings, along with the rank given to each cast member by Christian (CS) and Scot (SB). You will see that in some cases, the disparity is pretty large. (The final ranking is determined by averaging out each host’s score.)

So listen above to our commentary on the list - we get into why we ranked people where we did and discuss some of our biggest disagreements.

Thus, without any further ado, the final list of cast members between 76 and 128 are:

128. Charles Rocket (CS 127, SB 127)

127. Ann Risley (CS 124, SB 128)

126. Robert Downey, Jr. (CS 125, SB 125)

125. Kyle Mooney (CS 126, SB 123)

124. Paul Shaffer (CS 128, SB 118)

123. Jeff Richards (CS 123, SB 122)

122. Anthony Michael Hall (CS 118, SB 126)

121. Jay Mohr (CS 122, SB 120)

120. Molly Kearney (CS 119, SB 116)

119. Melanie Hutsell (CS 120, SB 113)

118. Jane Wickline (CS 112, SB 117)

117. Damon Wayans (CS 111, SB 115)

116. Jim Breuer (CS 114, SB 111)

115. Michael O'Donoghue (CS 105, SB 119)

114. Finesse Mitchell (CS 103, SB 121)

113. Emil Wakim (CS 109, SB 114)

112. Casey Wilson (CS 113, SB 109)

111. Brian Doyle-Murray (CS 116, SB 106)

110. Gilbert Gottfried (CS 117, SB 100)

109. Devon Walker (CS110, SB107)

108. A. Whitney Brown (CS 115, SB 99)

107. Terry Sweeney (CS 87, SB 124)

106. Don Novello (CS 104, SB 101)

105. Tom Davis (CS 91, SB 113)

104. Brad Hall (CS 95, SB 108)

103. Michael Longfellow (CS 99, SB 103)

102. Colin Quinn (CS 106, SB 94)

101. Punkie Johnson (CS 97, SB 102)

100. Abby Elliott (CS 94, SB 105)

99. Tony Rosato (CS 107, SB 91)

98. Michael McKean (CS 121, SB 77)

97. Harry Shearer (CS 108, SB 84)

96. Gail Matthius (CS 101, SB 88)

95. Danitra Vance (CS 88, SB 99)

94. Melissa Villaseñor (CS 89, SB 95)

93. Denny Dillon (CS 92, SB 90)

92. Robert Smigel (CS 71, SB 110)

91. Ellen Cleghorne (CS 77, SB 104)

90. Jay Pharoah (CS 83, SB 96)

89. Rich Hall (CS 96, SB 81)

88. David Koechner (CS 98, SB 78)

87. Sasheer Zamata (CS 74, SB 97)

86. Ashley Padilla (CS 82, SB 89)

85. Pete Davidson (CS 90, SB 80)

84. Mark McKinney (CS 102, SB 68)

83. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (CS 100, SB 70)

82. Chris Redd (CS 85, SB 82)

81. Horatio Sanz (CS 70, SB 92)

80. Marcello Hernandez (CS 80, SB 79)

79. Chris Rock (CS 69, SB 86)

78. Randy Quaid (CS 84, SB 69)

77. Chloe Fineman (CS 78, SB 75)

76. Nora Dunn (CS 63, SB 87)

Check back in next time, where we review cast members ranked 26 through 75. And thanks for listening!

Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We hope you are wearing oven mitts when holding your phone as you listen to this episode, because we dish up our hot takes covering the first 50 years of Saturday Night Live. How would we improve the show? What cast members are overrated? Who were our SNL crushes? Find out in this listener-requested episode!