Michael Passman: Finding love for the leading ladies of 'SNL'

In January of 2007, Christopher Hitchens wrote an article in Vanity Fair explaining why “women aren’t funny.” Hitchens — a noted hater of most things, including, but not limited to, Mother Theresa — explored some of the social and biological reasons for his proclamation and made a pretty convincing case. And, honestly, I can’t disagree with the guy. That probably sounds a little sexist — eh, probably a lot — but as a close observer of humanity, I’d be lying to myself if I pretended his assertion wasn’t true. As a whole, women aren’t exactly the most hilarious people on earth. Sorry, it’s just the way things are. Plus, Hitchens was waterboarded for another column, so he must speak the truth.

For the majority of my life, no social institution has done a better job of reinforcing the idea of female unfunniness than “Saturday Night Live.” The early ’90s is commonly regarded as one of the show’s stronger eras, but I bet you can’t name two female cast members from the 1993 cast — David Spade doesn’t count. Going back, Gilda Radner (who attended but did not graduate from the University of Michigan) is really the only woman who’s considered one of the show’s best cast members, and I’m not sure how funny she really was. But this season, which has been one of the strongest in years (relatively speaking, but whatever) has actually been notable for its female cast members — and not because they’ve been terrible.

Obviously, Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impression was exceptional. In terms of comedic potential, Palin is the female George W. Bush, and Fey milked the character for all it was worth. Technically, Fey hasn’t been a “Saturday Night Live” cast member since 2006, but as far as most people are concerned, Fey was “SNL” this fall and for good reason. She was even able to parlay her “SNL” cold-open appearances into a ratings bump of roughly six whole people for the “30 Rock” season premiere, which is like a 70 percent increase. Clearly she was doing something right.

But two actual — and significantly less heralded — cast members have been the unsung heroes of “Saturday Night Live” this season. And yes, they happen to be funny girls.

Amy Poehler had a rather average eight-year run on “SNL.” (Spending a lot of time on “SNL” isn’t exactly something to be proud of. It’s kind of like being the captain of a minor league hockey team. Sure, you’re OK at what you do, but you’re not exactly an in-demand commodity.) She broke in when the Ana Gasteyer-era crew of female cast members was already established and floated around for a few years. But then she got knocked up by G.O.B. Bluth and something changed.

Poehler spent the first month-and-a-half of this season with a lot of baby in her — girl was very pregnant. Now, I cannot attest to the difficulties of navigating life while pregnant, but I have difficulty holding a conversation with a backpack on, so it could not have been easy. Her Weekend Update Palin rap — performed just a week before she gave birth — might have been the pinnacle of the season thus far. It was like M.J. playing with the flu in ’97: no human in that shape should have been able to pull it off. But she did. And not only did Poehler run the Update desk with Seth Meyers, she also participated in traditional “SNL” skits — something Meyers doesn’t even do anymore — with that kid inside her. The majority of her run on the show may have been fairly average, but the shows she put in at the beginning of the season were damn impressive.

Although her name is still listed in the show’s opening credits, Poehler left “SNL” after giving birth to her baby and will not be coming back. Her departure left only two female cast members on the show, one of whom, Casey Wilson, is only a featured player. (Last week the show added two additional featured players — Michaela Watkins and Chris Elliot’s daughter Abby Elliott — but they received only limited screentime this past Saturday). This means the only full female cast member is Kristen Wiig, and that would seem to place a tremendous burden on her. Except she was already in 90 percent of the sketches, so it doesn’t really change anything.

Last season, Wiig established herself as the most prolific “Saturday Night Live” cast member and one of the show’s most talented performers. This season, she solidified her standing as the show’s best. In a cast almost entirely devoid of memorable characters, Wiig plays many. Target Lady, one half of the Two A-Holes duo (aka people you meet in West Bloomfield), Surprise Lady and excitable travel reporter Judy Grimes are just a few of Wiig’s original characters. The rest of the cast combined doesn’t have that many half-decent creations. She’s also shown an ability to handle lower-key impersonations of real people like Suzie Orman, Nancy Pelosi and Elisabeth Hasselbeck — OK, Hasselbeck isn’t real, but you get the point. If anyone at “SNL” is going to keep the show’s momentum going past the election, it will be Wiig.

So maybe Hitchens was wrong and women actually are funny. “Saturday Night Live” has been derided for seemingly forever, but anyone who’s kept a close eye on this season has to admit its been at least decent so far.

Lorne can thank the ladies for that.

Michael Passman can be reached at passman@michigandaily.com