Episode 20 - The Class of Season Three!

Join Thomas and Jamie as they toast the comedic giants who have shaped the legacy of Saturday Night Live! Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to celebrate the Class of Season Three and all of the talented individuals who have tickled our funny bones and made staying in on Saturday Night a right of passage. 

We also take a moment to analyze future classes by looking at the voting records of several candidates that missed the mark this season. 

We're so grateful to all of our listeners but especially the ones that stepped up to vote this season, we had a record number of ballots cast.!

So grab your favourite snack and settle in for a conversation that is sure to raise some eyebrows and fuel water cooler debate. It's the SNL Hall of Fame: Class of Season Three!

Transcript

0:00:42 - JD

All right, thank you so much, Doug. This is JD here and you are about to enter the SNL Hall of Fame. Please wipe your feet before you come inside, as we don't want any filth in the Hall of Fame. The SNL Hall of Fame podcast is a weekly affair. In each episode, we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest or writer and add them to the ballot for your consideration. Once the nominees have been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity in the hall. And that day has come. I am joined by Thomas Senna and we are going to go down the results and take a look at who has made it into the Hall of Fame and who missed the cut this year, who will be eliminated from the ballot and all sorts of other good stuff. So, before I go any further with this information dump, I'm going to say hi to my friend here, Thomas, how are you doing? 

0:01:49 - Thomas

Hello Jamie, I'm doing very well. This is a special occasion. I got my tucks on and my bow tie. Let's announce some inductees. 

0:01:57 - JD

Well, before we do that, we'll just quickly go through the parameters that people had to cut through to make it. You need 66.6% of the ballot to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. If you don't get at least 10% of the ballot, you are eliminated from the Hall of Fame And, of course, you stay on the ballot for 10 seasons. So we're only in season three. We don't have any jeopardy of that happening thus far, so that's good. That's good news. What are you most excited about today, Thomas? 

0:02:35 - Thomas

Seeing if some of the people who I thought deserved to be in the Hall of Fame if they actually make it. So one group in particular, one writing group in particular, has been a sticking point with me as far as not making the Hall of Fame. So I was going into this reveal just super curious to see if they would make it, if the Lonely Island, let's say it if the Lonely Island would finally make the SNL Hall of Fame. I think they've been deserving since they were on the ballot in season one, that's right. So that was my main thing going into it. this is where the hell is the Lonely Island? So I don't know. We'll see if they're in this time around. 

0:03:16 - JD

Yeah, we definitely will. Okay, well, I can tell you off the top we have the biggest Hall of Fame class, the largest Hall of Fame class that we've ever had, the most members inducted into the Hall of Fame that we've ever had, which is staggering. We had a record number of voters turn out, like over 100 more than last year. We finished with 297 different voters. That's pretty impressive to me that you all came out and exercised your comedic franchise. That's just wonderful news. So I don't know, do we just go right into it? Let's get into it. All right, who is our headliner this year? Thomas, who made it with the most. 

0:03:58 - Thomas

So with the most votes this season, at 83.2% of the vote we have, mr Dana Carvey is an SNL Hall of Famer. No surprise, i don't know about you, Jamie, but I thought this was a slam dunk Dana's in the conversation for greatest of all time. 

0:04:17 - JD

I think Absolutely. 

0:04:18 - Thomas

He's like a great of all time Mount Rushmore. Those are the conversations that Dana is in. So Dana Carvey in with 83.2% of the vote. Congratulations, Dana. 

0:04:31 - JD

Yeah, a cast member with the most percentage this year. Just a machine really. I mean, if you listen to Fly on the Wall now, it's aggravating to a certain degree because everything that somebody says spawns a bit. but I just think that's how his brain works. He's just always on. He's always thinking about how to make people laugh and how to leverage the different characters and impressions that he's been able to harness over the years and be fresh with them. He's truly a great, great SNL great. 

0:05:09 - Thomas

Yeah, i don't know if it's cliche to say, but he's one of those guys where if you were going to go into a lab and build an SNL cast member, it might come out exactly like Dana Carvey. Yeah, and that was such a good point that you mentioned. Like he's just, he's all about the bit, he's all about what's going to serve the comedy, and you can hear it in his podcast and he'll even tell you that he might do it a little too much. Like he's said that maybe he steps on the guests a little bit, but that's because that's how his mind works. He's trying to. He's trying to find the bit in everything that he's talking about, and sometimes he doesn't have that thing where it's just like well, maybe, maybe I'll just wait my turn or whatever. I'll tell you that. But I think that served him so well when he was an SNL cast member, so deserving to be an SNL Hall of Famer. 

0:05:56 - JD

Absolutely, Dana. The plaque is in the mail. Next on the list is another cast member and another first-ballot Hall of Famer, and that is Amy Poehler, with 75.1% of the ballot. What do you think about Amy Poehler, Thomas? 

