The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 30, 1995, and May 18, 1996, the twenty-first season of SNL.
Get Off the Shed! A Will Ferrell sketch. Ferrell is Frank Henderson, a dad who, although friendly most of the time, threatens his kids whenever they start climbing on his shed. In the first two appearances of the sketch, Frank is in his backyard making small talk with neighbors, Tom (David Koechner) and Susan Taylor (Nancy Walls). The conversation is punctuated by Frank's yells which become progressively heated. The second sketch is similar, but with host Christine Baranski playing Frank's wife who can yell equally loud. The third appearance was a variation on the idea, taking place at a Little League game where Frank and other parents are watching in the stands. Instead of yelling at his kid to get off the shed, Frank yells, "Get on the bag!" Debuted September 30, 1995.
Appearances Season 21, Episode 1 (September 30, 1995): with Mariel Hemingway as Shirley Henderson Season 21, Episode 19 (May 11, 1996): with Christine Baranski as Gail Henderson Season 24, Episode 19 (May 15, 1999): with Sarah Michelle Gellar as parent
Leg Up Molly Shannon impersonates Ann Miller and Cheri Oteri impersonates Debbie Reynolds, hosting a faux show about dancers. Debuted September 30, 1995.
Appearances Season 21, Episode 1 (September 30, 1995): with Mariel Hemingway as Elizabeth Berkley Season 21, Episode 5 (November 11, 1995): with Quentin Tarantino Season 21, Episode 9 (December 16, 1995): with Madeline Kahn as Ludmilla Veshenkova Season 21, Episode 16 (March 23, 1996): with Phil Hartman as Frank Sinatra
Nightline A parody of the late-night news program Nightline, with Darrell Hammond impersonating its host Ted Koppel. Debuted September 30, 1995.
Spade in America A David Spade segment where he gives his thoughts, guest interviews, and Hollywood Minute jokes. The segment aired only in season 21, which was Spade's last as a cast member. The segment makes up fifteen of Spade's nineteen sketch appearances in 1995–96. Debuted September 30, 1995.
Appearances Episode Host Notes September 30, 1995 Mariel Hemingway October 7, 1995 Chevy Chase October 21, 1995 David Schwimmer Jennifer Aniston cameos. October 28, 1995 Gabriel Byrne Spade reports from the World Series. Cameos from Chrissie Hynde, Mark Wohlers, Tom Glavine, and Chipper Jones. November 11, 1995 Quentin Tarantino November 18, 1995 Laura Leighton Sean Penn cameos. December 2, 1995 Anthony Edwards December 9, 1995 David Alan Grier The infamous joke aimed at Eddie Murphy ("Look, kids, it's a falling star, make a wish!") occurs on this episode, which began a long-standing feud between Murphy and Spade. December 16, 1995 Madeline Kahn January 13, 1996 Christopher Walken February 10, 1996 Danny Aiello March 23, 1996 Phil Hartman April 20, 1996 Teri Hatcher Hatcher and Spade impersonate each other. May 11, 1996 Christine Baranski Spade spends a day with the British Fops (Mark McKinney and Dave Koechner). May 18, 1996 Jim Carrey
Mickey the Dyke A Cheri Oteri sketch. Mickey is a stereotypical butch lesbian who, despite identifying as a "dyke", is afraid to officially come out. Debuted September 30, 1995.
Rita DelVecchio Rita DelVecchio (Cheri Oteri) is a grouchy, sharp tongued, Italian-American, Brooklyn housewife. Rita hates it when the neighborhood kids' toys wind up landing in her front yard, so she claims the item for herself, saying, "I keep it!" and tells the kids to go away. Other times, Rita tries to one-up any of her neighbors when it comes to things like who has the best decorated front lawn on Christmas, or who has the better car. Debuted October 21, 1995.
