best male african-american saturday night live cast member

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This should probably be for second best but then the thread would just... yeah.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Eddie Murphy 18
Tracy Morgan 15
Chris Rock 10
Garrett Morris 3
Kenan Thompson 2
Jerry Minor 1
Finesse Mitchell 1
Dean Edwards 0
Tim Meadows 0
Daymon Wayans0


wanko ergo sum, Sunday, 30 December 2007 22:43 (seventeen years ago)

Some of the worst ever cast members have been black. I waited for Finesse Mitchell to do one thing funny, it never happened, RIP. Never liked Tim Meadows (Ladie's Man --> painful) and even Chris Rock annoyed me on the show whereas I like his standup.

wanko ergo sum, Sunday, 30 December 2007 22:45 (seventeen years ago)

I love Kenan Thompson

wanko ergo sum, Sunday, 30 December 2007 22:47 (seventeen years ago)

i saw a finesse stand-up dvd at blockbuster yesterday but didn't get it. i'm voting tracy.

J0rdan S., Sunday, 30 December 2007 22:49 (seventeen years ago)

after being a pretty rabid all that/kenan and kel fan in my childhood, it was pretty shocking to me the first time i ever saw kenan on snl.

J0rdan S., Sunday, 30 December 2007 22:51 (seventeen years ago)

i never saw kenan and kel!

wanko ergo sum, Sunday, 30 December 2007 22:52 (seventeen years ago)

Going from SNL for kids to SNL for grownups shockah. xp

The Reverend, Sunday, 30 December 2007 22:53 (seventeen years ago)

he's been forgotten but Garrett Morris had his moments

"I LIEK A WOMAN W/A BIG BUTT"

"BEISBOL HAB BEEN BERY BERY GUD TO ME"

sorta sterotypical I guess but no worse than Eddie Murphy's shtick

m coleman, Sunday, 30 December 2007 22:53 (seventeen years ago)

Garrett Morris in "Bad Clams" was one of my favorite things ever

J0hn D., Sunday, 30 December 2007 23:10 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpnZ7yMY6fE

Curt1s Stephens, Sunday, 30 December 2007 23:16 (seventeen years ago)

Going from SNL for kids to SNL for grownups shockah. xp

-- The Reverend, Sunday, December 30, 2007 4:53 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

you're implying that all that was actually funny?

J0rdan S., Sunday, 30 December 2007 23:18 (seventeen years ago)

Eddie because borscht belt gumby is unfuckwithable. i actually liked Chris Rock on there, though I remember thinking Nat X was being wasted on that audience. glad he moved on quick.

tremendoid, Sunday, 30 December 2007 23:22 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpnZ7yMY6fE

they sound kinda like silkworm

J0hn D., Sunday, 30 December 2007 23:22 (seventeen years ago)

When writing something about Jerry Minor's crappy sitcom on ABC recently, I made a reference to "the Finesse Mitchell Memorial Underused Black SNL Cast Members Hall Of Fame." I'd say Dean Edwards is the one who got the least chance to make any impression at all (in fact, the only clear memory of him I have of him is his introduction in the opening credits).

It's often said that Chris Rock didn't get enough screentime and only became a star because of his post-SNL standup career, but he was one of my favorite cast members at the time so I didn't think of him as underused at all, although I could be wrong.

Kenan Thompson is hilarious sometimes but post-Finesse he's been forced into the Frank Caliendo Syndrome of constantly impersonating celebrities that he weights at least 100 pounds more than.

I'll probably vote for Tracy. Maybe Eddie.

Alex in Baltimore, Sunday, 30 December 2007 23:27 (seventeen years ago)

i've never heard of dean edwards unfortunately. finesse mitchell I don't remember making me laugh but i got nothing against him. he looks a lot like derek fisher, perhaps something could have been made of that. we'll never know now.

tremendoid, Sunday, 30 December 2007 23:35 (seventeen years ago)

you're implying that all that was actually funny?

-- J0rdan S., Sunday, December 30, 2007 3:18 PM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Oh, as if you didn't eat that shit up when you were 8.

The Reverend, Monday, 31 December 2007 00:01 (seventeen years ago)

Garrett Morris' SNL skit where he auditions for the prison play by singing "I wanna get me a shotgun and kill all the whiteys I see!" is absolutely classic.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 31 December 2007 00:19 (seventeen years ago)

oh wow, I had completely forgotten about that!

but are you sure he was auditioning for a play? I thought he was like, up in front of the parole board or something

bernard snowy, Monday, 31 December 2007 00:28 (seventeen years ago)

no, it was a play being put on by prison authorities

"Porky & Bess" also classic

J0hn D., Monday, 31 December 2007 00:30 (seventeen years ago)

dammit, I really wish NBC weren't so incredibly uptight about the whole Youtube thing, because I feel like the absence of old SNL sketches is the only thing keeping that site from being a comprehensive record of all popular culture since the mid 70s.

bernard snowy, Monday, 31 December 2007 00:33 (seventeen years ago)

no, it was a play being put on by prison authorities

Yep.

