missed it by that much welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top ten comedians
rejected by Saturday Night Live before
we begin we publish new videos every day
so be sure to subscribe for more great
content for this list we’re ranking the
comedians and funny actors who once
auditioned for an acting spot on the
Saturday Night Live cast but for one
reason or another did not make the cut
although some of the people on this list
did land jobs behind the scenes like in
the writing room their dreams of being a
cast member were never fulfilled now I
feel better
number 10 David Cross comedian David
Cross is known today for his
groundbreaking work with the Maverick
mid-90s comedy program mr. show with Bob
and David doctor of songs however Krauss
is unique and uncompromising style of
comedy did not always do him favors like
the time he auditioned for a spot on
Saturday Night Live Krauss took a chance
bringing his Boston based group across
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
could somebody answer me Jesus talk to
me number nine Paul Reubens
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 the
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 everybody got a
present of me
number eight Cal Mitchell I am reporting
your name to the manager knows my name
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
[Music]
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 however
Jimmy Fallon would reunite the two years
later you want to seven John Goodman see
how low drugs have made you sink
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 he ended up doing just fine
Saturday Donnie is Chaves the Jewish day
of rust that means I don’t work I don’t
drive a car and ride in a car don’t
handle money I don’t turn on the oven
and I sure as shit don t crawl number
six Zach Galifianakis if sometimes have
a speech impediment which is it’s a hard
word to say if you have one 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 I went
to my high school reunion not too long
ago and
was very weird because I was
home-schooled number five
Aubrey Plaza that was not your fault
okay 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 they say that you were escorted
away from the page 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 number for
Stephen Colbert now no because I am a
transformational historical figure that
is I have been on TV this comedy giant
may be famous today as the bigshot host
behind both The Colbert Report and The
Late Show with Stephen Colbert but
everyone starts somewhere for Colbert
that somewhere was the stand-up 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 smuggles 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
don’t you know I’ve been trying for a
year to get you to say my name number
three louis c.k you know i’ve been
married for 10 years and sorry
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 CK 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 they looked
up a camp quickly in the phonebook
didn’t look into it and just sent you
there that’s an absolute true story
mm-hmm
careful retard kids although to be fair
some of the other comedians auditioning
that day included Sarah Silverman Jay
Mohr and Dave Attell so at least CK was
in some pretty good company first I have
to decide do I really want to be alive
anymore like this number two
Steve Carell some of the people here
might be sexually inexperienced is it
true that if you don’t use it you lose
it 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 1995 audition falls in this
category as he and his wife Nancy walls
both tried to make it onto the SNL cast
hold on I see mr. Ray Romano is coming
inside
yeah hey everybody’s okay although walls
was hired Carell wasn’t although he did
make up the other half of Roberts
Michael’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 and that funny there are
certain topics that are off-limits to
comedians JFK AIDS the Holocaust the
Lincoln assassination just recently
became funny before we named our
number-one comedian here are some
honorable mentions you feel that no I
ain’t no problem got it I’ll do that
thing like you let me do that please
Rachel I am NOT an idiot we could not
talk or talk forever and still find
things to not talk about number one Jim
Carrey hey guys Oh big gulps huh
alright well see you later
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 gene dumain Ian nixed carries
hiring
dumain e’en then replacing Lauren
Michaels ended up going with Charles
rocket perhaps because she was focusing
on the Weekend Update segment and didn’t
think Kerry could make the cut
although he was rejected more than once
Kerry 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
[Music]
[Applause]
do you agree with our picks check out
these other great clips from watch mojo
and subscribe for new videos every day
[Music]
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top ten comedians
rejected by Saturday Night Live before
we begin we publish new videos every day
so be sure to subscribe for more great
content for this list we’re ranking the
comedians and funny actors who once
auditioned for an acting spot on the
Saturday Night Live cast but for one
reason or another did not make the cut
although some of the people on this list
did land jobs behind the scenes like in
the writing room their dreams of being a
cast member were never fulfilled now I
feel better
number 10 David Cross comedian David
Cross is known today for his
groundbreaking work with the Maverick
mid-90s comedy program mr. show with Bob
and David doctor of songs however Krauss
is unique and uncompromising style of
comedy did not always do him favors like
the time he auditioned for a spot on
Saturday Night Live Krauss took a chance
bringing his Boston based group across
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
could somebody answer me Jesus talk to
me number nine Paul Reubens
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 the
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 everybody got a
present of me
number eight Cal Mitchell I am reporting
your name to the manager knows my name
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
[Music]
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 however
Jimmy Fallon would reunite the two years
later you want to seven John Goodman see
how low drugs have made you sink
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 he ended up doing just fine
Saturday Donnie is Chaves the Jewish day
of rust that means I don’t work I don’t
drive a car and ride in a car don’t
handle money I don’t turn on the oven
and I sure as shit don t crawl number
six Zach Galifianakis if sometimes have
a speech impediment which is it’s a hard
word to say if you have one 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 I went
to my high school reunion not too long
ago and
was very weird because I was
home-schooled number five
Aubrey Plaza that was not your fault
okay 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 they say that you were escorted
away from the page 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 number for
Stephen Colbert now no because I am a
transformational historical figure that
is I have been on TV this comedy giant
may be famous today as the bigshot host
behind both The Colbert Report and The
Late Show with Stephen Colbert but
everyone starts somewhere for Colbert
that somewhere was the stand-up 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 smuggles 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
don’t you know I’ve been trying for a
year to get you to say my name number
three louis c.k you know i’ve been
married for 10 years and sorry
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 CK 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 they looked
up a camp quickly in the phonebook
didn’t look into it and just sent you
there that’s an absolute true story
mm-hmm
careful retard kids although to be fair
some of the other comedians auditioning
that day included Sarah Silverman Jay
Mohr and Dave Attell so at least CK was
in some pretty good company first I have
to decide do I really want to be alive
anymore like this number two
Steve Carell some of the people here
might be sexually inexperienced is it
true that if you don’t use it you lose
it 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 1995 audition falls in this
category as he and his wife Nancy walls
both tried to make it onto the SNL cast
hold on I see mr. Ray Romano is coming
inside
yeah hey everybody’s okay although walls
was hired Carell wasn’t although he did
make up the other half of Roberts
Michael’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 and that funny there are
certain topics that are off-limits to
comedians JFK AIDS the Holocaust the
Lincoln assassination just recently
became funny before we named our
number-one comedian here are some
honorable mentions you feel that no I
ain’t no problem got it I’ll do that
thing like you let me do that please
Rachel I am NOT an idiot we could not
talk or talk forever and still find
things to not talk about number one Jim
Carrey hey guys Oh big gulps huh
alright well see you later
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 gene dumain Ian nixed carries
hiring
dumain e’en then replacing Lauren
Michaels ended up going with Charles
rocket perhaps because she was focusing
on the Weekend Update segment and didn’t
think Kerry could make the cut
although he was rejected more than once
Kerry 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
[Music]
[Applause]
do you agree with our picks check out
these other great clips from watch mojo
and subscribe for new videos every day
[Music]
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