Debbie Matenopoulos

Debbie Matenopoulos Instagram – In honor of the 50th Anniversary of Saturday Night Live this weekend, I am taking you back..waaayy back to when I was 24 years old and appeared on SNL playing myself. When @theviewabc first started, skits about our show were a staple on SNL every week. They loved to make fun of us and especially ridicule me and the way the other ladies treated me. The writers of the show clearly caught on to our dynamic and how there was big age difference between me and the other ladies. Many times it was obvious to the viewers that I had very little to say given the fact that I was only 22 when I started on the show. I was a baby with not much life experience yet and sitting next to these accomplished women made it even more glaring. So we were perfect fodder for a sketch comedy show and they jumped at the opportunity to mock us. Barbara absolutely hated it!! She thought it was embarrassing and disrespectful. But the rest of us loved it and explained to her that being mimicked was the best form of flattery and that it meant we had become a pop culture staple. SNL put us on the map and made us relevant. Everyone from Cameron Diaz, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Drew Barrymore, Claire Danes, etc played me from week to week. And every time the skit involved the other ladies attempting to kill me🤣. So when I was actually let go from the show, I got the call of a lifetime from the one and only Lorne Michaels. The GENIUS Executive Producer of Saturday Night Live. He asked me to come be on the show and play myself that Saturday. I about fell off my seat and obviously said YES! I went over to 30 Rock on Wednesday of that week. Went in the writers room with the amazing team lead by Tina Fey at that time and we got to work writing the skit together. They couldn’t have been kinder or more collaborative. It was very important to them that I felt comfortable with what we were writing. After the skit was written, we rehearsed and then Saturday we went LIVE. After the show Lorne addressed me in front of the entire cast and gave me the most amazing compliment that I will never forget. He looked at me and said, “Kid you were born to do comedy.” I melted. Enjoy!!! | Posted on 14/Feb/2025 19:50:33