Daniel, Esq., Monday, 31 December 2007 00:43 (seventeen years ago)

eddie, for 'ebony & ivory' and for 'hot tub'. i love tracy morgan in 30 Rock, tho have not seen any of his SNL stuff.

Garrett Morris' SNL skit where he auditions for the prison play by singing "I wanna get me a shotgun and kill all the whiteys I see!" is absolutely classic.

This was awesome - wasn't peter cook the director?

stevie, Monday, 31 December 2007 01:15 (seventeen years ago)

Oh, as if you didn't eat that shit up when you were 8.

-- The Reverend, Sunday, December 30, 2007 6:01 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

that's the point!!! i didn't think being a genius at making 8-year-olds laugh would translate into making 38-year-olds laugh.

J0rdan S., Monday, 31 December 2007 01:56 (seventeen years ago)

Eddie for basically every second he was on camera. Then Tracy.

wanko ergo sum, Monday, 31 December 2007 01:58 (seventeen years ago)

Finesse did a funny 50 Cent in a Punk'd sketch

A B C, Monday, 31 December 2007 03:28 (seventeen years ago)

I always liked Tim Meadows, I'm going to write a page of affirmations in the hope of him getting a job on 30 Rock

A B C, Monday, 31 December 2007 03:29 (seventeen years ago)

Eddie carried the show for those lean years, Chris Rock became far more important afterward('96-onward, incl. the Chris Rock Show & how it lead to Pootie Tang).

Garret was criminally underused. Damon got fired too quickly. Tim Meadows was awesome in "Dewey Cox"

kingfish, Monday, 31 December 2007 03:51 (seventeen years ago)

I have no recollection of Minor or Edwards.

Pleasant Plains, Monday, 31 December 2007 05:06 (seventeen years ago)

I think Kenan is ridiculously great on this, and somewhat underused.

But, umm, yeah, I'd say this show has a long-running problem with using (male) black cast members: there are times when it feels like they get used strictly for racial humor / "black jokes." Which seems like it's due to identity issues on the show's part. For one thing, the show's original identity-making heyday was during this brief period when you could do black/white racial humor in a broad sense that's unthinkable today, this weird period where people could half-believe in broad racial stereotypes and still think themselves edgy and progressive about it.* (And for another, a lot of the show's style later on seemed to revolve around taking a cheesy whitebread scenario and messing with it, and they seem bad at realizing that black men can be a part of cheesy whitebread scenarios like "ordinary dinner party" or whatever.)

* = I don't know how to describe this right, but it's basically Pryor's career, isn't it? Moving through that period of race humor and then having some earnest moment where he calls bullshit on it and tries to push onward.

nabisco, Monday, 31 December 2007 07:34 (seventeen years ago)

Eddie for basically every second he was on camera. Then Tracy.

This is basically the truth, though Brian Fellow's Safari Planet may actually be the best recurring skit in all of SNL history.

Johnny Fever, Monday, 31 December 2007 07:42 (seventeen years ago)

nabisco I think that's more true of eddie murphy than pryor, he blasted the stereotypes into shreds, once you saw him imitate a white guy imitating a black guy on that edgy/progressive liberal pose no longer worked.

m coleman, Monday, 31 December 2007 12:20 (seventeen years ago)

speaking of prison routines the eddie murphy riff I always remember was the prisoner poetry reading.

kill my landlord
kill my landlord
(pauses and glares into camera)
C-I-L MY LANDLORD

m coleman, Monday, 31 December 2007 12:23 (seventeen years ago)

For one thing, the show's original identity-making heyday was during this brief period when you could do black/white racial humor in a broad sense that's unthinkable today, this weird period where people could half-believe in broad racial stereotypes and still think themselves edgy and progressive about it.

i wish i thought this period was over but http://www.image.realityreel.com/2007/04/13/mencia.jpg

max, Monday, 31 December 2007 12:29 (seventeen years ago)

The best thing Eddie Murphy ever did was the short film "White Like Eddie" that he showed when he came back as a host in 1984. Killed.

I remember Jerry Minor being funny on some Update sketches, and was disappointed that he didn't return. Rock had his moments (Nat X, Luther Campbell), but was way underused. Ditto Damon Wayans who could have saved the horrific '85-'86 season (as could have Danitra Vance -- anyone remember "That Black Girl"?) had he gotten more screen time.

Sara Sara Sara, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:32 (seventeen years ago)

Yeah I guess there have only been, what, 4 female african-american (counting Maya Rudolph, who's half Jewish) SNL cast members, including Yvonne Hudson and Ellen Cleghorne. If they were part of this poll I might've voted for MR.

