Saturday Night Live Season 39 Reviews - Cast Rankings

SNL: Season 39

The Cast

From First To Worst and Who Should Have Stayed For Next Season

It was really hard to rank this cast because not only was it so big, it was also insanely unbalanced.  How can I say I liked one person more than the other if one of the people only had 1 sketch?  So of course Taran Killam is ranked higher than John Milhiser but if they both had equal air time they may have been flip flopped.  With so many people it was hard for anyone to really stick out which also made ranking difficult.  Some episodes would leave me thinking that Bobby Moynihan was the star of the show and then in the next episode he would only be in one sketch.  It’s also a little hard to keep myself thinking of this cast as they were in Season 39.  With some of these people still on the show and starting to lose a little of what made me enjoy them in the first place, it’s difficult to remember that I really liked Kate, Cecily, Aidy, Beck and Kyle when they first started.  They just stayed on the show too long.  One thing I think we can all agree on, 17 is way too many people for a sketch show that averages 9 sketches per episode.  So this isn’t ranked in order of who I liked the most or who I would keep over anyone else.  It’s in order of who I think contributed most to the show while also providing the fewest amount of duds.  Who had the higher highs but least amount of lows.

Bobby Moynihan

MVP

Bruce Willis, Edward Norton

Best Moment

Bobby was always dependable for a laugh, whether it be anchoring a sketch like Mornin' Miami, Best Buy Firings, Armageddon or as Rob Ford in a cold open or walking on with one or two lines like in the Shallon sketches or in Airport from the season premiere where he got the biggest laugh with just a facial expression as a known farter.  My favorite Bobby moment of Season 39 came from one of those walk on roles in Oscar Profiles: 12 Years A Slave Auditions.  Much like his Drunk Uncle character, he walks a fine line and manages to be incredibly racist while also being hilarious and almost endearing (almost).

Worst Moment

There weren't many times where I didn't like Bobby.  While I gave him the MVP for the Bruce Willis episode, I did feel bad for how he had to carry that show and appear with the host in the monologue, get his hair cut by the host in Ol' Barbershop and try to get laughs in Black Ops while Willis lazily read off cue cards.  I guess my least favorite Bobby moment came when he played George R R Martin on Weekend Update.  Bobby's performance was fine but the piece was pretty lazy and seemed more like Game Of Thrones fan service.

Would I Save Him From A Fire?

Absolutely.  Bobby was funny in every single sketch he appeared in.  You can’t ask for much more than that.

Cecily Strong

MVP

Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen

Best Moment

A breakout star from last season gets moved up the ladder quickly and becomes Update anchor in her second year.  While I sometimes enjoy the meta jokes of new cast members not getting a lot of screen time (see Brooks Wheelan playing himself this year on Family Feud), it can grow tiresome.  That joke doesn’t apply to Cecily who proves that if you're good enough you can succeed no matter how green you are.  She's one of the best actresses the show has ever had and has the ability to create funny and real characters even when they are over the top.  After 8 seasons (and counting) she's devolved into giggling and breaking a lot but that's a topic for a future season recap.  Her performances in sketches like Past Lovers from the Paul Rudd episode, Best Buy Firings, and Blue River Dog Food (my favorite of hers from this season) from the Seth Rogen episode showed that she could be really funny while still getting to the heart of her characters.  She even succeeded on Update which is a fool's errand as that is normally where humor goes to die.  She provided a great deal of personality to the segment and, in my opinion, was better than Seth.

Worst Moment

I know I liked Cecily because my least favorite moments from her were all bad sketches she was in rather than sketches I disliked her in.  Jewelry Party from the Lena Dunham episode was probably my least favorite sketch of the year but Cecily tried her best to come up with an entertaining character.  Same can be said for Engagement Party with Seth Rogen and Girlfriends Talk Show.  I'll give this award to Oliver Twist from the Andrew Garfield episode.  A solid character from Cecily but a very repetitive sketch where the joke runs its course pretty quickly.

Would I Save Her From A Fire?

Hell yeah.  I'm sure I'll say this a lot in these rankings, but I don't think we needed her to stay around as long as she has but she's definitely at the top of my list of people I would want to see in Season 40.  I wouldn't have minded if she stayed on as Update anchor for another season either.

