SNL Stories: Mary Gross Interview

[Music] hey everybody John Schneider here from the Saturday night Network getting you ready for a very special edition of SNL stories as we are about to talk to Mary gross former L cast member from season 7 through season 10 and I am so excited to present you this interview coming up in just a few minutes but before we get started figured I'd say hello to a lot of the listeners we have a lot of new listeners that have come in over the summer as we have been releasing the everything you need to know about Saturday Night Live series on our YouTube channel uh it's been so much fun to get to do that to get to go back to some of the old Seasons as we're preparing for this 50th Anniversary season so so far we have released 10 of those videos on Thursdays throughout the summer I'm very excited to announce that season 11 will be coming back in one week from now so if you're watching this on Thursday September 5th that'll be out in the evening on Thursday September 12th before we get there we thought it would be fun to stop down and talk to somebody who was in the building for some of the seasons that we just reviewed and talked about on the channel so Mary gross like I said cast member from Seasons 7 through 10 so in case you haven't seen those Seasons uh you got to watch those videos and now we're going to do a little bit of a deeper dive with Mary and talk through all of her story stories from her time at the show so I'm really looking forward to that uh we are of course here as a presentation of late nigh. comom uh amazing late night television website that we work with all the time and uh you should definitely go check out all of the work that they got going on over there and we've had so much fun content here over the summer including our look back at the greatest SNL hosts of all time so that's a countdown series we've been doing every Monday so in case you're just joining us for uh you know SNL 50 coverage it's a great opportunity to catch up on the backlog of episodes we released this summer we also had some interviews with Denny Dylan and Gail Matias from season six of Saturday Night Live that came out recently we had our interviews at The Blues Brothers con where we sent Bill Kenny and James Stevens down to Juliet Illinois to go and talk to Dan arroy Jim balushi and many others so that was a really fun interview podcast we released last week so if you want to go check that out all of that is available in the archives as for the interview with Mary today so James Stevens did join me for this interview that we recorded with Mary uh Mary prefer to keep the interview Audio Only so if you're watching this on the YouTube channel now you'll be seeing my face as I introduce the uh the interview that we did and then you'll see me after the show and we'll talk a little bit about uh what's coming up here on the Saturday night Network as we look forward to season 50 so we'll talk about that at the end of the show I'll come back and join you but for now if you're watching on the YouTube channel uh you'll see an audio overlay as we'll you know put out this interview and then of course you know uh we're not only on YouTube if you want to check us out on the go you can bring us anywhere by subscribing to us on Apple podcast or Spotify or whichever podcaster you listen to podcasts on you can go and find the Saturday night Network there um subscribe so you never miss an episode and you know whether you're driving or taking the bus or you know folding laundry you could be listening to interviews like with Mary gross so I'm really excited about this one Mary was super open about her time there probably one of the cast members that I'd say over the last few years we've spoken to that was probably the most open potentially about their time at the show so I really appreciate how candid she was about her experience at Saturday Night Live um I'm thrilled that she's doing well and that we got a chance to talk to her so I do hope you enjoy the interview but I absolutely want you to let your thoughts out in the comments below so tell us what you thought if there were funny moments in the interview if there were things that uh you know you wanted to hear more about and stuff like that because maybe we'll have her back on the show one day uh but whatever you thought I love reading the comments so please post them Below in the YouTube channel uh you can always find us on social media and reach out as well at the SNL Network okay without further Ado let me take you to our interview with Mary gross happening right now yes welcome on in everybody to the Saturday night Network for another edition of SNL stories this time here with an amazing former cast member the one the only Mary gross who was a cast member for Four Seasons on Saturday Night Live from season 7 through season 10 and we are here and are so excited to get to talk to Mary so Mary how are you oh I'm good you know it would have been longer than four seasons but I think it would have been longer than four seasons but our producer our executive producer decided to go back to NBC sports right and uh that uh negated our contracts I found that out when I was in Jamaica making a movie that Harold Ramos was directing called Club Paradise a movie that poor Harold was not happy about um so whenever you see any articles about um Harold you won't see any reference to that movie it's as if it was never made but but it was uh a great fun and had a lot of um SCTV people oh wow in fact I think I was the only uh second City Chicago person maybe that's not true but do you remember the name of this movie oh Club Paradise okay got it and uh let's see um Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy and um Andrew Martin and uh my friend Robin Duke and right Robin Williams too right oh of course Robin Williams Peter o uh um Brian Doyle Murray Brian Doyle Murray I saw a friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook yesterday or two days ago and it was a a really great picture of uh Brian do Murray uh John beluchi Joe flarity Gilda I for I forget there's six people I think and incredible I realized the only person still with us was Brian do Murray right yeah kind of broke my heart by the way I don't know who it was if it was uh YouTube who posted a little part of a SNL News segment I don't know what it used to be called where I was break where you guys were where you guys were having a A Love Affair I thought I had I I'm no memory of that really because we do want to ask you about that for sure so um I I just want to yeah so we'll talk about it because maybe it'll trigger a couple memories but just you know while we're going back to this uh film you you spoke about as you know you so you had intended to come back for the 11th season of SNL it was only when you found out out that dick EOL was not returning that you then uh realized that after four years that was going to be it is that correct yeah I think I was in Jamaica making this movie and uh got a phone call from my uh lawyer who uh said well it looks like you won't be returning because your producer is not returning so everybody's free and um you know in one way you I felt okay with that but in another way it was like but all my stuff is in New York I have to go I have to go back to New York and and figure out am I gonna stay in New York am I gonna go back to Chicago am I gonna move to LA yeah I can only imagine wanted to ask so did that include actually going back to 30 Rock like in your office and and grabbing things oh yeah uh uh not much because I'm I'm thinking that at the end of the year we kind of tidied up our office because you just never knew what was going