Earlier today, Abby Elliott announced that she will be leaving the cast of Saturday Night Live after 4 seasons on the show. While Abby struggled to make her mark on the show for a few years, she finally broke out with one of my favorite new sketches of this past season - "Bein' Quirky with Zooey Deschanel". With Kristen Wiig not returning next season, it would have given Abby a chance to become the lead female cast member, but I guess it wasn't to be.
Earlier today, Abby Elliott announced that she will be leaving the cast of Saturday Night Live after 4 seasons on the show. While Abby struggled to make her mark on the show for a few years, she finally broke out with one of my favorite new sketches of this past season - "Bein' Quirky with Zooey Deschanel". With Kristen Wiig not returning next season, it would have given Abby a chance to become the lead female cast member, but I guess it wasn't to be.
So now, as we've done for Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig (and even Paul Brittain!), we'll take a look-back at some of our favorite Abby Elliott SNL sketches:
Bein' Quirky with Zooey Deschanel
Abby does a hilarious impression of Zooey Deschanel, opposite Zooey Deschanel as host. This sketch was later reprised in the Sofia Vergara episode.
Meryl Streep on Ice
Abby does a spot-on impression of the always humble Meryl Streep, now starring in her own 1-woman show - on ice!
Abby does a spot-on impression of the always humble Meryl Streep, now starring in her own 1-woman show - on ice!
The Rachel Maddow Show
Abby impersonates MSNBC host Rachel Maddow in this cold open.
Abby impersonates MSNBC host Rachel Maddow in this cold open.
Angelina Jolie
One of Abby's earliest popular characters was Angelina Jolie, who would always pop up on Weekend Update whenever she heard someone mention a baby.
One of Abby's earliest popular characters was Angelina Jolie, who would always pop up on Weekend Update whenever she heard someone mention a baby.
Chloe Kardashian
Abby also often portrayed Chloe Kardashian, as seen in this Kardashian sketch.
Abby did great impressions of many of Hollywood's leading ladies, and although she was often overpowered by Kristen Wiig's presence on the show, she will be missed.
UPDATED
As pointed out in the comments, Abby did have some great musical impressions as well. Here's some short edited clips of Abby as Christina Aguilera and Ke$ha:
UPDATED
As pointed out in the comments, Abby did have some great musical impressions as well. Here's some short edited clips of Abby as Christina Aguilera and Ke$ha:
And just for fun, I thought I'd throw in Abby's hilarious Anna Faris impression too:
Abby also did some fantastic singing impressions like Ke$ha and Christina Aguilara. She will be missed but not as much as Kristen and the other departures. All the same, losing a talented impressionist like Abby will significantly weaken the cast due to the lack of a dominant female impressionist with Abby and Kristen gone. It also takes out the 2 most talented female cast members overall. This leaves us with Nasim Pedrad, who has a few good impressions and a lot of bad ones, Vanessa Bayer, who has skated by on SNL heavily relying on her spot on Miley Cyrus impression but who's everything else is much worse, and the untested Kate McKinnon. There will also very likely be a new female cast member or two. Either way I think going into season 38 the male cast members are much more talented and I think that the insanely talented and hysterical Taran Killam and Bill Hader will be asked to do most of the heavy lifting in the upcoming season. If Jason Sudeikis decides to return, that will take some weight off the shoulders of Hader and Killam but I believe that in season 38 they will be the heart and sole of the show, which is not a bad thing. The question is whether or not the female cast members can keep up.
ReplyDeleteYes, I forgot about her Ke$ha and Christina Aguilera impressions. I have added video clips of them, as well as one of Anna Faris.
ReplyDeleteI agree, although Abby didn't contribute that much to the show, she was a great impressionist, and with her and Kristen off the show, they really need to add some more female cast members. While Vanessa should have some fun with Miley's new crazy hair cut, she really needs to introduce some new characters and impressions to really break out of the cast as Kristen did. And Nasim has some pretty good characters and impressions up her sleeve, but nothing has really stuck for her yet. And Kate hasn't really had much time to shine. It'll be interesting to see what the 3 remaining female cast members bring to the show with Kristen and Abby out of their way, and I look forward to seeing the inevitable new cast members who will be introduced this season.