We are gathered here today to rank the — what is it? Jesus! — ninety-two past and present cast members of Saturday Night Live, in ascending order of their contribution to the show. This is no way to make friends. But while no one will be completely happy with the results, let's at least stress one of the ground rules: for the purpose of this experiment, these performers are being graded solely on the work they did on SNL itself. If we were talking about their entire careers, Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Rock, and Joan Cusack would be clustered at the top. As it is, they're not even serious contenders for the top twenty.
92. VICTORIA JACKSON (1986-1992)
91. JIM BELUSHI (1983-1985)
90. GARY KROEGER (1982-1985)
89. COLIN QUINN (1995-2000)
88. ROB SCHNEIDER (1990-1994)
87. ELLEN CLEGHORNE (1991-1995)
86. BRAD HALL (1982-1984)
85. HORATIO SANZ (1998-2006)
84. MELANIE HUTSELL (1991-1994)
83. CHRIS KATTAN (1996-2003)
82. TONY ROSATO (1981-1982)
81. JANEANE GAROFALO (1994-1995)
80. JIMMY FALLON (1998-2004)
79. ANTHONY MICHAEL HALL (1985-1986)
78. CHARLES ROCKET (1980-1981)
77. GILBERT GOTTFRIED (1980-1981)
76. MORWENNA BANKS (1995)
75. ANN RISLEY (1980-1981)
74. JEFF RICHARDS (2001-2004)
73. JULIA SWEENEY (1990-1994)
72. FINESSE MITCHELL (2003-2006)
71. GEORGE COE (1975)
70. CHRISTINE EBERSOLE (1981-1982)
69. JIM BREUER (1995-1998)
67. CHRIS ROCK (1990-1993)
66. DENNIS MILLER (1985-1991)
65. CHRIS ELLIOTT (1994-1995)
64. JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS (1982-1985)
63. ROBIN DUKE (1981-1984)
62. ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. (1984-1985)
61. KENAN THOMPSON (2003- ?)
60. JOE PISCOPO (1980-1984)
59. MICHAEL O'DONOGHUE (1975)
58. TIM KAZURINSKY (1981-1984)
57. MARY GROSS (1981-1985)
56. MOLLY SHANNON (1995-2001)
55. WILL FORTE (2002-2010)
54, 53. MICHAEL McKEAN (1995-1995) and MARK McKINNEY (1995-1997)
52. JOAN CUSACK (1984-1985)
51. SETH MEYERS (2001-)
50. ABBY ELLIOTT (2008-)
49. PAMELA STEPHENSON (1984-1985)
48. DAVID KOECHNER (1995-1996)
46 & 45. GAIL MATTHIUS and DENNY DILLON (1980-1981)
44. RICH HALL (1984-1985)
43. GARRETT MORRIS (1975-1980)
42. NANCY WALLS (1995-1996)
41. RANDY QUAID (1984-1985)
40. LARAINE NEWMAN (1975-1980)
39. HARRY SHEARER (1979-1980; 1984-1985)
38. TERRY SWEENEY (1985-1986)
37. FRED ARMISEN (2002-)
36. DAVID SPADE (1990-1995)
35. ANA GASTEYER (1996-2002)
34. MAYA RUDOLPH (2000-2007)
33. TRACY MORGAN (1996-2003)
32. CHERI OTERI (1995-2000)
31. CHRIS PARNELL (1998-2001; 2002-2006)
30. ADAM SANDLER (1991-1995)
29. ANDY SAMBERG (2005-)
28. RACHEL DRATCH (1999-2006)
27. KEVIN NEALON (1986-1995)
26. NORM MACDONALD (1993-1998)
25. CHEVY CHASE (1975-1976)
24. JASON SUDEIKIS (2005-)
23. NORA DUNN (1985-1990)
22. CHRIS FARLEY (1990-1995)
21. JANE CURTIN (1975-1980)
20. BILL HADER (2005-)
19. KRISTEN WIIG (2005-)
16, 17, & 18. BILLY CRYSTAL, CHRISTOPHER GUEST, and MARTIN SHORT (1984-1985)
15. JAN HOOKS (1986-1991)
14. JON LOVITZ (1985-1990)
13. GILDA RADNER (1975-1980)
12. TIM MEADOWS (1991-2000)
11. DARRELL HAMMOND (1995-2009)
10. TINA FEY (2000-2006)
Fey breathed new life into Weekend Update, bringing sharp, literate political satire to what had been a regularly scheduled dead spot for years. It says a lot that the show's best political joke since her departure has been the Sarah Palin impression she started doing as a special guest.