to happen between the last show and the new season you just didn't know I was sad to see that uh puny Johnson is that her name and yeah puny and uh that other lady Molly yeah I'm sorry to see them go I like them very much but the cast it's so big Mary you're still watching the show now oh God every week it's you'd think I'd be over it by now but uh I still do watch it I I notice when people are light isn't that funny I think that's the biggest thing I notice is if somebody's liting the show or doesn't have a scene or doesn't show up till the good nights isn't that funny I'm concerned with that it's that it's that well that's that kind PTSD or whatever just memory from the show that you just can relate to that as a as a you know you're all sort of connected through this crazy thing that the show that that is the show right we are connected like uh I mean for example one day I was in Beverly Hills uh going to a doctor's appointment and as I approached the building I saw a familiar figure making a phone call in the corner and I just yelled out Fred and I'd never met him but it was Fred armison and I oh my gosh I felt comfortable enough yelling Fred is if we knew each other and I've done that with other SNL yeah SNL sometimes I mix up uh Saturday Night Live with uh Second City I have to be careful um but I other SNL people I've seen I just yell at your name like yeah we know each other so and I'm sure he responds the same way like oh yes there's my sister from the show right he was he was really sweet he got off the phone he said oh my God Mary gross he said you were the group the cast that I grew up on and then when he went back to 30 Rock he took pictures of of the three or four pictures that I was in on the wall in the lobby and he sent them to me on his phone isn't that sweet so sweet yeah I've never met before but I but I thought that was very dear yeah these are the kind of John right these are the kind of heartwarming stories that like you know the listeners I just I know they're eating it up it's just so you know fun to hear this oh yeah absolutely and you know I we I know we're talking about the end of your time at the show Mary but I do think it would be a great thing to go back to the beginning of your career and how you got started at the show because a lot of people don't know how you got hired uh obviously you joined the show in season 7 uh after a crazy season six with a lot of change over we got a new producer uh you know some cast members that come in towards the tail end of season 6 and you're one of the people that we meet in season 7 so can you share with us your origin story wow um it was sort of a miracle first of all I didn't know what my uh goal was I do I want to be an English teacher uh do do I uh want to try to get into the steepen Wolf Theater Company and take classes there and do drama what do I want to do and then um my dear friend Tim kazarinski started saying things to me like what do you think about living in New York and I looked at him and I said I don't I don't want to think about living in New York I'm not thinking about living in New York because my family my boyfriend my life was in Chicago and it just uh gave me an anxiety attack to think about living in New York and I knew what he was saying he was saying that somehow my name had come up somewhere and uh cuz he was already there Tim as you said the the season had started and then there was a strike I think so um apparently and I just found this out sometime later John balushi and Tim had both recommended me so the next thing I knew uh dick Abol and uh um I hate to say this the late Bob tishler so recently um came out to uh LA and saw the show it wasn't my best Second City show but they saw the show and I think truly based on John and Tim's recommendation they made me an offer and I said um can I think about it and they was so nice they I said how long do I have to think about it once they granted me this time period and they said well we we'll need an answer like in a month so uh my boyfriend and I went on a vacation my boyfriend at the time and I went on a vacation up the coast of California uh we actually visited BEDA Bay which is where Bob eventually landed and um and uh I I didn't know what to do I had no idea what to do and my boyfriend had an old friend who was a Buddhist and when I mentioned my predicament he said uh the answer will find itself and of course that was of no help at all but I uh cancer found itself [Music] um the first time I read that I was that IID accepted the offer was in the Chicago Tribune and I had not accepted the offer but at that point but it was but it was written already yeah it kind of pushed me over the edge a little and and again I I hate to keep referring to him as my boyfriend at the time but he so he solved the problem for me because I think what I was worried about was leaving him and leaving my family I mean it wasn't leaving them but I was going to another part of the country and uh and what he said to me was well when Saturday Night comes around this fall and you're watching the show how are you going to feel about that H and that was it that was it that's that's very wise I mean it no one said that to me before he did it was so clear-cut though that is it possible that he was the one that leaked that you were going to accept the job to the Chicago Tribune no no he he had my back he wouldn't have done that in fact he did not want me to go but he would never say that so for him to say such a generous thing as you know think about it this way it was so generous of and in fact we are still very good friends but uh that guy really had my back and so and then and then other friends said to me okay so what so maybe you'll do 12 episodes and then they'll pay for that and then they'll cancel the show you have no you have no idea what's going to happen why not uh enjoy the exposure enjoy the income but my thought was isn't this a sinking ship I mean that's probably a phrase I saw that was made in regards to the last season that it was a sinking ship which is very cool but I thought the show is so mixed up right now why would I want to go in that direction but but I finally thought of it as like 12 episodes instead of uh this serious life decision you know do you remember uh so was the offer there when when Dick and when they came out or was it a phone call later no I think the offer was they came out and after the second City show we went over to a neighborhood restaurant that I'd never been in before and um that's where the offer was made and that's where I asked them if I could think about it can you imagine the G I had to and and then you know this didn't occur to me and I know this sounds really naive but it didn't occur to me recently how annoying it must have been for me to say to my friends SNL made me this offer and I don't know to do could could you help me what what would you do never occurred to me that that could have been annoying to fellow sketch comedians I I was truly but I I truly wasn't thinking of it as the um uh the Holy Grail it just wasn't where I needed to be well and it was also I mean I would imagine maybe what was Weighing on you was as you said the some of those uh unfortunate headlines about the sinking ship or whatever I mean season six had had its moments right and and you probably had a little bit of that to just go what's what is the future of this and and as you said that coupled with the fact I'm asking uh coupled with the fact that that was not really uh you know you didn't have your eyes on that prize necessarily right I uh I I could have used more time at Second City I mean I only did two years there I didn't do the touring