0:06:15 - Thomas

Yeah, I think another very deserving one. I think she was arguably maybe the face before Kristen Wigg got there. Maybe there was a little overlap, but I think Amy was arguably the face of her era of SNL. I think she was very beloved in her era. I know Jon Schneider had told us some crazy stats about Amy Poehler as far as just the sheer amount of sketches and the percentage of sketches that she was in when she was a cast member at SNL. But I think man, 75%, three forwards, that's probably about what I thought Amy would get, and rightfully so. I mean she was just a fantastic sketch performer. What do you think, Jamie? 

0:06:59 - JD

I think she did it all Like she really was a five-tool player when you think about it because she started out as a sketch performer. She started out as a featured player and sketch performer, and then she had a second life as a weekend update anchor she was tremendous at that as well. You know, working both with Seth and Tina Fey. She did it all Like she did it all, Like she is somebody who did it all and excelled, Like she did it all at a very high level, I guess I should say. And to me, I thought for sure she would make it. But the SNL Hall of Fame is tricky sometimes. Sometimes you don't get what you think. 

0:07:42 - Thomas

The will of the people, man, that's right What this is. 

0:07:46 - JD

In this case, it turned out in favour, So that's good Yeah. 

0:07:50 - Thomas

Congratulations to Amy Poehler for making it. So the next person, the next inductee that we have, also the first time on the ballot, with 74. 74.4% of the vote we have, but maybe not. Maybe not an original cast member, but pretty darn close to an original cast member. It's Bill Murray getting 74% of the vote on his first time on the ballot. Bill Murray, SNL Hall of Famer and you, Bill Murray fan, Jamie. 

0:08:22 - JD

I'm a huge Bill Murray fan. I had a renaissance with him, i think, when a lot of people did from his role in Rushmore. So that really got me back into him and it made me go back and look at the Saturday Night Live stuff. And if you think about it, he was really in a tough, tough position replacing Chevy Chase who was doing feature films and on the cover of magazines. Chevy Chase was, you know, it, it boy, and Bill Murray had some big shoes to fill And I think he did a great job. He became, you know, a leading man ask because Acroyd stayed in a sort of a glue role And Murray ended up getting a lot of you know, a lot of the male-centric parts and Did a fantastic job with it just fantastic. 

0:09:14 - Thomas

Yeah, I think Bill would even tell you or admit that he Was having trouble in his mind gaining traction initially. That's why he did the whole plea to the audience sketch where he sat down and said hello, I'm Bill Murray. I'm not quite hitting on the show and here's why I think I'm not. And here, trust me, i am funny. Regardless of what you've seen on the show. I am a funny person. I'm just not funny on the show. So he was. So I think you know a lot of that was a great bit. But I think a lot of that was rooted in maybe something real that he thought like why am I not connecting? like why are you know? and, ironically, like his first show ever that he did was he was in a lot and he did a really great job. But maybe he had a string of shows where he Felt like he wasn't in much and he did that, that plea to the audience, that just really propelled him and then he had, you know, we ended up seeing Nick the lounge singer and Just so many of the nerds. There are so many memorable characters and he was just so Magnetic. He knew how to just grab the audience and take them whatever Bill wanted to take them. 

0:10:22 - JD

Yeah, yeah, and he's continued to do so in his post-signal career as well. So, really wonderful, I'm, I'm, I'm so happy that Bill Murray made it on the first ballot because it would have been a tough one, like the next one, to explain to people No, no, he didn't make it on the first ballot. The next one we go to is Another cast member, another first ballot, Hall of Famer with seventy-three point seven percent, and that's John Belushi. Belushi, of course, little divisive in, you know, in our, in our current era, that we are in because we, we we've just got access to so much more information than we've ever had before. And There was a little bit of misogyny there. You know there were a lot of drugs, but he had a way of peeling through all of that and Making himself very magnetic on the screen. Very funny, very funny. I was never a giant blue she fan, i was a Murray guy. But there's no doubt that blue she belongs. There's no doubt in my mind. 

0:11:29 - Thomas

Yeah, there's no doubt for me either in the seventy-three point seven percent, maybe a little lower than I would expect, but that, like you mentioned, you few factors in some of the things like the misogyny. A lot of times he didn't treat his Cohorts on the show as well. I maybe look down on them because of some misogyny that he had and that's factored in and as it should be, I think. If, if somebody values that and wants to keep Belushi off because of that, then I Absolutely agree with that. But his, since I've been doing this show and kind of getting in more to maybe the Original cast and watching sketches more in-depth, I've come to really appreciate some of the subtlety that Belushi brought to the screen, especially with the samurai. I just his, with his just facial expressions, with the samurai and his movements, and he could do it all as a sketch comedian. He wasn't. He wasn't just on the guy who yells a lot or on the guy who does pratfalls, as Belushi could do, could do everything he can. He can play it really straight and subtly He can. Only he can act with his eyes. He could be funny with just his movements. He could say clever things. So I think just all around what a sketch performer Belushi was has really I've really taken notice of that since I've been going back and watching a lot of the original cast, so I think I think Belushi definitely deserving. 

