32 Really Talented Comedians Saturday Night Live Couldn't Quite Figure Out How To Use
There are some former Saturday Night Live cast members who, after making a huge impact in a short amount of time, you could tell were destined to make a name for themselves at Studio 8H, leading to a celebrated and influential career in comedy. Then, there are also performers who are now regarded as comedy legends or, at least, respected names in the craft who, for some reason or another, did not find the star-making moment they were searching for during their short stint on the show. Why don’t we give the stars you may have forgotten were on SNL the recognition they deserve because, as far as we are concerned, their unremarkable legacy from the show was not their fault.
Jenny Slate
The one best-known thing from Jenny Slate’s SNL stint is her accidental F-bomb (on her first episode), which she assured InStyle had nothing to do with her firing at the end of the season. Luckily, her stardom only increased with a scene-stealing recurring role on Parks and Rec as Mona-Lisa Saperstein, creating and voicing Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, and making a memorable appearance in the 2023 Best Picture Oscar winner, Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Harry Shearer
As the voice of multiple memorable Simpsons characters — including Ned Flanders and Mr. Burns — and one of the members of Spinal Tap, Harry Shearer is nothing short of a legend in the comedy scene. Unfortunately, his time as an SNL cast member — first from 1979 to 1980 and again in 1984 — was an unpleasant and creatively stifling one, as he revealed to IGN.
Casey Wilson
We would certainly consider SNL a career highlight for Casey Wilson, but not necessarily among the top tier. For instance, playing Penny Hartz on ABC’s short-lived, but much-loved sitcom, Happy Endings, her pivotal role in David Fincher’s Gone Girl, or hosting multiple podcasts have contributed more to her stardom.
Tim Robinson
You could argue that Tim Robinson was actually one of the saving graces for his sole season on SNL, but the show was not quite fitting for the comedian's style. His penchant for the surreal and the cringeworthy was clearly better suited for his Netflix show (and another great sketch comedy series), I Think You Should Leave, anyway.
Janeane Garofalo
Did you forget that Janeane Garofalo was on SNL? You are not the only one. The comedian's best work in the realm of sketch comedy can instead be found on the criminally short-lived '90s show, The Ben Stiller Show.
Joan Cusack
Highlights of Joan Cusack's acclaimed career include two Academy Award-nominated performances (for Working Girl and In & Out). However, very rarely is her short time at SNL from 1985 to 1986 acknowledged because, quite frankly, there was not much worth acknowledging.
Ben Stiller
It’s not that SNL never really knew the best way to use Ben Stiller but, more accurately, he realized the show was not the best use for his talents at the time. He showed his strengths by making short films for The Ben Stiller Show, but would later come back to host SNL a few times and even landed a recurring stint as Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Sarah Silverman
With a successful stand-up career, two Emmy wins, and a main role in a beloved animated Disney movie franchise (Vanellope from Wreck-It Ralph and Ralph Breaks the Internet), Sarah Silverman is undeniably one of comedy’s biggest names. However, she would not get to that point until years after she was fired from SNL after one forgettable season — an experience for which she is still grateful for preparing her for the industry.
Robert Downey Jr.
It might be a bewildering surprise for some to learn that Iron Man himself was, not only on SNL in the mid-1980s, but is regarded as one of the weakest cast members in the show’s history. These days, however, Robert Downey Jr.’s sense of humor is considered a signature key element of his subsequent success and he has since become the only former SNL actor to win an Oscar (for Oppenheimer).
No?l Wells
Highlights of No?l Wells’ sole season on SNL include brief celebrity impersonations and… well, that’s really about it. She was already at her funniest, however, as part of College Humor and the Upright Citizens Brigade and would also go on to have a major role on Master of None and join the Star Trek: Lower Decks voice cast, to name a few achievements.
Damon Wayans
Damon Wayans is actually a special case, in the sense that SNL had every chance to let him fully utilize his talents, but never took the initiative. This led the actor to take matters into his own hands and go off script, which got him fired, but paved the way for him to make a name for himself in the In Living Color cast.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Although she never really became an SNL all-star during her three seasons, Julia Louis-Dreyfus certainly did make an impact on then-SNL writer Larry David, who later gave her a career-defining, Emmy-winning role in the Seinfeld cast as Elaine Benes. Following that revolutionary sitcom, she won more Emmys for leading The New Adventures of Old Christine and HBO’s Veep cast, earned the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2018, and shows no sign of stopping any time soon.
Rob Riggle
With some funny moments as a Daily Show correspondent, hilarious appearances in hit comedies like The Hangover and Stepbrothers, etc., Rob Riggle is one of modern comedy’s greatest scene-stealers. Yet, nothing from his 2004-2005 SNL stint — also his first real showbiz breakthrough after 15 years in the Marines — lent to that reputation, which might have had something to do with the pressures of being “the new guy,” as he revealed to The Daily Beast.
Laurie Metcalf
Laurie Metcalf is less a case of SNL not figuring out how to use an actor and more a case of the show depriving her of the chance, with her only contributions to the show being a “Weekend Update” bit and a pre-taped short. Of course, she would go on to become a star after playing Jackie on Roseanne (and later The Conners) and earned an Academy Award nomination for 2017’s Lady Bird.
Christopher Guest
Christopher Guest did have a few memorable SNL moments — such as he and Billy Crystal’s recurring appearances as Willie and Frankie or when, just a few months after 1984’s This is Spinal Tap released, he and the rest of the fictional rock group showed up in character in a pre-taped segment. Speaking of, further mockumentaries like Best in Show and A Mighty Wind would prove to be his true bread and butter.