Appearances Season Episode Host Notes 21 October 21, 1995 David Schwimmer 21 January 13, 1996 Christopher Walken 21 April 13, 1996 Steve Forbes 22 October 26, 1996 Dana Carvey 22 December 14, 1996 Rosie O'Donnell 23 September 27, 1997 Sylvester Stallone 23 November 22, 1997 Rudy Giuliani
Mary Katherine Gallagher
Mary Katherine (Molly Shannon) is a sardonic caricature of an unpopular, teenage Catholic school girl. She is prone to comically severe mood swings, alternately hyperactive and ponderous. She suffered from stage fright, but was also hyper-competitive (she once engaged in a sing-off with Whitney Houston) and egomaniacal, believing she was a "superstar". The sketch spawned in the 1999 film Superstar. Debuted October 28, 1995.
The Spartan Cheerleaders Craig (Will Ferrell) and Arianna (Cheri Oteri) are overeager high school students who, despite not making the East Lake High School Spartan cheerleading squad, show up anyway, usually to events where cheerleaders would not normally be present, such as chess and bowling tournaments The pair's routines consisted of elaborate choreography and chants. The Spartans became one of the more popular recurring sketches of SNLs late-90s period, and were featured on the November 1997 cover of Rolling Stone alongside Mary Katherine Gallagher and Doug Butabi of The Roxbury Guys. Oteri and Ferrell came up with the idea for the Spartan cheerleaders when they were new to SNL and playing around on an empty 8H stage. Of the sketch, Oteri said, "One thing I like about [Arianna and Craig] is, they're losers, but they don't know it. I would feel sorry for them if they knew they were outcasts. They have no clue, thank God." Debuted November 11, 1995.
Appearances Season Episode Host Notes 21 November 11, 1995 Quentin Tarantino The Spartans cheer at a football game. 21 December 16, 1995 Madeline Kahn The Spartans at a basketball game. 21 January 20, 1996 Alec Baldwin The Spartans at a chess tournament. 21 February 24, 1996 Elle MacPherson The Spartans at a swim meet. 21 April 20, 1996 Teri Hatcher Arianna and Craig face off with Gabrielle (Hatcher) at a math competition. 21 May 18, 1996 Jim Carrey Lochmiel (Carrey) is the newest Spartan cheerleader at a wrestling competition. 22 September 28, 1996 Tom Hanks Craig and Arianna are visited by the Spartan Spirit (Hanks) at a ping pong tournament. 22 November 16, 1996 Robert Downey Jr. The Spartans encounter Dawson (Downey Jr.) at a bowling tournament. 22 December 14, 1996 Rosie O'Donnell The duo meets Eileen McClasky (O'Donnell) while working seasonal jobs at a shopping mall. 22 February 8, 1997 Neve Campbell Craig and Arianna go to a party thrown by Sidney Prescott (Campbell). 22 April 19, 1997 Pamela Anderson Craig and Arianna encounter C.J. Parker (Anderson) at the beach. 23 October 4, 1997 Matthew Perry Craig and Arianna practice before Spartan team tryouts. 23 December 6, 1997 Nathan Lane The Spartans have a dream. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders make a cameo. 23 March 7, 1998 Scott Wolf Craig and Arianna cheer outside a cinema showing of Titanic. 23 May 9, 1998 David Duchovny Arianna and Craig attend cheerleading camp where they meet Dale Heavener (Duchovny). Paula Abdul cameos. 24 November 21, 1998 Jennifer Love Hewitt The Spartans go to the maternity ward to cheer on mom in labor Alexis Murphy (Hewitt). Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys makes an appearance. 25 December 4, 1999 Christina Ricci Arianna and Craig cheer at a holiday parade with Gabby Malowski (Ricci).
Stan Hooper A Norm Macdonald character. In one sketch, Stan wakes up from a coma and is dismayed to learn that the two women who come to visit him—one beautiful and another frumpier—are respectively, his sister and wife. He tries to insist that the beautiful woman is his wife, despite protests from his actual wife. In another sketch, he is a sketch artist that draws composites of criminals that look nothing like the actual suspects. Debuted November 11, 1995.
The British Fops The British Fops, Lucien Callow (Mark McKinney) and Fagan (David Koechner), appeared in late Restoration-period clothing, and used a silly take on the period's language, mannerisms, and culture. The characters first appeared on Weekend Update as the presidents of the Norm Macdonald Fan Club, but later appeared in several other sketches and hosts' monologues. Debuted November 11, 1995.