Vanessa Bayer

MVP

Miley Cyrus, Anna Kendrick

Best Moment

It took 2 or 3 seasons but Vanessa Bayer eventually became my favorite cast member.  I think it was after she stopped with Miley Cyrus and America Fun Pop Wow, or whatever that was called, and dropped the catchphrases that I started to appreciate what a talented actress she was and how she can play both understated and broad at the same time.  This season gave me some Laura Parsons, who I always welcome, her performance in Flirty is Emmy worthy, and my personal favorite of the season Divorce.  Playing against Paul Rudd, she goes toe to toe with him in a silly dance off which is not an easy battle to win.

Worst Moment

We also got way too much Jacob The Bar Mitzvah Boy.  The character had already run its course before it was trotted out 3 times this season.  There was also The Lady Gaga Talk Show which was really lazy but I’ll give worst to Miss Meadows.  First off, we didn’t need to see the exact same sketch twice.  While I respected Vanessa’s performance in this, something about it just didn’t connect with me and it was very repetitive.

Would I Save Her From A Fire?

Oh yeah.  I feel like Vanessa is hitting her stride here and she is still a presence I miss on the show.

Nasim Pedrad

MVP

Charlize Theron

Best Moment

I love me some Nasim Pedrad and she made the most of her final season on the show debuting two recurring characters that I didn't grow tired of in Shallon and Heshi.  She was someone I always thought the show underused as she could be really funny in both lead and supporting roles.  She's also one of the most beautiful cast members the show has ever had.

Worst Moment

My initial instinct was to say the 3 installments of Waking Up With Kimye, but I while I hated how lazy those sketches were I loved Nasim's portrayal of Kim Kardashian.  Then I remembered Art Exhibit from the Melissa McCarthy episode.  This was in no way Nasim's fault why this was one of my least favorite sketches of the season.  I felt so bad for her having to stand around dressed as Frida Kahlo while the host hurled insults at her in an exceptionally unfunny and poorly rehearsed sketch.

Would I Save Her From A Fire?

I would say yes, because I'll never object to seeing Nasim on my TV.  But you had your chance SNL, let her go and do something worthy of her talents.

Taran Killam

MVP

Lena Dunham

Best Moment

Dependable would be the best word to describe Taran Killam.  He never broke in a sketch, always did his best and was capable of delivering performances that really showed how strong he was as a sketch performer.  Jebidiah Atkinson was hilarious in his first outing before he was quickly run into the ground.  He was exceptional in the Halftime Spectacular cold open as a Broadway star singing during the Super Bowl halftime show and he was able to make me laugh without saying a word in sketches like Best Buy Firings and We Did Stop from the Miley Cyrus episode.  His performance as John Boehner in a music video about the government shutdown was one of the highlights of this season.

Worst Moment

Taran always committed, even in bad material.  So while I appreciate the effort and the energy I did not need a return appearance from Protective Son in the Bruce Willis episode, nor did I need a first appearance from Big Joe in the Anna Kendrick episode.

Would I Save Him From A Fire?

On the fence.  While I like him, this is a really big cast and seeing as how this is his 4th season, I wouldn't mind seeing some of the new blood get some of the roles that went to him.

Beck Bennett

MVP

Tina Fey (shared with all the newbies), Josh Hutcherson

Best Moment

Beck always impressed me most when he would play crazy characters with a straight face.  I've said it numerous times before but I can't stand when sketches fall apart because the cast is giggling.  Beck had (and has) that Will Forte skill where he can keep it together even when saying insane things.  This was on display in the short films he did with Kyle this year like Dancing and Sigma but most notably in Baby Boss from the Josh Hutcherson episode.  It was brought back to lesser results later in the season but the first installment was terrific.  Beck crawls around, throws food, and plays with keys all while remaining completely serious.

