Since its premiere exactly 25 years ago today, Saturday Night Live’s “More Cowbell” has consistently been cited as one of the greatest sketches in the show’s history. While there are fans who can recite every line from the five-minute segment, even they may be surprised to learn just how long each of its stars appeared on screen.
Scroll down to see how the seven billed performers in “More Cowbell” (sorry, Speedy) stack up against each other in terms of screen time. Note that our calculation method prioritizes face time, meaning that contiguous (offscreen but in-scene) moments and partial body appearances do not count.
Will Ferrell – 4:23 / 79.22%
No surprise here: Will Ferrell’s fictional cowbell player Gene Frenkle is the most prominent character in “More Cowbell,” seen on screen for nearly 80% of the sketch. Famously, Ferrell also wrote the sketch, and is said to have saved it by swapping out a smaller size shirt between dress and air.
Jimmy Fallon – 4:07 / 74.40%
Despite delivering only two lines in the entire sketch Jimmy Fallon remains in frame for most of the sketch’s running time. In a 2010 interview with Larry King, Fallon likened working with Ferrell in this sketch to “looking in the eyes of a lunatic,” calling him “the funniest man on Earth.”
Chris Parnell – 3:35 / 64.76%
Playing Eric Bloom of Blue Öyster Cult, Chris Parnell spoke nearly 100 words during “More Cowbell,” which was about 40 less than Ferrell and 140 less than host Christopher Walken. The remaining three actors who physically appeared in the sketch spoke fewer than 20 words apiece.
Christopher Walken – 3:28 / 62.65%
SNL‘s April 8th, 2000 episode was Walken’s fourth of seven times hosting. Record producer Bruce Dickinson was the first of seven characters he played that night. The others included Cuban president Fidel Castro and hapless lothario The Continental.
Chris Kattan – 3:07 / 56.33%
This was the first of three episodes Walken hosted during Chris Kattan’s eight-season tenure as a cast member. They technically appeared on screen together once each time, with their subsequent shared sketches having been built around Kattan’s recurring characters Mango and Buddy Mills.
Horatio Sanz – 2:50 / 51.20%
Along with Fallon and Parnell, Horatio Sanz had just been promoted from featured to repertory status six months before “More Cowbell” aired. Unlike the rest of the actors in the sketch, Sanz appeared in no other segments that night.
Darrell Hammond – 0:12 / 3.61%
Though he was a cast member at the time, current SNL announcer Darrell Hammond delivered this sketch’s opening narration. His only physical appearance on the show that night was in the sketch that immediately followed “More Cowbell,” entitled “Elian the Cuban Boy.”
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