Andy Samberg as Nicholas Cage in "Back to the Future DVD" (SNL)

Update: Adding video of just the skit (so you don't have to get through the full episode to watch it). Originally posted 11/3/10.
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Commercial - Back To The Future 25th Anniversary DVD

Fred Armisen ... Prince
Paul Brittain ... director (voice)
Abby Elliott ... Joan Cusack
Bill Hader ... Alan Alda
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Taran Killam ... Pee-Wee Herman
Taran Killam ... Gilbert Gottfried
Andy Samberg ... Nicolas Cage
Kenan Thompson ... Bill Cosby

Here it is:



Originally the video clip wasn't available by itself, so you had to watch it in the full episode at 25 minutes. And you'll be glad if you check out the first version of this commercial at 18 minutes (they had so many great impressions that they broke it into two skits). The one at 18 minutes includes Jon Hamm as Robin Williams and Jay Pharoah as Eddie Murphy (those were the most hilarious impressions, but Kristen Wiig's Jennifer Tilly was also impressive).



So Andy's Nicholas Cage isn't anything new. The shtick is funnier when he's wielding a sword or the consitution or something in the modern versions of this skit. I would have liked more jokes/references to his 80s performances. One interesting bit is that Andy's Cage cry at the end is the exact same as his Shy Ronnie cry, "Ahah!"

This is Andy's fourth impression of Nicholas Cage. His first was on 11.07.2009 on The View skit. My favorite was his 01.09.2010 portrayal on Weekend Update. Jimmy Fallon also did Cage on Jeopardy on 03.20.1999, but that was the only time Fallon did Cage, so it wasn't as successful as Andy's attempts.

This is how I'd rank the impressions in this skit:

1. Bill Hader ... Alan Alda - Wow. Bill Hader just strings this out and makes it funny. This is all Bill here. It wouldn't have been so funny if it wasn't so long and clever. Who would have thought an Alan Alda impression would be the funniest?
2. Taran Killam ... Pee-Wee Herman - Very impressive. This won over the audience. Pee-Wee has only been done on SNL in 1984 and 1985 (both by Mary Gross).
3. Kenan Thompson ... Bill Cosby - Kenan is great at Cosby, and the tone/laugh at the end really seals this.
4. Taran Killam ... Gilbert Gottfried - Funny, but it would have been better with more layers/jokes.
5. Abby Elliott ... Joan Cusack - Amazing impression, but not funny.
6. Andy Samberg ... Nicolas Cage - Again, not Andy's best Cage. It could've used more 80's references rather than a "wait 25 years" joke.
7. Fred Armisen ... Prince - Very funny, but not much of an impression. Fred just walked off. An easy joke.

Here's the first part of this skit (it was shown in two parts because they had so many good impressions):



And then the overall rank, including the version in the video above:

1. Jon Hamm ... Robin Williams
2. Bill Hader ... Alan Alda
3. Taran Killam ... Pee-Wee Herman
4. Jay Pharoah ... Eddie Murphy
5. Kenan Thompson ... Bill Cosby
6. Kristen Wiig ... Jennifer Tilly
7. Bill Hader ... Al Pacino
8. Taran Killam ... Gilbert Gottfried
9. Abby Elliott ... Joan Cusack
10. Andy Samberg ... Nicolas Cage
11. Bobby Moynihan ... Sam Kinison
12. Fred Armisen ... Prince

Agree? Disagree? How did you like these impressions?

Enjoy!