Worst Moment

The short films provided by Beck and Kyle ranged from true classics like Miley's Sex Tape and Dancing to forgettable time filler to outright bad and a waste of airtime like Inside SoCal from the Jonah Hill episode.  Two surfer bros host a talk show from their house (a concept we've rarely seen on SNL, a talk show).  This should have been a live sketch as the filmed aspect added nothing to this and it could have benefited from a live audience's reaction.  Or at least they could have realized that this was bombing and they wouldn't have brought it back two more times.

Would I Save Him From A Fire?

Yeah.  I don't think we needed 7 seasons (and counting) from Beck but at the time I felt that Beck was going to one day be the star of the show.  Also, unlike some of this cast, he was able to succeed in pre-taped sketches AND live sketches.

Kate McKinnon

MVP

Jim Parsons

Best Moment

Kate always goes to 11, which can be a good thing and a bad thing.  I tend to like her more when she’s slightly more understated like in pre-tapes such as Girls and eMeth or live sketches like Whiskers R We.  She can win me over through her energy with some characters, specifically Olya Povlatsky, my favorite of her Update characters.  Sometimes when she's too much I have to remember that she is playing for a live audience and the balcony needs to laugh too, I guess.

Worst Moment

But there are other times where I just want her to just dial it back just a couple of notches.  I can't stand mugging on SNL.  When someone looks straight into the camera during a sketch, I want to reach in my TV and physically turn their head.  Kate is guilty of this a lot.  It works on Update and in some of her political impressions but she has a tendency to stare down the camera in sketches to milk a joke or go completely over the top in her characterization.  I'll single out Camp Wicawabe from the season finale and Santa's Workshop from the Paul Rudd episode.  The latter seemed like an introduction to a recurring character that I never want to see again.

Would I Save Her From A Fire?

This is one where my feelings have changed since Season 39.  At the time I remember thinking Kate was the next Kristen Wiig.  Turns out that was all too fair an assessment as both women shined on the show, then dominated, then were overused, then I grew tired of them from overexposure.  Seeing as this is only Kate's 3rd season I'm going to say, yes, keep her for Season 40, but she can leave somewhere around Season 43.

Kyle Mooney

MVP

Tina Fey (shared with all the newbies), Melissa McCarthy, Andy Samberg

Best Moment

"What's going to happen to our Digital Shorts?" cried a number of people when Andy Samberg left the cast.  Turns out we'll be just fine as long as Kyle and Beck are turning out great stuff like Miley's Sex Tape, Flirty, Sigma, Super Champions, Tourists, and my personal favorite Dancing from the Josh Hutcherson episode.  In this hilarious sketch, Kyle's dumb dance moves while he's doing the laundry instantly propel him to super stardom only to quickly see him fall due to his ego.

Worst Moment

At the time I thought that Kyle was an odd fit for the show but if he kept making absurd videos he could occupy his own little corner for 3 or 4 seasons and hopefully launch something more appropriate for him.  7 seasons later, I'm still thinking the same thing.  Impressions are definitely not his greatest asset as we saw from his Axl Rose, Criss Angel and Skrillex, and not all of his filmed shorts worked like Inside SoCal which was a big old waste of time.

Would I Save Him From A Fire?

For a few seasons, yeah.  He's that oddball you need in every cast.  But 7 seasons is too much for this guy who still doesn't seem to fit in.

Jay Pharoah

MVP

Kerry Washington

Best Moment

Jay was always best in the pre-taped sketches.  When he appeared in live sketches he suffered from too much mugging and when he was on Update he was prone to breaking and giggling.  But when he could be edited he could be really funny like in Resolution Revolution, Matchbox 3, Tourists, The U.S. Men's Heterosexual Skating Championship, his DMX impression in Now That's What I Call Christmas or 28 Reasons where he, Kenan and Sasheer sing about reasons to treat black people nicely in February, slavery turns out to be every reason.

Worst Moment

Like I said, I grew tired of the mugging from Jay in live sketches.  Sometimes he would be playing a random extra in a sketch but there would be a moment where he would look directly into the camera.  I could go with all 3 Waking Up With Kimye sketches, Ol' Barbershop with Bruce Willis, Pimpin' Pimpin' Pimpin' With Katt Williams, or his Update pieces as both Shannon Sharpe and Stephen A. Smith for my worst moment but I'll instead single out 12 Days Not A Slave from the Edward Norton episode.  I thought this was a very misguided sketch, although the premise was not bad.  Possibly if this was done as a pre-filmed sketch they could have done a better job at capturing the tone but as a live sketch it falls flat because, well, it's hard to laugh about slavery.

