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Two DAysAFTER sHE \flAS FIRED FROM .s,qruR_ dayNight Live,' SarahSilverman, a23-year- old stand-up comic from New Hampshire, sits in an EastVillage cafe,as anonymous now as she was one year ago when exec- utive producer Lorne Michaels plucked her from NewYork's comedy circuit to be on his show.Dressed entirely in black, her dark hair framing her chiseledfeatures, pinched ffiw' now, the waifish comedienneseems at leastto embody something of the bohemian spirit the show once set out to capture.As her laundry tumbles in a dryer two blocks from here, next to the walk-up apartment she shareswith a roommate, Silverman clutches a page o{ noteshastily preparedfor this meeting."They don't know half the s--- we can do," ,,,W shesays of herselfand her "-^ three femalecolleagues at \-',.n4 ) \,,I---qreyf,'.\--fl*if the show(two of whom will alsoleave in lessthan conge- nial circumstanceswithin days). "God, they overlook so much talent!,' 'g: Hired in the fall of to beefup the num- ber of the show's women writers (from one to two - out of eighteen)and to be a some- times featured performer, Silverman was dis- missedvia a conferencecall from her agent and her managerlnot a word of explana- tion was offered bySNL. Michaels, she was told, was unreachablein Paris. lllustrationsby Philip Burke "I guessfiring me is really gonna help the shorv,"says Silverman Sweeneythinks shegot out in time. "I left when I did because to quit IighdS "but I'm over it, you know? There'snothing I can do, so I didn't want to become bitter," she saysof her decision SNL I'm not going to dwell on it." after four seasons."That's how all thosewomen who leave leave But talk of her return to a comedy club later this evening has are,you know?And I didn't want to be,so I thought: Better a deflatingeffect. Her 11o'clock gig will be tough - "Drunk New now.Run! Don't walk!" 'Show Yorkers: me you're funny!' " - and suddenlythe faqadeof EvenVictoria Jackson,who had steadfastlyrefused to criticize self-preservingcool drops like so many bad jokes at a Shriners' the place shecalled home for six years,has revisedher opinion. and convention. "They didn't even give me the chance to fail," she The morning after viewing ABC's short-lived SDeTV(written riled says,her voice cracking."The point is, I would not have! I mean, produced by, among others,two exiled SNL women), she's the man,Ihad plans for that show." up. "I was totally wrong," saysJackson. "I was underused.A// right! Like Silverman,Melanie Hutsell (a three-yearvet who made women were underused.The women who complained were her mark with over-the-topimpersonations of Jan BradyandTori SNL is a boy'sclub." male place," saysthe predecessorof them all, Spelling)got the ax, while Julia Sweeney(the androgynousPat) "It was a dark, quit after the last show of the season.'Whichleaves Ellen Cleg- original castmember JaneCurtin. "There was an overall feeling women were basicallyjust not funny'" horne (theAfrocentric Queen Shenequa)the solefemale survivor among the men that at of yet another SaturdayN4gDl massacre.When asked how she And apparently that opinion holds today, as much a tradition to managedto avoid the gender-specificpink slips,Cleghorne answers this tradition-encrustedestablishment as the tired format it refuses situation dryly:"Maybe it's'causeI havea kid.That's what giveup. Eventhough an obviousattempt to help correctthe hot come- somebody told me." was madethis summerwhen it was announcedthat (a fromThe As SaturdayNigbt Liue entersits historic 20th dienne-actressJaneane Garofalo standout and season,accompanied, no doubt, by great waves BenStiller Show,The Larry SandersSbow has of hoopla fanned by the puffed-up peacocknet- ,'rr, RealityBites\ had been hired, nothing much work (acommemorative book has already been **, comefrom it. Judgingby theearly episodes, to take releasedby Houghton Mifflin, and a prime- Garofalo hasn't beenspotlighted advantage of her obvious talents. time specialis irrthe works for the New Year). 