The Top SNL Cast Members (according to The Nerve): Sorry, Tom Petty

Greetings to our blog readers in Bulgaria, Estonia and Scotland.....

Today, in honor of the 40th anniversary of "Saturday Night Live," the live American sketch comedy show which first aired in October of 1975, we provide you with a list of the top best not ready for prime time players as written by our good friend pop culture journalist/blogger Phil Nugent of "The Nerve" who will hopefully not sue us for the amount of money former cast member Joe Piscopo (Nugent ranked him 60th, we would place him higher) annually.

Here is the list:

1. Eddie Murphy (1980-84, pict. top)

2. Will Ferrell (1995-2002, pict. center)

3. Bill Murray (1977-80, pict. bottom)

4. Phil Hartman (1986-1994; he was murdered in 1998)

5. John Belushi (1975-79, he died in 1982 at age 33)

6. Dan Aykroyd (1975-79)

7. Amy Poehler (2001-08)

8. Mike Myers (1989-95)

9. Dana Carvey (1986-93)

10. Tina Fey (2000-06)

Here are other cast members as they were ranked:


Dennis Miller ( #67)

Fred Armisen (#37)

Maya Rudolph (#34)

Jane Curtin (#21)

Norm Macdonald (#26)

Tim Meadows (#12)

http://www.thenerve.com

PS: We subtitled this entry "Sorry, Tom Petty," because the singer once made fun of Murphy and Piscopo in a song he wrote.....

Sunday Funnies- A Quote from Zippy the Pinhead

Since we 'got into trouble' for hotlinking an image of the Bill Griffith comic strip "Zippy the Pinhead," we thought we'd go with this image of The Coneheads, characters that first appeared on "Saturday Night Live" in the 1970s. Some believe The Coneheads was influenced by the cult comic strip, which was also mentioned in an episode of "Seinfeld."

We are taking this quip from the relatively-new collection "Lost and Found," which not only features Zippy the Pinhead, but many tales involving Griffith's other signature character Mister Toad. Parents should perhaps be warned that some pieces in the book from Griffith's early years of cartooning originally appeared in comic strip characters. Gosh, I just sounded like Nancy Reagan there...and, I'm not a Republican!

Here is the quote:

"Mr. Ed is the illegitimate offspring of Captain Kangaroo and Donna Reed." 

http://www.zippythepinhead.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Chris Rock

Today's quote of the day/week comes from Chris Rock, 47, who was one of the subjects of Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' excellent photography "The Black List" at the National Portraits Gallery, that ran until April 22nd.

Rock is a comedian/actor/film producer who grew up in New York and became a 'not ready for prime time' player on "Saturday Night Live." Rock is one of the few "SNL" alumni who became famous in spite of being on the show rather than being on it because his presence on the show was limited to stint appearances and bit parts.

But, Rock made a stellar comeback on the standup comedy circuit, and by 1998, he was a full-fledged movie star. Rock who has appeared in such films as "New Jack City," "Dogma" and "Bee Movie" also played a fictional president in the film "Head of State," which makes this quote, from when George W. Bush was president, quite ironic, as well as the fact that Barack Obama is now the leader of the free world:

"A white boy that makes Cs in college can make it to the White House."

SIDEBAR: Well, we apparently jinxed tennis star Serena Williams as she was upset in her French Open opener to Virginate Razzano, 29, a virtually unknown French tennis player. We also goofed when we said that Williams had advanced to the quarterfinals of the French Open, as it was the tourney was not even underway! But, thankfully, no pays attention to blogs. Having said, thanks to those of you in Indonesia, Taiwan and Ukraine who stopped by here today!

http://www.chrisrock.com

http://www.washington.org

http://blacklistphoto.com

Quote of the Day/Week-Ronald Reagan

Today, we are continuing to quote the last eight presidents (the other four quotes are on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time") not to be confused with my sister's blog, well actually she does not have one.

And, the subject of quote today is from Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)

Some trivia before we get to our quote. Reagan was also a Hollywood actor and his last film was "The Killers" (1964, dir. Don Siegel) in which he played a mob boss, a role that was originally considered for the late Walter Mathau.

Reagan was played by eight different actors on "Saturday Night Live" including the late Phil Hartman, Robin Williams (guest host), Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Charles Rocket, Harry Shearer, Kevin Nealon and Joe Piscopo, who was the only "SNL" star to play both Reagan and President Jimmy Carter.

In the controversial tv film "The Reagans" (2003), Reagan was played by James Brolin. Five years later, Brolin's son Josh Brolin played another president, George W. Bush in Oliver Stone's "W" (2008).

Here is Reagan's quote:

"All great change in America begins at the dinner table."

Quote of the Week- Gilda Radner

Eight years ago, my aunt Jo-Jo died of breat cancer in her mid-40s.

Comedian Gilda Radner (1944-1989) also succumbed to the disease at that juncture in her life.

Today in honor of Breat Cancer Awareness Month, we quip the famed 'Saturday Night Life" actress pictured here as Roseanne Roseaannadanna with Jane Curtain:

"I'd much rather be a woman than a man. Women can cry, they can wear cute clothes, and they're the first to be rescued from a sinking ship."

Know Your Congress Reps and Senators (Entry 14 of 21)

This is the first entry in this series since May! For today's piece, we choose the new U.S. Senator from Minnesota Al Franken (D) a former stand-up comedian and "Saturday Night Live" writer who now joins Sen. James Webb (D-Va)*, the co-screenwriter for "Rules of Engagement" as the only members of Congress with a screenwriting credit though I'm not sure Franken wants to fess up for "Stuart Saves His Family" (1995).

*- a presumption on our part

Here are some other fun facts about Franken:

_Born May 21, 1951, in New York

_Beat his opponent Norm Coleman by a mere 215 votes (out of 2.8 million votes cast)

_Author of #1 best-seller "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot."

_Appeared as actor in the 2004 remake of "The Manchurian Candidate."

_Hosted radio program "The Al Franken Show" (2004-05)

_Cousin of MSNBC's Bob Franken

_Wrote for "SNL" with partner Tom Davis from 1975-80 and again from 85-95.

_Created Sturat Smalley and interviewed Al Gore as Smalley for 2002 "SNL" show.

_Left "SNL" after losing Weekend Update segment to Norm MacDonald.

_Is first member of Congress who was a stand-up comedian, though amazingly enough Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Ct) has performed stand-up as well!