to me at least the most memorable reagan was the late great phil hartman. phil hartman ronald reagan sketch that portrayed reagan in a very different light. >> the red countries are the countries we sell arms to. the green countries are the country where is we wash our money. the blue countries -- >> excuse me mr. president, sir, it's your 11:30 photo opportunity with the little girl who sold the most girl scout cookies. >> damn! let's get it over with. this is the part of the job i hate! hello, little girl what's your name? >> lisa. >> if you're that good of a sales lady maybe i could use you on capitol hill. well, it was nice meeting you. bye-bye. >> bye. >> back to work! >> that was truly reagan as people had they have seen him before. after reagan was dana carvey as george bush senior always at war with the english language. then bill clinton. there were two actors who played clinton. but phil hartman was bill clinton for the first two years. this was hartman as bill clinton. then dan ackroyd comes back as bob dole in this sketch. >> all right, hillary,

>> i have to say phil hartman. he did the cave man lawyer he did frank sinatra that was impeccable but when he did bill clinton that brought down the house. there is not too many people that can do both. bill clinton and ronald reagan. reagan was playing a dopey guy, and when people left the room they would bring in his staff, and he was leader and defining military strategy. >> with the loss of robin williams awhile ago, you think that several of them are troubled guys. it gets troubled. >> the troubled nature and the reason they resort to drugs, is there is something in them that is not together. >> and phil hartman died tragically, his wife killed him? >> and robin williams interview after interview, i think it's why a lot of comedians will tell you they use comedy because it is a completely different way than how they feel. >> the real source of so much humor is pain. >> that's why the jewish comments wrr comments, they had so much pain. those bulging eyes -- >> people like richard pryor, showing pain. >> they

it's phil hartman as bill clinton.dham clinton and then dan aykroyd. he comes back to play bob dole and this is what happened. >> all right, hillary. one more word and you're going to be a stain on the back wall. do you want to go do you? >> come on you two. come on! >> you stay out of this bill i'm doing something you should have done a long time ago. >> that was the clinton years and then take a look after clinton. of course, george w. bush. reagan, clinton, bush a lot of juicy characters for "snl" to have a lot of fun with. will ferrell, this was iconic. it started even before bush became president. the 2000 debate, pushbush versus gore. will ferrell as bush in that debate. >> in fact, we are almost out of time. i will ask each candidate to sum up in a single word the best argument for his candidacy. governor bush? >> strategery. >> in some ways a word that defined the bush presidency. after george w. bush that brings us to the seventh and final "snl" president barack obama who was played originally by fred armisen.

at one point they brought robin williams in and joe piscopo and my favorite was phil hartman, a bunchinion it was the best it got on quts zpa saturday night live. >> well, it was good see you, jimmy. >> what are you talking about? i just got here for crying out loud. >> i know but i have -- well a meeting. >> well, that's just great. i'll just stick around that's it i'll just stick around and it will be educational for me yeah. >> well jimmy, i'm sorry, you can't stay. >> come on dutch -- >> jimmy, don't make me have to kill you. >> and then there was dana carvy, no one ever did george bush 41 better than dana carvy. >> the four-year bush presidency, he had done so many bush invited him to the white house and had him do it in front of the entire white house staff. he liked it by the end. >> let's take a look at that. >> all i can say is we are on the track, we're getting the job done. we can do more but let's stay the course. 1,000 points of light. well unfortunately i see my time is up. >> mr. vice president, you still have 1:20. >> what? well, no i must have spoken for at least two

the top ten include john belushi, eddie murphy tina fey, mike myers, dan aykroyd, bill murray, phil hartmanmy poehler, gilda radner chevy chase. >> no chris farley no dana carver. >> i would not want to rank that. tough trying to pick the top ten. this is the "today" show matt lauer asking "snl" creator lorne michaels the secret to becoming a primetime player. >> the criteria i used when hiring people if it was 2:00 in the morning and i was walking down the hall and i saw who i wanted duck into another office. i think you have to have people that you can drive cross country with people who you find interesting and bright and look at things in a different way than you do. >> catch the full interview this morning on "today." as part of the "snl" extravaganza, nbc released an app with over 300 hours of clips from the show's history. the 40th anniversary special sunday night on nbc. we were talking, how can you pick the best of 40? all these years. >> you can't. that's why lists are great because you can argue them. will ferrell's got to be on the list. >> who's your favorite? >> church lady. >

. >> dan aykroyd, bill murray phil hartman, amy polar, gilda radner and chevy chase. >> chris farleycarvey? >> the "today" show's matt lauer asked lorne michaels to reveal the secret to becoming a not ready for prime time player. >> the criteria i used when hiring people if it was 2:00 in the morning and walking down the hall and saw what i wanted to duck into another office. you have to have people you can drive cross country with people you find interesting and bright and look at things a different way than you do. >> matt's full interview will air on "today." as part of "snl's" extravaganza nbc has released an app of 300 hours of clips from the show. be sure to download that. that special on sunday. "way too early" starts now. ♪ >>> we're house broken.-- heart broken, sad, but honored by all fellow americans who are supporting us. our family friends, our children were adored and loved by everybody. >> #muslimlivesmatter thousands turning out to mourn three young victims shot to death in north carolina as the community demanding answers. was this a hate crime or argument gone wrong