1 "You only have to watch the show over a closer look behind the scenesreveals n W" Dunn, placethat hasn'talways been, shall we Ib\. the last 20 years," saysNora ePisode say,hospitable to women. With few lw-i \ whose 1990boycott of an Clay drew exceprions,the former and cur- hosted by Andrew Dice attention to the show's anachro- rent femalecast metnbers and stafi \ Z " Women contactedfor this piece describe nistic treatment of women. o \ never got much air time. It's not SNt as an institutionthat for two \ F becausewe weren't talented.It's decadeshas systematicallydisre- 4rl-o O becausewe were women." gardedwomen, giving them lessair i time than men.relegating them ,.THE ALWAYSGOT to secondaryroles and general- !(/OMEN saysMi- o ly treating them, well, not unlike the short shrift on SNL," 'Wayne one of the a way and Garth see themselves in the chaelO'Donoghue, fathers,a writer z presenceof greatness- as unworrhy. show'sfounding Z in says Louis-Dreyfus and performer who appeared "It was bad there," Julia a very first Z of her three seasonson the show."Pret-ty bad." the very first sketch of the "I think z "It's not a good place for women," offers broadcast."Frankly," he adds, Lorne was frightened of strong wo- Beth Cahill, a comedienne who was fired i: their a in1992 after just one seasonbecause, she I men.... He neverfavored was told, Michaels thought the show's humor that much." Reviledin his day for being extensive cast credits ran too long. o his "They crush your spirit." asbig a misogynistas

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friend Belushi(O'l)onoghue '\Why John was quoredin the 19U5book of resentment: don't the girlsget a betterdeal here ? This isn't Saturday Night: A Bltckstdge 'saturday Histuvy of Night Liue' as fair, and we're going to make them pay attenrion to Lls.'Butulti- saying, "lt doeshelp when writing humor ro have a big hunk of mately, at the end of the line, therewas a degreeof justice- and I'm meat betweenthe lcgs"),O'Donoghuehas changed his tune in his not sayingthis just to be suclLaraine Newman also defendstl-re show and saysthat she con- by society, ril/omen ,Are is it? laugh, nren losetheir hard-on: yon sideredMichaels to be "a E champion of wornen'smarerial.,' She first i laughingat this, honey?"' worked with him on a LilyTomlin specialwhen shewas 22 and !7hile SNL never exacrly pretended to be a bastion of feminism recallsthat the word about him "was a that he was a producerwho J (especiallywith Belushi's Z daily demandsthat the female writers be had a feel for women's humor that was unique, especiallyin 1974.,, fired), in its early days the show featuredwomen much more promi- But forJane Curtin it w:rsa very different situation,marked by the nently than today. ,,I'd Indeed,rhe casrwas most equitably divided dur- simple inability of thc men ro acceprrhe women as funny. never ing its first five years, za when it comprised three women (Curtin, experiencedit before," saysCurtin, from her home in Los Angeles. Laraine Newman and the late Gilda Radner) and (Belushi, four men "I found it mind-boggling. Every time they saw a woman being fun- )Z Chevy Chase,Dan - writers (three out a) of fifteen) then than at any rime since. Had Michaels listened to O'Donoghue, who recommendedhir- One of those writers, Anne Beatts,says she was happy just to be tng stronger women writers, Curtin and her cronies might have fared getting equal pay LZ back then. "\7e did feel a responsibiiity to make better. "\ile wanted F'ranLebowitz," confides O,Donoghue, refer- sure they had more ,Mr. to do on the show than just say, Joneswill ring to the causticNew York humorist who has beencalled a mod- seeyou rlow,' " admits Beatts. "At the time I had a certain degree ern-dayDorothy Parker," but Lorne wouldn't permit it. . .. There O: lOO.US DLCEMBER1994 York office beside a stack of videos of her best perfor- were funny women out there. They just didn't end up on that show'" licist's New ''We seasonson the show. The next morning "Don't believethem when they tell you, don't have more mances,culled from three road trip to a new start in Los Angeles' women who are up to