A list titled “30 Best Saturday Night Live Cast Members Of All Time, Ranked,” ranks the 30 best “Saturday Night Live” cast members of all time, and it settles on performers who proved their hiring was not a fluke. NBC published the ranking, which argues that SNL has been the greatest sketch comedy show in television history for 51 years. Over 170 performers have appeared on the show since 1975, and the list’s authors admit it is impossible to pick a definitive winner. They settled instead on 30 names whose work on the show proved they were not hired by accident.
Several of these comedians are still active on the show, which means their legacies could continue expanding. The list covers impressions, signature sketches, and backstage contributions, making the case that these performers define what SNL is today.
Darrell Hammond’s Long Run
Darrell Hammond appears at number 30. He was on the cast for 14 seasons, from 1995 to 2009, but he is technically still on the show. In 2014, Hammond succeeded Don Pardo as the show’s official announcer, a role he has held for 12 years. Every episode opens with Hammond’s voice following the cold open, introducing the cast, featured players, musical guests, and host.
While his live performances are now few and far between, his time on the show during the late ’90s and early 2000s set the standard. Hammond’s versatility with impressions made him irreplaceable, particularly when it came to his work on President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. His recurring sketches, including “Celebrity Jeopardy,” further established his reputation, with his Sean Connery voice annoying Will Ferrell’s Alex Trebek.
Dan Aykroyd’s Early Years
Number 29 belongs to Dan Aykroyd, whose position is due in part to his role as an original member of the show. He began with the first season in 1975, among the initial group of “Not Ready For Prime Time Players.”. Of that original cast, Aykroyd’s comic voice distinguished itself most quickly.
He had a knack for fast-paced dialogue and played eclectic characters that satirized American capitalism. The salesman behind “Bass-O-Matic” remains one of his most famous roles. There was also Irwin Mainway, the sleazy children’s toy maker whose best-selling product was the highly dangerous “Bag-o’-Glass,” and Fred Garvin, the very old and unsexy male prostitute.
Aykroyd also played mainstream characters like the Coneheads and Two Wild and Crazy Guys. But the list cannot ignore the Blues Brothers, a two-man musical act he performed with frequent collaborator John Belushi. That act became a runaway hit in ’70s pop culture, spawning a 1980 feature film and a celebrated appearance as musical guests on one of the best episodes of SNL.
Cecily Strong’s Exit
The ranking places Cecily Strong at number 28, and it rests on an odd twist in her career: her finest work on the show happened after she departed her largest role. For several years she found little success, then faced the near-impossible job of guiding “Weekend Update” through the transition away from the Seth Meyers era.
For the first half of Season 39, she co-hosted alongside Meyers. Then, for the remainder of the season, she partnered with seasoned writer Colin Jost. She left the desk entirely after that, and the list contends that departing was the best choice for her legacy. Her strongest work came on the opposite side of the “Weekend Update” desk, where she built characters like “The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With At A Party,” “Cathy Ann,” and delivered an impression of Jeanine Pirro.
Her 2021 performance as “Goober the Clown,” discussing bans on abortion, made it clear that Strong’s resonance on the show was as a politically motivated, unapologetic, and profoundly silly performer. Sadly, Strong’s exit came at a time when she seemed to be truly emerging as one of the best female cast members the show has ever had.
Heidi Gardner’s Peak
Gardner’s ranking at 27 reflects a rough patch for the show. The late 2010s and early 2020s were especially hard on the show, yet she rose to become one of the senior players by the mid-2020s, following a massive exodus of cast members in 2022.
Before she became known for her physical comedy work, she had already made a name for herself as an actress with “Weekend Update” characters, including teen film critic Bailey Gismert, boxer movie girlfriend Angel, and Goop staffer Baskin Johns. Later on the show, she showed an unparalleled aptness at physical comedy through sketches like “Mile High Burger Challenge,” “Bank Robbery,” and “Secretary.”.
One of the show’s most viral moments in recent history involved Gardner. She broke character during a sketch, caught off guard by Ryan Gosling and Mikey Day’s appearance as Beavis and Butt-Head. By that point in her final two seasons on the show, watching Gardner every week was just a joy, which made it all the more disappointing that she left SNL in 2025 after eight seasons.
The List’s Shape
The list moves from Darrell Hammond at 30 all the way up to its highest position, with the article keeping the number-one name secret. The report also fails to say who sits between him and the top, leaving readers who want to see the complete order needing to look at the original ranking itself.
| # | Name |
|---|---|
| #30 | Darrell Hammond |
| #29 | Dan Aykroyd |
| #28 | Cecily Strong |
| #27 | Heidi Gardner |
This collection blends career milestones with personal judgments and a couple of peculiar story turns. It makes for a charming, individual read, mirroring the show’s own past: a blend of renown, defeat, and strange turns that only Saturday Night Live could produce.
The ranking makes the case that these performers showed their hiring was not a mistake, even though their work outside the show often eclipsed their time on it. A few, such as Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Ben Stiller, had weak stints on SNL before finding bigger success elsewhere. Other cast members spent almost a decade on the show without standing out until their final few episodes.
No matter what their work outside of SNL indicates, these 30 performers have proven over the years that their hiring on the show wasn’t a fluke.
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