Saturday Night Live has been on the air for almost 50 years; that’s a whole lot of Saturdays filled with laughter and a whole lot of comedians making regular appearances on TV screens. There have been plenty funny faces. SNLOver the years, however, there have been some notable changes. Names really stand outHave These iconic skits are still popular with fans. Molly Shannon was one such performer, who rocked it for 16 years with her hilariously cringeworthy characters. Shannon now looks back at her time with SNLTalks about the character she struggled to sell to the network in order to have her character appear on the show.
I’m definitely not talking about Molly Shannon’s iconic Mary Katherine GallagherBecause the awkward Catholic schoolgirl is undoubtedly one of the most influential characters Starting at SNLIn the ‘90s. No, apparently one of Shannon’One of her less-recognisable characters was the one she pitched twice as a producer. Interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the comedic actress reveals that Jeannie Darcy, the incredibly unfunny stand-up comedian, was a character she pushed for even though she knew it wouldn’t get very many laughs. In her own words, here it is:
This was the most difficult to sell. I sent it to the read-through. It didn’t go through. You will never do it again. It’s embarrassing and you’re just not supposed to do it. Mike Shoemaker seemed to be able to answer my question. ‘Oh, well, all right.’It went on, but it was difficult because people were like. ‘What is this?’That was my reaction when I realized that I would always get a laugh.
Molly Shannon explained that Jeannie Darcy was the real reason she wanted to be with her. SNLIn fact, her debut was made for fellow cast members. She was a great performer and gave her fans lots of laughs. SNLJeannie Darcy was interestingly, comedic material intended for Will Ferrell or Jimmy Fallon. Shannon explains the exact situation as follows:
It was the end to my time at SNL. I wanted something boring that didn’t get any laughs and was able to really show the authenticity of the situation. She’s just a girl who’s not talented who shouldn’t be in comedy, maybe on the spectrum, but she is driven and really sticking to it. Jimmy Fallon and Will Ferrell were the only ones who made me laugh. They were the only ones who could do it.
Molly Shannon was very active SNLWill Ferrell met Ferrell at the same moment, and they had a very close friendship. Ferrell played in a lot of her Mary Katherine Gallagher skits as a priest, in fact, and the two have amazing on-screen chemistry and very similar comedy styles, so it’s no wonder that Shannon would fight so hard for an inside joke on SNLFerrell with Jimmy Fallon (who was also part) SNLIt was cast at that moment and basically laughed at every thing anyway
Jeannie Darcy, despite being a brief-lived character, was still remembered by some. SNLFans still know one of her catchphrases: “Don’t get me started.” That’s a feeling I can relate to, although in a different way – don’t even get me started about some of Molly Shannon’s other SNLShe brought comedy to life with her characters and her feminine power!
Molly Shannon’s time on SNLHer comedy career is far from over. She’s remained pretty busy over the years, and has a number of projects coming up. You may recognize her voice on Bob’s BurgersAs the ever-cringey Millie, you can keep an eye out for her in Spin Me Round A good personBoth of these are films she is involved in in the future. Most recently, though, you can see her in HBO’s The White LotusAlongside other iconic comedian faces.