Last night, Saturday Night Live star Kristen Wiig signed off as a cast member for the final time. As a tribute, she danced with each of her fellow actors and actresses, as well as longtime headman Lorne Michaels. The moment was touching and fitting, the perfect way to say goodbye to a woman who has been such an integral part of the late night show for so long.
During her tenure, Wiig created a lot of memorable characters and appeared in a lot of brilliant sketches, but her most noteworthy accomplishment might actually be that she’s arguably the first woman ever to be the most important cast member at any given time. Many brilliant comediennes have made people laugh on that famous stage, but all existed (somewhat) under the shadow of a more famous and more beloved male performer. Gilda Radner played opposite John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray. Julia Louis-Dreyfus shared the screen with Eddie Murphy. Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph and Ana Gasteyer co-existed with Will Ferrell, and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler overlapped with Jimmy Fallon.
Of course, Wiig too competed for screen time with great male cast members like Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg and Kenan Thompson, but for the first time, a fair argument could actually be made that she was the central attraction. So, the question is, will Kristen Wiig go down as the best female cast member of all-time? Or was she simply a very good cast member who greatly benefited from the period she worked on the show?
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