10 Best TV Shows Starring SNL Alumni, According To IMDb
The chances of a comedy series having at least one Saturday Night Live alumni amongst its cast is incredibly high. In fact, the chances of a drama series featuring a Saturday Night Live cast member have also increased in recent years which is a testament to how incredible the current and past performers on the variety show have been.
Saturday Night Live has kicked started an astounding number of careers, with many of its stars transitioning to narrative television as they approach the end of their contracts or when they officially leave the show. While there are a lot of shows that feature SNL cast members, these are some of the best, according to IMDb.
10 Kenan (2021-) - 5.8
Kenan Thompson's roots are in sketch comedy, as he was a teenager when he starred on All That, so it's no surprise he made the jump to Saturday Night Live eventually. Now, Thompson is the longest-reigning SNL cast member, as he joined in 2003.
Though Thompson still appears on the show, he also stars on the NBC sitcom Kenan. The series centers on Kenan Williams, a widowed father who is trying to juggle raising his two daughters while hosting a popular Atlanta morning talk show.
9 Single Parents (2018-2020) - 7.1
Taran Killam got his start in sketch comedy, appearing on The Amanda Show and MADtv prior to SNL. In 2010 he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, where he appeared in 128 episodes over 6 years.
A few years after leaving, Killam landed the lead role in the ABC sitcom Single Parents. He played Will, a divorced single father who has made his daughter his entire world. Fearing he's losing himself, a group of single parents stage an intervention of sorts to teach him how to balance parenting with his adult life.
8 MacGruber (2021-) - 7.2
MacGruber features not one but two Saturday Night Live vets, which is fitting considering the series is based on a reoccurring SNL skit that Will Forte and Kristin Wiig regularly appeared on. Forte joined the cast of SNL in 2002, while Wiig joined in 2005. Both of them became fan favorites.
Now the two comics star opposite each other in the Peacock original series. MacGruber begins when MacGruber is released from prison after spending a decade behind bars. He wastes no time getting back out there and sets his sights on taking down Brigadier Commander Enos Queeth, a villain from his past.
7 Schmigadoon! (2021-) - 7.3
Schmigadoon! features two SNL alumni, Cecily Strong and Fred Armisen, but it's Cecily that steals the show as one of the lead characters. Strong joined the cast of SNL in 2012 and has appeared in several sketches, and she even co-hosted Weekend Update for a season.
While Strong still appears on the sketch show, she also took time off to appear in the Apple TV musical comedy Schmigadoon!. The series pays homage to Golden Age musicals and centers on a couple on the verge of breaking up who get stuck in a magical, musical town. The only way they can get out is to find true love.
6 Weeds (2005-2012) - 8.0
Kevin Nealon started his career in stand-up comedy before he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1986. He spent nine seasons with the show, where he played several original characters. He even became one of the best Weekend Update anchors in SNL history.
Nealon has several smaller role son television shows before landing the role of Doug Wilson on the dark comedy series Weeds. The series centered on a single mother who begins selling marijuana to keep a roof over her family's head. Nealon played Doug, an accountant and acquaintance to Nancy who isn't the smartest character out there.
5 Veep (2012-2019) - 8.4
Julie Louis-Dreyfus joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1982, becoming the youngest female cast member ever at that time. She spent three years on the show where she created six reoccurring roles and made lucrative connections with fellow cast members.
Once she made it on TV, Louis-Dreyfus rarely left, but one of her biggest roles came in 2012 when she was cast as Selena Meyers in the HBO political satire series Veep. The series followed Selena as she navigated the world of politics as the Vice President of the United States while surrounded by incompetent co-workers.
4 Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-2021) - 8.5
Andy Samberg pulled double duty when he joined Saturday Night Live in 2005, working as both a cast member and a writer. He rose to fame with his hilarious SNL digital shorts, many of which have become classics.
Samberg left SNL in 2012 and the following year was back on television in the lead role of Jake Peralta on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The comedic police procedural followed the work and personal lives of detectives at the 99th Precinct of the New York City Police Department.
3 Parks And Recreation (2009-2015) - 8.7
Amy Poehler is one of the most successful Saturday Night alumni of recent years. After years of Tina Fey trying to recruit her, Poehler finally joined the cast in 2001. During her seven-year run, Poehler played original characters, impersonated celebrities and politicians, and also co-hosted Weekend Update opposite Fey.
A year after leaving, Poehler returned to TV as Leslie Knope in the iconic workplace sitcom Parks and Recreation. The series focuses on the interworkings of Pawnee, Indiana's parks and recreation department which is held together by the optimistic efforts of Leslie.
2 Better Call Saul (2015-) - 8.8
Bob Odenkirk might be best known for his role as Saul Goodman in AMC dramas Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, but Odenkirk also has strong ties to comedy. Odenkirk's time on Saturday Night Live was mainly behind the scenes serving as a writer, but he also appeared in a handful of sketches during his five-season run.
Now Odenkirk is an Emmy Nominated Actor for his role as Saul, specifically in Better Call Saul. A prequel to Breaking Bad, the series centers on Goodman as he goes from a respected lawyer to con artist with ties to a drug cartel.
1 Ted Lasso (2020-) - 8.9
Before Jason Sudeikis became the world's best soccer coach, he was a writer and cast member on Saturday Night Live. He spent 10 years on the show where he did impressions of political figures and regularly appeared in iconic reoccurring characters like Weekend Update's Devil.
After leaving the series, Sudeikis appeared in various television shows and took on roles in movies. However, he has gone back to his comedy show roots, writing and originating the titular role in Apple TV's Ted Lasso. The series follows an American football coach who takes a job across the Pond to coach an English Premier League soccer team despite not knowing anything about the game.
Source: Screenrant
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