The Women of "SNL"

One thing "Saturday Night Live" doesn't have to worry about: lines at the women's restroom. This season, two more ladies -- Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad -- will join the SNL lineup, but two women are also leaving. Michaela Watkins and Casey Wilson were let go on Friday. Historically, comediennes have made up less than a third of the not-ready-for-primetime players. The NBC show didn't start out that way: In 1975, the gender split was 50-50, but then the ladies lost ground. At the lowest point, women were afterthoughts, but some much-needed estrogen shots dragged SNL into the 21st century and into a new golden age. So, as hopeful late-night fans pass out pink cigars for the newbies, let's take a moment to salute the most memorable ladies of SNL.Friday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Gilda Radner (1975-1980): Romanticizing Radner’s always a risk: She was an OG, had an incredible love story with Gene Wilder, and died far too soon at age 42 from ovarian cancer. But any look back proves her manic energy infused the show not just with life: She turned out to be SNL’s conscience and soul. Radner inhabited neighborhood personalities -- the workaday innocents and sweet misfits -- and played their vulnerability with true affection. The stage performer once wrote in a magazine that the "last thing that I wanted was to be tragic." Short as her time was, Radner had too much life for that. SPECIALTIES: Roseanne Roseannadanna, Emily Litella, Baba WawaFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Jane Curtin (1975-1980): In the asylum that included John Belushi and Gilda Radner, Curtin played it straight-laced, the WASP always ready to blow. She was the first Weekend Update anchor (right when Barbara Walters became first evening news co-anchor). There, she received one of SNL's most famous lines: "Jane, you ignorant slut." Off-screen, the not-so-funny line she heard from costars Belushi and Chevy Chase was that women weren't funny. She more than survived, and after SNL found steady work in sitcoms ("Kate & Allie," "3rd Rock From the Sun"), and her latest gig was looking eerily like Diane Keaton in the film comedy, "I Love You, Man." SPECIALTIES: Weekend anchor, Prymaat Conehead, Enid LoopnerFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Mary Gross (1981-1985): An evocative but mostly forgotten name from SNL's early days, Gross deserves a shout-out not just for reviving 'The Little Rascals" for a new generation, but also being one of the show's rare female writers. That era belonged to Eddie Murphy, and everyone else was merely shadows. After SNL, Gross busied herself with supporting roles in 1980s film comedies, before heading back to TV as Mrs. Quick in "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch"; recurring character Leigh Swift in "Boston Legal"; and Aunt Raylene in "General Hospital." SPECIALTIES: Alfafa, Siobhin Cahil, Chi ChiFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1982-1985): Producer Lorne Michaels was away, and the boys' club became a boys' asylum. These were the tough days for women in SNL -- in fact, it was tough if you weren't Eddie Murphy. With oversized personalities crowding out the ensemble, most people forget a very young Louis-Dreyfus paid her dues playing parts like Consuela. She impressed at least one person: a writer named Larry David who was creating a show called "Seinfeld." Now, she's her own woman with "The New Adventures of Old Christine." SPECIALTIES: Consuela, The Julia Show, Linda RonstadtFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Nora Dunn (1985-1990): Part of the "Lorne Michaels is back" days of stability, Dunn may be better known for boycotting an episode guest-hosted by a comedian named Andrew Dice Clay (and Sinead O'Connor followed her lead). Not all agreed with Dunn -- including coworker Victoria Jackson -- and the publicity actually swelled the ratings. Still, she made her stand against comic abuse and made her permanent exit once her contract was up. Now, after one-woman shows and bad movie choices ("Air Bud 2"), Dunn's into stage directing. SPECIALTIES: Pat Stevens, Babette, the Sweeney SistersFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Jan Hooks (1986-1994): At long last, someone who could fill Gilda Radner's shoes…and Dan Aykroyd's too. An election year helped Hooks to stand out,with her come-hither takes on "60 Minutes" correspondent Diane Sawyer and conniving turns as Nancy Reagan as Mrs. Robinson. She did dead-on impressions of about 34 other personalities,and was half the lounge act the Sweeney Sisters, which scored the opening number at the 1998 Emmy Awards. Her departure for the CBS sitcom "Designing Women" helped fuel Us magazine's 1994 epitaph, "The Incredible Shrinking Women of SNL," and prodded producer Michaels' hiring spree: a record six females. Out of the limelight for years now, Hooks now qualifies as SNL's most underrated. SPECIALTIES: Diane Sawyer, Ivana Trump, Kathy Lee GiffordFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Julia Sweeney (1990-1994): Once an aspiring accountant, she survived the dark period of SNL, partly by taking refuge as the androgynous Pat. There were highlights, like getting a stern letter from Hillary Clinton for impersonating daughter Chelsea, but Sweeney left before she 'got bitter.' She took her genderless wonder to bookstores and the big screen, but "It's Pat" fell to the litter of failed SNL-inspired films. Particularly tough times -- including her brother's death and her cervical cancer -- made her an atheist and creator of successful one-woman shows, "God Said, Ha!" and "Letting Go of God." Sweeney's found steady work in movies and TV, and her falsetto can sometimes be heard as a panelist on the NPR quiz show, "Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me." SPECIALTIES: Pat, Geraldine, Mea CulpaFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Cheri Oteri (1995-2000): There are stars, there are standouts, and there are the workhorses who get the job done. By Season 21, a bleak SNL was inspiring limp ratings and more articles about disenfranchised women. Enter the cheerleading team of Will Ferrell and Oteri, from the same Groundlings comedy troupe who spawned Jon Lovitz, Phil Hartman, and Laraine Newman. The petite Oteri wrote her own sketches out of self-preservation, and critics declared Season 23 the year of the