While Saturday Night Live enjoys its reputation for refusing to pull punches on-air, who knew that the show’s commitment to objectivity extended to their staff bios? I’m a huge fan of the show, but was stunned by the brutally honest (and harsh) way they’ve written about the former cast members on SNL’s site. Here are just a few of the chestnuts that are currently published online.

From Chevy Chase’s bio

“… The mega-hits “National Lampoon’s Vacation” and “Fletch” followed. The second half of the ’80s proved less successful, and Chase found his career faltering into the ’90s. His ill-fated television variety show, a number of poor professional choices, and a drunk-driving incident further removed the comic from the limelight. Today, Chase is back in top form with supporting roles in films like “Snow Day” and “Orange County.”"

I really can’t tell whether that last line is supposed to read sarcastically. In any case, this isn’t the only paragraph like this. More zingers from the official cast bio page after the jump.

CHRIS ROCK: “… An attempt at a movie career followed his departure from SNL, but it failed to catch on.”

COLIN QUINN: “… Quinn remained with the cast for a total of five seasons before leaving to start his own ill-fated sketch show… ”

DANA CARVEY: “… His career sputtered after leaving SNL… ”

EDDIE MURPHY: “… After leaving SNL, Murphy’s movie career soared to fantastic heights, but he fell into something of a slump… ”

NORM MACDONALD: “… After three years, Macdonald was famously let go from the show, but fences seem to have been mended – he soon appeared as a guest host. An uneven movie career followed… ”

ROB SCHNEIDER: “After a few false starts and a failed sitcom, things turned around when buddy Adam Sandler began casting him in his movies… though these films were largely ignored by the critics…”

AL FRANKEN: “… Franken remained with the show until 1980 when he left to try his luck in Hollywood, though there were other reasons in play for his departure. In a sketch called “”A Limo for the Lamo,” Franken made a number of disparaging remarks about NBC president Fred Silverman,”

It’s also kind of funny to see the same sassy “joke” repeated in the entries (The post on Martin Short reads “Ed Grimley, anyone?”, while the post on Cheri Oteri cleverly reads, “Arianna the cheerleader, anyone?”). And also who gets a pass. Jimmy Fallon get more praise than I would have expected for his vibrant post-SNL career. David Spade is credited with a “reasonably successful film career”, while Nora Dunn is lauded as someone who has a “steady” career and whose “plate is full for years to come.” In any case, there’s plenty more to be analyzed here at NBC.