company I I got hired to go directly on the main stage so some of my friends had been there for years you know they took classes they did touring company they did mainstage I didn't have uh a lot of experience when this offer came my way uh so I could have used a hell of a lot more characters were you watching the original era of the show at all were you familiar with the original cast I don't think I missed an episode even though I was working at Second City we were watching it in the green room when we weren't on stage yeah and uh in fact here's a here's a funny moment one night when Belushi was working on um The Blues Brothers movie in Chicago he he would always come by uh Second City and um that's how he became familiar with what I was doing and he he stopped by one night he was in the green room and he was watching himself on Saturday Night Live in our Green Room and uh and out on stage George Went who was in my cast with um another lovely brilliant cast member named Bruce jaro they were doing a scene called the Fugue Brothers which was obviously a a parody of The Blues Brothers so so here was John in the green room watching himself on TV and at that very moment out on stage or George and Bruce were doing the fug brothers so anyway that's funny it's like a little house of mirrors I'm glad you brought up John blushi because uh he had uh he really enjoyed your work and and enjoyed you as a as as a friend and a colleague and appear um can you tell us a little bit more about that oh oh my God John did something so sweet he I mean I I wasn't hanging out with John I I was working with his brother Jim and uh I didn't even know John was that aware of me ex well so I so my agent calls me one day and she says uh this is in Chicago she says we have an audition for you um uh to play the wife of John baloi in a movie called Neighbors do you mind but they needed to fly out to New York like uh Tuesday and it was um Monday no it was Sunday night or something and um so I had to ask my boss at Second City because I was supposed to do a show Tuesday night you know Bernie Solin was my exe executive producer of Second City I said Bernie can I run to New York audition for a movie and come back and he said no no no no no no and um he said that because he was afraid that SNL was raiding his talent and he was just getting sick of it you know and in fact I as Legend as it that's how they found Brad Julia Gary and uh Paul Bros is um a year later dick and Bob wanted to get Talent from Second City and Bernie said you know go look in the The Little Theater in the back and that's where uh that's where Julia and and Brad and Gary and Paul were performing that's great and that's how they all got pulled to New York but um anyway so John so I went to New York over at the Practical practical Theater Company right yes exactly thank you and um their motto was Art is good and uh so I got called to New York to audition for this movie it was all very exciting I don't know if I'd ever been to New York before I don't think I had and my agent wanted to go with me I guess I don't know why I guess she thought I was uh Midwestern kid and I needed company so she came with me and um there was a building on the East let's see was it on east side or west side I think it was on the west side of Central Park and we went up in the building and that's where my ition was and the director was John aalson who directed Rocky and um I actually I'm not sure if I knew what I was auditioning for and I'm not even sure if I had to read copy I maybe they just wanted to maybe the director just wanted to meet me but when we decided we were done with business I think Danny was there Danny ARR and John and the director and probably a casting director and when the audition was over John said um uh Judy and I uh his wife of course he said Judy and I are gonna show you the town tonight and uh I said I gota get back to Chicago I have to do a show tonight and I thought oh my God I can't believe I'm saying no to this but uh so he was like oh my god you're kidding well anyway so he took me out on the balcony and he said well this is New York and he uh you know waved his hand over Central Park and pointed out what he could and uh it was sort of dream likee and then I had to say goodbye and get in a plane and go back to Chicago and do a show that night but it it still feels dreamlike you know because at the time John was on the cover of John was maybe the number one box office male for a while I think yeah I mean he had the number there was that time where Saturday Night Live was the number one show he had uh The Blues Brothers album was uh like you know number one in the on the charts and uh wasn't that the same time that uh was at Animal House right I think that's what put him well maybe all those things put him but Animal House may have put him on the cover of Newsweek and so um it it was all very dreamlike you know to have John embracing me and treating me like a friend who he wanted to entertain and well I love this and just inter and I know we have much more to cover but to just say this you know not to you know mention any names or whatever but people have said of on that he has said whether it just doesn't seem maybe 100% accurate that just women are not funny and and he has gravitate like you know he had this relationship I think with Gilda that was very sweet and and I've just heard you over the years talk about you know how how uh kind and uh supportive he was of you and I just you know don't know if you have a a feeling to to to just be like no that's that's not the John balushi I knew well he he of course knew Gilda from National Lampoon so they'd had a long relationship and a friendship I mean and um and me I don't know I I I couldn't explain to you what about me made him think I was okay uh but the last time I saw John was maybe October just just before he died I think he died in February but I'm not sure but it was maybe October when he did a cameo on SNL which you may have captured in one of your it was it was actually the uh October 31st it was the Halloween episode right yes the Halloween show everything about that was so creepy including it being John's last appearance on on on the show but um and then he passed away in March yeah when when he arrived uh at studio8 he threw his arm around my neck maybe a little too tight and and U I was I was in the hall probably on my way to hair and makeup to check on wigs or something we were about to do a dress rehearsal and he and he put his arm around my neck and and he said to the room in general I got to this job that is amazing proud of you proud of you yeah and I and I've been just being cynical instead of thankful I said yeah I've been meaning to thank you for that because I was so stressed out about being there but uh anyway it was that was that was the last time I saw John right but uh so anyway I spent maybe too much time talking about all that but no this is great stuff Mary um thank you der yeah I'd love to hear it I wanted to ask you um you mentioned you know dick and Bob tishler uh coming out and seeing you uh there has been a lot of conversation about you know Michael odonahue being a headwriter at the beginning of season 7 when you're first starting your time at the show uh from your perspective what was it like working with Michael um for that first half of season s and you know from your perspective also what was the dynamic between Michael and Bob tishler and dick ebersol as they're all trying to figure out what the show is going to be in season 7 well I think I think Michael had a lot of influence and I think he was trying to um create he thought he had an opportunity to create a