Two certain criteria need to be met: 1) no cast members before 1990, because I didn't watch the show before that time, and 2) no members of the current cast.
Molly Shannon (1995-2001)
It may come as a surprise that Molly Shannon is the only female cast member on my list. A bigger surprise may be that I chose her over the likes of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
It all comes down to original characters, and thats why Molly is on the list and why I always found her so funny.
My favourite Shannon character, by far, is pictured above. Sally O'Malley. "I like to KIIIICK.. PUNCH, annnnd KIIIIICK!" I'm FIFTY... FIFTY YEARS OLD!" It makes me laugh out loud just thinking about it.
Her most memorable character is, without a doubt, Mary-Katherine Gallagher, the ambitious, nerdy catholic school girl who dreams of a life on stage. While the character was certainly funny, it was so more in a slapstick kind of way, which is why I always preferred her more subtle characters.
No character was more subtle than her Terri Rialto, co host of the NPR radio show "Delicious Dish". Good times, good times.
Other forgotten but great Molly Shannon characters were Circe Nightshade, co-host of "Goth Talk", and Miss Colleen of "Dog Talk."
A lot of people pine of Kristen Wiig of today's SNL cast, but to me, she doesn't hold a flame to what Molly Shannon did on the show in the early 00's.
Ana Gasteyer didn't make your list either? I loved her! Molly Shannon good too though :)
ReplyDeleteAna was very funny. This list will be dominated by men, but I certainly appreciated the laughs that Ana, Rachel Dratch and Cheri Oteri delivered as well.
ReplyDeleteCool. I'm excited to see the rest!
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