Saturday Night Live has had a lot of cast members come, potentially leave, and definitely exit through the years. So, when you hear about two of its former stars joining forces, it opens up quite a few possibilities for who they could be. Prepare to have them narrowed down, as Saturday Night Live alum Vanessa Bayer’s pilot holds the key!
Having reunited with Andy Samberg on Brooklyn Nine-Nine for its seventh season, Vanessa Bayer is ready to co-star with yet another Saturday Night Live alum. This time, TVLine reports that Molly Shannon is the lucky one to star with Bayer. Shannon has boarded the half-hour pilot for Bayer’s Big Deal.
First, some background. Big Deal is currently in the pilot stages at Showtime, which could also be home to that proper Ray Donovan finale. Big Deal’s pilot stars Vanessa Bayer as a survivor of childhood leukemia, who achieves “her lifelong dream,” and that dream is to be a “successful home shopping channel host.” Who is Molly Shannon signed on to play?
Molly Shannon will take on the role of Jackie in the pilot. Jackie is described as “charismatic” and a popular host at the home shopping network. Do I sense a rivalry coming between Jackie and Vanessa Bayer’s character? Stay tuned. Should the pilot for Big Deal get a series order from Showtime, Shannon would star in a series regular capacity. Exciting!
Molly Shannon starred on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2001. Vanessa Bayer started on the long-running sketch show in 2010, nearly a decade after Shannon left in 2001. Bayer ended up exiting Saturday Night Live in 2017 and quickly lined up her next role in Netflix’s Ibiza.
As for Big Deal, Vanessa Bayer and her character share something in common, as both survived childhood leukemia. But, their career paths are where their journeys diverge. Bayer pursued her career in comedy, while her Big Deal character has found success as a host on a home shopping network.
Fans of Saturday Night Live will have to see if the pilot gets picked up if they want to watch Molly Shannon and Vanessa Bayer team-up on the project. There is hope that they could star in something else in the future, though. Shannon is certainly no stranger to co-starring with her fellow Saturday Night Live alums.
For instance, Molly Shannon and Will Ferrell teamed up for a Rose Bowl Parade parody (emphasis on parody) for Amazon in 2018. In related news, there is more than one Saturday Night Live crossover happening with Big Deal. It will not just star two alums in Molly Shannon and Vanessa Bayer, because Big Deal is being executive produced by Bayer and Saturday Night Live writer Jeremy Beiler. Interesting!
Big Deal’s premise sounds primed to explore the world of home shopping and its various characters. Vanessa Bayer and Molly Shannon know all about finding the funny from their years on Saturday Night Live, and, together, they could be quite the team. The pilot should be capable of showcasing what the two can bring to the storyline.
The world of pilots is certainly heating up. From Lethal Weapon’s Seann William Scott joining the pilot for This Country to Molly Shannon signing on for Big Deal, there are a lot of “big deals” going down. Sorry, I could not resist it!
While you wait to see if Big Deal gets picked up by Showtime, be sure to check out this winter and spring’s premieres. You can currently watch Molly Shannon in the movie Horse Girl and Vanessa Bayer in Ibiza, both on Netflix. Horse Girl arrived in 2020, along with lots of TV content.
