Saturday Night Live All-Time Great Tourney Bracket (1 Viewer)

[TheIronSheik]

Well, this thing has moved fast.

Down to the finals... Hartman vs Ferrell

When does the second round start?

 

[Apple Jack]

Well, this thing has moved fast.

Down to the finals... Hartman vs Ferrell

Phil Hartman was great. Neither of them was nearly as funny as Eddie Murphy.

Ferrell was on the show longer than Murphy (7 years > 5), and had as many or more "funniest guy on Earth" moments as Murphy. Only difference is, a lot of Murphy's pinnacle moments came outside SNL, but Ferrell's fame during his run was almost all SNL-based. I guess his first "big" role would be Mugatu in Zoolander (2001), but his first HUGE role would be Frank The Tank in Old School, a year after he left SNL. So I think Ferrell > Murphy is a pretty easy call.

Hartman and Murphy were totally different players. Different roles to fill, but they both filled them well. This isn't about who is funniest. It's "Best SNL Cast Member", and you can take that to mean a few things. Is it the guy who was a superstar for 5 years and then left (Murphy), or is it the guy who held the show together for a decade, merging the Nealy-Carvey-Meyers cast with the Sandler-Spade-Farley cast, never being a superstar but always lifting sketches with his presence (Hartman)? I think it's a coinflip, but I voted Hartman.

I'm not considering Murphy's work outside of SNL and I'm not sure what you mean by "pinnacle moments." Do you mean funniest? Because, while his standup specials were hilarious, I think his funniest stuff was on SNL. Mr. Robinson, James Brown, Gumby, a day in the life of a white man, Tyrone Green, Shabbaz K. Morton, Velvet Jones...it goes on. All of these were better than just about everything Ferrell ever did that I saw. The cowbell thing is all about Christopher Walken.

 

[AAABatteries]

http://grantland.com/snl/

Ferrell wins.

The voters did a pretty decent job IMO. My only complaint would be Fey in the final 8 but she advanced from the weakest group of 8 of anyone in the last eight.

 

[Mr. Retukes]

Just doing SNL and nothing outside of SNL I think Farley wins fairly easily.

Has anybody had a worse SNL career vs. post-SNL career than Robert Downey, Jr.?

Gilbert Gottfried or Laurie Metcalf.

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

It is pretty wrong that Rob Schnieder is beating Jan Hooks right now.

Phil Hartman said that every cast needs someone like Jan Hooks. She played the lead roles and the supporting/straight-man roles with equal talent and enthusiasm. It is rare to find that combination. Most of the stars don't want to play the sidekicks, and the smaller players can't elevate themselves to a star role.

I think Wiig and Ferrell's greatness was in their ability to play both roles.

 

[Brony]

Can't complain about Ferrell winning. Farley, Hartman or Murphy are in the conversation, but if anyone but Murphy or Ferrell won, I think it would have been a letdown.