The Women Of Saturday Night Live

I've been a dedicated fan of Saturday Night Live for about 20 years....
Yes, yes -- I know that the show hasn't been good since the days of Belushi or Murphy or Carvey or Farely (or whoever represents the era in which you last enjoyed it), but I still watch every week. Why??? Because I love sketch comedy and, gull-dangit, I stick with things through thick and thin once I've decided that I want to support them...even if they suck.


From the glory years of the early-90s, to the dark days of the early 2000s, I have loyally tuned in to Saturday Night Live each week. It's sort of my dream job to write for the show, and on Sunday mornings I'm always on the relevant message boards arguing with other fans about the merits of the previous evening's sketches. I also enjoy analyzing the performances of the program's various hosts. You can learn a lot about a celebrity from how he or she does on SNL -- someone who might seem stuffy can turn out to be a great sport, and a well-respected actor can completely bomb.

Another major reason to watch the show is its cast. It's no secret that SNL has indeed produced some of the biggest comedy stars of the past couple decades. Will Ferrel, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock -- all highly successful, and all Saturday Night Live graduates. I notice all new cast members from the moment their names are first announced during the Featured Players portion of each week's opening credits, and try to predict which ones will come to dominate. The current cast, I think, is very strong; many of its players are talented enough to deserve success. Among my favorites are Bill Hader, Will Forte, and Kristen Wiig.

And that last one brings up an issue: the WOMEN from Saturday Night Live almost never become as famous as the men. In fact, Tiny Fey is the only one I can think of who has gone on to be a household name...and she's just doing a TV show, not big-time movies. Why don't the funny CHICKS become as famous as the funny DUDES on SNL???

Now, I'm not pretending to be some sort of Mr. Sensitive, Crying-While-Combing-His-Ponytail-And-Reading-Ms-Magazine sort of feminist guy here; I'm just SAYIN' that Saturday Night Live HAS had quite a few talented women pass through over the years, and it strikes me as odd that none of them grew into huge movie stars. Certainly, Cheri OTeri, for example, was just as funny as Will Ferrell (if not more so). So, why is HE the one getting 20-million bucks a pop to do the same Judd Apatow movie over and over, and not her?

Well, there are several reasons that I can identify. First of all, the mass market for comedic films just isn't aimed much at the female demographic, and most of the bigger, wacky character-driven comedies were written by men. For instance, it's hard to imagine Anchorman even being MADE if it had been about a chick (although, now that I think about it, that DOES sound kind of funny). The studios would have blown it off, figuring the picture too stupid for a female audience, and the concept would have been forgotten. How about Dodgeball? Dumb and Dumber??? Nah, women aren't really the demographic for those flicks -- they're made BY guys FOR guys, and therefore when you see someone on the big screen hamming it up in an over-the-top concept role, it's always gonna be a dude. Cheri Oteri would not have been so much as considered for the role of, say, Derrek Zoolander.

Additionally, the FEMALE roles in such movies are always played straight for some reason, as though the screenwriters think they require "normal" women to balance out the wackiness of their masculine heroes. Therefore, Zoolander's girlfriend doesn't need to be funny, and they're probably not going to cast a funny woman in the part. Instead, they'll go with someone who's just pretty and relatively unobtrusive, which once again means that Ms. Oteri is outta luck.

Oh, but how about the few comedies that ARE geared towards women, you ask??? "Certainly, there are some. I've SEEN 'em!" you say. Well, here's the problem: while there ARE comedies made for women, the vast majority of them don't require a star with the particular skill set of a Saturday Night Live cast member. That is, most of the comedic films aimed at females tend to be, like, Sex And The City stuff. You know -- a bunch of ladies sitting around talking about relationships and love and other boring blah blah. You don't need any special comedic talent (like Cheri OTeri's) for that and, ONCE AGAIN, film studios are just going to cast actresses based off their looks. Improv training isn't necessary or even desired for Little Black Book; the crowd just wants a pretty face.


Which is, of course, really the heart of the problem: for the most part, to be a successful woman in Hollywood, one must be exceptionally good-looking. Whether you're playing the love interest in a goofball comedy, or the lead in a romantic comedy, your most important asset will be the attractiveness of your face. Hollywood wants someone beautiful, charismatic, and (maybe) somewhat talented; stealing scenes with an inspired burst of comedic energy will rarely be in the cards for the ladies. If it was, then Cheri Oteri would indeed be a big star because that's her talent.

