Great Pop Culture Debate

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Best “Saturday Night Live” Character

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Since its debut in October 1975, NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has introduced dozens of memorable recurring characters into the pop-culture zeitgeist. From Rosanne Roseannadanna to The Blues Brothers; Two Wild & Crazy Guys to Stefon; even as the show itself goes through peaks and valleys, these characters continue to live rent-free in our minds, long after their legendary skits have gone on permanent hiatus. As part of Season 7, the Great Pop Culture Debate podcast wants to determine: who IS the Best “SNL” Recurring Character? Options discussed include Wayne & Garth, The Blue Brothers, The Coneheads, The Spartan Cheerleaders, Stefon, Target Lady, Drunk Uncle, NPR’s This Delicious Dish, Brian Fellows Safari Planet, The Festrunk Brothers, Stuart Smalley, Linda Richman, Church Lady, Mary Katherine Gallagher, MacGruber, and The Ambiguously Gay Duo.

Join Host Eric Rezsnyak and panelists Amma Marfo, Derek Mekita, Jim Czadzeck, and Karissa Kloss as they discuss and debate the Top 16 characters from “SNL” history (up until early 2023, that is).

Want to play along at home? Download the listener bracket here and see if your picks match up with ours!

To listen to Round 1, showing how we got to the Sweet 16 down from the Top 32, become a Patreon supporter of the podcast today to access the exclusive Part 1 episode.

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Round 2 Match-Ups:

Note that, for our purposes, we did not include impressions of real-life people (no Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, or Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek, for example); we considered groups of characters that act as a unit as one “character”; and the character must also have appeared on “SNL” in at least 3 episodes to count as “recurring.”

Match-Up 1: Wayne & Garth vs. The Blues Brothers

Match-Up 2: The Coneheads vs. The Spartan Cheerleaders

Match-Up 3: Stefon vs. Target Lady

Match-Up 4: Drunk Uncle vs. NPR Ladies

Match-Up 5: Brian Fellows Safari Planet vs. The Festrunk Brothers

Match-Up 6: Stuart Smalley vs. Linda Richman

Match-Up 7: Church Lady vs. Mary Katherine Gallagher

Match-Up 8: MacGruber vs. Ambiguously Gay Duo

Have a say in future episodes!

Finally, if you want to have a say in what episodes we tackle next, vote in our Topic Polls! And we would love to have you pick your faves in the polls currently open for your votes!

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EPISODE CREDITS

HOST: Eric Rezsnyak

PRODUCER: Bob Erlenback

PANEL: Amma Marfo, Derek Mekita, Jim Czadzeck, Karissa Kloss

EDITOR: Jeffery Perry