The 41st season of "Saturday Night Live" is in full swing. It kicked off a month ago with host and musical guest Miley Cyrus and a visit from Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and the upcoming November 7 show will feature the ever combative and colorful Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
The sketch-comedy show has been a pop-culture fixture since creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels started it in 1975, satirizing everything from politics to religion and hosting everyone from pop stars to presidents. But perhaps more significantly, it's served as a school of comedy that has launched the careers of many of the biggest names in entertainment.
From Adam Sandler and Mike Meyers to Amy Poehler and Jimmy Fallon, we've rounded up a list of the former cast members who've flourished the most outside of the show that made them famous.
Our list includes living SNL alumni who've achieved significant commercial success in Hollywood, whether in film, television, or both. We excluded any cast members who were on the show for one season or less (looking at you, Chevy Chase and Robert Downey Jr.) and didn't include any cast members currently on the show.
Here are the 24 most successful SNL alumni (ordered from newest to oldest), what they did on the show, and what they're up to now:
SEE ALSO: The 25 funniest SNL cast members of all time, ranked
Seth Meyers
Years on SNL: 2001-2014
Seth Meyers was a fixture behind the scenes at SNL, where he was a writing supervisor and cohead writer with fellow cast member Tina Fey, who later credited him with writing her viral Sarah Palin impressions. Meyers has been nominated nine times for Emmy Awards for his work as a writer on SNL. He was also the longest-running coanchor of Weekend Update, where he wittily criticized issues in politics and news for eight years.
Upon leaving SNL in 2014, Meyers succeeded Jimmy Fallon as host of NBC's "Late Night," welcoming fellow SNL Weekend Update coanchor Amy Poehler as his first guest.
Bill Hader
Years on SNL: 2005-2013
Hader gained fame for his portfolio of impressions, including Al Pacino, Keith Morrison, and James Carville. But his most popular and beloved recurring role was Stefon, Weekend Update's flamboyant New York City correspondent. He also starred in the hit sketch, The Californians.
During his tenure at SNL, Hader had supporting roles in several hit comedies like "Superbad,""Forgetting Sarah Marshall," and "Tropic Thunder." Since leaving SNL for Hollywood, he's starred alongside Amy Schumer in the box-office hit "Trainwreck," lent his voice to Pixar's "Inside Out," and acted in "The To Do List,"an indie comedy his wife wrote and directed.
Jason Sudeikis
Years on SNL: 2005-2013
Jason Sudeikis started as a writer on SNL in 2003, and within two years he became a featured cast member. He excelled at impressions of politicians Mitt Romney and Joe Biden as well as a handful of personalities that appeared in a popular sketch with Kristen Wiig called Two A-Holes.
During his tenure on SNL, Sudeikis starred in hit comedies "The Campaign,""Hall Pass,""The Bounty Hunter,""We're the Millers," and both "Horrible Bosses" films. From 2009 to 2013, he voiced a lead character in "Family Guy" spinoff "The Cleveland Show," and he also had a dozen-episode guest role on Tina Fey's "30 Rock."
Sudeikis has several movies in the works, including a comedy called "Masterminds" costarring Wiig.
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