our incredibly high standards becausewe she'll leaveon a cross-country before Silverman and in much the same man- can't find them,"'warns former SNLwriter Pam Norris. "I can't tell Fired a few days herselfto her new situation after going you how many times I was taken asideand told,'Bo5 we would ner, Hutsell has reconciled of "devastation' anger and depression' just love to hire more women' but you're the only good one'' To through the usual rounds ''Well, focus on the future," she says, "and myself'" which I'd respond, how many were there five minutes before Now i want to was 23 when Michaels hired her and her best you met me?None?!' " The Tennesseenative friend, Beth Cahill, away from a feminist the- \7hile a few women have occupied high-powered ater company in Chicago to ioin the cast' production positions, the writing staff has '91, The year was and the producer was always been composed largely of men. roundly lauded by the media for reach- Thus, most of the skits would be ing an all-timehigh in the number of about male characters or have femaleperformers - 6 out of 18. a male point of view. Not that Hutsell, for her part, was elated."It they haven't tried to write for 'Wow!' 'They're felt like, " shesays. " the women - they have, saY making a big change here. Six some,when prodded or begged. women!'But in the courseof three For example, when Raisa Gor- years,one is left. That saysa lot." bachev and Nancy Reaganwere After scoring a quick hit with at eachother's throat in the mid- a recurring sketch about looPY 'B0s- 'And it was on the front sorority sistersthat she co-au- pageof everypaper!" says Dunn thored and appeared in with - she demandedthat they write Cahill and cast mate Siobhan a sketch in which she and Jan Fallon, Hutsell got her first dose Hooks would play the feuding of sNL's male favoritism when first ladies. But, saysthe still- Cahill and Fallon were the onlY dumbfounded Dunn,"they didnt two cast members not invited seeanything funny about it." back for the next season. Another woman, a tormer Hutsell was devastated."TheY cast member who requestsanon- were my pals," she saYs,"and we ymity, recalls an SNL meeting dur- were starting to develoP ing which one of the male writers iust as a team." Citing the success- Z said, "If there'snothing going on in the ful groupings of AYkroYd and world for women, how can we possibly d: Belushi, Murphy and PiscoPoand, write about them?" o9 recently, Adam Sandler,David Spade and "It didn't occur to them to give women certaln more /. Chris Farlev.Hutsell felt undermined. "They're o1 roles," recails Louis-Dreyfus. "In a way, I can under- 7a she says of the men, "and you seethat on TV' z' stand that a guy writing a sketch is going to be more oriented tight," enjoys that the most' being able to seetheir chem- to men.-. The audience c relationships. That's what Siobhan and Beth and Z Sure, it can be argued that recently there have been a lot of istry and those I had going. We had that bond, and then it was gone' I don't know - skits about {emale characters; unfortunately' they don't feature Z to have three strong women working together'" actresses."I tune in occasionally, and I seethings that are funny, why they'te afraid v "Is it fear?" but I don't seeany women," remarks Dunn. "I seesketches with Then she asks, T Cahill returned to her small theater company in Chicago,which, boys dressedas women." F edge and funny- what SNL should be'" she says,"is cutting : a fashion designer by day, the 31-year-old MELANIEHUTSELL HAS COME TO SAYGOODBYE. APPEARING SMALLER Supporting herself as o women that on pdge 1091 and more vulnerablethan shedoes on television,she sits in her pub- fee1s,like so many other , fContinued

