Hello everyone! Being as this is the 40th season of Saturday Night Live, Jason and I thought that it would be nice to do something to commemorate such a long-running show with a storied history of launching some of the greatest comedic talent of all time. Being as we are also huge sports fans, we decided that a fantasy draft of SNL cast members might be something that would be really fun to do. So, we asked two friends, Brittany Spruill and Jack Morgan to participate in this SNL fantasy draft with us.
The rules were relatively simple. You would select a 12-person team comprised of 10 cast members, a host, and a musical guest. Each team must feature at least 1 cast member from each 5-year period in the show’s history. Each team must also include 1 cast member who was a Weekend Update anchor during their time on SNL. We were selecting cast members solely on their time spent at SNL, so movie and television careers outside of SNL did not factor into our decisions at all.
Now that the draft is complete, each person will write up an analysis of his or her team, including what a sample episode might look like. In addition to that, I have decided to do a round by round analysis of how the draft proceeded. With that in mind, let’s look at how things went down.
ROUND 1
1. Will Ferrell-selected by Jack Morgan 
2. Eddie Murphy-selected by Kenan Stewart 
3. Norm MacDonald-selected by Brittany Spruill 
4. Bill Murray-Selected by Jason Jordan 
The first round had an early surprise with Norm MacDonald going third overall, but with a need for Weekend Update anchors, one can understand why someone wants to lock that position down early. The rest of the round went about as expected, with three of the most successful and funny cast members in the show’s history being taken right away. On to round 2!
ROUND 2
5. Dana Carvey-selected by Jason Jordan 
6. Bill Hader-selected by Brittany Spruill 
7. Phil Hartman-selected by Kenan Stewart 
8. Chris Farley-selected by Jack Morgan 
There were no major surprises in round 2. The first three picks of the round were what I call quintessential SNL cast members, in that they can do impressions and original characters, while also being able to add to any skit just by saying a line or two. On the other hand, Farley was just an unbelievable whirlwind of talent, so again, no surprises here.
ROUND 3
9. Kristen Wiig-selected by Jack Morgan 
10. Dan Aykroyd-selected by Kenan Stewart 
11. Amy Poehler-selected by Brittany Spruill 
12. Darrell Hammond-selected by Jason Jordan 
The girls join the party in the 3rd round, where Wiig and Poehler were selected. Strong choices for sure. A bit of a surprise with Darrell Hammond being taken this early, but given his wide range of impressions, and his longstanding stint on the show, one can see why he was a valuable asset. Also, the first original cast member goes in this round, with Dan Aykroyd being selected 10th overall.
ROUND 4
13. Tina Fey-selected by Jason Jordan 
14. Will Forte-selected by Brittany Spruill 
15. Mike Myers-selected by Kenan Stewart 
16. John Belushi-selected by Jack Morgan 
This round was somewhat surprising because it featured 3 cast members who all arguably could have been drafted much sooner than they were. Also, while I find Will Forte to be one of the most underrated cast members in the show’s history, I was somewhat surprised to see him taken as early as he was. Regardless, some great talent that was still available in this round.
ROUND 5
17. Andy Samberg-Selected by Jack Morgan 
18. Jimmy Fallon-selected by Kenan Stewart 
19. Chevy Chase-selected by Brittany Spruill 
20. Adam Sandler-selected by Jason Jordan 
Some very solid talent still to be found in round 5, including two of the show’s premiere comedy songwriters in Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler. Brittany selects her 3rd person in 5 rounds who was a Weekend Update anchor, which is a strategy that could pay dividends by weakening the talent pool for the remaining teams.
ROUND 6
21. Jason Sudeikis-selected by Jason Jordan
22. Kenan Thompson-selected by Brittany Spruill
23. Tracy Morgan-selected by Kenan Stewart
24. Kevin Nealon-selected by Jack Morgan
Round 6 saw some more recent cast members getting taken, including the first cast member who is currently on the show. It also featured another long standing Weekend Update anchor. Again, there was still some solid talent to be found as Jason Sudeikis and Tracy Morgan could have gone much sooner than this.
