With Saturday Night Live hitting its 50th anniversary last year, there’s been a lot of looking back at the early days, from the brutal audition process to the sketches that didn’t go according to plan. Molly Shannon has had the opportunity to reminisce lately, as well, as she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Will Ferrell paid tribute to his longtime friend and gave her a lot of the credit for bringing the show back from being “Saturday Night Dead.”
Molly Shannon and Will Ferrell joined Saturday Night Live in 1995 amidst a dip in ratings for the NBC sketch comedy show, and as Shannon was honored with a literal Hollywood “Superstar!” on Monday, June 22, the Spirited actor recalled the night she debuted what became one of SNL’s most iconic recurring characters — Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher. Ferrell said:
It is the fourth episode of the 1995-’96 season of SNL. We are a brand-new cast, it’s only our fourth show. No one knows us or if we’re any good or if anyone even likes the show anymore. It’s coming out of a low ebb. ‘Saturday Night Dead’ were some of the headlines. And we kind of don’t know – we’re just out there throwing things up to see what’s gonna happen. But, that night, the host is Gabriel Byrne, and that’s the first time we get to see Mary Katherine Gallagher. I was in the beginning of the sketch, written by Steve Koren, who’s here.
Saturday Night Live fans are more than familiar with the armpit-sniffing Mary Katherine Gallagher, who shared one memorable sketch with Whitney Houston (after Molly Shannon convinced her to do it) and even got her own movie Superstar in 1999, which ended up being one of the best movies based on a Saturday Night Live character. Will Ferrell spoke about how instantaneous the audience’s reaction was to Molly Shannon in that role:
I remember at dress rehearsal, I’m at the beginning of the sketch, singing [‘Message in a Bottle’] by The Police, and I had to run to do a quick change. And, as I was changing, I’m hearing Molly perform the character. And I’’m feeling the stands shake with laughter, to the point where I thought, ‘Oh my god, I haven’t heard laughter like this so far in the three shows we’ve done.’ And it hit me. It was such an emotional moment, because I remember thinking, ‘Oh, we’re gonna be OK, that Molly has saved us. At least we have one funny character that will drive…’ And, from that moment on, it was such a momentum change.
That’s quite a huge amount of credit to give Molly Shannon, as SNL is considered one of the best sketch comedies of all time with Season 52 premiering this fall on the 2026 TV calendar. You can see the sketch that Will Ferrell was referring to below:
Molly Shannon definitely deserves all of the flowers. She stayed with Saturday Night Live until 2001, earning an Emmy nomination in 2000, but has returned to 30 Rockefeller Center as a guest several times and hosted twice. Her success has continued outside of sketch comedy with amazing roles on shows like The White Lotus and The Other Two. The SNL star has even pulled off dramatic roles including A Good Person.
I love that Will Ferrell has such glowing memories of his time with Molly Shannon on SNL, and it makes me even more excited to see the two reunite for the comedy series The Hawk. The upcoming Netflix series stars Ferrell as a golf legend, with Shannon playing his ex-wife Stacy. Make sure your Netflix subscription is up to date, because that premiere is coming our way Thursday, July 16.