rO2.ls DF(t\4BLR lqq4 'Women 'Saturday 'Thanks, of Night Live' placement of women's material at the end smiling and going, OK, thanks, ''What Continuedfrom page 102 of the broadcast. "You consistentlywatch bye.'And I'd shut the door and go, your piece being put seventh out of eight just happened?!'" the show nevergave her a chance."I always [sketches],or eighth out of eight, and you Louis-Dreyfus, who was under produc- 'I '80s did the little things they wanted me to do," say, guessthat's the space they've allo- er Dick Ebersol'sregime in the early '85), says Cahill, "like the Girlfriend, the Date. cated for the women's pieces.' (Michaels left the show from '80 to SometimesI hated it becauseI'd have, like, "I try to desensitizemyself," continues reports it was no better then. "Oh, sure," 'OK, one line - Daddy!' - and then I'd be Cleghorne, catching her breath, "but it hurts she says,when asked if she complained, off, and it would be two guys." But her so much. I can't cry anymore - I don't have "all the time. It was not received.Nobodv worst memory is of the low expectations any more tears." cared. Strange,huh?" 'When they placed on women. "They'd look at asked if she's ever talked to .SNL,HAVE you," she says,"and want so hard for you Michaels or producer/head writer Jim WHENMANY ASSOCIATEDTTITH not to be funny." Downey about her unhappiness,she says questionedwhy women don't get as much Hutsell, her videos cradled in one arm, yes. "But there are no results.It's kind of air time as men, the most common response pauseson her way out of the office. " Ob- a waste of time." has been:You haveto write your own mate- viously it comes from the top and filters On the first episodeof the new season,the rial, and many of the women don't. Yet down, but I'll never understand it," she writers gave Cleghorne a break from the even the men who don't write, like Chris says,shaking her head. "The people at the angry-black-woman roles: In a sketch show- Farley - and Phil Hartman before him - top are highly intelligentpeople. If you look casing Michael McKean and host Steve wind up with more air time than the women at the [old] shows, they were cutting edge, Martin, she played a hooker. who compose their own skits. Hartman, political. Now men and women aren't giv- one of the show's most heavily used actors en equal opportunity? That's total regres- CONFRONTINGTHE MALE-DOMINATED HIER- (he left after last season,his eighth), was on sion. It doesn't make any senseto me." archy has always been only for the bravest the writing staff his first few years at SNL of heart. "Some peopledid," recallsone cast but stopped writing because,he said in an TELL IT TO ELLEN CLEGHORNE, lii'Ho IS HIT, SHE member, who had too much pride to do so interview a few yearsago, "it just got to be says,with the "double whammy" of being herself, "but it didn't really do any good." too much." Farleyhas calledhimself a "hor-

black and a woman on a white man's show. Michaels, accordingto many, is aloof and rible writer" and sayshis contributions are "You don't know how out of touch they unapproachable. Silverman says the most limited to staying up late with his friends are!" exclaims the fearlesscomedienne of sheever talked to him was the day sheinter- who write "and trying to help out a little." the men who write for her. "They're all Ivy viewed for the job. Curtin saysthat despite The women who write for themselves Leagueexcept maybe one. Every time they knowing him for 20 yearsand openly cred- don't feel their work receivesthe samecon- 'angry give me something, I have to be the iting him with her success,she doesn't real- sideration as the men's anyway. "Ninety '\fhy black woman.'I say: doesmy color ly have a relationship with him. "It's diffi- percentof the time," saysHutsell, "I was up have to enter into this f---ing conversation? cult to talk to Lorne," shesays. "He's not all night on Tuesdays, like everybody else, I'm a woman. I can't even seemy color your'get down'kind of guy." creating something new and putting it on unless I put my hand in front of my face!' " Sweeneybelieves her fear of confrontation the table. It would go well, and then they Speaking from an L.A. hotel room, the "is the reasonI died on SNL. I rely on people just wouldn't useit." morning after aTonight Show appearance, seeingwhat I do and liking it," sheexplains. Cleghorne writes a lot of her own materi- Cleghorne is packing to go back to New "l absolutelycannot