different kind of show like a more of a variety show than just sketch comedy and um not that it ever was just sketch comedy I mean the Muppets were there and other things but um but I think at some point and I think it was around Christmas they decided that they had let Michael decide too much he was his influence was becoming negative um I personally was present when just before Christmas when we were supposed to you know tidy up our offices and go back to our hometowns for the holiday for two weeks we were called into dick abell's office and again being naive and optimistic I thought oh they're going to give us a Christmas bonus this was our first season you know and uh instead Michael odonahue just ripped us apart just it was it was heartbreaking he just said how disappointed not disappointed he was how oh we were less than rookies we didn't know what we were doing we had no special talent the only people he could speak highly of were uh definitely Eddie maybe Joe and Christine because she had uh a Broadway resume so um um so the rest of us were sort of left bleeding on the floor because he was so so nasty and it came out of nowhere uh and I I was so I was so hurt I said something to him that I mean Michael was highly unusual but I said something to him that was just uh that just erupted out of disappointment and anxiety about what he was doing I said something like you know you go around here as if you're uh some special man about town the way the way you hold your cigarette the you know the fanciful way you talk the you know I just started ripping back into him because I I said you're just a guy from a small town as far as I know or from a farm town or something I mean I don't even remember what I said I just remember thinking how dare they bring us into the room to have him do this and I think dick was shocked I think dick was you know he wasn't expecting it either right I think I think Michael must have said he wanted to give us a pep talk and and that's what dick expected and instead he got Slaughter uh you know it was it was it was very unpleasant I was I was more than willing to meet Michael halfway but um he did a lot of weird things like for example he wrote A Sketch uh that involved a a a a whale with a blow no was it a person who had a blo hole because that sounds right because they were exposed to Three Mile Island it was this family that had all these ities because well there was it was it at home with the psychos could could have been could have been I was a I was supposed to play a ballerina who fell into a Christmas tree and fell on the floor and I didn't I didn't do stunt work I mean I never had formal theater training I didn't know how to fall into a Christmas tree and not hurt myself and he called me you know a big whatever for uh be not being willing to get hurt for a gag and um and also I had shown up he he wanted to do a special rehearsal in the writer's wing and I hadn't shown up the reason I hadn't shown up is I'd been asked to do uh a remote out on the street where I was interviewing kids to ask them what the meaning of Christmas was to them oh my gosh yeah the the the kids around Rockefeller Center very famous remote James because it has Seth Green in it that's right that's right oh that's right that's right that's right it's like the you're talking about commercialism and all this stuff yes yes yeah like or when I was a kid you know Christmas was like this and so so so I was um I was asked to be two places at once I was asked to be out in the street filming this remote and I was asked to be at a rehearsal and so through the graine I said to one of the uh production assistants please tell Michael I can't be at his rehearsal because I'm out in the street filming and I guess he didn't get the message because again he chewed me out for that like did I think I was so important I didn't need to be at his rehearsal there was just a lot of unnecessary stress brought by Michael and it's funny I I later became um friends with Carol Kane and she saidou know Michael was one of my Michael was one of my dear friends but he would do horrible things he said she knew that I was I was uh terrified of cockroaches and he would come over to my house and hang out with me he'd go into the bathroom and take a giant rubber cockroach put it behind the toilet so when I went in the bathroom you know I'd be screaming my head off I mean Michael was just just a little Sinister at times what I love about what you've described though Mary is you're you're talking about this scene you're supposed to play you're falling into a Christmas tree and all this kind of stuff and how it's just sort of these memories have flooded back to you like this is like what 43 44 years ago and it's great right I mean this is I just find it fascinating well I guess I remember the highlights and the low lights and everything in between you know the vague sort of scenes that that didn't um uh excite me or something well let's talk about that jumping to because I know John wanted to Circle back to you said on SNL news break there was um the thing with uh Brian Doyle Murray but you know there was this shuffling that went around you were you were at the desk with him and then you were out on assignment and then you were not at the desk anymore what do you do you recall uh all all of that just trying to figure out I mean you know it seemed like maybe dick ersa was trying to just break away from what Lauren had you know we're changing the name it's not Weekend Update we're doing news break and and trying to figure out how many anchors we're doing and all this kind of thing I don't know you know when I saw your little uh Time Capsule and it said that I was replaced by chrisye ABA I thought oh yeah I guess it did happen I had I could I couldn't really remember that but I think they must have presented it not like uh this isn't working out I think they thought you know maybe my old boss at Second City called them and said you know why aren't you using marry Mo and sketches she's a reactor you should be doing this with her you know don't stick her at the news desk something like that and and maybe they just did an old Switcheroo to see how things would go or maybe they could see the terror in my eyes that I I didn't like being at the news desk I don't know I don't know what happened or why it happened I just went with the flow you know that's interesting the one other time that I'm thinking about this now that wasn't precisely the news but was you know you had these different Callin D had these different call-in shows and and there was you know Larry the Lobster and and the voting you know uh uh Andy Kaufman but the one I remember you and Piscopo are sitting at the desk about the vote for the uh the presidential candidates and and most of the episode was geared towards that it was very SL you know kind of not a lot of politics in uh some of the dick ersal era but there was one show heavily devoted to it and and you were at the desk primarily much of that episode boy I don't I don't remember a lot of that certainly the most memorable uh voting event was the Andy Coffman and you've probably heard an earful about that I mean uh I remember well yes and I will just say this and and ask what you remember about it um that in the good nights I I believe it's it's Gary Kroger giving the results and I have this image this picture of you that I'm just remembering like over his shoulder be and you're just like shocked and I don't know if you're finding out in real time or not what you were you or or did you guys know I you know what I watched it on your little time capsule yesterday or today and um I think what I did when Gary said