0:12:56 - JD

Well, drum roll. Can we get a drum roll for our fifth nominee? 

0:13:05 - Thomas

The lonely island is in the SNL Hall of Fame With seventy-three point four percent of the vote. We have the lonely island Third time on the ballot. So they went up from fifty-two point nine to sixty-two to seventy-three percent of the vote. So I think I've been banging this drum hard. I know, Jamie, you've been, you've been kind of wondering, you've been Extolling the virtues of the Lonely Island. I know our buddy, Jon Schneider, has been confused as to why the lonely island is not in the SNL Hall of Fame. But they finally are the lonely island Well deserving. You could still feel their impact, almost what. Now, 17 years, 18 years After they started doing their thing on SNL, they changed the structure of the show in a lot of ways, the presentation of the show. That's still felt today as far as pre-tapes and expectations of pre-tapes, and just iconic, just Influential. I'm so happy about this.

0:14:08 - JD

Yeah, me too. I really only have a three-word Response, and that is lonely no more. They are on an island of Hall of Famers, and they rightfully are on that island. So Really glad to see that we don't have to have this debate with people anymore. 

0:14:28 - Thomas

Yes, I know exactly, I don't have to get frustrated anymore. So congratulations, Andy and Akiva and Jorma, you three are SNL Hall of Famers. 

0:14:37 - JD

All right, our first host, this fellow, made a tremendous jump. I'm not even sure it's Mathematically possible the jump that he made, going from 47.4% last year to 73%, and that is the store of the 90s, John Goodman. I have no issues with John Goodman being in the Hall of Fame whatsoever. He was there when I was there. I got to watch him every year. You know he's been a great friend of the show in terms of guest spots and You know if you were to write a guidebook of What what a good guest looks like, i think there'd be a chapter in that book that would be called John Goodman. 

0:15:25 - Thomas

Yeah, he said. He said in the archetype for what a great SNL host is, he was on, I believe, 11 or 12 seasons in a row as Homes, from last 89 to 2001 or something. So he spanned the entire 90s And beyond. I think it was 11 or 12 Episodes and or seasons in a row. Because he was old, reliable, because he was so good, like if he was one of those were the cast when they, when Lorne would be in the office and say, well, we have John Goodman coming in in March to host, and the cast would be like wonderful like it's not that the cast could take The show off, but they knew that they would have somebody to play with and it would ease a lot of The burden that was put on the cast to put on a great show. They knew that they had somebody coming in who could live up to putting on a great show with them. Goodman was just in so a lot of good one-offs I don't know if you remember the sketch where he played the referee and he was. They were doing the show, the talk show, and it was fans asking the referee. Yes, this is basically just berating the, berating him the whole time.

0:16:30 - JD

That's a one-off sketch Yeah yeah, he was. 

0:16:35 - Thomas

He was a Cajun chef with, when he was on with the Phil Hartman, that recurring sketch, the anal retentive chef and John Goodman came in and played a Cajun chef and they were playing off each other Really well. He's one of the Braske guys, the Bill Braske guys absolutely so many Iconic things that Goodman came in and did. Whether it was recurring or one-off, goodman brought so much to the table and, yeah, 47% in season two. I think maybe some of the seas parted maybe after season two as far as who got in, and maybe a lot of voters felt that Now's the time that I can put Goodman on my ballot since I already took care of business with some other people. So yeah, I was a healthy jump with Goodman, and it's deservedly so. He's an I don't even know 12 timers, 13 times. I'm not good. Yeah, I'm not sure. 

0:17:30 - JD

Yeah, I know that it's 11 in a row. This is where we need a chief statistician, all right. Next on the docket we have, another writer, and this one is equally interesting to me in the sense that They made a tremendous jump from season one to season two, and that is, of course, everyone's favourite late-night talk show host, Conan O'Brien. Thomas, I Want to let you go first, son, on Conan. 

0:18:03 - Thomas

So this is the only one. No offence to Conan. He's honestly my favourite. He and Letterman are my two favourite late-night talk show hosts of all time. Like I'm a huge Conan fan, I listened to his podcast. Conan O'Brien needs a friend and he's wonderful at that He's. I love Conan and everything that I've seen him in. I just don't know that he's an SNL Hall of Famer specifically, right? if you just look at Conan's work on SNL, he was behind some good stuff, I think I remember I don't think this is him or Jack handy, but there was a skeleton sketch where John with Gal played, an Anatomy professor he was a professor and he was, and the skeleton would scare him every time he would look at it. And I've heard Conan talk about maybe he was, had had a little bit to do with that And so. But it's hard to think back at Conan's time at SNL and say, yes, he definitely put a stamp on the show. To me, It was more so. Other writers, like I said, like Jack Handy, maybe somebody else who we might talk about on this episode, but there are James Downey, there are other writers that were just more so influential on that era than Conan was and I don't think he would take Umbridge With with me saying that honestly and it's no offence to him, he's a genius Comedically, but if you just look at his time on SNL I had this is one of the ones that I don't quite agree with the voters here. I'm happy for Conan, but it's something where I'm just I'm not quite in alignment on this one. 