9. DANA CARVEY (1986-1993)
The difference in intensity between Carvey when he's just himself and when he's playing a character is downright eerie. And whether he was Garth or the Church Lady or George Bush, Senior, nobody could squeeze more juice out of unpromising characters.
8. MIKE MYERS (1989-1995)
With his youthful energy and his pre-Internet savvy about how technology and pop culture were reshaping American life, Myers' trademark characters made SNL seem central to the lives of a new generation in the late '80s and early '90s. He made Wayne's World and Sprockets essential pop culture references for years.
7. AMY POEHLER (2001-2008)
Poehler, whose work on the Upright Citizens Brigade series amounted to an extended, nationally televised SNL audition, was the first performer nominated for an Emmy for her work on the show in years.
6. DAN AYKROYD (1975-1979)
The most versatile and skilled of the original cast members, Aykroyd, who started out on SNL when he was twenty-three, gave the edgiest years of his life to the show. His letter-perfect impressions were new to TV audiences in their mercilessness, and his targets (Tom Snyder, Richard Nixon) couldn't even pretend not to be insulted.
5. JOHN BELUSHI (1975-1979)
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Belushi brought the pleasures of brash slapstick to a show that otherwise tended towards hip and cerebral. He made it look easy to dominate the stage and make audiences laugh by brute force. But if you look at the performers influenced, including Chris Farley and his own brother Jim, you can see that it isn't that easy after all.
4. PHIL HARTMAN (1986-1994)
Always game, often inspired, and seemingly egoless, Hartman earned the backstage nickname "The Glue," delivering night after night for eight years, whether the show around him rose to his level or not. He once broke up on the air while playing Frankenstein's monster; it was like seeing Nolan Ryan pitch wild and bean the umpire.
3. BILL MURRAY (1977-1980)
Murray's stature as the most beloved of all the SNL alumni was hard-won. He basically made it onto the show over Lorne Michaels' dead body, and he had a rough couple of weeks trying to win over an audience that was hell-bent on hating him because he'd replaced the show's first breakout star, Chevy Chase. But by the time Chase returned to guest host, it was Murray's show he came back to. Murray really proved his mettle when he himself hosted the only exciting episode of the notorious 1980-81 season. It looked then and still looks today as if Golden Age SNL is something Bill Murray carries around in his back pocket in case of emergency.
2. WILL FERRELL (1995-2002)
Long before Old School, Ferrell looked like the friendly, super-straight guy at the fraternity beer bash who'd been putting off graduation for too long because he wasn't looking forward to managing his dad's construction firm. Watching strange demons take over that normal-looking countenance was a joke that seldom got tired. His surrealist sensibilities carried the show for years.
1. EDDIE MURPHY (1980-1984)
After the disaster of the first season without Lorne Michaels or any of the original cast members, NBC was seriously considering canceling the show, and they probably would have if Murphy hadn't been turned loose to get people talking about SNL again. Whether doing Gumby, James Brown, or Mr. Robinson's neighborhood, Murphy's performances transcended the show and made him the most exciting thing on television at the time.
source: http://www.nerve.com/entertainment/ranked/ranked-every-emsaturday-night-live-em-cast-member-ever-from-worst-to-best