Anyway, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge some of my favorite FEMALE Saturday Night Live cast members. Each one, I'm sure, deserves to be just as successful as the Adam Sandlers, David Spades, and Rob Schneiders...and next to each of their names is an explanation for why they're not:

--Cheri Oteri (too weird; not good-looking enough)
--Molly Shannon (a little creepy; not good-looking enough; DID have a really funny show, but it got canceled)
--Ana Gasteyer (weird nose; not good-looking enough)
--Victoria Jackson (too weird; too religious)
--Maya Rudolph (actually, I'm not sure what happened here)
--Ellen Cleghorne (too easily confused with Foghorn Leghorn; not good-looking enough)
--Julia Sweeney (too intelligent; not thin enough)
--Janeane Garofalo (too mean; not thin enough; not good-looking enough)
--Sarah Silverman (let's just skip her because she's a possible exception)
--Gilda Radner (dead; not good-looking enough)

Oh, and then there's one of my very favorites, current cast member Kristen Wiig. I could tell she was special the first time I saw her on SNL, and watched with approval as she became more and more prominent on the show. Although the frequency of her appearances may be starting to wear on some viewers, I suspect that Kristen has what is necessary to move on to bigger and better things. Could she be the exception???

She's off to a somewhat decent start, having appeared in a number of noteworthy films already...like THIS one:

Extract (2009)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1225822/


Netflix description:
Encouraged by his friend, Dean (Ben Affleck), factory owner Joel (Jason Bateman) considers escaping his problems -- an assembly-line accident, a potential lawsuit and a sexless marriage, for starters -- by taking up with the gorgeous new temp, Cindy (Mila Kunis). But does Cindy have something nefarious up her sleeve? Kristen Wiig and J.K. Simmons co-star in writer-director Mike Judge's (Office Space) latest work-set, comedic social commentary.

So, here we have yet another movie from Mike Judge that slipped in and out of theaters without anyone noticing because the studio failed to promote it properly. Yup, Judge reportedly fought with the big-wigs over this one, just as he did with the criminally-overlooked Idiocracy, and they got back at him by making its release as low-key as possible. That's a shame because Extract is really quite the little gem.

It's about a guy named Joel (Jason Bateman) who owns a food additive factory. He's a bit overworked and somewhat frustrated by his wife's apparent lack of a physical interest in him, so he starts spending more and more time away from home and hanging out in a bar owned by his friend, Dean (Ben Affleck). Well, one day, a cute little strumpet by the name of Cindy (Mila Kunis) shows up at his factory, and flirts with him in a pretty hardcore fashion. She's been hired in as a temporary replacement for another of Joel's employees who recently suffered a nasty on-the-job injury, and little does Joel realize that the woman's actually a con artist looking to suck his operation dry (more on that later).

Anyway, Joel's feeling a rather intense urge to cheat on his wife (Wiig) with this new little tart, but hesitates for obvious reasons. That's when best pal Dean talks him into springing a trap on the wifey: hire a professional male "escort" to pose as the new pool boy, and see if SHE'S willing to have an affair. If Wife takes the bait, Dean reasons, then Joel is morally free to mess around all he wants. Hey, it sounded like a good idea when the two of them had sucked down a few six packs!

While this is going on, Joel has to manage the task of saving his business, as the previously-mentioned injured employee is now suing him basically into bankruptcy. Turns out that this guy (Clifton Collins Junior) is being egged on by none other than Cindy the would-be mistress, who is ALSO responsible for several petty thefts around the factory that have led to racial tension among employees. CAN Joel convince his workers not to strike? WILL he repair his marriage?? IS the factory going to be sold to a larger company???

I won't answer any of these questions for you, as you really ought to check out Extract yourself. This film may sound convoluted on paper, but its story actually plays out quite well, as Mike Judge paces each revelation carefully, and performances across the board are balanced and charming. Jason Bateman, as Joel, makes for a sympathetic leading man -- even though his actions can be under-handed, he's a guy who means well and we don't hate him for playing with his wife's emotions. Oh, and Ben Affleck gives us the best performance of his career here as Dean, a hilarious character who nearly steals every scene. Everyone, actually, is interesting in the world of Extract. From Joel's sarcastic second-in-command at the plant, to his bored wife at home, to the bonehead male escort, this picture keeps us grinning with a succession of offbeat characters. In that respect, it's somewhat similar to Judge's legendary Office Space, although admittedly not quite as groundbreaking.


Yes, Extract examines the American workplace in much the same way as Office Space, only this time around it's the loading dock instead of the cubicle, and there's no annoying boss. In fact, in this exercise, the tables are turned and our hero IS the boss. I wonder if Mike Judge's attitude towards the employee-supervisor relationship has changed since the 90s. I mean, he's probably been in charge of people while doing King of the Hill all this time; perhaps he sympathizes a little more with management nowadays. After all, Joel's factory in Extract is populated by a bunch of yahoos -- there, the boss is the only one who's not a moron. Is Mike Judge trying to tell us something?


OK, OK. It doesn't really matter. The bottom line is that Extract is an engaging story with some remarkably unique personalities, several hearty chuckles, and even a few worthwhile lessons. By the end, Joel (and others) learn to appreciate what they've got without having to lose it, and we walk away smiling. Oh, and the previously-discussed Kristen Wiig does manage to turn a fairly flat part into something with personality using a little power known as "talent." Maybe Extract will catch on through DVD sales, and this film will be to her what Office Space was to Jennifer Aniston.

Eh, probably not...but you should still check it out.

4 out of 5.

b.