Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1996–97

The Ambiguously Gay Duo

A cartoon by

Appearances

Mr. Peepers

Mr. Peepers was a part-monkey/part-human character created and portrayed by

Mr. Peepers was first introduced as an animal act brought out by John Barbary (played by Tom Hanks) on a parody of The Tonight Show (with Darrell Hammond as Jay Leno). In an episode in the 25th season, "Papa Peepers" (played by The Rock) was revealed to be Mr. Peepers's father. Another memorable sketch was a parody of an episode of Dawson's Creek, featuring Katie Holmes as Joey, the character she played on that show. On the Weekend Update segment of the May 17, 2003 episode, Chris Kattan performed a lightning-round montage of his most popular characters, and assumed the character of Mr. Peepers for a brief moment during that bit. It was the final episode of the 2002–2003 season, and also Kattan's last episode as a cast member.

Appearances

Kincaid

Played by

Gene, the Ex-Convict

A Colin Quinn sketch. Debuted October 5, 1996.

Appearances

The Quiet Storm

The Quiet Storm was a radio show hosted by Chris "Champagne" Garnett (Tim Meadows). Debuted October 19, 1996.

Appearances

The Culps

The Culps, or "The Culp Family Musical Performances", were recurring characters that appeared on SNL between 1996 and 2002, and were portrayed by Will Ferrell (as Marty Culp), and Ana Gasteyer (as Bobbi Mohan-Culp). Marty and Bobbi were an awkward, unstylish, married couple who served as music teachers at Altadena Middle School. In the sketches, they would perform prim, conservative medleys of modern pop, R&B or rap songs at various school functions, much to the embarrassment of their unseen son who attended the school; when Claire Danes hosted, she played their college-student daughter, embarrassed beyond words when her parents performed during Career Day.

Marty played the keyboard and sings backup, while Bobbi was the lead vocalist, who sang in a high-pitched, operatic style. In between medleys, the Culps make comments to the audience of middle school students, often implying that the children are mocking them, most often by showing them

The Culps followed in the tradition of earlier skits that began with 1970s sketch

Ferrell and Gasteyer reprised their roles in 2012 when Ferrell hosted the May 12th episode. The couple had a gig at an LGBT prom. They later returned for the 40th anniversary special on February 15, 2015 in a tribute of musical sketches.

Appearances

The Delicious Dish

The Delicious Dish is a culinary-themed radio show hosted by Margaret Jo McCullen (

In an interview with the real NPR, Gasteyer cited The Splendid Table, and Good Food—a local program on member station KCRW—as influences on the sketch. She noted that because of the lack of commercials, a show could easily "take [its] time and explore a subject to the point that people want to weep with boredom".^[1]

The most well-known edition of the sketch featured host

Gasteyer and Shannon reprised their characters in a one-off revival of the sketch during the May 8, 2010 episode, with host Betty White playing guest Florence Dusty—a baker famous for her "dusty muffins".^[7]

Appearances

Shopping at Home Network

A Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan sketch. Debuted November 16, 1996.

Appearances

Cinder Calhoun

Portrayed by

A parody of the annual celebrity tournament of the television quiz show Jeopardy!. Debuted December 7, 1996.

Janet Reno's Dance Party

Janet Reno's Dance Party ("coming to you live, from my basement/the deck of a battleship") was an SNL sketch starring

A cartoon by Robert Smigel, part of the Saturday TV Funhouse series. Debuted January 11, 1997.

Appearances

The Atteburys

An Ana Gasteyer, Mark McKinney and Will Ferrell sketch. Debuted January 11, 1997.

Appearances

Wong & Owens, Ex-Porn Stars

A Jim Breuer and Tracy Morgan sketch. Debuted January 18, 1997.

The Zimmermans

The Zimmermans were a married couple portrayed by Chris Kattan and Cheri Oteri as Josh and Laura Zimmerman, they would often meet other couples in various settings. Normal dialogue between the Zimmermans would often change course suddenly, as the couple work one another into a sexual frenzy which typically ends just as abruptly. Each sketch typically ends with one or both members of the other couple finally adopting behavior similar to the Zimmermans after extensive baiting, at which point the Zimmermans become shocked and appalled by the other's display.

Episodes featuring The Zimmermans

• February 15, 1997
• May 2, 1998 - featuring host Matthew Broderick and Molly Shannon as the Zimmermans' neighbors.
• October 24, 1998 - featuring host Ben Stiller and Ana Gasteyer as the Zimmermans' neighbors.
• February 13, 1999 - featuring host Brendan Fraser as a gym instructor.
• May 15, 1999 - featuring host Sarah Michelle Gellar and Chris Parnell as Karen and John Hopkins.
• October 16, 1999 - featuring host Heather Graham, and Will Ferrell as airplane passengers.
• February 19, 2000 - featuring host Ben Affleck and Horatio Sanz as car salesmen.
• May 20, 2000 - featuring host Jackie Chan and Molly Shannon as an interracial couple.

The DeMarco Brothers

The DeMarco Brothers are played by

Dominican Lou (played by Tracy Morgan) is the building superintendent at 1901 Burnside Avenue in The Bronx. Debuted March 22, 1997.

On Weekend Update in 1998, he attempted to sell Colin Quinn the signed 62nd home run ball of his fellow countryman Sammy Sosa for a million dollars, even though it was later discovered to be a foul ball hit by Gary Gaetti and signed Dominican Lou.

He also did the weather report in Good Morning, Bronx on February 10, 2001.

In October 17, 1998, Dominican Lou was impersonated by Chucky on Weekend Update.

Appearances

Goth Talk

A late-night

A Cheri Oteri sketch. Debuted May 10, 1997. Collette Reardon was a disheveled middle-aged woman who appeared to be significantly impaired by some drug or mixture of drugs. In the first two sketches, she would show up in a pharmacy with a stack of numerous prescriptions for unbelievably large supplies and large doses of an assortment of drugs, most of which were notorious for being addictive. Some of the prescriptions would be for clearly recreational drugs, such as peyote buttons, that would not be available in a pharmacy. The pharmacist (played by the guest host of the episode) was naturally skeptical of the legitimacy of the prescriptions. Subsequently, she appeared on Weekend Update as an "expert" and in situations where her impairment was particularly inappropriate.

During the course of some of her appearances, it was mentioned that Ms. Reardon drove a school bus for a living.

Appearances:

• May 10, 1997: Host John Goodman as the skeptical pharmacist.
• Oct. 18, 1997: Host Brendan Fraser as the skeptical pharmacist.
• Nov. 14, 1998: Host Joan Allen. In this installment, Collette Reardon appears as a pharmaceutics "expert" on Weekend Update.
• Apr. 10, 1999: Host John Goodman. Reardon again shares her expertise on Weekend Update.
• Nov. 6, 1999: Host Dylan McDermott. Reardon is visited by a telephone repairman (McDermott) at her home.
• Mar. 11, 2000: Host Joshua Jackson. Reardon embarrasses her nephew (Jackson) when she visits him at his school.

References