5 Perfect ‘SNL’ Cast Members Who Aren’t As Good at Anything Else
Saturday Night Live has served as a launching pad to TV superstardom (Tina Fey and Bill Hader), dominance at the box office (Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray and Will Ferrell) and even #1 music albums (Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi). But not every SNL star goes on to greater showbiz heights.
Here are five comedians who killed on the show only to find they just weren’t as good at anything else. In fairness, as insults go, “You were better at Saturday Night Live than anything else,” isn’t the worst that one could hear.
Joe Piscopo
Joe Piscopo might have been the first comedian to get huge on Saturday Night Live who couldn’t transfer that success beyond the show. After the original cast left, Piscopo became the show’s first new star, cranking out uncanny versions of David Letterman, Jerry Lewis and his idol Frank Sinatra. His original characters, unfortunately, had the bad habit of being more annoying than funny — see the Whiners and Paulie Herman.
After SNL, Piscopo dreamed of buddy comedies with pal Eddie Murphy. But he settled for fitness magazine covers and hosting a morning radio show.
Cheri Oteri
Oteri landed on the cover of Rolling Stone (along with Ferrell, Chris Kattan and Molly Shannon) when she exploded on SNL in the late 1990s. How popular was she? It’s been more than 25 years and you can still buy Spartan Cheerleaders gear in the SNL shop.
Unfortunately, Oteri’s gift for bizarre sketch characters doesn’t translate well to other mediums. While she hasn’t scored a huge sitcom or movie comedy, her career has maintained a steady, low-level hum since leaving SNL, with much of that work coming from animation voiceovers.
Darrell Hammond
Being a master impressionist like Piscopo, Jay Pharoah or Darrell Hammond is an invaluable skill on Saturday Night Live, allowing those comics to shine in political bits and pop culture parodies. But comedy impressions aren’t in high demand outside of sketch comedy — it’s a one-lane talent.
In the show’s 50-year history, Hammond is SNL’s most technically proficient mimic. But what does that get a guy besides bit parts in The Last Sharknado: It's About Time? He’s back with a regular SNL gig as the Voice Who Replaced Don Pardo, but it seems a waste of his gift for comedy caricature.
Kevin Nealon
Nealon was an SNL Swiss Army Knife, capable of playing the straight-man boss or husband, anchoring Weekend Update or creating goofy characters with Dana Carvey.
Nealon has had a quiet career post-SNL, with a nice turn on Weeds and several supporting roles in Adam Sandler comedies like Happy Gilmore and The Wedding Singer. In fact, Nealon might hold the record for bit parts in movie comedies starring other SNL cast members like Sandler, Eddie Murphy and David Spade — I counted 16.
Dana Carvey
No SNL star seemed more ripe for stardom than Carvey, a one-man comedy wrecking crew from his first show. That promise seemed cemented after the success of the Wayne’s World movie in 1992.
But unlike Mike Myers, who turned Austin Powers and Shrek into household names, Carvey couldn’t get his post-SNL career rolling. His Dana Carvey Show is a favorite among comedy nerds but bombed in the ratings. An attempt to duplicate Myers’ movie success with The Master of Disguise failed to connect. For nearly 25 years, Carvey made ends meet mainly through lucrative corporate gigs before launching his popular Fly on the Wall podcast with David Spade. He’s also appeared on the first eight episodes of SNL this year, once again proving that it’s the best showcase for his particular talents.