that we voted Andy off or the audience voted Andy off I think I saw myself sort to throw my hand up in the air like well them the break you know but but but the truth the truth is it was a very traumatic event because um I guess we're allowed to tell these stories after all these decades but okay they told me that I had to go up there and say you know this was this was this new thing where you could call in in real time and so NBC said oh boy we're going to be really forward and we're going to do this so let's have people call in and do the lobster thing and okay let's do the Andy Kaufman thing so um now when they told me and others they told me specifically that I had to stand up in stage and say that we were going to take a vote the audience was going to call in and vote as to whether Andy should be back in the show again and um I said I said I'm not comfortable with this I mean we all we all like Andy you know I mean of course he's unusual but we we before we were hired to do this show we admired Andy so why would we now do this aren't we part of the same Community why would we want to hurt Andy I I didn't make any sense to me and then and then I remember we were in my dressing room only only because it was the closest one to Dick's uh office while we were doing the show live and uh we were all in there and everybody was like yeah why are we doing this in fact we're not doing this we're not going to do the show tonight we're going to walk we don't want to we don't want to do this Andy Kaufman thing and uh you know and so are you saying this to dick or you guys are saying this amongst each other like you're you're you're about to plot this I think we said it to ourselves and then when Dick and Bob walked into my dressing room we said it to them we said or I somehow I remember Jim baloi or somebody saying you know put on a rerun you can you can handle just put on a rerun we're not doing this show I don't know if it was Jim but somebody but I remember seeing uh Brad Hall you know everybody shaking their heads yeah yeah we're not doing this show so then okay so then dick and Bob left my dressing room then a little time passed a little time we didn't have much time they came back in and they said am I allowed to tell you this I guess I am I mean honestly yes Mary I think turn let's turn to the phones right now and see uh call this number if you think Mary should tell us I was gonna say I think the statute of limitations has passed afraid I'm I'm afraid I'm gonna get in trouble Mary I promise you're not gonna have a light week this week we're gonna make sure you get a lot on believe me I have nightmares to this day about having a light week but anyway Mary you have this entire [Laughter] episode so so anyway dick and Bob come back into the dressing room and they say okay we weren't supposed to tell you this but Andy this was all Andy's idea Andy wanted us to vote him off the show Andy wanted us to present this to the audience and we thought oh yeah that makes sense I mean right that's exactly like something Andy would do so once we heard that we went oh yeah okay if that's what Andy wants so you know in one way it was like oh fun we're co-conspirators with Andy and in another way it was like well that makes us look like real [ __ ] doesn't it like we're all gonna vote Andy off the show we're all gonna uh go along with this plan it's especially I mean just thinking about what is and I'm not trying to put any disrespect on the show today but I mean that is you know just leaves the audience going what's happening what's going on like you know what I mean it's it's it was unique they were changing the format which is something refreshing uh for sure yeah Mary can I ask you a little bit about uh you mentioned Brad and obviously Brad goes on to host uh Saturday night news break in the later seasons and I thought that you know uh very underrated I I thought some of your guest reports that you would do on the as Saturday night news break were fantastic um and I remember very fondly uh some of your comments we fondly called them uh spitting mad I think I think that was what you titled them too where you would go on and you would just uh rant about things that were bothering you do you remember like how that came together who you would write those with stuff like that I I did I did not write them they did not become they did not come about organically I did not choose to do them in fact um the writer who had that idea it was a thing that people have done with me throughout my career like wouldn't it be cute if little mild married softspoken just loses it yeah wouldn't that be cute but for me it was like it was very I hate to overuse the word un organic it wasn't the kind of thing I would choose to do or write for myself but uh they kept making me do it and if you look at my face if you look at my performance it's like I'm not com I'm not committed I'm not I'm not liking what I'm doing I'm just doing it because I've been told to do it because the irony of it I thought really worked like maybe it felt uncomfortable for you but I think all these years later looking back at some of those moments um they do really pop because we sort of get to know you as a personality and it's just very interesting to see the dichotomy between your personality and what you're presenting on screen during those moments well you know I think I'm gonna believe you because I trust you even though I just met you today that's very nice I think you know John John to John's point it's like there's a similar thing similar but different going back to John balushi where he would do that report where it would just escalate into uh you know spiraling out of control and falling out of the chair or whatever but you sort of like yeah but no well this was a uh but it was funny but you sort of expected that from John balushi where what John is saying and I agree is here's Mary it is it is outside of what we expect from am mer gross well be 100% sure that it was inspired the writer who wrote it was trying to do you remember which writer it was yeah it was Andy Smith I think Andrew Smith okay and he was uh you know clearly making a reference to what John had done except with the little Mary gross yeah that's that's very fascinating what about your doctor Ruth commentaries that you used to do that was you know I actually can speak about that without too much embarrassment because um I I have trouble watching myself and oh God last year A friend of mine put together all these old sketches for me and sent them to me and I was really pissed off at them because I said I don't want to watch these old sketches but um but I I didn't mind Dr Ruth because she was a sweet person and a sweet character to do and did you ever meet her oh gosh yes there was one week where it was Mother's Day so okay I thought I'll do a Mother's Day tribute to my mother as Dr Ruth at the time oh my God I think the day before I did it at the news desk or the day I did it at the news desk I found out that Dr Ruth's mother had died uh in a concentration camp so I thought oh God I don't I I I I can't this is sacred ground I can't I can't do this but it was I I I think I talked to dick or Bob or both and they said no it's okay it's okay it's just you know it's just a sketch it's okay so I pretended like I didn't know anything about a real mother and I gave this tribute and as I as I sat at the news desk I looked out and oh my God In Heaven There Was Dr Ruth just like oh uh in the bleachers very very close to me I mean I couldn't look at the Q card without seeing Dr Ruth's face so uh I just thought okay just uh sell it get through this um assume you're not trying to hurt anybody