woman. Oteri moonlighted in films like "Inspector Gadget" and "Scream" but, unlike old pal Ferrell, her post-SNL talents have gone into voice work. SPECIALTIES: Cheerleader Ariana, Rita the Porch Woman, Judge JudyFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Molly Shannon (1995-2001): Shannon was part of a second wave of funny women who really shaped -- and saved -- SNL. Her brand of Irish Catholic humor hit a sweet spot with her schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher. Between pratfalls in plaid skirts and sniffing armpits, Shannon captured that horribly funny line of obsession and insanity. Despite the carcasses of SNL characters who didn’t survive the leap to the big screen, the wild child took her padded white underpants to "Superstar," where Mary Katherine took her final fall. Shannon's work has been up ("Year of the Dog") and down ("Kath and Kim"), but she’s still in play. SPECIALTIES: Mary Katherine Gallagher, Sally O’Malley, Courtney LoveFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Ana Gasteyer (1996-2004): Being SNL's first pregnant woman showed how far the old boys' club had gone. Not that she had to get knocked up to prove a point: Gasteyer was one of the holy trinity (with Molly Shannon and Cheri Oteri) that brought new respect to funny ladies. Subjects of her celebrity impressions, like Martha Stewart and Celine Dion, got her invited on their shows. The SNL curse hasn't landed on her head: After a few onscreen reunions with Tina Fey, Gasteyer headed to the Great White Way in productions like "Wicked," "The Threepenny Opera," and "The Royal Family." SPECIALTIES: Kincaid, "Delicious Dish" co-host Margaret Jo McMullen, Martha StewartFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Tina Fey (1997-2006): SNL has had a fine female pedigree, but the show’s first female head writer may be its most powerful player ever -- male or female. Inspired by the likes of Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Burnett, and Tracey Ullman, Fey scored onscreen and off. The Fey Factory churned out "Mean Girls," "Baby Mama," and Emmy-magnet "30 Rock." The Internet-fueled stratospheric high came with her guest spots during the 2008 election season. She re-infused Hillary Clinton’s campaign with fleeting life, and her dead-on caricature of Sarah Palin even convinced John McCain to pick her as his running mate -- at least, for that QVC fundraiser. Nowadays, she’s just all-powerful and all knowing. SPECIALTIES: Weekend Update anchor, Sarah PalinFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Rachel Dratch (1999-2006): From the Second City feeder, alum Dratch belonged to same class as Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. Her glam counterparts get more attention, but Dratch did her share of dragging the late-night show from the brink of disaster. Less impressionist than creationist, her googly eyes lent a slightly wild bent to deceptively plain looks and deadpan characters. Her most transcendent creation: Debbie Downer, who became cultural shorthand for an incurable wet blanket. Speaking of downers: She followed Fey to "30 Rock," got dumped, was overlooked by a Vanity Fair article that featured her old crew, and has since been undeservedly underemployed. SPECIALTIES: Debbie Downer, Professor Virginia Klarvin, Abe ScheinwaldFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Maya Rudolph (2000-2009): The current era's Jan Hooks and SNL female record-holder, Rudolph's over-the-top mood swings run the gamut from teen angst to political ice princess to fashion designer diva. The daughter of a songwriter and the late singer Minnie Riperton, she's also plumbed her musical heritage for deliciously devastating lyrical parodies. The second woman to prove her fertility on the show, Rudolph has also squeezed out respectable big-screen projects like "Prairie Home Companion," "Idiocracy," and "Away We Go." SPECIALTIES: Donatello Versace, Beyonce, Whitney HoustonFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Amy Poehler (2001-2009): Gasteyer may have been the first to prove her fertility to an SNL audience, but ever-present and ever-loving Poehler carried her condition to the bitter end: The tiny fertility goddess was nine months pregnant when she roared out her infamous Sarah Palin rap. The Yang to Fey's Yin, they made SNL history by taking over the Weekend Update anchor desk in 2004. She's done everything, but her Hillary Clinton clincher during the election season got her Internet fans, With an Emmy memento, Poehler scored a buddy movie ("Baby Mama"). These days, she’s sticking to job security with season 2 of NBC's "Parks and Recreation" and lots of lucrative voice work. SPECIALTIES: Paula Abdul, Hillary Clinton, Katie CouricFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Kristen Wiig (2005-present): A mass exodus left Wiig not just as the alpha female, but the primary player: New York Magazine cranked stats to declare her Season 34's sketch leader with 5.8 appearances per record. Sure, a floundering SNL got savaged as it underwent the umpteenth makeover, but she earned a pass for her ice-bitten creations like Penelope or a glowering Silda Spitzer standing silently by her man. One Canadian critic hailed her as this gen's Dan Aykroyd, the talent glue holding up an uneven cast. All this, while moonlighting in seven movies, including "Knocked Up" and "Walk Hard." She's still on a roll with her Emmy nom. SPECIALTIES: Target Lady, Penelope, GillyFriday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM

Among the original gangsters, the talented Laraine Newman (1975-1980) may have been too much of an artiste to do the character schtick, SNL's stock and trade that makes the "Best of" DVDs. Also memorable is the deliberately ditzy Victoria Jackson (1986-1992), who distinguished herself among the post-Jan Hooks hiring spree. Since then, she's become a Christian conservative known for blogging about the current president as a socialist who wants to kill grandma. On the other side of the political spectrum, Janeane Garofalo (1994-1995) was called a sellout for joining the show. She quit rather than deal with writers who told her they didn't "write for women," but she still defends the SNL experience. Garofalo didn't suffer too much for being invisible there, and neither did Laurie Metcalf (1981), Sarah Silverman (1993-1994), and Joan Cusack (1985-1986).Friday, September, 4, 2009, 9:4 PM