Would I Save Him From A Fire?

Since Kenan is incapable of doing impressions, it's good to have someone like Jay in the cast.  We still got 2 years of Obama so might as well keep him around but I also was not upset when he was eventually let go.

Aidy Bryant

MVP

Jimmy Fallon, Louis C.K.

Best Moment

I was a bit surprised that Aidy made it a second season.  Despite getting a recurring character with Girlfriends Talk Show, an Aidy Bryant sighting in Season 38 was a rare bird.  I have the feeling that Aidy was only promoted to repertory player this year because Cecily was and it would be awkward to have one person move up and another not.  All that aside, Aidy was able to make her presence known this season by embracing her inner bad girl with sketches like Dyke & Fats, Dongs All Over The World, (Do It In My) Twin Bed, her raunchy Adele impression and my personal favorite Slumber Party from the Drake episode where Aidy plays a young girl with a crush on her friend's dad.  Watching Aidy lie down on her hands gyrating on a beanbag was my favorite Aidy moment of the season.

Worst Moment

Not all of Aidy's bits worked for me.  I mentioned her recurring character from Season 38, did we need 4 appearances from The Girlfriends Talk Show?  It was exactly the same every time and continues the lazy SNL tradition of recurring characters hosting a talk show on a couch.  Worse than that though was Camp Wicawabe from the season finale which was basically Girlfriends Talk Show with younger ages and set at camp.  Honorable mentions for Aidy sketches I disliked were Tonker Bell from the Jim Parsons episode and Steakhouse from the Seth Rogen episode.

Would I Save Her From A Fire?

Sure.  Seeing how she was barely used last season, I see this more as Aidy's first season.  I remember a sketch from Season 38 where Adam Levine used Aidy as a human shield and thinking, well, this girl ain't gonna be back next season.  She definitely earned herself a spot in the cast this year.

Mike O’Brien

MVP

Tina Fey (shared with all the newbies)

Best Moment

Mike got some live sketches early on like Rick's Model Ts in the season premiere and Ruth's Chris in the Edward Norton episode before becoming mostly a guy who would show up in the pre-tapes.  Good news, his style works better in these because he can play things a bit more understated like in Investigative Report, Doctor's Office and Monster Pals where he plays a monster searching for his lost monster friend.  Bad news, Kyle and Beck were already the go-to guys for pre-taped shorts.

Worst Moment

With so few standout moments it's hard to pick a worst moment but then again it's pretty easy because he was in Jewelry Party in the Lena Dunham episode, my least favorite sketch of the season.  He plays a men's rights activist who basically gets yelled out by a bunch of women who disagree with him.  Should men's rights activists be mocked?  Absolutely, bus a sketch on SNL should also be funny or amusing rather than preachy.

Would I Save Him From A Fire?

Probably not.  He got enough stuff on this year that I didn't end up missing him.  Plus he popped up a couple of times in following seasons in pre-taped pieces so I liked that he sort of became a miniature Albert Brooks of this era.  Plus, his hiring always upset me because I really enjoyed Tim Robinson from Season 38 and felt they should have kept him around.

Sasheer Zamata

MVP

Drake

Best Moment

She didn't get any headlining sketches this season but showed off her singing voice in Resolution Revolution, Mr. Big Stuff, 28 Reasons, and Dongs All Over The World.  My favorite Sasheer moment came with one word in Black Jeopardy "Alazay?".  Also gotta give it up to her Kerry Washington impression in the Lena Dunham episode.

Worst Moment

There's nothing really to point to as the worst Sasheer moment but her Michelle Obama impression wasn't much of anything.  A Mother's Day Message From Michelle Obama And Hillary Clinton started off the Charlize Theron episode and while political cold opens aren't my cup of tea to begin with, this was pretty weak all around.

Would I Save Her From A Fire?

You kind of have to.  It wouldn't look good if the only black female cast member, who was hired due to a controversy, only lasted 11 episodes.