Alex in Baltimore, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:51 (seventeen years ago)

Yeah I would put Maya ahead of Tracy. She's brilliant, but she's seemed bored for years now.

wanko ergo sum, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:53 (seventeen years ago)

Can't wait for that hilarious Obama imitation from Darrell Hammond.

Pleasant Plains, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:54 (seventeen years ago)

i love maya rudolph but i have never actually laughed at her once ever

eddie gets this

and what, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:54 (seventeen years ago)

i love maya rudolph but i have never actually laughed at her once ever

o_O seriously?

Alex in Baltimore, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:54 (seventeen years ago)

yeah im pretty sure

maybe once at her and fred armisen as the weird scandinavian couple

and what, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:55 (seventeen years ago)

shes always kind of arch and not really willing to make herself look goofy for the sake of a joke

and what, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:56 (seventeen years ago)

Can't wait for that hilarious Obama imitation from Darrell Hammond.

-- Pleasant Plains, Monday, December 31, 2007 11:54 AM (50 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

haha we should really do a thread about SNL blackface impressions (best: DH's Jesse Jackson, worst: Jimmy Fallon's Chris Rock).

Alex in Baltimore, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:57 (seventeen years ago)

also if anything Maya Rudolph is TOO willing to make herself look goofy (esp. my favorite musical bits, like her doing the Star Spangled Banner, or the Seals & Croft bit in the Grease skit).

Alex in Baltimore, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:59 (seventeen years ago)

i dunno maybe im just thinking compared to amy uglyface poehler

and what, Monday, 31 December 2007 16:59 (seventeen years ago)

Can't wait for that hilarious Obama imitation from Darrell Hammond.

-- Pleasant Plains, Monday, December 31, 2007 11:54 AM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

http://www.stereohyped.com/obamarama-57-20070831/

and what, Monday, 31 December 2007 17:05 (seventeen years ago)

that's kind of nice, i'd like to see Kenan drop some weight anyway and avoid the usual tragic SNL fatguy Belushi/Farley trajectory.

Alex in Baltimore, Monday, 31 December 2007 17:07 (seventeen years ago)

plus I guess the writer's strike is buying him some time to lose the weight on a more reasonable schedule.

Alex in Baltimore, Monday, 31 December 2007 17:08 (seventeen years ago)

amy uglyface poehler

haha SNL HOTT = real world ugly

even Kristen Wiig outside the context of the show looks like a horse

wanko ergo sum, Monday, 31 December 2007 17:12 (seventeen years ago)

Maya Rudolph could probably work up a better impression of Obama than Kenan.

Pleasant Plains, Monday, 31 December 2007 17:13 (seventeen years ago)

The thing with Wiig is that 90% of her characters/mannerisms mostly involve this weird ability she has to retract her chin and turn herself into a chinless goon.

nabisco, Monday, 31 December 2007 17:31 (seventeen years ago)

I'd like to see all of Eddie Murphy's Death of Buckwheat sketches put back to back including the follow ups they did over the next few episodes where they are showing Buckwheat on surveillance camera doing cocaine with hookers and go and interview people from the hometown of the shooter "oh yeah, he said he was wanting to earn extra money so he could go shoot Buckwheat". Joe Piscopo does a pretty good Ted Koppel imitation in the main Buckwheat being shot part.

I bet if you add in the sketches of Murphy as Buckwheat before he was shot, that it would almost be an hour long. Parts of those sketches have been put back out, but I have not seen some of them since they originally aired.

earlnash, Monday, 31 December 2007 17:51 (seventeen years ago)

The footage of Buckwheat being shot repeated over and over still amuses me. Even the guy running into the foreground, sticking out his tongue. One of the best examples of repeating something so many times it's funny that other shows haven't handled well.

Pleasant Plains, Monday, 31 December 2007 17:54 (seventeen years ago)

Eddie v. Garrett is just impossible.

Whiney G. Weingarten, Monday, 31 December 2007 18:10 (seventeen years ago)

I'd go with Eddie. He did more than scream out his lines while acting like his neck was broken.

Pleasant Plains, Monday, 31 December 2007 18:13 (seventeen years ago)

The Buckwheat assassination episode was my very first exposure to SNL, and even staying up that late at the age of 9 or whatever it was made me realize that there were whole other worlds of tv and comedy that I knew absolutely nothing about. I didn't start staying up late and watching regularly until about '86 or so, though, when Hartman and Lovitz and all that crew came on board.

Johnny Fever, Monday, 31 December 2007 18:25 (seventeen years ago)

SNL hasn't been funny in over a decade

Bo Jackson Overdrive, Tuesday, 1 January 2008 05:10 (seventeen years ago)

finally, a voice of inanity

tremendoid, Tuesday, 1 January 2008 06:44 (seventeen years ago)

no more inane than the paint huffers that think sketches that run way too long, nondescript cast members, and poor writing is entertaining.

