In 2023, Conan O’Brien had his former Saturday Night Live colleagues — Robert Smigel, Dana Carvey, and Kevin Nealon — on his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, to dramatically read their script for an unmade movie based on Carvey and Nealon’s popular characters, Hans and Franz. Despite the bizarre content of the screenplay, I am surprised it was never greenlit, considering how many other movies based on SNL characters have ended up getting made.
In fact, despite being a life-long fan of The Blues Brothers and enjoying other known classics like the Wayne’s World movies, I did not realize how many there were until my research brought up a total of 11 titles. As an also life-long fan of the legendary comedy series, I watched each feature-length adaptation of some of the most popular SNL sketches ever and ranked them from my least favorite to the most hilarious and memorable. We shall start with one I believe most agree deserves to be at the bottom.
11. It's Pat (1994)
The Plot: A person whose gender becomes a perplexing mystery to everyone they encounter (Julia Sweeney) meets and falls for someone equally androgynous (Dave Foley).
The Reason For The Ranking: The concept of It’s Pat has aged poorly, but I was espeically offended by the film’s complete lack of humor — even with an uncredited rewrite by Quentin Tarantino, according to Playboy (via Uproxx). I was also put-off by Sweeney’s portrayal of the title role — whom Norm Macdonald claimed was meant to be a woman — as more selfish and ignorant than I remember from their original SNL appearances, resulting in a throughly unenjoyable experience that, at least, lasts only 77 minutes.
10. Stuart Saves His Family (1995)
The Plot: Stuart Smalley (Al Franken), the host of a public access self-help show, must rely on his own therapeutic methods when struggling keep his extremely dysfunctional family together.
The Reason For The Ranking: It actually pains me to rank Stuart Saves His Family so low, out of admiration for the Daily Affirmations sketches, respect for SNL star-turned-politician Franken — who, as his character, wrote the 1992 book the movie adapts — and because it is probably the most mature and heartfelt of these films. Unfortunately, I also think it is one of the least funny and most dull of the bunch, even with the late, great Harold Ramis at the helm.
9. The Ladies Man (2000)
The Plot: After his risqué sensibilities cost him his job, a call-in radio show host and outspoken womanizer (Tim Meadows) searches for a wealthy past lover, while being unwittingly pursued by a legion of men he has cuckolded over the years.
The Reason For The Ranking: The vastly underrated Meadows (one of SNL’s longest running cast members) brings a certain charisma to Leon Phelps that made the character’s sketches a success and The Ladies Man somewhat enjoyable for me (in addition to its choice soundtrack of classic funk hits). However, I would not necessarily recommend this Reginald Huldin-directed comedy, as I feel it suffers from recycled and oft-repeated jokes and lacks real authority over its more important themes: heart and raunch.
8. Coneheads (1993)
The Plot: After becoming stranded on Earth, married extra-terrestrials (Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin) and their Earth-born daughter (Michelle Burke) try to blend in among humans, despite their unusual mannerisms and conical head shape.
The Reason For The Ranking: I definitely chuckled a few times at this somewhat heartwarming sci-fi comedy from 1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles director Steve Barron and was amused by how it reimagines the characters’ lore. For instance, Beldar and Prymatt’s daughter, Connie, is a naturalized Earthling as opposed to the full-blooded Remulak native originally played by Laraine Newman, who also cameos here. However, I still think the Coneheads are a prime example of SNL characters that work best when limited to a minutes-long sketch, especially with how their struggle to fit in becomes the only joke, and their distinct, robotic speech pattern grows irritating.
7. Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
The Plot: After his brother dies in prison, a recently released musician (Dan Aykroyd) reunites old bandmates and recruits a few new members (John Goodman, Joe Morton, J. Evan Bonifant) to enter a music competition while avoiding the pursuits of cops, Russian mobsters, and white supremacists.
The Reason For The Ranking: Speaking as someone who has a deep passion for its predecessor (which we'll get to), I find Blues Brothers 2000 to be a pretty weak attempt at a sequel in its clear attempt to recapture that magic with cheap references, weak humor, and its overall needlessness, especially nearly two decades after John Belushi’s death. The reason it ranks closer to the middle of our list is because, much like the first movie, the soundtrack — performed by an incredible assortment of legends like Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, and more — is chock-full of irresistible bangers.
6. A Night At The Roxbury (1998)
The Plot: A pair of brainless, self-absorbed brothers (Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan) chase their dream of getting into an exclusive night club and, hopefully, running one of their own.