we've got to remember phil hartman who, oh, my god, phil hartman. >> where do you go jeremy?evision experience for me that were as delightful as watching july mywatch jimmy fallon try and fail not to laugh. >> cute, yes. absolutely. >> top ten? >> here it is. belushi, mike myers, number four. dan aykroyd, five. bill murray six. this list is crazy. seven is phil hartman. great. amy poehler at 8. guild gilda radner at five. >> no chris farley? >> chris farley is number 15. >> hater at 13. >> hater? >> that's high. >> okay. >> where is josh earn snes. >> we'll have josh chime in next. >> nominee for one of the funniest notes in the history. >> what's that? >> was that timberlake/fallon video. >> the box? i make a lot of purchases for my business. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase. like 60,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards even cash back. and my rewards po

i love dana carvey and phil hartman, but i think darrell really channels people like dick cheney.al gore bill clinton and he famously did john mccain. and he's just a natural born genius. >> you know the way the show evolved over the decades, it's become very important. "saturday night live's" political critique is really now part of the american consciousness, isn't it? >> it's ebbed and flowed. when the show first began in the early belushi days it was almost deconstructionist. it wasn't just taking on politics, it was taking on society and how we viewed tv. they would have sketches that just ended and went nowhere. it was really revolutionary stuff. as the show has grown and become more establishment, sometimes they play it safe and sometimes they go for the jugular. i became a political comedian in part because dennis miller before the fall meant so much to me and i think he's a great joke writer. i really miss the dennis miller era of just that -- the weekend update anchor desk being a place for scathing political commentary. >> it's become a necessary stop for candidates has

you had darrell hammond and phil hartman, took turns playing bill clinton in the 1990s.o, hillary clinton a present day political figure played by january hooks and bill clinton and a special appearance by dan aykroyd as bob dole. >> all right hillary, one more word out of you you'll be a stain on the back wall. want to go, do ya? >> come on! >> come on you two, come on. >> you stay out of this bill. i'm doing something you should have done a long time ago. >> dan aykroyd left the cast but would come back for that too. sarah palin played by tina fey even after she left the cast and will ferrell, george w. bush in the 2000s and a famous one and brings you to barack obama and jay pharaoh playing barack obama. another two years. see what he comes up with. >> and hopefuls are great. amy and tina doing hillary clinton and sarah palin together on the podium. so many. msnbc steve kornacki thanks for that. >>> makes you quantity to watch and watch steve every weekend on "up" on msnbc. this sunday don't miss a special "snl" roundtable featuring former performers and writers. if y

one, just phil hartman, imagining what a force he would be in comedy today. >> he could read the yelloweresting about the audition tapes is they actually showed they had auditioned stephen colbert and andy kaufman. nobody can bat 1,000. it is interesting to see stephen colbert doing that stuff now. >> absolutely. kevin hart could have been on the show. they could have had anybody, but the people they picked were incredible. thank you so much. as we head to break one last memorable moment from a night full of them. >> "snl" is known for its amazing catch phrase from its characters. >> sometimes i worry characters lean too heavily on catch phrases instead of original comedy. >> no way. >> way. >> no way. >> way. >> schwing and scene. >>> it's time for the "your business entrepreneur of the week." chip thompkins is owner of we think in ink. he allowed customers to place as small print orders as they like. for more, watch "your business" on sunday morning at 8:30. don't leave home without it! and someday, i may even use it on the moon. it's a marvelous thing! oh! haha! so you can replace pl

phil hartman spoofed that perfectly, showing imexplaining the conflict in somalia while also trying tooved. let's see that. >> do you favor the decision to send military forces to somalia? >> that's a good question. yes, i do. let me tell you why. see, right now we're sending food to somalia, but it's not getting to the people who need it because it's being intercepted by war lords. filet o' fish sandwich italy, war lord. . >> what do you think about "snl's" constant interaction with politics? >> i think you saw that during the sarah palin campaign. the minute she stepped on to the stage, tina fey had to sit up a little straighter. >> speaking of that we have a little bit of that to play. let's take a look at tina fey as sarah palin. >> you went to the u.n. for the first time. how was that experience? >> oh, you know, it was just amazing. so many interesting people. though i have to say, i was disheartened by how many of them were foreigners. i promise that when senator mccain and i are elected, we're going to get those jobs back in american hands. >> i mean this impersonation was so d

>> phil hartman was big for me. phil hartman was the guy. dana carvy was huge. was laughing and my parents were like i don't get this. i was like this is my thing now. >> during the season they would get nervous. not just another nervous. >> my wife would have to come down and do a breathing technique that she learned in lamaze class. through the whole time it never got easy. >> he does not know what his role will be. >> i had no idea. i said what are you doing? he said i don't know. do you know what you are doing? we are all successing saying does anybody know anything? >> it's sadistic. bill can't wait to see you sunday night. snl's 40th anniversary special is hosted by all of us at 7:00 6:00 central. figure skating star ashley wagner is live on the rink. she is truly brave. she and her father are here. first this is "today" on nbc. . >>> back now with our ongoing shine a light series. hoda teamed up with cindy lauper to create brave, a new song and video as a project to raise money for pediatric cancer. hoda is with us with an update. >> this celebrity in her