As opposed to last week's Saturday Night Live, with its heavy dose of Elton John and an abundance of cameos, this past weekend's relatively light focus on host Helen Mirren at least let the entire cast get in on the action. In fact, not only was no cast member shut out, but no cast member had less than two appearances. Who prevailed in a crowded field? On to the poll!
1. Nasim Pedrad (Last Week: 7) Huge week for Nasim Pedrad. She was the star of this week's digital short -- playing herself, which is noteworthy -- plus the star of a third Crunk-Ass commercial parody. She also had supporting rolls in "Bongo's Clown Room" and, yes, as Kim Kardashian in "Celebrity Accountant." All of this, and she didn't even have to play a character under the age of 15.
2. Fred Armisen (Last Week: 1) Armisen won the night as far as pure airtime is concerned, appearing in five separate sketches to varying degrees of length -- including the cold open as Obama all to himself.
3. Jason Sudeikis (Last Week: 2) It's nice to see Jason Sudeikis have a nice run here as this season starts to wind down. I have absolutely no inside information on this subject, but, with a blossoming film career, it wouldn't surprise me to see Sudeikis move on from the show after this season. If this were the case, it would be nice to see him end strong.
4. Bill Hader (Last Week: 3) A quietly strong night for Hader: playing FDR, James Carville and three other supporting roles. No water cooler-type roles, but that doesn't mean he wasn't everywhere.
5. Taran Killam (Last Week: 6) Killam has officially integrated himself into the cast in a way that the other featured players haven't. Why is this? It almost supports the idea that Sudeikis might leave; after all, Killam seems to be getting a lot of roles that may have once gone to the SNL veteran -- so much so that it was kind of shocking to see them both in the "Prospectives Photo Studio" commercial parody.
6. Andy Samberg (Last Week: 4) Samberg almost had a home run with "The Best of Both Worlds," until it skidded off course about halfway through.
7. Seth Meyers (Last Week: 10) Far from Meyers' best week on "Update," but anytime you get to introduce yourself in a sketch as "Seth Meyers, America's Comedian," it's going to boost your poll numbers. Also, somewhat remarkably, Meyers has now appeared in two non-"Update" sketches over the course of the last three shows.
8. Kristen Wiig (Last Week: 5)
Wiig's night mirrored Hader's with the exception of one less starring role. Wiig was present during a lot of sketches but still, outside of "Update," had a relatively quiet evening. She did, however, get to touch Helen Mirren's breasts.
9. Bobby Moynihan (Last Week: 11) Moynihan had some nice momentum from "Fox and Friends" and a nice cameo during "Prospectives Photo Studio" and, of course, revived Ass Dan. It says something about this week when Moynihan is this far down the list despite appearing in four sketches.
10. Kenan Thompson (Last Week: 9)
Kenan brought back Jean K Jean to "Update" after a long hiatus. Other than that, supporting roles in "The Best of Both Worlds" and "The Roosevelts." Normally a solid night, but not this week.
11. Paul Brittain (Last Week: 8)
Poor Paul Brittain. Somehow his appearances on the show increase, yet his ranking decreases. In any other week, three solid appearances (four if you count his double duty as James Franco and Johnny Depp in one sketch) would be enough to rank higher than 11.
12. Vanessa Bayer (Last Week: 13) Bayer had nice airtime as one of the three "Fox and Friends" hosts, but kind of disappeared after that. Her only other notable appearance was as a Kardashian.
13. Abby Elliott (Last Week: 12) Again, frustrating because Elliott actually appeared in three sketches, but nothing approaching a starring role -- supporting roles only in "Bongo's Clown Room," The Roosevelts" and "Celebrity Accountant."
14. Jay Pharoah (Last Week: 14) I'm seriously getting worried: This is Pharoah's third week in a row in the bottom spot, and I'm not sure that's going to change anytime soon. The problem, as always, is that Pharoah is only used to do impressions -- two of them this week -- and never just plays supporting roles like "man on the street" or "office coworker." Killam has successfully assimilated himself into this position, so even if he doesn't have a big sketch during the evening, he's still in three or four sketches. As such, the audience is getting to really know Killam and have something to look forward to. Pharoah, alas, remains an enigma
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