Today's Top 10: Live from New York Edition

I don't know if Billy Crystal should count: He was already a well-established actor and comedian before he joined the SNL cast. He was a ringer.

 

Wow, I forgot Hammond. He might be my No. 11

If we have special spots for Weekend Update, it would be Dennis Miller.

Hosts: Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin.

Musical guest: Paul Simon

 

Timberlake has done tremendous work on the show as a host and musical guest.
I'm not a big fan of Hammond.
Will Ferrell was tremendous on the show and should be in the Top 10.

 

The best guest hosts have been -- Walken, Simon, Martin, Baldwin and Tom Hanks. Timberlake is getting there, but not quite yet. Is he even a member of the Five-Timers Club?

 

1. Phil Hartman -- Perfection. Great in everything he was in and he had great range.
2. Dan Aykroyd -- The template for nearly everyone below him on the list. Best of the originals by far.
3. Dana Carvey -- Just a tad below Hartman, probably because some of his go-to characters were run into the ground.
4. Will Ferrell -- Dominated for nearly a decade. Stole nearly every skit he was in and was perhaps the greatest ad-libber on that show.
5. Eddie Murphy -- The only funny thing on the show in the early 80s, but was worth watching on his own merits.
6. Jan Hooks -- Every bit as talented as Hartman, just didn't get the screen time to prove it.
7. Chris Farley -- Probably induced the greatest ratio of belly laughs per skit -- especially the original Matt Foley sketch, I have never laughed harder watching it live than any other sketch -- but he really was playing one of two characters: the lovable, sensitive fat person or the angry fat person.
8. Billy Crystal -- It's easy to think of him as a ringer now, but in 1984 his career was dead and SNL appeared to be too. He saved that show and was hilarious for the one season he was on it, an underrated season that was very important to that show.
9. Bill Murray -- Preferred him over Belushi.
10. Tim Meadows -- Underrated.

Last outs: Adam Sandler did plenty of funny shit, but an equal amount of annoying, cloying, unfunny shit. Same goes for Mike Myers, Sprockets was the only regular character of his that resonated with me.
Worst "major" cast member: Jimmy Fallon. Rob Schneider is a close second.

 

John Goodman is pretty high on the host list too.

 

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