function in an envi- al, including recurring characterslike Queen York for the new seasonand is hardly reti- ronment where I have to promote myself. ShenequaandZoraida the obnoxjous NBC 'This cent about discussingher apprehensions."I There's no way I could go in and say: page,but saysthe easiest way to participate have to truly believein my talent," saysthe sketch is good, goddammitl You've got to on the show is to write for the "stars, Iike Brooklyn-born stand-up,who was raisedin put me on the show!' I would quit and be an Chris IFarley]and Adam ISandler],because the projects,"even though my confidence accountant before I would ever say that." Lorne lovesthem." gets shaken every single week. I'm good, Engaging in self-promotion probably Even having a woman host doesn't im- you know? If I can just not think about wouldn't have helped.Victoria Jackson, provetheir chances of geningmore air time; who's jerkin'me this week and why I don't who saysthat she confronted Michaels at if anything, it deflates them becausethe host even have a line in this sketch - I have a least four times in her six seasonson the then gets all the female roles. In last year's 'Excuse f---ing walk-on.' me? I'm not an show, claims the producer was adept at show with Nancy Kerrigan, Sweeneyhad extra!? I say it all the time, and that gives backing out ofcorners. "I'd go in crying and one line, Hutsell had three, Silverman had them ammunition." heartbroken,"she recalls, and say:'Lorne, two, and the lucky Cleghorne appeared in Cleghorne, who is described by her I just can't get used.Vhat should I do? her own sketch - at the end of the show. female colleagues- sometimes with envy - ShouldI bring food to the writers?'I don't Manyof the women of sNladmit that their as the toughest woman on the show, stood know what he'd say,"she continues, "but lack of writing skills is a disadvantage,but up to the writers another time about the I would leave his office five minutes later. they didnt realizejust how much of one until

US DECEMBER1994.1O9 they arrived at the show. (Somebodymust have warned Bonnie Hunt, the talented David Letterman prot6g6: According to sources,she turned down Michaels'offer last year to join the cast when he refused to allow her to bring her own writers.) The only way to get around the problem is to hook up with a writer - preferably one of the female scribes- who will become an ally. Sweeney,for instance,attributes much of her early successon the show to her partnership with a writer named Christine Zander,whom, shesays, Michaels teamed her with after Dunn left. "It was like an arranged marriage," saysSweeney nostal- gically of the collaboration that produced, among other things, Pat, the character that made her famous. "Christine helped me shape my funny stories into something they could accept," continues Sweeney."Once I didn't have that, I floundered." (Zander quit three years later.) She recalls coming back from Saksone day and telling Zander a silly story about trying to buy a bra that eventually evolved into a hilarious sketch. "Last year," shesays, "I didn't have anyone to do that with. I'd come in and tell [writer] Lewis Morton - who is 23 and just graduated from Harvard - the samekind of story, and he'd just look at me like I was Grandma Moses." Jackson, by her own admission, couldn't write sketchesbut would compose " Weekend Update" commentaries. In six sea- sons on the show, she did twelve of her own "Updates," while only one sketch she wrote made it on the air. But finding a writer proved elusive, if not downright dangerous, in the competitive atmospherethat permeated Sl'it. According to Jackson,when sheapproached Dunn and Hooks to ask if she could write with them, the women slammed the door in her 'Jan face. and Nora fought like cats and dogs when they weren't ganging up on Victoria," saysa woman who worked at the show then. Adds Jackson:"I thought they were going to kill me. Seriously.I told Lorne,'I think they're going to hit me with a car or poison my coffee.'" (JanHooks did not respond to repeatedrequests for an interview.)