because you're not and and then as soon as I had an opportunity after the show I went up to her she's about half my size you know and I went up to her and I said I'm I I I'm I'm so sorry I hope I didn't defend you and she said oh she was so sweet she said oh my goodness no of course not it's just it's just entertainment you know she said I understand there's nothing to apologize for it and she was she couldn't have been more gracious and and lovely but uh to be imitating somebody and to suddenly be staring at them on live television Bo they that was tough but um but it all worked out fine can I also make an observation about the Dr Ruth impression that I think is interesting in comparison to the spitting mad ones because spitting mad like I said it's it's funny because it's so not you and I think that Dr Ruth is interesting because obviously um you know dealing with sexuality and talking about it so openly um in a commentary is interesting because to me you also played like a lot of nuns too so there was like a little bit of a okay like would Mary naturally be the person to be talking or impersonating Dr Ruth and I thought that was so fun as well to like let you have those types of conversations as Dr Ruth despite what maybe comes off some in other points as you being reserved playing other characters let's say well the thing that was so uh comfortable about playing Dr Ruth was she was so Charming I mean she spoke about sex without any self-consciousness or right any taboo I mean it was uh I I I enjoyed it it was much more natural for me to talk about sex than to be yelling at the desk actually I didn't I remember when I did comic relief to I you know was talking about people's penises you know without blinking an eye it just um I think the the joke I made on comic relief was I did Dr Ruth on comic relief and I said uh you want to you want to be able to look at your penis and say You Look Marvelous or something like that and uh you know it was it was fun it was just silliness I mean what's sillier than sex you know um I think that's so but John's comment uh does make me laugh a little bit because uh great observation in the fact that you did play a lot of nuns and one that comes to mind is that uh that sarcastic nun sketch do you remember what I'm was Drew Drew Barrymore no uh oh no I think I know I I I didn't care for that kind of a I don't right but it almost I've I've heard people say of the sarcastic nun sketch that oh uh Mary handled that very well and that could have been a recurring character oh well maybe it could have I guess I missed missed the boat on that one well but you uh as you were saying it was not something that you were real keen on for whatever reason I didn't like these things that were uh nice Mary's now mean Mary nice Mary's now Angry Mary uh I like you know it's funny there was a a a teacher at Second City uh uh who used to say he would talk about your orbit of characters who are characters you know you can do like the that you can comfortably do um like when they came up to me and said uh by they I meant our head writers that year which were uh oh oh God I'm sorry I know who they are I'm just having trouble remembering names after so many years but uh one day the head writers were in my office saying we wrote A Sketch and we want you to play Mary Richards you know on on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and I said okay like I I thought I have never done that but I I'll I'll do that whereas somebody would come in my room and say okay so I wrote this thing for the news and you're going to play Joan Rivers and I said no I can't I can't do that I that's too far from who I am that's interesting that you say the thing about the orbit because the one of the things I and this this this point that you're making that that I wanted to uh another just James observation and see where John goes on this as well is that your breath of character is really quite large and kind of on both ends of the spectrum where I would say A you know a Rachel dra who I'm who I love like has a t has a type Jane curtain you know probably has has has a type you played everybody from uh like Alfalfa and PeeWee Herman and also Marilyn Monroe you know me it's like it's very uh eclectic and and and just one extreme to the other and very well done and I don't know but like I mean you may what you might be saying about the orbit is that you might not feel comfortable but uh you have to uh I think agree that you you're there's a there's a lot of variety you were dealt thank you let let me clarify something I I uh I I chose to do Marilyn because I had done her at Second City successfully even though I look nothing like her I'm tall skinny woman and I uh and I chose to do uh alala I no I didn't chose I didn't choose to do it uh Robert Blake chose me to be alphalpha who who he worked with as a little boy and uh and as far as Peewee goes I did not choose to do PeeWee Herman because to me PeeWee Herman was already doing a parody of a person so why would I want to do a parody of a parody it didn't I I didn't I didn't Paul Rubin is doing a right is doing a character and did you have ever meet Paul Rubin by the way I did I met him at relief I was coming out of my trailer and he was coming out of his trailer and um embarrassed to say instead of saying oh hi Paul I said hi Peewee I love it he very very kindly and politely said oh hi Mary I like the way you do me and I thought I thought well he's been nice he's been nice yeah yeah maybe he thought you were being Dr Ruth in that moment I think I I asked I think I asked the bosses the bosses if I could not to PeeWee and they said no we we need it we need it we just need an inone meaning one character One camera which gives us time to move around the studio if you know it doesn't anyway so sometimes they needed stuff like that and you're like oh all right for God's sakes I I guess so let me ask you something here I know from previous conversation or or that we that we had uh You' worked with lots of hosts while while you were there I believe if I'm not mistaken that Ed Asner was was maybe one of your uh favorites to work with right I mean you had or at least you had some pieces that during that episode I remember you were pretty F remain fond of am I remembering that correctly you you are remembering it with a 100% accuracy I loved I loved Ed asnar and I I have a current friend who was a very close friend of Ed's and I have another friend who's writing a biography of Ed so Ed is Ed is never far away from my thoughts I have pictures of him in my cell phone uh I remember after I worked with him I ran into on the streets of LA and I said oh I hear you in these radio plays I'd love to do that and he said yeah sure you should be doing those I'll I'll mention your name and I mean Ed was a a a sweet guy uh and um we we had some really nice moments as um as Mr Grant and uh Mary Richards and right cold open yeah that was great no it wasn't a cold open it was a it was a scene that involved the entire cast and and I'll tell you who wrote it Marilyn Suzanne was the main writer on that she was guest writing and she got the entire cast in this uh Mary Tyler Moore apartment situation I was just saying how sweet it was to be able to say oh Mr Grant and throw my arms around him I know and and and it was actually Mr Grant and uh and then we did a scene where he was uh Peter Pan and you said this to me yes yes the old Peter Pan one yes was a great yeah you're I think you were being critical of yourself in that sketch but I think it's I think it's very sweet well um I there was a friend of mine I wanted he who who's who was very close to Ed and I wanted him to see