Top 10 Comedians Rejected by Saturday Night Live

Comedian David Cross is known today for his groundbreaking work with the maverick mid-90s comedy program, “Mr. Show with Bob and David.” However, Cross’ unique and uncompromising style of comedy didn’t always do him favors, like the time he auditioned for a spot on “Saturday Night Live.” Cross took a chance bringing his Boston-based group, Cross Comedy, to New York City in the years prior to “Mr. Show’s” breakout success. It apparently didn’t go down well with “SNL” brass, as Cross Comedy was soundly rejected and sent packing back to Boston.

We’ll be discussing the disastrous sixth season of “SNL,” also known as “Saturday Night Live ‘80,” a few times during this list. It was a year that saw producer Lorne Michaels exiting the show due to burnout, taking with him the entire cast and most of the writing staff. New cast members were needed as a result of this exodus, with one of the potential comedians being a young Paul Reubens. The future Pee-Wee Herman was passed over in favor of Gilbert Gottfried, however, and he used his feelings of bitterness to create what would go on to become the classic kids TV program, “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.”

Kenan Thompson’s tenure with “SNL” has been well documented at this point, having been a popular fixture on the show since debuting as a featured player in 2003. Thompson wasn’t the only Nickelodeon star to try his luck getting onto the “SNL” stage, however, as the comedian’s former co-star on “All That,” Kel Mitchell, also auditioned. Unfortunately, despite tons of positive fan reception to Mitchell’s work on “Good Burger” and “Kenan & Kel,” it was only Thompson who nabbed an open spot. Jimmy Fallon would reunite the two years later, however.

Although you might be forgiven for thinking John Goodman was an “SNL” cast member, given the numerous times he’s been on the show as a host, the former “Roseanne” star was actually rejected when he auditioned for “Saturday Night Live ‘80.” Yep, that infamous sixth season we mentioned earlier rears its head yet again, as it was eventually revealed that Goodman was passed over during the audition process in favor of Joe Piscopo. Don’t feel too bad for John, though. We hear that he ended up doing just fine.

Sometimes, the closing of one door results in the opening of another. Case in point? Zach Galifianakis auditioned for “Saturday Night Live” back in 1999, but sadly didn’t get the part. He apparently left a positive impression on the “SNL” brass, however, and it was one good enough to land him a job writing for a number of episodes. Plus, a post-fame Galifianakis ended up returning to the “SNL” stage years later as a guest host, scoring a Primetime Emmy nomination and bringing the whole experience full circle.

Hey, did you hear the one about the intern who worked really hard and eventually managed to land a gig with “Saturday Night Live?” No? Then maybe you can relate to the experience of actress Aubrey Plaza, who tried to go this route when working behind the scenes at “SNL” in 2005. Plaza auditioned for a spot on the main cast three years later, but was passed over. Thankfully, it was only a year later that she found a home playing April Ludgate on the NBC hit “Parks and Recreation.”

This comedy giant may be famous today as the big shot host behind both “The Colbert Report” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” but everyone starts somewhere. For Colbert, that somewhere was the standup stage, though he eventually dreamed of making it to “Saturday Night Live.” Colbert even caught the eye of “SNL” writer Robert Smigel while performing comedy in Chicago, an experience that led Colbert to nab an audition for the show in 1992. Although Colbert wasn’t hired for the job, he did end up voicing half of Smigel’s Ambiguously Gay Duo, and would later find work on “The Dana Carvey Show” and “The Daily Show” before becoming the comedian we all know and love today.

Louis C.K. also spent time alongside Stephen Colbert writing for the short lived “Dana Carvey Show” in 1996, a job for which he was well prepared, given the similar gig offered to him after he flubbed a 1993 “SNL” audition. C.K. was approached by Robert Smigel to write for “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” after “SNL” brass didn’t pick the comedian out from his peers for a job. Although, to be fair, some of the other comedians auditioning that day included Sarah Silverman, Jay Mohr, and Dave Attell, so at least C.K. was in some pretty good company!

Although this list is full of comedians whose rejection may seem crazy in hindsight, given their immense careers today, sometimes, the final results just make a whole lot of sense. Steve Carell’s 1995 audition falls in this category, as he and his wife Nancy Walls both tried to make it onto the “SNL” cast. Although Walls was hired, Carell wasn’t – although he did make up the other half of Robert Smigel’s Ambiguously Gay Duo with Stephen Colbert. In the end, we must admit that maybe the show made the right decision when they decided to go with none other than Will Ferrell as their final choice. Isn’t that funny?

Before we name our number one comedian, here are a few honorable mentions!
- Kevin Hart
- Lisa Kudrow
- Jennifer Coolidge

It may seem absolutely ludicrous that someone with the comedic talent of Jim Carrey would be passed over for what is essentially the Great American Comedy Show. But that’s exactly what happened back in - you guessed it - 1980, when producer Jean Doumanian nixed Carrey’s hiring. Doumanian, then replacing Lorne Michaels, ended up going with Charles Rocket, perhaps because she was focusing on the “Weekend Update” segment, and didn’t think Carrey could make the cut. Although he was rejected more than once, Carrey went on to great success on the competing sketch show “In Living Color,” and eventually found his way onto the “SNL” stage for a little vindication, guest hosting a number of times in the years after his success.