The Reason For The Ranking: Catchy needle drops — the most prominent being Haddaway’s “What Is Love” — also won me over while revisiting this early Will Ferrell movie “classic” that I recognize is as dim-witted as its protagonists, who were first referred to as Steve and Doug Butabi upon the film’s release. However, I would still call A Night at the Roxbury one of the better attempts at needlessly stretching an SNL sketch to feature-length for its candid lampooning of the ‘90s club scene and free-wheeling approach to humor that I, shamelessly, could not help but get lost in.
5. MacGruber (2010)
The Plot: A retired special forces operative (Will Forte) is called back into action to prevent his archnemesis (Val Kilmer) from releasing a nuclear warhead with help from a former colleague (Kristen Wiig) and a young lieutenant (Ryan Phillippe).
The Reason For The Ranking: With this otherwise sharp send-up of yesteryear's best action movies, I, admittedly, began to grow weary of Forte’s title character — based on Richard Dean Anderson's orginal MacGuyver — for his pervasively selfish absent-mindedness and crudeness that I still feel is more suitable for his original sketches. However, I applaud MacGruber — co-written and directed by The Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone — for not being a direct, two-hour adaptation of those hilarious, rigidly structured segments and admire how it overcame its low RT scores and box office returns, gained a passionate cult following unlike most SNL movies can claim, and inspired its own spin-off series on Peacock.
4. Superstar (1999)
The Plot: An idiosyncratic teenager (Molly Shannon, one of the most iconic ‘90s SNL stars) tries out for her Catholic high school’s talent show, hoping to achieve her ambitions of being famous and getting kissed.
The Reason For The Ranking: Similar to Tim Meadows’ Leon Phelps, I believe that Shannon’s unmistakable, endlessly compelling comedic talents are why a character as eccentric as Mary Katherine Gallagher became such a memorable staple on SNL and why her feature-length moment is such a hilarious winner. Honestly, I think Superstar could have been just another quirky high school comedy if it centered on a character any less distinct or starred an actor any less unique.
3. Wayne's World 2 (1993)
The Plot: A successful cable access show host (Mike Myers) and his co-host/best friend (Dana Carvey) are inspired by a strange dream to put together a star-studded rock music festival, but a slimy record producer’s (Christopher Walken) manipulative wooing of his musician girlfriend (Tia Carerre) gets in the way.
The Reason For The Ranking: I genuinely consider Wayne’s World 2 to be one of the most enjoyable and satisfying comedy sequels of its time, especially with cameos by the legendary James Hong and Aerosmith, who previously collaborated with Wayne and Garth in one Mike Myers' single funniest SNL sketches. However, to more specifically describe what makes it great would be to describe what makes the first one great. So, without further ado…
2. Wayne's World (1992)
The Plot: A cable access show host (Myers) and his co-host/best friend (Carvey) are faced with the ultimate challenge to their moral integrity and relationship after a sleazy executive (Rob Lowe) offers them the chance for a network deal.
The Reason For The Ranking: Out of all of Mike Myers’ best characters, I still have a soft spot for Wayne Campbell who, along with Carvey’s charmingly strange Garth Algar, headlined one of SNL’s most beloved recurring sketches with “Wayne’s World.” It is no wonder that this ceaselessly jovial, cleverly self-aware barrage of absurd humor and pop culture references — such as the famed “Bohemian Rhapsody” sing-along — was an instant box office hit, a winner among critics and audiences, and remains an enduring favorite that exceeds generations.
1. The Blues Brothers (1980)
The Plot: After reuniting when one is released from prison, two brotherly musicians (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) set out on a mission from God to put their old band back together for a show to benefit the orphanage where they were raised.
The Reason For The Ranking: After technically making their musical SNL debut dressed as bees in 1976 (according to Primetimer), Belushi and Aykroyd officially appeared as the leaders of the Blues Brothers Band — Jake and Elwood — two years later and went on to serve as the official musical guest for an episode hosted by Carrie Fisher, land a record deal, and go on tour. The moment they entered the public consciousness as icons was with the release of director John Landis’ undisputed classic of both comedy and musicals for its uniquely surreal and invigorating mastery of both genres (with help from guests like Ray Charles and Cab Calloway, to name a few), that has since transcended way beyond its roots in Studio 8H as one of the most important movies set in Chicago and, apparently, a Catholic classic, as well.
Saturday Night Live is always at its best when it is, indeed, live. However, most of the movies above prove that some of the sketch comedy series’ most iconic characters do translate well when pre-taped and on the big screen.
