Saturday Night Live: Best Cast Members Who Debuted In The 1990s

SNL introduced a lot of great comedians that became mainstream successes, many of which came from the 90’s.

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In the 90’s, Saturday Night Live found its safe footing on Lorne Michaels’ direction. For that, the show was able to continue established talents like Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman and Mike Myers; kick off brand new talent; show memorable characters and sketches; and spawn a comedic movement that enshrined SNL as a comedic force for ages.

For that, even with the many comedic talents that became famous throughout the decade, here are the 10 best Not-Ready-for-Primetime players of the 1990’s decade. The cast members ranked on either for their memorable appearances in the show or their subsequent success outside SNL.

10 Jimmy Fallon

Before he helmed the positions for both Late Night and Tonight talk shows, Jimmy Fallon was a memorable SNL mainstay who is mainly infamous for his breaking-character moments (especially when with cast member Horatio Sanz). From his debut on 1998, he appeared in memorable sketches like Jarret’s Room, Boston Teens, The Barry Gibb Talk Show (with Justin Timberlake) and Celebrity Jeopardy (famous being Hilary Swank). He was also paired with Tina Fey for Weekend Update until 2004.

Being a moderate triple-threat performer, he also brought life to song parodies during Update. Among this “I Wish It Was Christmas Today” with Sanz.

9 David Spade

David Spade may be known for his deadpan delivery of vulgar jokes. So, his tenure in SNL consisted him of playing sardonic characters like Dick Clark’s receptionist, one of the Gap Girls and Steve Siskin. This got him to be one of the “Bad Boys of SNL”, alongside Farley, Sandler, Rock, McDonald and Schneider.

His famous sketch is arguably his bit in the Total Bastards Airline sketch that had him mock several passing passengers with “Buh-bye!”. After SNL, he headlines several movies like Tommy Boy, Black Sheep (both with Chris Farley), The Emperor’s New Groove, Joe Dirt and Dickie Roberts.

8 Rachel Dratch

Rachel Dratch always brings a funny face on any sketch she is in, whether that sketch requires seriousness or not. She brought to life some lovable characters like Lynn Bershad of NPR’s Delicious Dish, Virginia Klarvin of The Love-Ahs and Denise McDenna of The Boston Teens. Like many others, she had a penchant for impressions like Ariana Huffington, Britney Spears and Drew Barrymore.

But two of her memorable parts are Harry Potter (especially in that Growth Spurt sketch with Lindsay Lohan as Hermoine) and Debbie Downer (especially in her debut in Disneyland with the breaking-characters moment). Such a great moment!

7 Ana Gasteyer

Just by looking at their comedic range (from deadpan to over-the-top), one would tell that such a comedian would have such a potential. Ana Gasteyer is one of those comedic talents that can pull of any character in place.

Her original character in the show are of good variety: from the feminist Cinder Calhoun to the random Kincaid; from the gaily Bobbi Mohan-Culp to the Margaret Jo McCullin. All are delivered with enough charm and comedic timing. As for her impressions, her most notable is of Martha Stewart. After SNL, her projects include Mean Girls, Suburgatory and People of Earth.

6 Tim Meadows

Tim Meadows is an underrated SNL performer who stayed at the top of his game. His famous character is famously Leon Phelps, the self-proclaimed Ladies Man. The journey for the Ladies Man to receive his own segment came to a point from a sketch where all the cast members introduced their catch characters and Meadows pointed out that he has no catch character. This is before the Ladies Man debuts.

Meadows also played himself for several Weekend Update segments. His famous appearance was commenting about the 1994 NHL lockout, wherein he sternly remarked, “What’s a brother to do, watch basketball?”

5 Tracy Morgan

There are just talents in SNL that made the best of their unique voices, whether in an over-the-top manner or a deadpan tone. For Tracy Morgan, his loose personality and distinctive voice worked to his advantage. His characters include Astronaut Jones, Benny the Bengal, Woodrow the homeless man and Bishop Don “Mack” Donald. But his most notable character has to be Brian Fellows, a narcissistic animal lover with a sixth-grade education and a sensitive vanity.

Morgan continued his streak after he left SNL with playing Tracy Jordan with Tina Fey for 30 Rock, The Last O.G. and the Rio movies.

4 Darrell Hammond

It is incredible that Darrell Hammond has lasted for fourteen seasons that made him shatter records as the cast member with the longest tenure and the most impressions (only to be beaten by a younger cast member). But during his tenure, Hammond was a master impressionist that launched perfect celebrity impressions of Donald Trump, John McCain, Dick Cheney, Phil Donahue, Chris Matthew, John Travolta and Phil McGraw. But his most known are conniving Bill Clinton, stern Al Gore and foul-mouthed Sean Connery for Celebrity Jeopardy.

Hammond continued his involvement in SNL with serving as the voice announcer after Don Pardo.

3 Adam Sandler

The Sandman had a long way before he reached his streak for high-grossing comedy films and intriguing dramatic roles. On his time in SNL, he was best known for his Weekend Update appearances. He played the “Chanukah Song” for the segment, laid hummable quips as the Opera Man and struggled to find rhymes as the Cajun Man. He also played the Canteen Boy and the Herlihy Boy for some sketches.

His success skyrocketed after SNL with comedies like Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, Big Daddy and dramas like Punch-Drunk Love, Reign Over Me and Uncut Gems. Adam Sandler had this range.

2 Chris Farley

Thanks to his gaily dance against Patrick Swayze for a Chippendales audition, Chris Farley was highly noticed. He brought to life other characters that pushed his game to be an exciting over-the-top performer; from nervous motivational speaker Matt Foley to aggravated Gap Girl Cindy; from the insistent Bennett Brauer to the snobbish Loris Davis; and from Bill Swerski superfan Todd O’Connor to the abstemious Relapse Guy. He also played himself, hosting his own segment where he nervously interviews celebrities.

Farley’s commitment to his characters made him almost reminiscent of John Belushi that his shocking fate is almost liked Belushi’s. Peace.

1 Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell is pure comedy gold. And even in his early years in SNL, he solidified his status as a solid comedic performer. He brought countless characters to life like clueless musician Marty Culp, Spartan cheerleader Craig Buchanan, head-bopping clubber Steve Butabi, Bill Brasky poetic Hank and breakout character, Gene Frenkle, the flouted cowbell-player of the Blue Öyster Cult. Alongside his great characters are his impressions of Neil Diamond, Robert Goulet, James Lipton and two of his most known, the strategery-known George W. Bush and the straight-man Jeopardy host Alex Trebek where he had to repeatedly deal with Hammond’s Sean Connery.

That goes to show that Will Ferrell had a lot of promise after SNL.

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