Brooks Wheelan

MVP

Tina Fey (shared with all the new cast members)

Best Moment

Brooks started out fairly strong for a new cast member then disappeared for the middle of the season but ended up having a late season surge which made me think his job was somewhat safe.  Unfortunately I don't think his comedy style mixed with the show.  Had he been given another season he may have ended up on the Pete Davidson track where he appears on Update but little else because he can't really do impressions (as we'll get to in a second) but I really wish we could have seen more from him because Critter Control from the Edward Norton episode was a bit of absurd brilliance.  Brooks and the host crawl in an air vent to fish out a family of possums who seem to have superior intelligence.  A cut for time sketch from the Andrew Garfield episode showed that he had more stuff but since he's not the strongest sketch performer I doubt people were trying to include him in their sketches.

Worst Moment

As I said, impressions were not his strong suit and that was on display with his Kid Rock, Slash, Rand Paul and most notably his Jared Leto from Pimpin' Pimpin' Pimpin' With Katt Williams.  He had a fun self-deprecating moment in a Family Feud sketch where he played himself but unfortunately that turned out to be a bit of a bad omen for how little he would be seen this season.

Would I Save Him From A Fire?

Yeah.  Out of all the new cast members, he was the one I kept wanting to see more from.  Maybe he was a one sketch wonder with Critter Control, but we'll never know because he never really got a second sketch to prove himself.

John Milhiser

MVP

Tina Fey (shared with all the newbies), Lady Gaga

Best Moment

Sigh.  One of my all-time favorite one season wonders.  Not really even a one season wonder, more like a one sketch wonder.  I'm a fan of SNL for the comedy but also the history.  I love watching the show live and seeing new cast members grow and what excites me the most is seeing someone pop for the first time.  Starting with the season premiere my anticipation was peaked as to what the 6 new cast members would bring.  When John Milhiser finally got his shot in the Lady Gaga episode he took it and ran with it to make one of my favorite sketches of the season in 4th Grade Talent Show.  He and Lady Gaga are parents coaching their child in a sexually explicit dance.  This sketch propelled John to one of my favorite cast members and, unfortunately, we barely saw him again for the rest of the season.

Worst Moment

While I never disliked a John Milhiser performance (hard to dislike something that barely exists, like saying "Man, I hate unicorns!") there were plenty of times where I felt sorry for him.  He had to follow around Bruce Willis in the back half of a centaur costume in Centauri Vodka.  He also got a solo line in Halftime Spectacular but they didn't even do him the service of pointing the spotlight at him so he was partially in the dark for one of the few speaking roles he got all season.

Would I Save Him From A Fire?

Yes!  I wanted so much more from him and I know it wasn't his fault.  A cut for time sketch from the Charlize Theron episode proved he had other sketch ideas but we needed more Kenan as Al Sharpton sketches and Girlfriends Talk Shows instead apparently.

Kenan Thompson

MVP

John Goodman

Best Moment

You might think that Kenan is ranked too low here.  Well, it's because I didn't see much in Kenan's 11th(!?) season that I could point to as to why he should still be there.  My feelings on Kenan have fluctuated wildly.  He started out as a complete waste of space, then transitioned into someone I actively hated seeing in sketches, then he grew into a decent sketch performer who had the ability to save a sketch with an over the top reaction or funny comment.  He's since fallen back as someone I wish would just leave.  He was not completely lacking of funny moments, Steve Harvey always makes me laugh, and a few times he got a chuckle out of me when he would scream at someone.  My favorite Kenan moment came from Elevator in the Jim Parsons episode where he played a janitor upset that he had to go clean up some dookie from his boss's desk.

