None of which takes away from the brilliance of the more recent casts. Ana Gasteyer in particular did brilliant work, especially playing the uptight white chicks ie Hillary and Martha Stewart. [With all due respect to a fine professional actress, she'll make you forget all about Jane Curtin.] Will Ferrell's Dubya was particularly good, especially as he became more distinctly sympathetic after 9/11, with moments such as the "dumb" president's promise to cast Osama Bin Laden as the subject of his own personal Where's Waldo. And of course, there's the phenomenon that is Darrell Hammond.

So keep the faith, brothers and sisters, because -like rock and roll- Saturday Night Live will never die.

We leave this obsessive fan's tribute with a nod to the best one sketch in the show's history- a dissection of obsessive fandom, "The Guy Who Plays Mr. Belvedre Fan Club." [CLICK HERE for complete transcript and pictures.]

Doug: Yeah, I'd like to say, partly to talk about it, and partly to let the new guy in on the mood here a little bit. Uh.. Mr. Belvedere is.. the light of my life. Um.. I know I speak for the others.. uh, when I say he is.. so amazing.. you know? And, uh.. he's just.. I wish.. you know.. I wish I could know him more, you know? Because.. he.. he is one of a kind, you know? He's.. I think about him all the time, and.. well, I'm wondering - should we kill him?

For more on SNL, see here and here.