Lorne Michaels' 25 Best "Saturday Night Live" Cameos

No one is ever going to mistake Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for Liam Neeson after this incredibly stilted performance, but Lorne Michaels proves his genius by aiding the social media guru through his first SNL skit. Michaels has never failed in keeping his finger on the pulse of pop culture, and getting Zuckerberg to do a cameo on the show at the height of his mainstream exposure is just another example why SNL has been the driving force in comedy since the ‘70s.

One of the best kept secrets in Hollywood is the fact that John Goodman is actually a damn good actor, so it’s only logical that he has been chosen to host SNL a dozen times. This is by far his best monologue, and, of course, Lorne Michaels and a rather feminine-looking Tim Meadows played a big part in its success. Even though it’s pretty brief, this short appearance by Michaels builds up Goodman flawlessly, while allowing himself to be the butt of the joke.

Short but sweet, this Lorne Michaels cameo both gives us a chuckle and calls back to decades' worth of jokes involving Michaels owing The Beatles money. What makes this cameo work so well is that it’s brief enough not to be distracting, yet it's funny enough to be memorable. It's amazing how easily SNL can put one of Hollywood's biggest stars alongside one of the best musicians of all time and not manage to pander to either of them.

We're not quite sure where Sheri Oteri is at the moment; hell we barely see Cuba Gooding Jr. anymore either. But this skit works quite well despite the marginal talent that's featured in it. The skit aired just as Tracy Morgan was really beginning to burst out on his own, and this first bit of interplay between him and Lorne Michaels opened the doors to a surprisingly great comedy duo. And, like most items on this list, Michaels didn't have to say much in this skit in order get a reaction.

Lorne Michaels probably has the cushiest job on the planet. Not only does he get paid to hang around comedians all day, but he also gets to act alongside some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. Sure, this cameo during Sharon Stone’s monologue doesn’t include any dialogue, but all you really need to see is Michaels’ flush face as he gawks at Stone's nether regions. Simple, but brilliant.

Sarah Palin may be a brain-dead, gun-toting, presidential wannabe from Alaska, but it was only natural for SNL to try and scoop her up for a guest spot. And like he does with most high-profile guests, Lorne Michaels eases her into the skit with his dry wit and unintimidating demeanor. Whatever you think of her politics, you have to admit that getting Palin to make a guest appearance just weeks before the '08 election was a huge publicity victory for SNL and Michaels.

SNL’s Digital Shorts have certainly been a mixed bag, but this bizarre skit with Tom Hanks is an example of the format's potential brilliance. Here, Hanks’ obvious impending insanity is matched perfectly by Lorne Michaels’ dry, dismissive attitude towards his harebrained idea for a musical.

Lorne Michaels may play a greedy, ratings-obsessed dictator in most of his SNL appearances, but in this skit he's going up against a real-life version of his character in WWE owner Vince McMahon. McMahon and his steroid-infused army of socially maladjusted wrestlers might actually pull off a funny collective performance before Michaels perfectly set the table with his short cameo.

Lorne Michaels is at his best when he’s playing the cheap miser who rules over his SNL cast with an iron fist, and that’s just what he’s doing here in this parody of the blockbuster movie Home Alone. We’re sure he’s not like that in real life, but wouldn’t it be a lot more fun if he was? Plus, any chance to watch Chris Farley turn a piece of furniture into a pile of splinters is a good time in our book.

Sure, some of the jokes in this sketch about Chris Farley’s sobriety come across as a tad ominous now; back in 1997, though, they went over like gangbusters. Most of Lorne Michaels’ effectiveness comes from the fact that he can openly mock both himself and the cast without seeming cruel, and this is a perfect example of that.

Once again, Lorne is the straight man to Farley’s pure mania, yet despite the differences in temperament they manage to compliment each other well. And an appearance from Chevy Chase is the cherry on top of this comedy soufflé, or, as SNL cast members would probably prefer it, comedy speedball.

Chris Elliott was never exactly a headliner during his time on SNL, but somehow both he and Lorne Michaels got a surprisingly funny performance out of prized pugilist George Foreman in this sketch. Michaels' greatest asset as an actor is that his even-keeled persona is perfect for novices to perform with, which makes him the fitting choice to act alongside most guest stars who have little to no acting experience.

We also have to give a special shout out to Foreman for navigating his way through Goodnight Moon without incident. After so many blows to the head, that couldn't have been easy.

Ashton Kutcher may be a huge douche, but, fortunately, he's practically invisible in this sketch. He's neither funny nor annoying; in fact, he's kind of just taking up space. However, Kutcher’s flat performance gets saved by our dudes Lorne Michaels and Tracy Morgan. These two are made for each other, and they simply school Kutcher in the art of comedy here.

While we’re not entirely sure who would win in an actual fight between Ben Stiller and Lorne Michaels (Stiller is actually pretty jacked up in real life, though), this sketch is about as close as we’re ever going to get to such a throwdown. Incredibly inventive and unexpected, Michaels again gives the audience something that they’re not expecting.

This is just another in a long line of skits that shows Lorne Michaels' attempts to screw various members of The Beatles out of money. Somehow he kept the joke running for decades, which is impressive in and of itself.

