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>> I don’t know at what point I stopped watching regularly. I think around 1999 going by rechecking the cast list. They had three decent stretches with good performers, the 1975-80 era with the original gang. The mid ‘80s or so (Eddie Murphy, etc.), and into the early/mid ‘90s (Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, etc.). When the latter group started to leave in the mid to late ‘90s, the replacements just didn’t measure up and I couldn’t tell one from another. <<

>> “The last good cast they had was in the early to mid 90s....Dana Carvey, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Phil Hartmann, David Spade, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider” Also Kevin Nealan, Molly Shannon, Mike Myers, Jan Hooks, Jon Lovits, Victoria Jackson, Dennis Miller on the weekend update. Some great casts in the 90’s. Hartman was amazing, I still bust a gut every time I see one of the old Tonto, Tarzan and Frankenstein skits. <<

I agree. Looking back in hindsight, SNL seemed to have three great eras: the late 70s, the mid 80s, and the early to mid 90s. Also agree that I stopped watching around 2000 or so.

Disagree with the FReepers claiming the show has completely sucked since 1980 or that they "couldn't make it thru one episode". There was a lot of classic stuff on SNL, and people like Phil Hartman are greatly missed.

Also here's something rather bizarre: the show itself never had any sort of right-wing bent, but the cast from the late 80s/early 90s (Victoria Jackson, Kevin Nelson, Dennis Miller, etc.) have mostly turned very conservative.

That being said, I've always hated Alec Baldwin, and I never found Al Franken or Will Ferrell to be remotely funny. In fact, the only funny thing I ever saw Farrell do on SNL was a dead on parody of host James Lipton from Inside the Actor's Studio.

On a related note: I also miss MadTV. It provided some good competition to SNL during its 1990s heyday.