ROUND 7
25. Justin Timberlake (Musical Guest)-selected by Jack Morgan
26. Billy Crystal-selected by Kenan Stewart
27. Jon Hamm (Host)-selected by Brittany Spruill
28. Fred Armisen-selected by Jason Jordan
Round 7 saw the first musical guest and host selected, with Justin Timberlake being locked down early. A bit of a surprise with Jon Hamm being the first host selected, but you can’t argue with the guy’s charisma and chops. As for the cast members selected, some different mindsets were represented in this round. Armisen had a long standing career on SNL while Billy Crystal made a “marvelous” impact in his one season on the show.
ROUND 8
29. Julia Louis-Dreyfus-selected by Jason Jordan
30. Horatio Sanz-selected by Brittany Spruill
31. Kate McKinnon-selected by Kenan Stewart
32. Steve Martin (Host)-selected by Jack Morgan
Round 8 featured some great female cast members, including a steal in the Emmy nominated Kate McKinnon. However, it’s remarkable that Steve Martin fell as low as he did, and not only that, he was shrewdly selected to a team that already featured Justin Timberlake as the musical guest, creating some awesome headliners.
ROUND 9
33. Molly Shannon-selected by Jack Morgan
34. Alec Baldwin (Host)-selected by Kenan Stewart
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35. Martin Short-selected by Brittany Spruill
36. Christopher Walken (Host)-selected by Jason Jordan
This round saw the last two hosts be selected, and in a huge steal, Alec Baldwin who holds the record for hosting the most episodes fell all the way to the 3rd host selected. Christopher Walken is also a huge get, particularly because he falls into a small group of hosts who have recurring characters, which is a nice advantage. Molly Shannon is also a steal this late given her status as one of the funniest women the show has ever seen, and lets not sleep on Martin Short who, like Crystal, hit the show like a tornado for one season.
ROUND 10
37. Paul McCartney (Musical Guest)-selected by Jason Jordan
38. Anthony Michael Hall-selected by Brittany Spruill
39. Seth Meyers-selected by Kenan Stewart
40. Gilda Radner-selected by Jack Morgan
This round started with Paul McCartney being taken as the musical guest, and you can’t go wrong picking a Beatle as your musical guest. We also saw some earlier cast members taken as Gilda Radner becomes the first woman of the original cast drafted. Elsewhere, Seth Meyers, the person with the longest tenure as a Weekend Update anchor was taken in this round, making him a steal this late.
ROUND 11
41. Chris Parnell-selected by Jack Morgan
42. Chris Rock-selected by Kenan Stewart
43. Nine Inch Nails (Musical Guest)-selected by Brittany Spruill
44. Maya Rudolph-selected by Jason Jordan
Some real sleepers late here. First, there is Chris Parnell who had a very entertaining (albeit tumultuous) stint on SNL. Then we have Chris Rock who would have been taken much higher in the draft if we were making this about overall careers. Then, Maya Rudolph who was an absolute steal this late in the draft. Not to mention a 3rd musical guest that could yield some very interesting results.
ROUND 12
45. Rachel Dratch-selected by Jason Jordan
46. Leslie Jones-selected by Brittany Spruill
47. Kanye West (Musical Guest)-selected by Kenan Stewart
48. Al Franken-selected by Jack Morgan
The 12th and final round featured the most interesting pick of the draft because a cast member was selected who, at the time of the draft, had not been in one episode as an official cast member. Leslie Jones has been a writer on SNL for a few months and done a few on-air pieces and was recently promoted to the cast. So, if you want to talk about drafting on potential, this pick was it. Elsewhere, Rachel Dratch was taken and should pair nicely on a team that already featured Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph. Al Franken was taken, and his long running stint in several eras of the show’s history should serve him well. The final musical guest was taken this round as well, with Kanye West rounding out that list.
So, that is the round by round breakdown of how the draft progressed. Now comes the fun part! We will determine the winner by letting our readers vote! There will soon be a write up of each team by the person who drafted them giving their analysis of their own team, and what a potential episode featuring that cast might look like. After that write-up, we will have head to head match ups, leading to our championship match. Keep an eye out for those articles, coming very soon!
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