ANOTHF,I{ POINT O}'(]ONTENTION AMONG THE WOMEN OF'SNt,'IS a perceived double standard in hiring: Men have to be funny, they say, while women have to be funny, young and pretty. Silvermantells the tale of a thirtysomething comediennewho auditioned {or the show last year. After she left the room, Downey told the others he liked her and wanted to seeher again. "'Well, shewas kind of old, don't you think?" Michaels re- sponded."I dunno, maybe31," Downeyguessed."Try35!" cut in Erin Maroney, Michaels'25-year-oldassistant. The performer wasn't hired, despitethe fact, notes Silverman,that a week ear- lier,47-year-old Michael McKean had been signed. This year's new female additions, JaneaneGarofalo and Laura Kightlinger, are 30 and 29, respectively.On the men's side, besidesMcKean, who joined at midseasonlast year, are Chris Elliott, 34; Norm MacDonald, :r (upgradedfrom writer to per- former); and Jay Mohr, a virtual baby at 24 (also upgraded). "Women in comedy are under a whole different set of standards than men," says Garofalo, who cut her teeth as the only woman cast member of the critically praised but shortlived Ben Stiller Show. "TY wants the women young and attractive and finny. But they don't put that stipulation on men. The result is, men seemto be funnier becausethey don't have to be anything else." Like Cleghorne, the diminutive Garofalo has a reputation for toughness that precedesher. The comedy veteran, who knew all too well the dark history of her gender at SNL (shehad visited the place "a million times" and knew alrnost everyonein the cast), went into her big meeting with Michaels and hardly came as a surpriseto the women. worked with, and who was the recipient of Downey with a clear agendato extract prom- "I knew something was going to happen his romantic attentions, was charging him isesfrom the two men regarding "changes in sooner or later," saysone, who claims that with sexual harassment. (Someonewho was the content of what gets on the air and how she witnessed another cast member mas- privy to the planning of the joke saysthat - much the women participate." But, she turbating during a late-night meeting. "I more work went into it including casting admits, "I was so intimidated that I never took this asan emblem of just how much of the actor and obtaining the false documents really got a straight answer from anyone a fraternity SNL had become," she adds. - than went into that week's show.) Ac- about anything." "The fact that he could start masturbating cording to an eyewitness,it was only after Still, just weeksbefore starting rehearsals, in front of me during a rewrite session,like Farleyburst into tearsand collapsedinto his Garofalo soundsexcited, if not exactly real- it wasn't anything weird to do, iust shows mother's arms that he was told of the setup. istic. "The talent is all there," she saysof how comfortable the men feel there as Michaels, notes the witness, "was not SNL. "There's just somekind of dysfunction opposedto how the wornen feel." there and would have been horrified." that screws everything up. I would like But the men's reaction to the harassment Nevertheless,"Here were these21-year-old the behind-the-scenesbulls--- that every- was far more upsetting to the women than Harvard guys standing around saying how one warned me about to dissipate, and the initial incident. Rather than raise the funny it was going to be. It was horrible. I then seewhat happens." men'sconsciousness or at |eastput them thought, Don't they seewhat they're doing on warning, it became fodder for offstage to him is iust as terrible as what he .SNt.. THE PROBLTMS IHE WOMEN HAVE AT humor. "Every time I brushed against a [allegedly]did to that girl?" aren't confined to air time and hiring poli guy," reports a disgustedfemale employee, 'Oh, cies.Last year's allegedincident of sexual "he'd say: no! She'sgoing to charge "Al t I eAN Til.l YOU lS, LIFE lS NOT FAIR," harassmentinvolving a male castmember rnewith sexualharassment!' " saysLorne Michaels. It is nearly midnight, and a female extra didr.r'texactly boost the As if the jokes around the office weren't three daysafter SNL'slackluster season pre- women's morale at the workplace. enough, someof the men took it to a larger, miere, and the producer is tucked away in Though Lorne Michaels deniesthe inci- more public stage.At the season-ending his office high above Rockefeller Center. dent happened, most of the female cast wrap party, an elaboratepractical joke was "From my thinking, there are a lot of peo- membersare convincedit did and say that played on a male cast member. As Chris ple who havedone their bestwork here,and it reinforced their feeling of being in a Farley sat at:1 table, surrounded by his out- I don't think that's an accident.It's not as hostile environment. Having been pre- of-town family (not to mention hundredsof if we're the only show on televisiondoing ceded by other episodesof varying de- other revelers).an actor dressedas a court comedy and there's no other place for greesof sexualmisconduct on the part of offrcerhanded him a "subpoena." It indi- women to perform." some of the men, the harassment claim cated that a woman Farley had recently If he soundsdefensive, Michaels hasgood