that and he he loved seeing Ed in that he thought Ed was very very dear in that um whenever I watch myself at an old scene I'm usually trying to redirect myself like if I could do that scene again I would make this Choice here and this Choice there um but it was I yeah Ed was maybe one of my favorite hosts and Mary you mentioned Marilyn Susanne Miller as a guest writer I would love to know you know she was involved in a few different episodes especially in season 7 uh any REM like times that you remember working with her and what was that like Marilyn wrote uh the Marilyn Monroe song uh downers Are a Girl's Best Friend which I performed in a not particularly good wig and and didn't have enough rehearsal time so uh my dance steps were okay I mean I don't I'm not a song and dance person so all of these things were um stressful but is there a story about that sorry to interrupt but is there a story about that particular piece in dress rehearsal and the costume I think the costume was okay except it was a little too tight at the bosom if it had been if it had been a little more loose at the bosom it would have made me look bustier but it uh it kind of hug me too much and and then also my wig came down a little too low no too high on my forehead and and if and I thought I read where I was going was I thought I read at one point that at dress you were so committed to the character that even though some of the costume was uh leaving your body oh that you uh just kept going but that I may have I apologize if I'm I miss not I don't remember that but it's entirely possible because you're sort of uh you're in another Zone when you're performing you don't know what's you could lose your dress and not know right right I was gonna ask you about also uh Margaret Oberman um one of your other writers that you worked with for the few years I noticed that when I looked through some of the writing credits they were some really good sketches that she was involved with when you were there um any memories working with her well uh Margaret's on my list of people to call tonight I'm I'm still very close friends with Margaret and uh um there was a sketch I don't know how it came to my attention maybe James maybe you sent it to me but it was I was I wasn't crazy about my performance but it was Eddie playing uh a hairdresser and I was a lady of some means who was one of his clients and uh we were just chatting while he was doing my hair and um the thing I found so STIs fine when I look back at the scene and I don't say that about scenes I've been in very often but what I found so satisfying was neither of us were looking at Q cards we were actually talking to each other and we actually even um played a little bit with each other you know it wasn't this is the right I just so that anybody wants to try to find this I think what we're talking about is when he's uh being his Dion character right yes he was Dion and I was his client and uh uh he was just talking about some nightmare he had had he was very funny at one point I even laughed during the sketch because his character was so charming and after I laughed I said Dean you know I adore you because I guess I had to justify the Laugh You Know by saying I find you so Charming as Dan but but I was fighting him Charming his Eddie you know right so that was an adlib but Eddie was uh always a a delight to work with um that sounds so phony to call him a Del but I know that's genuine and sincere for sure do you have you seen him run into him no I oh many many many years ago of another boyfriend of mine was working as a sound mixer on a movie and we went to visit another sound mixer and it was a set that Eddie was working on haven't I haven't seen him in years but uh I can tell you that if I were to run into him I trust he would be very sweet uh Eddie Eddie was a very nice person and um you know the myth that any of the cast members were upset when he hosted the show when Nick NTI could not host the show right uh is Pam myth not it's not true they oh yeah like like did we discussed this earlier the one person there was one person who was maybe upset but just one yeah if if one person has no been known to sort of have been quoted as uh being upset that as a cast member Eddie hosted and maybe this person was saying uh I didn't really care for that and neither did the rest of the cast you can't really speak for everybody else is what you're saying that's right there was in fact um at a at a the last big Reunion Show they had what would that have been the 40 the 40 the 40th yeah um Chris Rock made some crack about about when Eddie hosted and how much the cast must have loved that and after that's right that's right after the show you know I remember I wasn't there I didn't I didn't go to that Reunion Show unfortunately I missed Prince performing and but anyway um Robin Duke among other people rushed uh Chris Rock after the show and said that's not true that's totally not true we didn't mind that Eddie hosted the show so like I said there was maybe one person who minded that Eddie hosted the show nobody else well thank you for setting that record straight too because people if you're listening that's how rumors get started exactly you I'm I'm happy to set the record straight I'll tell you another thing getting back to that Andy Kaufman thing I'm sorry to go backwards but no please yeah this is great I was on a plane um some years ago I'd done a a failed NBC pilot let's call it a ill- fated pilot i' done with um uh okay now I'm going to call her my friend and I can't remember her name um Carol Carol Kane and uh we we were on a plane from New York to LA and I was sitting next to her and we' become friends in the course of doing this difficult show and um and she said you know I'll never forget how terrible Andy felt when you voted him off the show and I just was like Carol wait a minute I I I I gotta tell you this we only did that because Andy wanted us to do that that's not true I was with him he he said how much it hurt him he was he was practically in tears and and you know and I said Carol I beg you to believe me it was Andy's idea we wouldn't have done that to him so what what I what I wonder want to ask you is I believe some have said as you are indicating that yes this whole uh idea was the brainchild of Andy which it sounds very much like you mentioned the story earlier where they half the cast was in your dressing room going let's not do this and then uh producers are going no this is Andy's idea and you're all like oh yeah that sounds just like Andy but wasn't it that it was a surprise like you he he everyone didn't sort of expect that the results would be the way that they were that that was the part that was maybe shocking I don't know I mean I wasn't there I think I think you're right about that um you know my again uh cycling backwards for a second my very first night in New York when I was hired to do SNL they gave you two weeks in a hotel until you found an apartment to live in and uh my very first night in New York I I I called de Abol I said I'm here and he said hey uh why don't we get get together for dinner with Tim and um would you mind if Andy Kaufman joined us and I said no you know of course not was that was that the first time you had met him or not absolutely yes and uh so we went out to dinner and it was just such a bizarre evening I think the first thing that happened was he wanted to go to Time Square and so Tim and Dick and I you know trailed along and he said okay I'm going to go into this choca nuts and I want you guys to come in after me and sit at a booth but I'm going to sit at the um what do you call it the uh counter counter thank you I'm going