Who: Beck Bennett

Cast Member Since: 2013

34-year old Beck Bennett is the type of Saturday Night Live cast member who won’t be fully appreciated until he’s gone. Why do I say this? Consider the fact Bennett has been in every single episode of SNL since he first joined that cast in 2013. That is over 120 episodes in a row where Bennett has either appeared on screen, in a pre-filmed segment, or as a voice over/announcer. Perfect attendance awards on SNL are rare considering the limited air time available — not to mention the cast’s ever-increasing side projects — so what Bennett has managed here should not be downplayed.

Looking back, SNL fans weren’t quite sure what to expect when Bennett arrived nearly seven years ago fresh off a series of AT&T commercials. Hired alongside Kyle Mooney and editor/director Dave McCary (who, along with Bennett, collectively made up the bulk of the comedy troupe Good Neighbor), a logical assumption was that this new trio would be filling the void left by the departing Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone’s Lonely Island. This was certainly true early on with videos like “Dancing” and “I Know,” but Bennett quickly branched out into a Darrell Hammond/Bill Hader type role that made him the go-to guy for playing generic dads or game show hosts, or providing commercial voice overs or anything else requiring narration. With this came a rare sense of job security not everyone at SNL is lucky enough to fall into.

In addition to the utility roles, Bennett is also just shy of 50 unique impressions. This nearly ties him for third place with Cecily Strong’s 55 impressions among current cast members (Kenan Thompson and Kate McKinnon are in the top two spots with 138 and 81 respectively). Bennett steadily adds to this total each season, with 2018-2019 seeing him take over Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from Taran Killam, as well as fresh takes on actor Sam Elliott, former US Senator Orrin Hatch and Attorney General William Barr. But despite his wide range of personalities, Bennett’s most recurring impressions under the Trump Administration continue to be Vice-President Mike Pence (17 total appearances), Russian President Vladimir Putin (11 total appearances) and CNN’s Jake Tapper (7 appearances). One almost has to wonder if Bennett will vote Trump in 2020 just to keep these characters going.

The 2018-2019 season also saw Bennett introduce two original characters: Weekend Update correspondent Jules (who sees things…a little differently) and Jared (1/2 of the newly recurring Brothers sketch with Mooney). These can be added alongside Bennett’s other most memorable creations: Casey from Inside SoCal and Richard Patterson (aka: Baby Boss). Neither of those have been seen since 2016, so perhaps the upcoming 2019-2020 season will offer a new check-in?

Looking ahead to Bennett’s seventh season, I honestly do not expect much to change for him. Trump’s 4th year in office will keep him plenty busy with Putin and Pence, and SNL surely won’t be dropping his bread & butter game show and commercial parodies for its 45th season. If anything, one can hope more of his and Mooney’s digital shorts make it to air. In reviewing what typically gets cut for time over these past few years, these pre-filmed segments are easy to chop first. Worst!

While we look ahead to 2020 and Bennett’s role in Bill & Ted Face the Music, enjoy some of his Season 44 standout work:

Sketch: Bayou Benny’s Liberal Lagniappe

Episode: Seth Meyers/Paul Simon (10/13/18)

Note: While somewhat of a retread of the Jason Sudeikis character from 2009’s amazing Potato Chip sketch, Bennett takes the southern stereotype into an unexpected political direction. The results are one of the funnier topical sketches during an otherwise uneven year of covering the Trump White House.

Filmed Segment: First Impression

Episode: Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons (12/8/18)

Note: Playing Pence, Putin, etc. probably gets grating week after week. Thankfully, Bennett gets to let the freaky side of his sense of humor play in the open in moments like this one. “Where is that little turd?”

SNL REPORT CARD / BECK BENNETT: 4 Coneys

SCALE:

4 Coneys = Excellent / 3 Coneys = Good / 2 Coneys = Needs Improvement / 1 Coney = Worst

Jason Nummer still wonders what a second SNL season with Brooks Wheelan would have been like. You can follow him on Twitter at @jrnummer.

Where to stream Saturday Night Live