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This weekend marks the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, which is headed into its 40th season. In honor of this landmark anniversary, the Decider team has been engaged in furious debates about the merits of various original characters that the Not Ready For Primetime players have performed on the show over the years. Throughout the course of this week, we’ll be counting down our list of the TOP 40 SNL CHARACTERS OF ALL-TIME (which, we should note, does NOT include impressions).

The schedule is as follows:
Today: #40-31
Wednesday, September 24: #30-21
Thursday, September 25: #20-11
Friday, September 26: The Top Ten

Now, without further ado…

40. THE FALCONER

STARRING: Will Forte
APPEARANCES: 9 (2002-2006)
WHY: “In 1992, Ken Mortimer was an advertising executive in Baltimore, Maryland. Then, for reasons known only to him, he left his wife and his career, and moved deep into the forest. Now, he is known only as…The Falconer!” So begins each and every one of Will Forte’s absurd Falconer sketches. The recurring character combines over-the-top sincerity with complete insanity (and a dash of 1980s melodrama) to create something that is beautifully bonkers. We like to think that Jennifer Lawrence is basing part of her character in the upcoming drama, Serena, on Forte’s Falconer.—Meghan O’Keefe

39. OPERA MAN

STARRING: Adam Sandler
APPEARANCES: 10 (1992-1995)
WHY: Sandler’s bits at the Weekend Update desk—Cajun Man, Gil Graham, himself—were what propelled him into superstardom, not so much his abilities as a sketch performer. Opera Man gave Sandler an ability to do what he did best at that time, which was to sing in a silly voice, and his mangling of the Italian language still gets laughs all these years later when the current events he was referencing have been long forgotten.—Mark Graham

38. THE ROXBURY GUYS, STEVE & DOUG BUTABI

STARRING: Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan
APPEARANCES: 9 (1996-1998)
WHY: We’ll admit that we never really “got” the aggressive Butabi Brothers, but they *did* get a movie out of the whole deal, so respect given. (BTW, since almost all of these clips used Haddaway’s “What Is Love,” none of them have been legally cleared to run online. Bummer!)—Mark Graham

37. GAP GIRLS

STARRING: Adam Sandler, David Spade, Melanie Hutsell, Chris Farley, Rob Schneider
APPEARANCES: 7 (1993-1995)
WHY: Early ‘90s Saturday Night Live was split into two camps. You had the polished and professional older guard that included Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, and Mike Myers, and then the young, rebellious, and goofy David Spade, Chris Farley, Adam Sander, and Chris Rock. The younger guys’ humor didn’t speak to Saturday Night Live’s original baby boomer audience, but to the boomer’s babies. Case in point: Gap Girls. These raucously silly sketches not only mocked ‘90s mall culture, but used the sight gag of Spade, Farley, and Sandler in drag to catapult the sketch to new comedic heights. [Watch a Gap Girls clip on Yahoo Screen]—Meghan O’Keefe

36. SALLY O’MALLEY

STARRING: Molly Shannon
APPEARANCES: 6 (1999-2010)
WHY: Molly Shannon might very well be the most gifted and fearless physical comedienne in the history of SNL, and Sally O’Malley puts Shannon’s abilities in this arena front and center. The main joke at play here—besides her cameltoe, of course—is that Sally is both past and somehow squarely in the middle of her prime as a performer. She always acknowledges her past successes, but her confidence in her current status as a catch is unwavering. This sketch, which sees Sally take the stage at the Bada Bing of Sopranos fame, is peak O’Malley. “I’M FIFTY!”—Mark Graham

35. RICHARD LAYMER

STARRING: Rob Schneider
APPEARANCES: 13 (1991-1994)
WHY: This is one of those sketches where the premise—a guy who sits by the copy machine makes one-way conversation with his disinterested co-workers—was just dumb enough to work. This character perfectly played to Rob Schneider’s strengths, allowing him to crack wise while maintaining an air of desperation and sweetness. It was so popular—13 APPEARANCES!—that it even was repurposed for the cold open in episode 15 of season 18 (above), a sketch which also sees Mike Myers playing cult leader David Koresh.—Mark Graham

34. THE CONEHEADS

STARRING: Dan Akyroyd, Jane Curtain, Laraine Newman
APPEARANCES: 11 (1977-1979)
WHY: The Coneheads were among the first big breakout characters on SNL, but in a weird twist, they didn’t get their own movie until the mid-90s (with an awesome soundtrack to boot!), some 15 years after they last appeared on air. We’re not sure that the Coneheads’ humor has exactly stood the test of time—for example, why is it funny that Beldar always says they are “from France”?!?—but one cannot deny their iconic stature.—Mark Graham [Watch a Coneheads sketch on Yahoo Screen]

33. NAT X

STARRING: Chris Rock, Chris Farley
APPEARANCES: 9 (1990-1996)
WHY: Depending on who you ask, Chris Rock either A) never met his SNL potential or B) was so far ahead of his time that America wasn’t yet ready to handle his genius. We’re firmly in Camp B, and Nat X is the epitome of why. This sketch ran during the height of the Wayans Brothers popularity, but it’s just as biting as anything you saw on In Living Color. Special shout-out to Chris Farley, who played Sandman.—Mark Graham [Watch a Nat X sketch on Yahoo Screen]

32. TOMMY FLANAGAN

STARRING: Jon Lovitz
APPEARANCES: 19 (1985-1997)
WHY: “Yeah, that’s the ticket!” Tommy Flanagan, outspoken member of Pathological Liars Anonymous, is 100% pure Lovitz. He’s smarmy, oozes desperation, and is totally hilarious. It was tough to choose between this character and Master Thespian, but we couldn’t resist embedding this clip of Lovitz and Hanks as brothers going toe-to-toe with their lies.—Mark Graham

31. DIETER

STARRING: Mike Myers
APPEARANCES: 14 (1989-1997)
WHY: A character like this could only come out of the brain of Mike Myers, arguably the most brilliant sketch performer in the history of SNL. Dieter was the host of a German TV show called Sprockets, and the humor was so off-kilter and subversive (“Touch my monkey”) that it remains a delight to watch all these years later. The fact that the Dieter movie never materialized still makes us sad, but that empty feeling is offset by the clip we have for you above, which features Woody Harrelson!—Mark Graham

Join us tomorrow, when we’ll be counting down #30-21 of the TOP 40 SNL CHARACTERS OF ALL-TIME!