Scot Bertram

Plus: Carvey and Hartman still going strong, while the kids gain a foothold.

If, as is commonly believed, five years is the expiration date for a star on Saturday Night Live, nobody told Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman. In Season 17, both cast members are running at full capacity, carrying the show along as the young players still find their footing on the show.

Of the kids on the show, Rob Schneider shows the most potential to be a breakout SNL star in Season 17. Schneider has a popular recurring character (The Richmeister), does some great character work (The Sensitive Naked Man) and occasionally pops up with solid bits on Weekend Update. Other youngsters like Chris Farley, David Spade, Adam Sandler, Tim Meadows, Chris Rock, and Julia Sweeney, now all in their second year, are still primarily bit players, with only Rock and Sweeney having popular recurring characters (Nat X and Pat.)

With Jan Hooks off the cast, the show brings in four new female cast members – Siobhan Fallon, Melanie Hutsell, Ellen Cleghorne, and Beth Cahill. But by the end of the year, Fallon and Cahill would be gone, while Hutsell would stay on until Season 19 and Cleghorne would be gone after Season 20.

Season 17 was also the season SNL really began plugging into the culture around them at the time. 

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