Actually I'll go one further and say for the last decade or so, the show has caused me to wince.

Bo Jackson Overdrive, Tuesday, 1 January 2008 07:08 (seventeen years ago)

Next poll should be Best Male Whatever Ethnicity Fred Armisen Is Cast Member.

mulla atari, Tuesday, 1 January 2008 07:28 (seventeen years ago)

fun bit: the Arsenio cameo in the assassination vid

kingfish, Tuesday, 1 January 2008 07:58 (seventeen years ago)

Some amount of popularity is "Finesse Mitchell" having in the U.S.?

Pål Útlendi, Tuesday, 1 January 2008 08:41 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

ILX System, Wednesday, 2 January 2008 00:01 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

ILX System, Thursday, 3 January 2008 00:01 (seventeen years ago)

Kenan was robbed

nabisco, Thursday, 3 January 2008 00:05 (seventeen years ago)

kenan started out bad though, the last two years are just now canceling that shit out. thread results pretty otm. would still love a brief on jerry minor and dean edwards?

tremendoid, Thursday, 3 January 2008 00:12 (seventeen years ago)

debra wilson and aries spears pwn all these people. except for eddie. eddie is god.

scott seward, Thursday, 3 January 2008 00:33 (seventeen years ago)

i kinda feel bad for tim meadows

elmo argonaut, Thursday, 3 January 2008 00:34 (seventeen years ago)

i got mad cleghorne luv though

http://www.ny-entertainment.com/new/headshots/cleghorneEllen.jpg

scott seward, Thursday, 3 January 2008 00:34 (seventeen years ago)

i feel bad that tim meadows was not born a funny man.

scott seward, Thursday, 3 January 2008 00:35 (seventeen years ago)

Tim Meadows has always worked better as a utilitarian player. His star characters are uniformly awful.

Johnny Fever, Thursday, 3 January 2008 00:37 (seventeen years ago)

ten years will find tim meadows performing as the ladies man at 8 dinner shows a week at a lesser vegas casino, y/n?

elmo argonaut, Thursday, 3 January 2008 00:40 (seventeen years ago)

Who is the private voter of "Finesse Mitchell!" Someone is feeeling like a dildo.

Pål Útlendi, Thursday, 3 January 2008 00:48 (seventeen years ago)

debra wilson and aries spears pwn all these people. except for eddie. eddie is god.

so so so so so wrong

chaki, Thursday, 3 January 2008 00:55 (seventeen years ago)

I didn't really like Aries Spears until I saw this.

Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 3 January 2008 02:00 (seventeen years ago)

Jerry Minor: cruelly named

Alex in Baltimore, Thursday, 3 January 2008 02:02 (seventeen years ago)

I have never given much thought to the existence of Tim Meadows but, in his defense, he was brilliant in a recent episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Pillbox, Thursday, 3 January 2008 18:56 (seventeen years ago)

Because he's Low-Key Workhorse Meadows, Mr. "I spent like 40 years on SNL being reliably funny but never getting noticed enough to either catch your attention or annoy you"

nabisco, Thursday, 3 January 2008 19:00 (seventeen years ago)

even Kristen Wiig outside the context of the show looks like a horse

-- wanko ergo sum, Monday, December 31, 2007 11:12 AM

rong

gff, Thursday, 3 January 2008 19:06 (seventeen years ago)

1. tim meadows is great
2. i like tracy morgan and all but there's no way he should have been so close to eddie murphy

n/a, Thursday, 3 January 2008 19:22 (seventeen years ago)

hey, every poll is subject to the whims of the voting time frame, and he's got a lot of "30 Rock" goodwill right now.

i'm seeing First Sunday tonight, my review will probably hinge on whether or not it could've been a Tracy Jordan movie

Alex in Baltimore, Thursday, 3 January 2008 19:51 (seventeen years ago)

the ads suggest he's not in his car, so ...

nabisco, Thursday, 3 January 2008 19:52 (seventeen years ago)

The female poll, btw, should be won by Danitra Vance, tho they didn't have a clue what to do with her.

Dr Morbius, Thursday, 3 January 2008 19:53 (seventeen years ago)

I hope if 30 Rock does get canceled, Lorne Michaels franchises a string of Tracy Jordan movies. I'll be first in line for Honky Grandma Be Trippin'.

Johnny Fever, Thursday, 3 January 2008 19:53 (seventeen years ago)

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Curt1s Stephens, Thursday, 3 January 2008 19:59 (seventeen years ago)

Maya Rudolph really rubs me the wrong way for some reason.

Curt1s Stephens, Thursday, 3 January 2008 20:00 (seventeen years ago)

Johnny Gill will rub you the right way

Whiney G. Weingarten, Thursday, 3 January 2008 20:25 (seventeen years ago)


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