Christine Ebersole
You may recognize Christine Ebersole from Academy Award-nominated dramedies like Tootsie and Licorice Pizza, her Tony Award-winning performances in Broadway musicals 42nd Street and Grey Gardens, or starring on the CBS sitcom, Bob Hearts Abishola, as Dottie. You may not recognize her so quickly from her one season on SNL in the early 1980s, during which she served as Brian Doyle-Murray’s co-anchor on “Weekend Update” (when it was called “SNL News Break”), most notably.
John Milhiser
John Milhiser is best known for being the second openly gay male SNL member, but not much else from his time at Studio 8H. The Upright Citizens Brigade veteran has since proved his skills with a recurring role on TBS’ The Guest Book, appearing opposite fellow SNL alumni Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones in 2016’s Ghostbusters, and plenty more.
Michaela Watkins
Perhaps you and some people you know may have quoted Michaela Watkins as blogger Angie Tempura before the actor was fired from SNL in 2009. Yet, we have a feeling you recognize the comedian and former Groundlings member even better from TV shows like Casual on Hulu and CBS’ The Unicorn or movies like Wanderlust, Good Boys, and Paint, for instance.
Gilbert Gottfried
The legendary, late comedian Gilbert Gottfried — known for countless movie and TV show roles, including Iago in 1992’s Aladdin — told Joe Rogan that the intense pressure of being part of the first cast to follow the Not-Ready-For-Primetime Players made his only year on SNL “terrible.” Well, in that regard, we suppose he would be thankful that his stint has gone largely forgotten ever since.
Danitra Vance
According to Advocate, Danitra Vance — famous for being SNL’s first Black female repertory player and first gay female regular, despite not being out at the time — is also known for, almost exclusively, playing stereotypical characters on the show. After leaving on her own accord during Season 11, she went on to put her sharp satirical talents to better use before tragically succumbing to breast cancer in 1994.
Brooks Wheelan
The funniest moment from Brooks Wheelan's SNL stint sees him acknowledge just how little screen time he actually got for that one season. He bounced back from his exit pretty well, thought, with an acclaimed stand-up career, roles on movies and TV shows like Big Hero 6: The Series, and his podcast, Entry Level.
David Koechner
Arguably, the best thing to come out of David Koechner’s single season on SNL is his friendship with Will Ferrell, who debuted on the show at the same time in 1995. Koechner later worked with Ferrell again in the Anchorman movies as his most iconic character, Champ Kind, which opened doors for plenty more hilarious small-screen and big-screen appearances.
Chris Elliott
When Abby Elliott joined SNL in 2008, few realized at the time that she was the daughter of Chris Elliott and even fewer realized that made her a second generation cast member. Elliott’s talents shone brighter anyway before his 1994-1995 Studio 8H stint with appearances on Late Night with David Letterman and since as one of the funniest Schitt’s Creek characters, Roland Schitt, to name a few examples.
Michael McKean
As the star of movies like This is Spinal Tap and Clue and a main player on Laverne & Shirley, Michael McKean was already a certified comic genius (and even hosted SNL) years before he joined the cast from 1994 to 1995. Yet, very little evidence of what made the future Better Call Saul cast member such a refreshing comedic force could be found on the Studio 8H stage.
Aristotle Athari
Aristotle Athari did have one decidedly memorable role on SNL as an improvisational lounge singer named Angelo. However, his funniest roles are still outside of Studio 8H, including his recurring role as Gabe on Silicon Valley and one-half of the titular duo from the sci-fi rom-com, Molli and Max in the Future.
Nancy Carell
She is best known today as Steve Carell's wife, but is also his frequent collaborator, appearing alongside each other in several films and TV shows and co-creating the hilarious cop show spoof, Angie Tribeca. However, Nancy Carell's one-season stint on SNL (during which she impersonated the likes of Diane Sawyer, Sharon Stone, and Martha Stewart) is largely forgotten.
Mike O'Brien
When it came to performing in sketches, Mike O’Brien never made much of an impression — save a couple of short, faux biopics in which he played Jay-Z and Oprah Winfrey. Perhaps O’Brien’s original Studio 8H gig as a writer was where his true talented lied, which became especially evident when he created the acclaimed, yet short-lived, NBC sitcom, AP Bio.
Dean Edwards
Dean Edwards is yet another example of an SNL cast member never really given a chance to shine beyond his ability to impersonate celebrities while appearing in the cast from 2001 to 2003. Come to think of it, that has essentially been the comedian’s claim to fame outside of the show, too, having filled in as Donkey in a few Shrek spin-offs, for instance.
Laura Kightlinger
Laura Kightlinger was among the youngest SNL cast members, having been hired at 25 years old in 1994, which is, decidedly, the most noteworthy detail about her stint. Her later career, which involved producing and making guest appearances on sitcoms such as 2 Broke Girls on CBS and NBC’s Will & Grace, is what she is better known for.
Morwenna Banks
Holding the record for shortest SNL tenure is Morwenna Banks, who was added to the cast for the final four episodes of the 20th season and was not being asked to come back. Luckily, the British comedian and actor was doing just fine before coming to New York — she found success on the U.K. sketch show Absolutely — and has been since — writing, producing, and starring in various titles and voicing Mummy Pig on Peppa Pig.
Randy Quaid
Randy Quaid was another established Hollywood talent before he joined SNL for one season in 1985, having previously earned an Academy Award nomination for 1974’s The Last Detail and originated Cousin Eddie from National Lampoon’s Vacation franchise. He never quite brought the same energy to those iconic roles, or subsequent notable performances, that he did to the show.
Lauren Holt
In late 2020, Forbes put Lauren Holt on its “30 Under 30” list for that year, which has us convinced they saw her work before she joined the SNL cast that season. Her talents are much more evident from her days in the Upright Citizens Brigade or as a found member of musical improv troupe, The Pickup.
SNL may know how to pick ‘em, but it does not always know how or when to give its cast members their moment to show the world what they are capable