Appearances Episode Host Notes November 11, 1995 Quentin Tarantino Weekend Update appearance. November 18, 1995 Laura Leighton Appearance in opening monologue. December 16, 1995 Madeline Kahn Appearance in Antique Shop sketch. January 20, 1996 Alec Baldwin Appearance in opening monologue and in the Literary Theatre sketch. February 24, 1996 Elle Macpherson Weekend Update appearance. May 11, 1996 Jim Carrey Appearance on Spade in America segment.
Joe Blow A blue collar worker by trade, Joe Blow (Colin Quinn) came onto Weekend Update as a New York public service to deliver local news from Brooklyn, New York. Most of his "news" included family problems and neighborhood gossip. Joe Blow regularly concluded his commentary by asking anchor Norm Macdonald if he would join him for "a beer", which Macdonald (who clearly did not want to socialize with him) avoided by making up an excuse, or putting it off until a later date. Debuted November 18, 1995.
Gary Macdonald Gary Macdonald (David Koechner) was the fictitious younger brother of Weekend Update anchor Norm Macdonald. He was supposed to be the funnier of the two Macdonald brothers, but was overcome by fear and froze on camera and end nearly everything he said with "no". Because of this, his commentary consisted of choppy, nervously delivered lines such as, "Hey, Janet Reno. Hey, how does that song go, 'dude looks like a lady', no." Debuted December 2, 1995.
The Joe Pesci Show This sketch starred Jim Breuer as Pesci, the host of his own late-night talk show, where he speaks in his signature high-pitched voice and frequently references his films like Goodfellas and Raging Bull. The heard-but-not-seen announcer was meant to be Pesci's "brother". The sketch usually began with Italian accordion music and Breuer cheerfully saying, "I've got my mike here, I've got my chair here, I've got my desk here, I've got my gun here!" A frequent guest is Robert De Niro, who is played by the host or another cast member. When other guests make a casual comment that Joe perceives to be a personal slight, Joe becomes enraged and brings out a baseball bat, which he beats the guest with as De Niro joins in on the beatdown. In the 17th episode of season 22, Pesci and De Niro themselves make cameo appearances and take offense to Breuer and Colin Quinn's impersonations of them. The real Pesci gets a baseball bat of his own and beats Breuer and Quinn with it. Debuted December 2, 1995.
Appearances Season Episode Host Joe's guests 21 December 2, 1995 Anthony Edwards Macaulay Culkin (Edwards), Jim Carrey (Mark McKinney), Sharon Stone (Nancy Walls) 21 January 20, 1996 Alec Baldwin Robert De Niro (Baldwin), Danny Glover (Tim Meadows), Mel Gibson (Mark McKinney), Spider (Will Ferrell), Brad Pitt (David Spade) 21 March 16, 1996 John Goodman Robert De Niro (Goodman), Marisa Tomei (Cheri Oteri), Richard Dreyfuss (Darrell Hammond) 21 May 18, 1996 Jim Carrey Jimmy Stewart (Carrey), Jim Carrey (Mark McKinney) 22 November 23, 1996 Phil Hartman Frank Sinatra (Hartman), Michael Jackson (Tim Meadows), Debbie Rowe (Molly Shannon) 22 January 11, 1997 Kevin Spacey Al Pacino (Spacey), Dennis Rodman (Tim Meadows), Rodney Dangerfield (Darrell Hammond) 22 April 12, 1997 Rob Lowe Robert De Niro (Colin Quinn), David Spade (Chris Kattan), Eric Roberts (Lowe). The real Pesci and De Niro make cameo appearances. 23 November 22, 1997 Rudy Giuliani Giulani plays himself. Spider (Will Ferrell) and Marion Barry (Tracy Morgan) appear.
G-Dog A 1990s sitcom about a bald-headed, foul-mouthed gangsta rapper played by Tim Meadows who usually appeared wearing only a Speedo or leather pants. He first appeared in a sketch with Anthony Edwards. His other appearance was in a sitcom called "The Princess and the Homeboy" with Teri Hatcher. Debuted December 2, 1995.
Lenny the Lion