Also, the mere fact that Michaels could get two legendary musicians like Paul Simon and George Harrison to agree to be on his show during a time when it wasn’t a pop-culture phenomenon just speaks volumes about his power and creativity in showbiz. It may not be a laugh-out-loud skit, but it shows SNL's first steps towards the big time.

For those of you who are too young to remember, there was a time when a man named Tom Green was a minor celebrity in our world. He was in horrible movies, got hitched to Drew Barrymore, and eventually disappeared just as quickly as he arrived, but that didn’t stop him from sharing a sensual moment with Lorne Michaels in a tub.

The ironic thing about this skit is that Michaels is still bathing in his ivory tub, while the washed-up Green is most likely forced to shower in front of a group of recovering druggies at the local Y. The lesson here, folks, is simple: Never marry Drew Barrymore.

Contrary to what you may be thinking, SNL didn’t waste its time pumping out parodies of The Blair Witch Project here; instead, they openly mocked the prospect of doing a parody itself. Let’s face it, there were enough bad Blair Witch parodies to make a person sick during 1999, so Lorne Michaels decided to take a different, Sally-Struthers-like route.

There's no doubt that James Woods is a bonafide psycho. Check out the dude’s resume, he almost exclusively plays serial killers and sociopaths; hell, he even played Hades once. So it’s only natural that SNL would play that aspect up in his monologue, but it’s the cameo by Lorne Michaels that puts it over the top.

In his brief appearances here, Michaels expertly crafts a greedy, dictatorial character with nothing more than a few deadpan lines. Most actors can only dream to completely own a character like that during their career.

Lorne Michaels again proves that he's the ultimate straight man in his last second appearance next to Lady Gaga, Andy Sandberg, and Kristen Wiig. While most of the sketch focused on Gaga’s logic-defying outfit and a few jokes by Sandberg, it’s Michaels’ intentionally flat delivery of one particular line at the end that completely seals the deal.

This is easily one of the most genuinely funny monologues to ever grace SNL. In addition to poking fun at Tim Robbins and his ultra-left views, the bit also features fantastic cameos from Lorne Michaels and the late, great Phil Hartman.

It's always nice to see some smug Hollywood talent get ripped by SNL, but it's really the shocking end with Michaels and Hartman in bed that makes this opening monologue so great. It's completely unexpected, yet seems so plausible for some strange reason. We still get angry thinking about how many great Phil Hartman skits and performances were robbed from us when he passed away in 1998.

There aren’t many red-blooded males in this country who wouldn’t like to see Sarah Michelle Gellar and Faith Hill get down in a good, old-fashioned Greco-Roman style ‘rasslin match, so we give props to Lorne and Tracy for attempting to make it happen. Of course this was never going to take place because apparently NBC is deathly afraid of a little hardcore nudity, so our consolation prize is getting to watch Tracy berate Lorne. We’ll take it.

In yet another example of the SNL juggernaut's overwhelming power, Lorne Michaels somehow got former Vice President Al Gore to host the show just two years after the man was robbed of being the leader of the free world by a certain binge-drinking, coke-snorting Texan.

Shockingly, the sketch revolved around Gore locking lips with his wife Tipper for well over a minute, and while that may sound awkward, it actually turned out to be one of the show's best celeb spots ever. And, as always, Tracy Morgan's cameo at the end worked magnificently with Michaels' performance.

If you need any proof that Lorne Michaels is nothing more than a dirty old man, look no further than this sketch. But horndoggery aside, he’s also the one that makes this whole thing work. Once again, with just a little dry humor and some sharp lines, he absolutely owns this skit and shows these comedy novices how it's done. That’s right, we’re looking at you, Fallon.

The world has been an easier place to live in ever since Garth Brooks dropped off the face of it, but when he was still the king of generic white people music, he actually had a decent stint as SNL host. If that's not strange enough, his alter-ego Chris Gaines served as the musical guest for the episode.

Naturally, Tracy Morgan took this as an opportunity to rip the platinum haired pop-star and his alter-ego limb from limb. But the real highlight is Morgan’s interaction with Lorne Michaels towards the end, which has since become a long running gag between the two.

In one of SNL's most memorable openings, Steve Martin and the cast openly mock the show's quality, while taking some shots at themselves in the process. The end result is an absolutely hilarious musical number, which sees Lorne Michaels take some jabs at the very show he created.

One of the things that Michaels does so well is that he never takes his show or his profession too seriously. Plus, it may look like it’s just part of the sketch, but we’re pretty sure that Michaels' castle is lined with slick oil paintings of himself.

Not only is this Lorne Michaels' best appearance on SNL, but it’s also one of the most iconic moments in the show’s history. Michaels' bizarre offer to the Fab Four to perform on SNL for a mere $3,000 was both hilarious and ballsy as it was one of the first times that a scripted TV show had ever broken the fourth wall so dramatically.

Obviously no one ever thought The Beatles would show up at the studio with gear in hand, yet both John Lennon and Paul McCartney stated that the duo joked about showing up as they were actually together watching the show at the time. This is one of the earliest examples of Michaels’ intelligent grasp on his audience's pulse and uncanny knack of pulling off effective publicity stunts.