Melissa Villaseñor on Why She Left Saturday Night Live: "I Had Little Panic Attacks"
consequence.netSubmitted by ebradio t3_ydz4do in television
Submitted by ebradio t3_ydz4do in television
I felt the same way
Good for her for prioritizing her mental health. She is definitely missed in the show, but that's less important than her well-being.
The work culture in SNL can be highly stressful, having to come up with sketches 24/7 and competing for time with other cast-members.
Yep. Imagine going through all that mental anguish and getting maybe fifteen minutes of screen time across six skits in the entire season. The SNL cast is way too damned big and doesn't allow for talent like hers to shine the way it should.
I'm enjoying it much more this season with a smaller cast.
I think I've seen each of the new cast members at least once in each episode so far, which is definitely an improvement.
They also don't get paid well in their first few years. SNL cast members are some of the only celebrities on the planet that still need to have roommates.
Is that not partly because they have to live close enough to Rockefeller Center and all the rent is super high that close to their work?
And having to perform in front of a live audience with no do overs. With famous celebrities participating.
Which had to be even harder the last few years with the bloated cast size.
I did think she was somewhat cracking when her social media got a little chaotic.
She is still a joy to watch. I wish her the best in whatever she does.
[removed]
She wasn't in a lot of sketches as a main player, but the ones she was in, like Dying Mrs. Gomez were extremely funny!
SNL is notoriously a cutthroat show, and she's clearly not a cutthroat personality. Nothing wrong with that.
I'll never get over her Marge Simpson in Weed Gummy.
You mean the devil?
What?
Yep it's one of the best examples of the garage realities of a meritocracy. Also up there: pro sports.
She is great, hope she can move onto something less stressful but still let’s her show off her stuff
She’s funnier than SNL. There’s a handful of comedians that are being held back by SNL and the rest are being propped up by SNL. She’s definitely the former
Her and Kyle Moone definitely suffered from SNL not being able to use their talents effectively. She was incredibly funny and it felt like they had do idea what to do with her.
Kyle and Beck had a spectacular run of skits, both live and pre-recorded.
Eh, kyles live stuff was mostly bad and cringey and just poorly-acted. His preformed stuff was better tho. Dude knows what he’s doing behind the camera.
Cringe humor is his schtick though. Look up his old youtube skits - watch "lets go heat" and "ball champions"
His movie was really good and I don't think it relied too much on cringe humour.
”Aww man I’m all outta cash!”
Yea Kyle moone is really cringe and I hate him as baby yoda on weekend update
His baby yoda is the worst
[removed]
Kyle was clutch during the pandemic. It was really clear he has more skills than SNL is utilizing.
Also his baby Yoda murders me every time.
I'm curious what avenue you think she wanted to go in that she wasn't allowed to. Her standup is all impressions, and SNL used her for that. I feel like SNL knew exactly what to do with her... they just didn't want to do it often.
I just feel like SNL has a specific “brand” of humor and admittedly it’s migrated over the generations but sometimes it will add a talent that doesn’t fit that brand but is still incredibly talented.
Sure, I don't disagree that she wasn't a fit for the show. But I don't think it's because they didn't know what to do with her. I just haven't seen anything from her that's unique beyond her uncanny impressions, which isn't really something that leads to great sketch comedy.
> and SNL used her for that.
I think she did like 3 the entire time she was on.
She is so fucking funny. Can't wait to see what she does next!
Good for her, never felt like they knew how to properly utilize her, at least in the first half of her tenure
And tbh, noticed a trend in a lot of writer's rooms where it seems like "silly* women writers" get stifled in favor of dry, biting, sarcastic humor.
*silly as in her style of humor, not trying to minimalize
It really seemed like they brought on Sarah and pushed Melissa even further into the background. Like we only have time for one silly lady.
Sarah Sherman is being way weirder than Melissa ever was and is getting tons of sketches on air...
I like her, she and the show weren't a good fit. Hope she finds a better project for her style!
I don't know why it's been that big of a deal that she left... Or why or how anyone leaves. Melissa had 6 seasons... Same as Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, David Spade, etc al. It seems like most of the greats are 6 to 8 years before their career retake takes off (six seasons and a movie!) She may have gotten lost in the shuffle of a giant cast, but she is hilarious and I hope we see her in more projects.
Yeah, it felt really odd to have people there 8-10 years. Melissa needs a supporting role in a TV show or a lead role in a quirky indie comedy film soon.
IT was just weird that no one left for two years because of COVID.
“You are weak like HR Pickens!” - I think she’s great and I hope she finds success.
What a massive talent.
SNL stopped using Melissa and Ady, so now we get sketches like the Nicole Kidman AMC commercial that was only funny to a couple of people on Buzzfeed
SNL doenst know how to use imitators at the moment it seems.
I've seen her perform live and she is fucking hilarious. She shone on a few bits on SNL but they clearly had no idea how to use her.
she was consistently ehhhh
Tha's baaaad.
That’s sad.
The New Saturday Night Live has basically all new cast members, I like it so far...this tends to happen every 7-10 years, there is a bunch of people that leave and set way for new cast members. Although you sometimes have "bench warmer" cast members that stay way too long and you barely see them in any sketches (cough, Kenan Thompson, Horatio Sands, and Darrel Hammond)
There's only 3 new cast members this year...?
My wife and I played a game where we’d do “over/under” over how many times Melissa would even be seen… even as a background character. We stopped playing when the answer would always just be “0”.
We got to the point where we wondered why she was even still listed in the credits.
I am very much of the belief that SNL is beneath talented comedians like her. The show just isn’t well-written enough to do justice to most of its cast. I understand why comedic actors would want the exposure that the show brings (and the steady paycheck), but creatively it feels like a complete waste of their talent.
I thought it was obvious she left because she basically never got to do anything even with a huge repertoire of impressions including an incredibly spooky one of Kristen Wiig.
She’s hot
SNL is snakes pit, where environment is toxic to top productivity.
Criminally underused
Aw. Poor girl.
She was one of the strongest cast members in at least 10-15 years easily. the majority of cast members, while talented, kind of fit into a basic mold
Are you serious? You honestly believe that?
[removed]
The cast 15 years ago included Fred Armisen, Will Forte, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson and Kristen Wiig.
​
The cast from 10 years ago included Vanessa Bayer, Taran Killam, Bobby Noynihan, Kate McKinnon, Tim Robinson and Cicily Strong.
Uh huh. Look how weak your second list is
The second list has at least two all timers on it, with Kate and Cecily.
I didn’t think she was funny at all.
Must be hard to work knowing you’re racist. Good riddance asshole
Her fan will miss her
dirtbum t1_itvar6d wrote
I really enjoyed what she brought to the show and selfishly was excited for her take a bigger role when Adi and Kate left. Best of luck in future.