Worst Moment

But the main reason he's ranked so low is because I disliked him way more than I liked him.  He had the tendency this season to show up in a sketch, stare right into camera, giggle, and ruin it.  I'll point to the end of Bikini Beach Party as an example.  A really funny sketch about exploding whales ends with Kenan running in an doing an awkward dance.  I bet you that Brooks or John or Beck or Kyle would have at least tried if they were given that part.  Then we have Al Sharpton, What's Poppin?, any of his Update pieces, specifically Mr. Senior.  This is one of the worst things I've seen on the show in recent years.  Kenan plays an old man upset that Christmas spirit starts before Thanksgiving, so he goes through the streets of New York to yell at people.  What could have been a fun Candid Camera style bit turns completely pointless because he's yelling at people like Aidy and John Milhiser.  I know these are cast members so all the fun of having a remote piece in the streets of NYC is lost.  We later got sketches like Super Champions, Monster Pals, and Tourists this season that showed just how unfunny and uninspired this bit was.

Would I Save Him From A Fire?

No.  11 seasons is too many for anyone.  I'm pretty sure I would want Phil Hartman or Bill Hader to move on after that amount of time as well.  Looking over what he brought in subsequent years, you're not missing anything if Kenan just left here.  If anything, he represents what I dislike about the show now.  A lot of giggling, a lack of commitment, mugging and winking to the audience, all stuff that rarely happened in the best seasons of SNL.

Seth Meyers

MVP

None

Best Moment

Seth's last season as Weekend Update anchor provided more of the same except Cecily Strong told half of the jokes.  Seth was a decent anchor and had a charm to him where I never really minded seeing him behind the desk, even if he never really excited me with his presence either.  But when your only job during the week is hosting Update and Update is consistently my least favorite part of any episode, you end up at the bottom of the list.

Worst Moment

By default, Weekend Update lands in this spot too.  His chemistry with Cecily was sorely lacking, if present at all.  This may have been intentional as to not make the audience miss their pairing when he left the show mid-season, but they could have at least tried to make them look like a team.

Would I Save Him From A Fire?

Nope.  He was on his way out anyway and it's hard to miss anyone after 13 years.

Colin Jost

MVP

None

Best Moment

After Seth Meyers left, the show continued the trend of having the head writer anchor Weekend Update.  I never really understood this decision as Colin didn't have the strongest delivery in his first half of a season nor did he come with too much personality.  There had to have been other options but for whatever divine wisdom, Lorne chose this white dude.

Worst Moment

By default his worst moment is also Weekend Update.  I really didn't see much from him this season that would make me believe that he would still be on the show and marrying an Avenger 7 years later.

Would I Save Him From A Fire?

Meh.  I mean, I like him now and there's always room for growth but there are also a lot of other white guys who can read jokes off of cue cards.  There were about 14 in the cast this year who could have done a better job (Mike O'Brien would have been my pick) and would probably have better chemistry with Cecily (Again, Mike seems like a good fit for that).  If you were to ask me at the end of this season who should be replaced on Update, I would suggest getting rid of Colin.

Noel Wells

MVP

Tina Fey (Shared with all the newbies)

Best Moment

Contrary to popular belief, Noel Wells was indeed a cast member on SNL in Season 39.  Her name was read every week by Don Pardo.  Not a lot of people know this, and it's mostly legend at this point, but she actually appeared in a few sketches too.  Most notably Girls from the season premiere where she played Lena Dunham opposite Tina Fey's Albanian immigrant.

Worst Moment

She quickly vanished into obscurity with Beth Cahill and Sarah Silverman as she barely appeared in sketches.  She got one headlining sketch in her only season where she played Nancy Grace yelling at people about marijuana use.  A sad moment as the audience was pretty dead for this and her biggest moment on the show was an impression done better by both Amy Poehler and Abby Elliott.  I'll also point out some other little humiliating things, her reprisal of her Lena Dunham impression in the episode hosted by Dunham that felt like a charity gift, getting pushed out of the Josh Hutcherson monologue by Cecily Strong, being pushed out of the Miss Universe Moscow sketch in the Kerry Washington episode, not even getting a closeup for her Reba McEntire impression in Guy Fieri's Full Throttle Christmas Special, and her complete absence from Dongs All Over The World despite that sketch highlighting every other female cast member.  It was downright insulting how poorly she was treated this season.

Would I Save Her From A Fire?

No.  She seems like a nice lady and from what I've seen in subsequent years in other projects, a decent actress, but I didn't see anything this season that led me to believe she should come back for another year.  In an already bloated cast, she was the weakest link.