The 10 Best Post-SNL Careers

by Brantley on July 10th, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Posted In: Articles

We just watched Horrible Bosses this week for the podcast and the film stars current SNL cast member Jason Sudeikis and almost-SNL-cast-member Jennifer Anniston. That got me thinking about former “Saturday Night Live” cast members and the myriad of different directions their careers have gone in. Considering that, I put together a list of the 10 best post-SNL careers. To clarify, I’m looking at the best post SNL careers of former performers and also writers, however, that doesn’t include voice performers who weren’t series regulars (sorry Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert). Now, how one quantifies “best” when considering the post SNL careers will open this article up to many critiques, and I freely accept that my own ranking criteria is rather broad and takes into consideration many different aspects of the performers career. So, agree or disagree, but please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section and tell me how much of a genius/dumbass I am. Anyway, without further ado, here’s my list of the best post SNL careers.

10. Al Franken
A writer for the show since the first season in 1975, Franken makes the list primarily for currently being a US Senator. To my knowledge he’s the only former writer or cast member to hold such a prestigious national political seat. Since I can’t include the 5 Emmys he has (since those were for his work on the show not his post show career), I’ll have to point out that he has also published five books and moved on to host a nationally syndicated radio show.

9. Tina Fey

In five or ten more years, Tina Fey may be higher on this list. For now, she comes in at #9 mainly because in her post-SNL career, she’s been nominated for 13 Emmys (with 6 wins) and 4 Golden Globes (with 2 wins). And of course, she’s won and been nominated for a gaggle of other awards as well. She also published her very funny memoir Bossypants earlier this year. While her post-SNL movie career hasn’t been super stellar, it hasn’t been terrible like some others either and honestly, she’s really on here for creating, writing, producing, and starring in “30 Rock.”

 8. Eddie Murphy

There’s been a select few number of SNL performers who’ve gone on to be nominated for Academy Awards, but Eddie Murphy can count himself amongst them. He, of course, was nominated for Dreamgirls, a performance that many thought he may have won for and many others theorized that his performance in recent films from that time like Norbit kept him from taking home the prize. Also, while Eddie Murphy Delirious may have been made during his SNL run, Eddie Murphy Raw came out in 1987, 3 years after his departure from sketch comedy show. Those two stand up documentaries are arguably the biggest in the genre and considering one of them came out after his run on the show just adds the fuel to his post SNL fire. I was just a little kid in the mid-80′s, so I can’t say I witnessed the phenomenon that was Eddie Murphy in his prime, but from all the accounts, it would appear that Murphy was like Jordan to the stand up comedy scene back in the day. He would also go on to star in the Beverly Hills Cop series, Coming to America, and Metro among other films from the mid-80′s to now. While his film career has certainly wained in the past decade, Murphy still makes the list with his many other accomplishments.

7. Bill Murray

Bill Murray was a cast member from 1977 to 1980, after his stint on SNL, Murray was a star. He would parlay that SNL fame into a slew of now classic films. While Caddyshack doesn’t qualify since it came out in 1980 while he was still a cast member, other films like: Stripes, Tootsie, Ghostbusters, Scrooged, What About Bob?, Groundhog Day, Ed Wood, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, Lost in Translation, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and Broken Flowers would all follow. Also, like Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray would be among one of the select few cast members to be nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Lost in Translation.

 6. Will Ferrell

In terms of sheer popularity, it would be difficult not to list Will Ferrell right at the top of this list. However, if popularity was the only thing I took into account, Adam Sandler (my fellow New Hampshirite) would have made this list. Ferrell’s film history post SNL is a checkered past, but for every disappointing film like Semi-Pro or Land of the Lost, there’s a modern classic like Anchorman, Old School, or a touching dramatic performance like in Everything Must Go or Winter Passing. He was also the titular character of Elf, a film I find so infectiously entertaining I smile every time I think about it. He’s been nominated for two Golden Globe awards (for The Producers and Stranger than Fiction) and he also had his Broadway debut in the one man show “You’re Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush” for which he was nominated for a Tony. With his longtime collaborator, Adam McKay, he launched the comedy site FunnyorDie.com and has starred in many of their short films.

 5. Mike Myers

Why do I have Mike Myers at number 5 on my list? Probably because he has anchored 3 succesful film franchises (although the Wayne’s World series was going on while he was on SNL so that technically doesn’t count). The star of the Austin Powers and Shrek Series has made serious bank in his post SNL career while also mixing in some dramatic roles like in Studio 54 and Mystery, Alaska. He’s won numerous comedy awards and will be starring as Keith Moon, the legendary drummer of the Who, in an upcoming film.

 4. Larry David

Larry David only worked as a writer at SNL for one year in the 1984-85 season and in that time period, only got a single sketch on the air (a feat rivaled by Sarah Silverman who worked on the show as a writer for only a season and didn’t get a single sketch on the show). You’ll notice a pattern about short stays on SNL in the top 4 of this list as three of them worked on the show for only a year. The length they worked on the show isn’t really of too much importance to me though, as I’m really more concerned about their post SNL career. Larry David, as many know, would go on to create the most succesful show in American TV history in “Seinfeld” and would go on to write, produce and star in the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” He’s been nominated for 21 Emmy’s (with 2 wins) and 3 Golden Globe awards (with no wins).

 3. Ben Stiller

Stiller was hired as a writer and featured performer for a season of SNL in 1989 and he ended up leaving after only five episodes. No matter, it was probably the best decision of his life. He went on to do “The Ben Stiller Show” for MTV first and then another iteration on Fox in the early 90′s. And of course, his movie career took off. He starred in modern-day classics like There’s Something About Mary, Zoolander, and Meet the Parents. He’s been nominated for 2 Emmys (with a win in 1993 for Outstanding Achievement in Writing for “The Ben Stiller Show”) and he’s been able to transition nicely to dramatic works as well in films like The Royal Tenenbaums and Greenberg.

2. Conan O’Brien

Conan O”Brien was a writer on SNL for four seasons before moving on to write briefly for “The Simpsons” and then move quickly in to take over for David Letterman on “Late Night” when Letterman moved on to CBS after the 1993 “Tonight Show” fiasco that saw Leno succeed Johnny Carson despite Letterman having been sitting patiently in the “Late Night” spot for years previously. Conan would put in 16 years on “Late Night” and become a staple of late night TV for our younger generation. For me personally, there’s only one name in late night, and that’s Conan. I will always watch his show no matter the guest; every other show I’ll maybe check out if I like the guest but that’s it. The 2009 “Tonight Show” fiasco between O’Brien and Leno would only serve to make Conan more famous in the eyes of the American public.

 1. Robert Downey Jr.

Yes, Robert Downey Jr. was a SNL cast member for a season in 1985. Post SNL, his career has had many ups and downs, but with two Academy Award nominations, an Emmy nomination, and five Golden Globe nominations (with 3 wins) and turning himself into a bona-fide superstar with Iron Man, he’s reinvigorated his career. What’s possibly so impressive about him is that he can do just about anything, whether it’s comedy, drama, action, sci-fi, it doesn’t matter.

Well, that’ll wrap it up for the best post SNL careers. There’s certainly many honorable mentions that could be named, so let us know in the comment section.

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