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Is Saturday Night Live still a bastion of movie comedy talent?
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Despite some confusion (he appeared on NBC's official site as a cast member), the opening credits (as well as SNL's official fan site) seem to indicate that after 14 seasons, impressionist Darrell Hammond will no longer officially be a cast member on Saturday Night Live.
There seems to be divide among fans on whether someone like Darrell Hammond, who had already broken Tim Meadows' record as the longest tenured cast member in show's history, had overstayed his welcome. What I would argue is that for Darrell Hammond and other cast members thinking of leaving the safe confines of SNL, the movie world of comedy is a far less inviting place.
When Tim Meadows left Saturday Night Live after 10 seasons in 2001, Mike Meyers was enjoying the massive success of the Austin Powers trilogy, David Spade was the breakout character on a hit show, Chris Rock was just named the funniest man in America, Dana Carvey still had a chance at being successful in movies (this was pre-Master of Disguise), the novelty of Adam Sandler's manchild had still not worn off on the movie screen, and the careers of Phil Hartman and Chris Farley showed every indication of skyrocketing had they not been cut short by tragedy.
The cast of Saturday Night Live had a massive changeover in 1995 with the firing of Chris Farley and Adam Sandler and it took about a year for a new cast to solidify with a 1996-1997 lineup featuring new faces such as Hammond, Chris Katan, Norm McDonald, Molly Shannon, Colin Quinn, Cheri Oteri, Ana Gastayer, Tracy Morgan, and what would become the era's biggest star in Will Ferrell. There has been no massive revamp of the cast since with the gradual additions of Jimmy Fallon, Horatio Sanz, Chris Parnell and Rachel Dratch a couple years later followed by Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, Maya Rudolph, the short-lived Jerry Minor, and onwards to the current cast you saw during the last couple years when the show got an unexpected revival through Andy Samberg's digital shorts, Tina Fey's remarkable resemblance to Sarah Palin and the quick wit of Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers as Weekend Update co-anchors .
Some people say that Saturday Night Live is no longer as relevant as it once was. According to the memoirs of comedian Jay Mohr, who was briefly on Saturday Night Live in Tim Meadow's earlier years, during the show's best years in the early 1990's, the press was constantly referring to SNL as "Saturday Night Dead" because they weren't what they once were during the late 1980's.
I'll present a different theory: Saturday Night Live hasn't gotten any worse than in recent years. Instead, its stars have become less visible in movies. With the exception of Will Ferrell, very few alumni from SNL post-1995 have amounted to much. Three cast members in this period who were underutilized by SNL have ironically been among the most successful: Norm McDonald who was famously fired by network chief Don Ohlmeyer has had a strong following as a stand-up comic and had a relatively successful ABC sitcom (although, has not broken into movies); David Koechner who only lasted one year during the transition period in 1995-1996 has had a role in practically every funny movie over the last five years since breaking out in Anchorman; and Rob Riggle (only lasted one season in 2004-2005) has made a name for himself as a Daily Show correspondent and has appeared in Kicking and Screaming, The Hangover, and Step Brothers.
Among the people who were given ample time to develop themselves, Jimmy Fallon has been given every chance to succeed by being given the lead in films such as Taxi and Fever Pitch and now he's hosting his own show but he's a long way from being successful at it. Tracy Morgan has been living the high life on 30 Rock but let's not forget that he couldn't carry his own show two years earlier.
Ironically, the most successful people coming out of the pipeline of Saturday Night Live as of late are the show's women. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have both been successful in films and were given the chance to helm their own female buddy comedy with Baby Mama in 2008 and Fey wrote and starred in a very successful comedy in Mean Girls. The two are also centerpieces of TV shows on NBC's prestigious Thursday night line up with the award-winning 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation, respectively. Current cast member Kristen Wiig has already stole scenes in several hit comedy films such as Extract, Semi-Pro, Walk Hard, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Adventureland, and Whip It. Pretty impressive for someone who has only even been in the public eye for three years.
Perhaps the most impressive of the bunch is Maya Rudolph who has shown up in comedies like 50 First Dates, Duplex and the upcoming MacGruber movie, but has also been featured in Prairie Home Companion and had the lead in Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes' latest film Away We Go.
Her costar Jon Krasinski (best known as Jim from the Office) is a reminder of where all the comedic roles are going. Other cast members of the Office who have branched out into movie roles include Rainn Wilson (The Last Mimzy, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Juno), Jenna Fischer (Blades of Glory), Craig Robinson (Pineapple Express, Knocked Up), BJ Novak (Knocked Up, Inglorious Bastards), Mindy Kailing (License to Wed, Night at the Museum 2), and especially Steve Carrell (40 Year-Old Virgin, Dan in Real Life, Get Smart). The show that won the Emmy the year before for best comedy, Arrested Development, has created movie stars out of Michael Cera, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett. Other comedies like That 70's Show, The Daily Show, Entourage, or 30 Rock are producing movie stars as well. It used to be that it was the rare talent like John Trovolta, Robin Williams, and Will Smith who would transition from TV to film but now it's becoming the norm.
The end result: today comedic talent is scouted on a more level playing field now for comedic talent and Saturday Night Live has an uphill battle.
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