Best “Saturday Night Live” Character
Since its debut in October 1975, NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has introduced dozens of memorable recurring characters into the pop-culture zeitgeist. From Rosanne Roseannadanna to The Blues Brothers; Two Wild & Crazy Guys to Stefon; even as the show itself goes through peaks and valleys, these characters continue to live rent-free in our minds, long after their legendary skits have gone on permanent hiatus. As part of Season 7, the Great Pop Culture Debate podcast wants to determine: who IS the Best “SNL” Recurring Character? Options discussed include Wayne & Garth, The Blue Brothers, The Coneheads, The Spartan Cheerleaders, Stefon, Target Lady, Drunk Uncle, NPR’s This Delicious Dish, Brian Fellows Safari Planet, The Festrunk Brothers, Stuart Smalley, Linda Richman, Church Lady, Mary Katherine Gallagher, MacGruber, and The Ambiguously Gay Duo.
Join Host Eric Rezsnyak and panelists Amma Marfo, Derek Mekita, Jim Czadzeck, and Karissa Kloss as they discuss and debate the Top 16 characters from “SNL” history (up until early 2023, that is).
Want to play along at home? Download the listener bracket here and see if your picks match up with ours!
To listen to Round 1, showing how we got to the Sweet 16 down from the Top 32, become a Patreon supporter of the podcast today to access the exclusive Part 1 episode.
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Round 2 Match-Ups:
Note that, for our purposes, we did not include impressions of real-life people (no Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, or Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek, for example); we considered groups of characters that act as a unit as one “character”; and the character must also have appeared on “SNL” in at least 3 episodes to count as “recurring.”
Match-Up 1: Wayne & Garth vs. The Blues Brothers
Match-Up 2: The Coneheads vs. The Spartan Cheerleaders
Match-Up 3: Stefon vs. Target Lady
Match-Up 4: Drunk Uncle vs. NPR Ladies
Match-Up 5: Brian Fellows Safari Planet vs. The Festrunk Brothers
Match-Up 6: Stuart Smalley vs. Linda Richman
Match-Up 7: Church Lady vs. Mary Katherine Gallagher
Match-Up 8: MacGruber vs. Ambiguously Gay Duo
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EPISODE CREDITS
HOST: Eric Rezsnyak
PRODUCER: Bob Erlenback
PANEL: Amma Marfo, Derek Mekita, Jim Czadzeck, Karissa Kloss
EDITOR: Jeffery Perry