0:19:30 - JD

This one, to me, screams like name recognition. You know, it's like We know who Conan is, above a lot of the other writers, even the Lonely Island. I changed the ballot from the first season to the second season to add their names on the ballot, just to make sure that everybody knew that the Lonely Island was Andy, Akiva and Jorma. You know, Conan is a writer. That is a name commodity and It would be interesting to know, to dig in if there was a way to do that, to find out, you know, if that's Where that came from, because it was surprising to me as well, especially, you know, in light of somebody else we're gonna mention. 

0:20:15 - Thomas

Yeah, I think Conan's just lovable and People respect his overall talent and I think that bled in, bled into this for sure. 

0:20:24 - JD

It's definitely. It's definitely tough to get people to restrict their votes. You know the conversation that you have with the guest That is so SNL-specific. You know it really is tough to sort of Separate that from. Oh my gosh, He was the talk show host that I grew up with, the late-night talk show host that I grew up with and I loved him and, And, oh my gosh, I listened to the podcast the other day and heard them doing the girly man dilemma you know, And right. So he's a writer, so you know he belongs, or whatever. 

0:20:57 - Thomas

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, and the. So the next inductee into the SNL Hall of Fame is. I'm very much surprised by this in a good way, in a positive way, because I didn't know if this person Was gonna have a chance on their first ballot and I'm pleasantly surprised that they're actually in on their first ballot. So another host, and it's Christopher Walken. With 69.7% of the vote, Christopher Walken and Jamie Burwood did this episode with me on Christopher Walken. It was so much fun to go rewatch his episodes and Just just bathe, in the oddness and silliness that was Christopher Walken on SNL, and the more I thought about it because I was unsure. Even going into that episode. I'm like I think he's a good nominee but I don't know that he's a Hall of Famer. But after rewatching his sketches and Talking to Jamie Burwood about this, I'm so happy that Christopher Walken is in the SNL Hall of Fame Such a unique presence on the show. 

0:22:03 - JD

That was a great episode, Thomas, that was a great conversation. 

0:22:06 - Thomas

Yeah, Jamie was awesome She came She really came through there. 

0:22:12 - JD

Yeah, walk into me. He was a, you know, a host that brought silliness. And For a serious actor, for somebody that is known as, like you know, he was a freaking deer hunter for heaven's sake, such an intense movie and to see this guy come on and just Be silly and have fun and get his hands dirty, you know, that is Just a lot of fun and I'm thrilled that he's in. I'm, I'm absolutely thrilled. 

0:22:45 - Thomas

Yeah, he was possibly the most iconic sketch of that era, one of the most iconic sketches ever with the cowbell sketch, Christopher. Walken I mean, yeah, people know Will Ferrell killed it in that sketch, But Christopher Walken was his equal, in my opinion, in that sketch, like Christopher Walken's Delivery and his funny lines, balanced out Will Ferrell's, a lot of will Ferrell's more physical, comedic style in that sketch. And Walken also had the continental, which people loved. Yeah, a recurring sketch for a host that you know. Christopher Walken was announced as host and people knew like, ooh, we're probably gonna get a continental. This will be great and just his, yes, Walken was just such an odd Duck and that served him so well on this show. Just such a unique flavour to hosting SNL. So I'm very happy about that. Christopher Walken is in. 

0:23:36 - JD

Next up. Cut the ribbon, and queue the band, because we have our first musical guest. Wow, as A Hall of Famer, it should come as no surprise. 

0:23:49 - Thomas

It only took three voting cycles to have a musical guest cheese. 

0:23:55 - JD

But I would say Paul Simon is, you know, quintessential. He's been there from the, you know, almost day one, day two, you could say, or week two, right through to Gosh. When was his last appearance in 2018? yeah, that sounds about right. 

0:24:15 - Thomas

Yeah, that was his final performance. 

0:24:19 - JD

Like ever, Oh really. 

0:24:19 - Thomas

Yeah, on SNL, no, just yeah. His final performance on SNL was actually his final performance. His final performance, yeah, as a musician. Yeah. 

0:24:28 - JD

Well, that's iconic Yeah. 

0:24:30 - Thomas

That's enormous. 

