Why We Need to Celebrate the Many Great Women of SNL
On Monday evening, Tina Fey dedicated her Elle Women in Hollywood award to "sweet Jan Hooks," who had died two weeks earlier, at the age of 57. "It made me sad when she passed, and it made me mad at the time how available she was," Fey said of hiring Hooks to play Jenna Maroney's mother on 30 Rock. "Jan should have had a bigger career. Jan deserved a big movie career.", The Saturday Night Live clips media used to celebrate Hooks were both hilarious and touching. They were also 20 years old. Hooks left the show after five seasons 1986-91, then went on to star on Designing Women and later landed a recurring role on Third Rock From the Sun. But by 2000, at the age of 43, this remarkably versatile actress was booking mostly voice-over and guest-star spots. Very few women from SNL have gone on to "a big movie career." Of course, Fey did, along with Amy Poehler and Kristen Wiig. And in TV, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is in a class all her own, with 18 Emmy nominations and five wins for three different roles. Still, their success stories are the exceptions to Hooks' rule. This is partially a numbers game. In SNL's 40-year history, male performers have outnumbered females almost 2 to 1 83 men to 45 womenmake that 46 after this week's promotion of writer Leslie Jones. Not only have more men been hired, but they also stayed longer. A list of cast members who spent eight seasons or more on the show includes 14 men and only two women. The cast didn't begin so off-kilter. For its first six seasons, SNL averaged four men and three women. The men got more screen time, but there was an attempt to keep the genders close to equal. By the late 1980s, that effort had been abandoned. The number of male performers began to balloon until the 199091 season, which included 13 men and still only three women. As Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler might say Really?!?, This lopsided pattern held for a decade. Even during the Fey-Poehler heyday, women held four to five slots while men grabbed nine to 11. The current season's main cast is the first in 35 years to be split 50-50. That's great newsif you consider going back to the way things were in 1979 to be great news. Still, five of the seven featured players are men. Since future cast members tend to be promoted from the ranks, the balance may once again tip male. It also took an Internet uproar to pressure the show into hiring an African-American woman. And good thing they did because Sasheer Zamata has been a highlight. Recently, Sarah Silverman returned to host and poked fun at her younger self posing as a curious audience member. It was a good reminder of how many insanely talented female performers lasted only a single seasonor in Laurie Metcalf's case, a single episode. Jenny Slate, Janeane Garofalo, Michaela Watkins, Christine Ebersole and many other one-year wonders have gone on to success, making SNL just a footnote in their careers. But a lot of other women fall into the same category as Hooks, who excelled on SNL but fell short of "a bigger career." So instead of waiting for these gifted women to be praised posthumously, let's celebrate some former SNL cast members right here, right now. Each spent more than a season on the show, and while they continue to work, we'd like to see more of them. , MOLLY SHANNON, It's hard to accept that Sally O'Malley is actually 50 50! years old. During her seven-season tenure, Molly Shannon could kick and stretch and disappear into any character. Since departing in 2001, she has worked steadily but hasn't yet achieved the superstar status that Mary Katherine Gallagher deserves.