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ffie,st forword,iump bock-l tt{tol is (rhinklight yeors). los 0t Ingredienldriving ftis reason:The opener receiveda critical lash- among the writers," he says. "It would be "I don't regret it for a minuter" says Jane ing (the New York Post's scathing review indiscreet of me to talk about it. becauseit Curtin. "I'm just happy that I cameto the con- was headlined 'sATURDAyNIGHT' Dr\.t - oH, didn't actually happen." clusionsI came to early in the show so I could No! rT'sEVEN woRSE THAN BEFORE). As the Can Michaels come up with an example make my sentencea little more palatable." all-night writing session gets under way of sNt giving precedence to a woman? He Julia Sweeney has put enough distance just beyond his office walls, the 49-year- thinks for a moment, then hits on one - between herself and the show to draw a old producer seems,by turns, exasperated from 18 years ago whenJane Curtin received proper perspective."It's like bad-mouthing and disappointed by some of the female the "'!(eekend Update" anchor position your rich uncle who sent you through col- cast members' remarks. after Chevy Chase quit. "You could seehow lege," she says. "Maybe he's a dick and he His comments, ranging from "I'm sorry if Bill Murray might have beenconsidered, or never listened to you and treated other Jane [Curtin] feelsshe was underused" to "I how there might have been somebody else." people better than you, but f---, he put you would support Nora [Dunn] in her opin- (In fact, Dan Aykroyd joined her briefly as through college." ion" to "You're talking about something co-anchor.) "There must have been a mo- Still, she admits that a guest appearance that is entirely subjective," show an ad- mentr" Michaels concludes, "when we on Mad About You last spring was an eye- mirable knack for evading the issue. Yet weren't conspiring to oppresswomen." opener after four years on SNL. "I was un- when confronted with hard facts, like the prepared for the difference," she says. "I just ratio of women to men in the cast and on "vou'w cor ro rAKE THEpHllosopHy rHAT wasn't used to having anyone listen to me, the writing staff, he does an about-face: "I any woman takes," saysJulia Sweeney,who let alone think that what I said was funny." certainly support the idea that there are not could be speaking on behalf of all the women A female longtime cast member - yet enough women on Satwrday Night andthat of sNL. "Becausewe're culturally disadvan- another insisting on the blue dot of anonymi- thereare not enoughwomen writing com- taged, we take what we can and leave." ty - puts it perhapsmost succinctly:"Of all edy for the women who are on Saturday In other words, no matter how bad things the reasons I left - not getting my sketches Night.l'm 100 percent behind it." got, it's hard to find a woman who regrets on, having my stuff always cut or being put Veil, why not hire more? "I'm continu- the experienceof having beenat SNL and the at the end of the show, or guys harassingwo- ing to hire people based on my belief in their golden opportunities afforded afterward. men and thinking it's funny - the real reason talent," he says.The obvious follow-up - Sure,Julia Louis-Dreyfus recallsher time was the way I was looked at when I walked "So you don't seeany talented women out there as "difficult, harrowing and not even into a room there.It was like,''What do you there?" - is left unanswered. that much fun" becauseof the male favor- want?'I never got that anywhere else." r As for the subject of sexual harassment, itism, but she adds, "That's oK becauseit Michaels insiststhere never was an inci- taught me about what thoseexperiences are Tom O'Neill wrote about the daytimetalk- 'US.' dent. "It was a bad ioke that went around like - and they're rampant in this business." showwars in theJanuary issue of it's the TWEETERT.------Kevin. ,"- Surroundyourselfwith the Wide-Angle Sound""

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