0:24:31 - JD

Yeah, yeah, I think, well-deserved. You could argue or nitpick if you wanted how many times he was actually the musical guest versus, you know, just having the show be a variety show based around him. But I think when you think of no matter what area you think of and you think of him, you have a good, good vibe, good memories. I mean the turkey suit, the boxer. I remember when he was on when he was touring Graceland and he had all the African dancers and band and that was so spectacular to see as, like a small town kid, you know, I saw that and it was like revolutionary. It was like, wow, this is so cool. I guess this is what world music is, but it was poppy and fun And, yeah, I think, well-deserved, yeah. 

0:25:24 - Thomas

And he 68.7% he finished with Yeah, Paul Simon got 68.7% of the vote and he reunited with Art Garfunkel on SNL. That's enormous. Yeah, that's huge After six years of them not performing together. He and Garfunkel reunited on SNL. And I know on this show we try to have categories, so we have our cast member, host, musical guest, and writer categories right, Paul Simon. I even told my guest for that episode, Matti. I said we're going to have to play fast and loose with the musical guest criteria with Paul Simon because he performed music on 15 episodes of SNL. Whether he was actually officially billed as a musical guest, maybe what was that? Eight times or so, but he performed music in 15 separate episodes on SNL And he's just. You can't argue that. His fingerprints were all over the show And that had a lot to do with his talent. I know he was Lorne and he are damn near best friends, but he was just always a guy who was called upon in big moments too. In the first episode after 9-11, who was there performing? It was Paul Simon. So, yeah, fingerprints all over the show. I'm happy we have a musical guest in. We needed some representation. So there you go, Paul Simon. 

0:26:55 - JD

The next one I'm really excited about, and this is what I was talking about when we talked about Conan. I almost wish their voting numbers could have switched, because this person actually acknowledged our show, so that gives them extra points. As far as I'm concerned, this is another writer with 68% of the vote, and that's Robert Smigel. 

0:27:20 - Thomas

Yes, Robert Smigel. I'll give a little context behind that. So Bill Kenney was my guest the great Bill Kenney for the Robert Smigel episode, And Bill actually reached out to Robert Smigel on Twitter. He DM'd him and said I'm on this podcast, SNL Hall of Fame, And I was wondering if you could give me some sketches that you wrote and some of your memories or whatever. And Bill just thought he would take a shot. He didn't think Robert would reply. But, Robert replied to Bill and gave him this nice comprehensive list of sketches that he was in And Bill said thank you. So Robert helped with research for his own episode, which I thought was wonderful, and I was surprised too by he wrote a lot of things that I didn't know that he had a hand in. Phil Hartman did a famous Ronald Reagan mastermind sketch early on, great sketch, wonderful sketch. I think that was the sketch that we played in full at the end of Smigel's episode. It was. I didn't know Smigel was behind that until he told Bill Kenny that he was. He just said so many classics. I talked about Conan O'Brien and his era, how Conan wasn't the guy that you thought about. As far as writers go, I think Smigel was the guy in that era. 

0:28:44 - JD

I agree. I agree Just that category of Smigel and Odenkirk and you know, as you said earlier, Jack Handy as well. I don't know that they hung out, but Odenkirk and Smigel did for sure, and just great sensibility, some different looks, comedically, yeah, I think I think well deserved, so happy to see writers being three writers, three writers in this class like that's enormous. 

0:29:17 - Thomas

Yep, and if you look at Smigel's tenure, okay, so so he was. Just, you know, he wrote sketches early on, from like 86, 85, 86 until maybe the mid-90s. Smigel wrote all these classic sketches to Bears, he wrote the Kleck and Chicken, and he wrote Schmitz Gay. So he wrote all these classic sketches right, and then he left, came back and he did TV Fun House. So I think I think he was an SNL Hall of Famer before TV Fun House. If you only included his pre TV Fun House, I think he's still an SNL Hall of Famer. If you only included TV Fun House, by itself he might be an SNL Hall of Famer. You combine those. It's just incredible. Like Smigel, his fingerprints. As far as a writer, I don't think other than maybe James Downey I don't think it could be topped by Robert Smigel of what he delivered as a writer to the show. 

0:30:12 - JD

I tend to agree with him. One more, we got one more. 

0:30:17 - Thomas

We've announced 10 so far, So we have a recap. So we have Dana Carvey, Amy Poehler, Bill Murray, John Belushi, The Lonely Island, John Goodman, Conan O'Brien, Christopher Walken, Paul Simon, Robert Smigel and this next person. this is the last on the list of inductees this season. Their first time on the ballot, So a first-timer from the original cast. an amazing glue person, wonderful, and one of the first great weekend update anchors. I'm talking about Jane Curtin. With 67.3% of the vote, Jane Curtin made the SNL Hall of Fame. This means a lot to me. We love Jane. 

