<P> Lighter colors denote "featured players" versus repertory cast members . </P> <P> These are the cast members who have spent at least ten seasons on the show . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Performer </Th> <Th> No. of seasons </Th> <Th> Notes </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Kenan Thompson </Td> <Td> 15 </Td> <Td> Thompson holds the record of being the longest - tenured cast member in the show's history, having been a cast member since 2003 . He is also the first person born after SNL's premiere in 1975 to have joined the cast (he was born in 1978). Thompson is also the only current cast member who was hired in the 2000s to still be on the show . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Darrell Hammond </Td> <Td> 14 </Td> <Td> Hired after a cast overhaul in 1995, he is the last cast member hired in the 1990s to leave the show, and the oldest cast member to leave the show (age 53 when he left the show in 2009). In 2014, Hammond returned to the show where he replaced Don Pardo as the show's announcer after Pardo's death, and often appears in sketches, reprising old roles such as Donald Trump and Bill Clinton . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Seth Meyers </Td> <Td> 13 </Td> <Td> He joined the show in 2001 . In 2006, he starting anchoring Weekend Update and in 2012, his tenure on Weekend Update reached its seventh season, making him the longest - serving Weekend Update anchor (breaking the records held by Dennis Miller and Tina Fey). He continued to anchor Update until he left the show in February 2014 to take over hosting duties for Late Night . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Fred Armisen </Td> <Td> 11 </Td> <Td> Armisen joined the show in 2002, and left at the end of season 38 in 2013 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Al Franken </Td> <Td> Hired as a writer in the beginning of the series, as the show progressed, he and Tom Davis were allowed to perform material on - air sporadically, starting in 1977 . He left the show in 1980, but returned to the show when Lorne Michaels came back in 1985, regaining his writing and on - air featured status, and came back in the finale episode of season 11 in 1986, and after a few years off, he came back for on - and - off featured status in 1988 and stayed until 1995 . Later elected the junior United States Senator from Minnesota in 2009, and then he resigned in Jan. 2018 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Tim Meadows </Td> <Td> 10 </Td> <Td> Meadows joined the show in early 1991 . He left the show at the end of the season 25, which ended in 2000, after ten seasons on the show . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> Performer </Th> <Th> No. of seasons </Th> <Th> Notes </Th> </Tr>

Who is the longest running snl cast member