OT- SNL 5 best all-time

[David 76]

Carlin was brilliant, and I love his later years stuff, but he wasn't nearly as smart as Miller (IMO). Stewart is a talented and funny man with a lot of good writers but not (IMO) particularly intelligent.

Wow!

 

[Cheeky]

but with respect to vocabulary, literally anyone can memorize flash cards. I don't think it is any indication whatsoever of "brilliance."

IQ and vocabulary are tightly correlated. Obviously, one counter argument to this is, "well, how do you measure IQ?" And so on.
I completely disagree that "literally anyone can memorize flash cards." I tutored for test prep for a national company for quite some time. Most people have a physical limit to how much they can store and recall. I've seen students spend hours upon hours attempting to "memorize flash cards" to expand their vocabulary, only to move the needle very little.

Again though, it's not Dennis Miller's per se use of words, it's the context in which he uses them, and other references. It's not some flash card act. When I listen to his live show, he's doing it on the fly, for hours on end.

Perhaps I find his comedy more funny than it is because I'm so impressed with his ability to utilize the language at an incredibly high level.

 

[Cheeky]

Wow!

I phrased that poorly.
When I wrote that Stewart is "not particularly intelligent," I meant, "not exceptionally intelligent." He's clearly very intelligent.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Really liked Martin Short, but he was already known for his work on SCTV (which included John Candy, Etc.) so I don't really think of him as a SNL guy. I know a lot of cast members either had a sketch or comic background, but they're usually relative unknowns when they join SNL - not the case for Martin Short.

Well that season was very unique in that regard. They added A lot of veteran comedians for that one season, including Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and of course Short. It was a short lived thing but that season was full of comedic brilliance.

 

[David 76]

That was the Dick Ebersol years.
Lorne Michaels left in the early 80s. The new producer lasted half a season then Dick Ebersol took over. He played up Murphy & Piscopo and the show was saved for the moment. When both Murphy and Piscopo left he went out and got headliners as you mentioned above. Julia Louise Dreyfus (not a headliner) and Larry David were there that year too.
Ebersol quit when they wouldn't allow him to tape the whole show (Saturday Night Dead?) and Lorne came back