0:31:10 - JD

I went back recently and listened to the episode you did with Andrew Dick. and just a phenomenal episode, maybe a Hall of Fame episode. It was tremendous, Andrew made a great case. Yeah, I listened to that before I cast my votes. I did cast a vote for Jane Curtin. To me, she's very deserving, but that solidified it. I think that's the resonant detra of this show. You listen to these great conversations and you're reminded. It's almost like poking a fire that is out, but the embers are still there and you poke away and then next thing you know you have another roaring fire. That's what our show intends to do, and when it works, it works. I have no doubt that Curtin made it in part because of that episode, but the largest part that she made it in was her body of work. She's got a tremendous body of work. 

0:32:08 - Thomas

Yeah, she, she again. Weekend update. She was, she pioneered. I know Chevy Chase was the first weekend update anchor but I think Jane really grabbed the reins and made it her own she was the weekend update anchor after Chevy left until seeing at the end of season five And she and she and Murray co-co-anchored here and there But Jane was like the face of that And then she was like the greatest talk show host Absolutely And maybe an SNL history And that's a thankless role as a sketch performer. But Jane, Jane cause, because Jane was the straight person in those situations and played so well off whatever crazy guests that she had on her talk shows, like the Dan Aykroyd Irwin main way character. Jane played so well off of that Irwin main way character. And that's just what she did every time And she was really good when they gave her, you know, more straight like comedic sketches to work with. She could play that. She's just so darn likable and so darn talented. 

0:33:14 - JD

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So that is your class of season three, Really proud of everybody for coming out and voting. Again, we had more votes than we've ever had before. Let's look at the unfortunate side of things. Now We'll spend less time, you know, with these, with these nominees, for sure, but these are the ones that didn't make the cut. They fell under 10% this time around and they will be off the ballot next time. And we're going to start at the bottom. Unfortunately, the writing was on the wall with Lily Tomlin when she went from 15.5% to 13.5%, going from season one to two. Whenever you see that sort of shrink down, you do sort of get concerned that it's not going to work out. And sure enough, Lily Tomlin fell under 10% this time, so she is off the ballot. 

0:34:13 - Thomas

Think about Lily Tomlin's hosting gigs. I think a lot of her work was on the Lily Tomlin show. Yes, she was very talented, but she was I think she was so isolated in what she did on the show in many ways And just even compared to hosts from that era, I don't think she necessarily stood out or had any sketches that you think back You're like, yeah, that Lily Tomlin sketch, like you think about Steve Martin, for instance. 

0:34:45 - JD

You can come up with a dozen. 

0:34:47 - Thomas

You can come up with the Fair Strunk Brothers, but you think back to Lily Tomlin. I think she just sort of washes over people And that's probably what happened here with the voters in your right. The writing was on the wall. 

0:35:01 - JD

Yeah, I think if we were, I'll have this vote in 1983 instead of 2023, she's likely in because, people, she was still a named commodity And unfortunately she you know she won't be a vote in Hall of Famer. There are other ways that potential voter nominees will get into the Hall of Fame that we'll deal with in the future, but for now, she is off the ballot. Thomas, you want to just run through the next three because they're all first-timers. 

0:35:31 - Thomas

Yeah, yeah, so also off the ballot. Beyonce is off. She only got 4.9% of the vote in her first time on the ballot. Rihanna got 5.4% of the vote. She's off the ballot. And Elliot Gould also got 5.4% of the vote and he's off the ballot. So Elliot Gould, Rihanna, and Beyonce are all first-timers and all already off the ballot And I don't have a huge problem. Necessarily, Beyonce especially. She's probably so famous for her work outside of SNL that she's just not associated with SNL. She's had some great performances. Will Norman and I had a great time going through Beyonce's SNL appearances, but definitely not surprised. I mean Beyonce's just so Beyonce that it's not a surprise And we couldn't get it. Apparently, the Beehive didn't crash the party and vote for this, because she probably would have made it if that was the case Last year we lost Taylor Swift, so the Swifties didn't help her, and this year the Beehive didn't help Beyonce. Yeah, and I think Taylor Swift is a good comp to Beyonce. I think they're just so famous outside of SNL that it's hard to associate them with SNL for a lot of people. Yeah, what do you make of itd? 

0:36:49 - JD

Elliot. Gould. Oh sorry. Yeah, Elliot Gould. I'm a little disappointed because he was correcting me if I'm wrong, but I think he's a five-timer. He's definitely a five-timer because he's in the new five-time sketches, so he's one of the first five-timers after Buck Henry. But I think he's too closely associated with the early part of the 70s when he was a raging movie star. He was a giant movie star And people think of him now as Mr. Geller People, my age thinks of him as Mr. Geller from Friends which is a little less prestigious. So I'm not shocked. In the same way, I'm not shocked with Lily Tomlin, but I'm maybe a bit disappointed because he is a five-timer. So that might be something we have to revisit. Rihanna, I think, has the same sort of thing as Beyonce, like she's giant, but I do think that she participated in some sketches And I think she, you know, I think of Shy Ronny off the top of my head And maybe it's too close to what she does normally like it was a song, it was a hip-hop song, so maybe that sealed her fate. I'm not sure. 

