Sketchy MVPs: Cheri Oteri from “Saturday Night Live”
March 11, 2016 Zach Shaw Features, Sketchy MVPs
We all love Amy Schumer, everyone knows how brilliant Key & Peele are, and you’ve watched Will Ferrell’s classic SNL sketches countless of times. But in this weekly column Sketchy MVPs, The Laugh Button shines a light on comedians from our favorites shows and troupes who don’t often get rightful credit for their contributions to sketch comedy.
Ok, so Cheri Oteri received lots of acclaim during her five seasons on Saturday Night Live, and is credited for ushering in the show’s “era of women” in the late 90s with Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer. Hell, who didn’t love Oteri and Will Ferrell as the Spartan Cheerleaders? Jim Carey apparently really did.
However, it feels as though the amount of recognition Oteri receives has dwindled since she left the show in 2000, at least compared to the praise cast members like Tina Fey or Amy Poehler continue to (rightfully so) get years after their departures. And that’s a downright shame, because one could argue that Oteri was one of the most consistently funny female performers on SNL.
Joining the “revamped” SNL cast in 1995 after getting her start in the famed Groundlings comedy troupe, Oteri immediately stood out with her fiery personality. She could play over the top, quirky characters, impersonate the likes of Barbara Walters and Debbie Reynolds, or simply be a strong team player while feeding off others’ energy (as best seen in her scenes with Ferrell and Chris Kattan). In short, there was really nothing Oteri couldn’t do on SNL.
Since her time on SNL, Oteri has been primarily making small appearances in various movies and TV shows, as well as loads of voiceover work. But for now, let’s take a look at three of our favorite bits from Oteri during her time on SNL… that don’t involve her and Ferrell as cheerleaders…
Collette Reardon:
Oteri’s make-up smeared, pill popping bus driver is one hell of a train wreck…that you can’t take your eyes off of and stop watching. This is a great example of Oteri’s ability to take a character’s ridiculousness to the next level with each passing line. Collette’s most memorable turn arguably came during her interaction with a pharmacist played by John Goodman. However, the sketch above of Collette speaking at her nephew’s prep school is equally hysterical (plus, this one includes cameos from N’Sync… you know, the boy band featuring a future five time SNL host?).
Rita DelVecchio:
Oteri perfectly nailed the loud, old school Italian-American mother in this recurring sketch, down to her yelling at the neighborhood “smart ass” kids from her porch. As an added bonus, this character gave us the rare chance of seeing both Christopher Walken talk about his snow plower (as seen above) and Mayor Rudy Giuliani in drag.
Morning Latte:
That’s right, Oteri and Ferrell’s comedic partnership didn’t end with The Spartan Cheerleaders. This was such a fantastic parody of the scatterbrained morning talk show hosts that still plague TV today, which is why it still holds up so well even years after its original airing. It’s even one of Oteri’s favorite bits that she’s done on the show.
