The 25 Best 'SNL' Players of the Last 25 Years: #10-6
On February 9, 1991 — 25 years ago this month — Adam Sandler made his Saturday Night Live debut as a featured cast member in Season 16. And we thought that was a great excuse to take a look back at the past quarter-century of SNL history and rank the 25 best cast members who’ve joined the show since Sandler did. We debated each nominee’s on-air performance only based on longevity, versatility, cultural impact, and overall magnificence, and came up with the following list. Live, from New York… it’s the 25 best SNL players of the last 25 years.
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10. Kate McKinnon (Seasons 37-present)
Why She Made the Cut: A comedic force of nature, McKinnon blew into Studio 8H four short years ago, and made an immediate impression. Fiercely committed to every sketch — even when the material is more than a little stale — she regularly cracks up the crowd and even her co-stars. (Somewhere, Ryan Gosling is still laughing after his close encounter with McKinnon.) But the force of her personality also never overwhelms the character she’s playing; endlessly adaptable, she’s equally at ease as a Russian villager or a spoiled pop star.
Signature Moment: That spoiled pop star, of course, is Justin Bieber, who McKinnon channels brilliantly in a series of ads spoofing the singer’s own Calvin Klein underwear commercials. Capturing both his cocksure attitude and penchant for striking runway-ready poses, McKinnon’s spot-on impression got a “LOL” from the Biebster himself. —Ethan Alter
9. Tina Fey (Seasons 26-31)
Why She Made the Cut: Perhaps the single best “Weekend Update” host in the show’s history, Fey turned the fake news desk into a platform for her particular brand of hyper-intelligent feminist comedy — fitting, as she was the first woman to sit at the desk since Jane “Ignorant Slut” Curtain vacated in 1980. Though she was also head writer, Fey somehow made time to appear in sketches and ad parodies, including immediate classics like “Mom Jeans” and “Annuale.”
Signature Moment: Sitting beside her 2004-2006 “Update” co-host Amy Poehler. Whether taunting Bill O'Reilly or mentoring Lindsay Lohan, the duo were masters of self-deprecating yet empowering feminist satire. —Kristen Baldwin
8. Will Forte (Seasons 28-35)
Why He Made the Cut: Forte was a master at making even the most off-putting SNL characters likable. During his eight seasons on the show, the comedian gave us a series of quirky ones like creepy presidential candidate Tim Calhoun, foreign exchange student Lyle Kane, clueless sportscaster Greg Stink, and forest-dwelling hermit The Falconer. Forte even inherited the show’s George W. Bush duties, although he later said he never truly felt comfortable in the role. Could have fooled us!
Signature Moment: No doubt about it, Forte’s bizarre brand of humor was best showcased in the famous “MacGruber” sketches, which regularly had him trapped in a control room with a ticking bomb and two frantic assistants. Forte’s mullet-wearing, bomb-botching MacGyver knockoff made the leap to the big screen, a rare feat accomplished by only a few other SNL alums, and the character even starred in a Super Bowl commercial (with the real MacGyver!) for Pepsi. But his most memorable MacGruber moment came in 2010, when the Mace-wielding special operations agent attended racial sensitivity training to address inappropriate comments he made towards his sidekick Darrell (Charles Barkley). While MacGruber’s enlightenment was short-lived (and not just because of those bomb explosions at the end of every segment), there’s no denying that Forte’s portrayal of this confused character lives on in SNL history. —Victoria Leigh Miller
7. Maya Rudolph (Seasons 26-33)
Why She Made the Cut: Rudolph could do it all, but her impressions impressed the most. She was memorably hilarious as Oprah Winfrey, Donatella Versace, Maya Angelou, and Kim Kardashian among others. Her singing chops came in handy to play Beyoncé, a bossa nova band leader, and a terrible National Anthem singer.
Signature Moment: “Bronx Beat” was one of Rudolph’s signature recurring sketches, and it showed off her gift for mimicry. She teamed up with Amy Poehler as a pair of heavily-accented New York housewives who hate everyone and everything. In this special 2015 edition, Tina Fey joined them for an epic rant against ISIS and Star Wars. —Kelly Woo
6. Darrell Hammond (Seasons 21-34)
Why He Made the Cut: The dean emeritus of Studio 8H, Hammond could rightfully demand a spot on this list based on length of service alone: His 14 years on the show are the most ever by a SNL cast member. But it’s his incomparable talent as a mimic that earned him that longevity, boasting more than 100 impressions, including the definitive Bill Clinton (a wink from Slick Willie can still bring down the house) and Donald Trump (that one should come in handy in the coming months). SNL loves Hammond so much, he even replaced the late, great Don Pardo as the show’s announcer in 2014.
Signature Moment: The recurring “Celebrity Jeopardy” sketches are always fertile ground for the SNL cast’s celebrity impressions. But Hammond rules the roost in this 1999 edition with his twisted take on Sean Connery, who delights in tweaking befuddled host Alex Trebek with his childish jabs about Trebek’s mother, punctuated by his booming guffaw. —Dave Nemetz
Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. on NBC. Come back to Yahoo TV Saturday, when the countdown concludes.