0:38:06 - Thomas

Yeah, as far as Elliot Gould goes, he is a five-timer But I actually think I'm actually happy that that's not the end-all, be-all of getting into the Esna Hall of Fame. You know what I'm saying. Like I'm glad there's some subjectivity to it and people aren't just getting in because they're a five-timer. I mean, John Goodman is a ten-timer plus and he had to wait a couple of seasons, a couple, two or three voting cycles And so I'm glad that there's some subjectivity to it. Like the Baseball Hall of Fame, like the 3,000 hits I guess, is an unofficial kind of mark, but still, I mean you could get over 500 home runs, over 3,000 hits, and still not be voted into the Hall of Fame. Whether you know, when baseball there are some performance-enhancing drug issues that play there. But I'm glad there's not like a threshold to where if you've hosted a certain amount of times then you're just in, like there needs to be some subjectivity, because like a three-time host could have more of an impact on the show than a like a six or seven-time host. 

0:39:11 - JD

Well, I look at Adam Driver at this point. Adam Driver, to me, is amazing as a host, and I've watched a couple of the other Gold episodes. You know, I know it's different, I know it's from a bygone era, but it didn't resonate with me, you know. 

0:39:27 - Thomas

Yeah, exactly Now, that's a good example, Adam Driver. I think John Hamm as a host was far, far better than somebody like Elliot Golden. So I hosted three times. So, yeah, I'm actually as far as I like Elliot Gold, but he wasn't necessarily one of the hosts that totally stood out to me even from that era. 

0:39:47 - JD

Well, we lost three others. I'll go in reverse order. At 8.4%, Elvis Costello. He went down from 8.2%, or actually, he went up, but not enough. Miley Cyrus has been on the ballot for all three cycles. She went from 7.1 to 7.6 to 8.1. So she was growing, but at this rate, she would have had to be on for like 15 election cycles to hit the 66.7 if she grew at that rate. And then Drew Barrymore went from 9.9 to 7.7. I think that's again. You know, she was an interesting choice for a nominee and it made for a good episode, but I definitely don't think of Drew Barrymore as synonymous in any way with SNL. 

0:40:36 - Thomas

I agree with that. I enjoy talking to Nicole Robine about Drew Barrymore and it was fun to re-explore Drew Barrymore's work, but I agree, I think I don't have a problem with her, same with Miley Cyrus. Elvis Costello is an interesting example to me of somebody who had a memorable moment on SNL, but it was a moment And he had other pretty good performances and whatnot. He was on the 25th anniversary with Beastie Boys, but really with Elvis Costello. it was that moment, in 1977 or whenever, that ended up getting him banned from the show, or I see you. so I say banned in quotes because who the heck knows if that was an official ban from Lorne, but it was an infest When we get Lorne on, we'll ask. 

0:41:23 - JD

We'll ask him, that'll be one of the first things that we'll ask Lorne when he's on the show. 

0:41:28 - Thomas

Yeah, so that's an example to me of like it was a memorable, infamous moment. Yes, But does Elvis Costello's appearances in his work on SNL warrant a Hall of Fame selection? Our voters said no. I agree with the voters. 

0:41:42 - JD

Yeah, I think our voters I think, by and large, the voters got it right this time. Maybe, you know, maybe the Conan one is a little tenuous, but I'm certainly not angry that Conan O'Brien is in our Hall of Fame like I think. I think he will add some name recognition. I'm angry. 

0:42:00 - Thomas

What the hell, Conan, are you kidding me? No, i. 

0:42:06 - JD

Think that The voters did a great job. Now We'll wrap up here, just going over Anybody that you want to sort of discuss, so that you can see a pathway for season four. Obviously, the ballot will be restocked with 15 new names next year, but it's definitely peeled down from what it has been, so it won't be as monstrous next year when you vote. Is there anybody that you see that has a path to next year, or is there anybody you see that you're worried about Sliding out of contention? 

0:42:41 - Thomas

So the person who I'm interested in is their path. So we had we have our first musical guest Paul Simon and the SNL Hall of Fame well deserved. This next person is another musical guest who I believe should be a lock. Snl Hall of Famer Voters haven't quite agreed yet, but Dave Grohl. So Dave Grohl was on the ballot in season two and received 32.2% of the vote. He jumped to 54% of the vote. So I see a path to where we can get in another Musical guest, a deserving musical guest, in Dave Grohl, and I think Anybody who's curious about Dave Grohl in SNL go Relisten to the episode that I did on him with Ryan McNeil. That was, I think. I don't want to pat myself on the back, but I absolutely loved that episode that Ryan and I did. 

