In its 40 years of scouting talent from The Groundlings, Second City, and standup clubs, SNL has never felt any competition in the major leagues of comedy star-making. When The Daily Show debuted on Comedy Central in 1996, however, Lorne Michaels and company finally met their match, with stars like Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Rob Corddry, and Ed Helms all carving out their niches on the mock news show. Over the summer these two worlds officially collided when The Daily Show poached SNL writer Michael Che and elevated him to onscreen status as its newest correspondent, only to see Che swap back to SNL to take over Weekend Update co-anchoring duties. Aside from Che, five other performers have spent time at both The Daily Show and SNL; here they are in no particular order:
A. Whitney Brown
SNL cast member: 1986-1991
Daily Show correspondent: 1996-1998
Brown’s satirical news style found better company after leaving SNL in 1991; he capitalized on his recognition by publishing The Big Picture: An American Commentary the same year, then had a contributing writer gig for Comedy Central’s Exit 57 (starring Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris, and Paul Dinello) and a correspondent spot on the Craig Kilborn Daily Show from 1996-1998. (Read More)
Rob Riggle
SNL cast member: 2004-2005
Daily Show correspondent: 2006-2008
Riggle’s career opened up a year after he left SNL when he landed a spot as a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2006-2008, where he covered everything from the war in Afghanistan to the Beijing Olympics (“Rob Riggle: Chasing the Dragonâ€). While on the show, Riggle started working on a stand-up act and credits fellow Daily Show correspondent John Oliver with encouraging him to perform in New York; he’s toured comedy clubs across the country ever since. (Read More)
Nancy Walls
SNL cast member: 1995-1996
Daily Show correspondent: 1999-2002
While Koecher continued appearing in plenty of popular films and shows, Walls began a regular correspondent gig on The Daily Show in 1999, where she often delivered reports alongside husband Carell like “Dollars and Cents†or “We Love Showbiz.†She held the gig alongside fellow correspondents like Stephen Colbert and Mo Rocca until 2002. (Read More)
Laura Kightlinger
SNL cast member: 1994-1995
Daily Show correspondent: 1999 (1 appearance)
In addition to her many film and TV roles in films like Run Ronnie Run (starring David Cross), Daddy Day Care, and 2001’s Pootie Tang written and directed by Louis C.K., she also made an appearance as a contributing correspondent on The Daily Show in 1999. Her collaboration with C.K. continued with his shortly-lived HBO sitcom Lucky Louie in 2006, then she took her own turn at leading a show by creating, writing, and starring in her own show The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman, which ran for two seasons on IFC from 2006-2007 and earned her a Satellite Award nom for Best Actress in a Series, Comedy, or Musical, as well as praise from Time as “the kind of drawling feminist sarcasm rarely seen since Roseanne left sitcomdom.†(Read More)
Jerry Minor
SNL cast member: 2000-2001
Daily Show correspondent: 2000 (1 appearance)
Starting the following year, Minor appeared as various bit characters on Cedric the Entertainer Presents, Primetime Glick, Trigger Happy TV, The Man Show, and Crossballs before a one-time Daily Show correspondent gig in 2000, appearing in Odenkirk’s Fox pilot Next in 2002, a recurring role as Officer Carter on Arrested Development from 2004-2005, and as Louie’s neighbor Walter on C.K.’s Lucky Louie, which ran on HBO for one season in 2006. (Read More)