0:43:36 - JD

that's the episode that we're gonna submit for the potties. 

0:43:39 - Thomas

Yes, Yes episode, because I think you know there was a lot of meat on that bone. Dave Grohl loves the show and has had so many memorable performances on the show in my opinion He jumped from 32 to 54 and I think there's a path to make the next leap for Dave Grohl and I expect, I hope and expect Dave Grohl to be an SNL Hall of Famer sooner rather than later. 

0:44:08 - JD

Nice little rhyme there for me. I am looking at it Right now. I'm looking at James Downey, because James Downey, I feel, belongs in the Hall of Fame and one way or another we're gonna get him in there. But I would love to see him get in through the traditional process of voting. And so far, well, he didn't go up as much as he went up from season one to season two. He went from 30.3 to 44.4. He still managed to slide upward and He finished that just under 50% with 49.5. I think there's a path for him, maybe not season four, but definitely season five If he can continue this growth. But I'd love to see him go in in season four and get his due for sure. 

0:44:53 - Thomas

Yeah, definitely. We have a cluster of writers there that Conan got voted in. Maybe that'll open things up for people to consider other writers. So we had Jack handy, who got 52% of the vote this year. We had James Downey at 49, and Franken and Davis at about 47%. Even Paul Appel got 34% of the vote. So there's like a cluster of writers that I'm interested to see what happens with them If they get, if they start losing steam or if they gain steam, and we all of a sudden look up and there's like Two or three writers, maybe at this time next year. Yeah, that's no Hall of Fame. So that whole writing category is gonna be interesting to me. 

0:45:35 - JD

That's name one more that I'll highlight that I'm Really intrigued by, and that's John Mulaney went from 47.7 to 43.3 and then this year fell to 27.3. I don't know what I can attribute that to other than We got two hosts in, so maybe he lost some hosts there because we elected two hosts. Maybe it's because he didn't show up this year. Maybe some people are taking, you know, his, his time away. Maybe they didn't like Baby J. I don't, I don't know, I don't know. It's fascinating to me. 

0:46:13 - Thomas

I thought Baby J was fantastic for the. I do the record turning his intervention and Stay at the rehab facility into the material and a John Mulaney-type way. I thought I thought that was great. Maybe I don't, maybe he would. They held against quote-unquote off-the-field issues. I don't know, maybe people held that against him or maybe he's they. For me, the thing with Mulaney is I still view him as a Current, I guess. Performer, so maybe that you know, maybe people against him. 

0:46:45 - Thomas

He's still an active part of SNL, so that could work against him. So so, yeah, that's an interesting one. Falling 16% from the prior vote is pretty alarming. Actually, that's, that's in. That's a steep fall For for John Mulaney. And I should say to the person who received the highest percentage of the vote without getting in Was Maya Rudolph. Maya Rudolph got 58.3% of the vote, only up from 57.9. Maybe it was just a crowded field as far as cast members, like new cast members coming in Your Dana Carvey's and Jane Jane Curtin's, John Belushi's Maybe that's what stifled a rise for Maya Rudolph. But Maya Rudolph, 58.3% of the vote, the most for anybody who did not get inducted into the SNL Hall of Fame, probably a path for Maya. I think Maya is gonna be in at some point. 

0:47:46 - JD

Yeah, me too. It's too talented to not get the votes needed. 

0:47:50 - Thomas

Too beloved too, yeah, fan favourite. 

0:47:53 - JD

Absolutely Well, Thomas. It's been great going through this with you today and to listeners of the show, it's been great doing this with you again this season. We will return in September and With it with a brand new set of nominees and some great new conversations. Thomas, is there anything you want to wrap on? 

0:48:15 - Thomas

Do you want me to actually rap? No, I can't. I think it is Thomas Our listenership would drop if I pulled out some of my rhymes. But No, I'm just excited for season four. I'm excited for people to find out kind of how we chose the nominees and who the nominees are. Just the whole process was was very fun for me and, yeah, just looking forward to another season. I want to thank everybody who listens and votes and just doing this podcast means the world to me. I was telling Jamie, this is like this is my number one hobby is doing research and talking to the guests and Editing and pulling it, putting out these shows. So it's just been a wonderful, wonderful thing. So I'm excited to keep going, excited for a brand new season. And the seas parted, we had 11 inductees and we had some people drop off the ballot So we have like, kind of the ballots gonna look a lot different. It's in a lot of ways next time around, so that'll be fascinating. But I just want to thank everybody for listening and voting. 

0:49:21 - JD

Well, on behalf of Matt, then, Thomas, we bid you adieu as you're leaving today. Please do me a favour and, as you walk past the weekend update exhibit, turn out the lights, because the SNL Hall of Fame is now closed. 

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