to sit at the counter and don't act like you know me just ignore me and uh after a while you guys can walk out and I'll I'll catch up with you later okay so so what happened is we walk in we sit down Andy comes in he sits at the counter and he starts saying in this sort of crazy man voice he says he says did I tell you it was a chalk full and nuts did I say that it a choc full and nuts restaurant so he starts saying in in a loud voice chalk full and nuts is the best coffee in New York and he and he and he kept yelling this over and over like like this was a crazy person who had entered the restaurant and um so a after a while uh dick and Tim and I left and then Andy joined us then I was on to our next adventure and uh we went by this house that was actually a place where there was some sort of you know nude dancing or something and Andy grabbed me and we ran up the stairs and he said okay you know uh pretend you're with me and you're really mad at me for taking me there and I and I I mean honestly this was my first night in New York and I didn't even know the guy so to be suddenly doing gorilla theater or whatever you want to call it I I I should have just jumped in but I was feeling a little used so I I just love hearing this that like what you're telling us is like he has this fascination of just testing out these scenarios that he that that amuse him almost in in real time in the public and I I I'm F that's just fascina I love it yeah like you think Andy caufman is fascinating and then you hear stories like this and you're like oh okay he's even more fascinating than I thought he he's not only testing the the public he's testing his fellow performers patients by making you go along with what he wants to do if he had told you in advance hey let's have some fun and do this you would have thought oh okay let's have some fun and do that but no it's just like he just grabs you okay now do this and um anyway so you know I I I half-heartedly did what he said I said how could you take me to a place like this what were you thinking I didn't know I swear to God I didn't know there were new performers in there and you know so we did this little half-hearted uh scenario and I remember thinking he must think I'm just awful because I'm not totally committed but I'm not totally committed because I don't like I don't like being manipulated be yeah used or whatever but that's a great story though kind of say but uh because of course I was a fan of his but that doesn't mean I'll you know jump into the deep end of a pool when I don't know how to swim for because I just um I just thought you know a little advanced notice would have been helpful that's all I'm starting to talk like an old woman I'm sorry no you're you're good uh this is awesome Mary I want to ask you about uh you know the cast transition from season 9 to season 10 if you don't mind oh you know yeah yeah the end of season 9 so um we lose uh Robin and Brad and Tim and Joe obviously Eddie had been gone for a while um you know I'm curious you know how what that was like for you to be one of the ones that stuck around to sort of lose the cast that you had been working with for a few years and then of course they're going to bring on all of these you know really famous performers to come in as sort of an All-Star cast in season 10 so what was that transition like for you uh it was somewhat painful it was painful because uh Robin also uh may have left that year um you know these were my friends I mean Tim had recommended me along with John for the show Tim was almost like a right-hand man to the producers sometimes they would go to Tim for advice and now suddenly Tim's gone because they're bringing in you know Chris guest and Marty and Harry and Billy not not that there was anything wrong with those guys it's just that they were replacing our friends and um you know and I mean imagine how Brad and Julia felt they were a couple and uh you know I and on one hand it was like oo Christopher guess he's cool and you know Billy is nice Billy had been on the show before Billy was very nice person and uh Harry was more complicated but T very obviously talented and uh who who else was there who who am I failing Mar Martin Short Martin of course Martin you know so Martin was sort of part of the family because he was a second City actor uh but it was it was difficult uh because you had um you had survivors guilt like why why am I here and some of my friends aren't and you were you didn't know am I supposed to be nice to these new people and embrace them even though they're replacing my friends it it was it was hard but you you gotta do what you I don't know and do you feel like that may have affected the quality of season 10 the fact that you basically had a blend of two different casts together yeah because uh in in many ways they stuck to themselves they basically work together except Billy Billy was very generous Billy um in fact that uh that scene that I did with Ed Asner uh with Peter Pan Billy wrote that that was uh a scene oh wow that was a scene that Billy how did that happen well it was something that was probably in his uh file cabinet is here's a scene I'll do someday and then he saw Ed and he said oh Ed would be a cute Peter Pan you know and and that's how that happened so very generous yeah yeah Billy Billy was nice I I always liked him I still um not so much lately but there's a cafe I used to eat at every night and I would often see Billy and his wife out here in um the west side of LA and uh Bill Billy's always been great um but um and Christopher was you know I'll tell you I don't know if this is amusing or just sad but one day um Christopher I think I told this the story to you the other day James yeah one one day Christopher and Julia and I were sitting on the bleachers uh we're waiting to rehearse the scene and it's a awkward an awkward little threesome but we're sitting there and of course Julia and I have a big crush on um Christopher because of spinal tap and all that so uh Christopher turns to Julia and he says um you remind me of pepper and she went no and he says I'm going to call you pepper and she says oh thank you very much and so I felt a little little left out and and sadly I said uh uh do you have any special name for me and he says uh no nothing comes to mind and I I just crushed I thought how pathetic that I had to ask you know you weren't given salt he would have he he could have come up with something but you but that that's that's how um he had that sort of brutal honesty that wasn't unkind it was just part of his personality like no I didn't I didn't think of a name for you share if you would because you've told me this story uh I love you and because you were just mentioning Julia I love the two of you together in uh you know the Ghostbusters thing who is your favorite ghost buers and I don't know that very many people know uh the rewrite that you shared with me oh well um so we were sitting with Margaret Oberman and oh it was just desperation okay we'll just play these two little Spanish girls and uh we love the Ghostbusters we just love them we're like the way people love uh Taylor Swift you know we love the Ghostbuster so uh so we're writing it with Margaret and we come to a line like uh uh what what was it what what yeah who's your favorite Ghostbuster oh yeah and I said we're we're just improvising you know while we're writing with Margaret Margaret is the type right and we're just talking and Margaret says who's your favorite Ghostbuster and I see the black one and uh and we all laugh and uh and then marus says I'm going to get that line to Julia and I'm like but but I said it I said it and she says yeah but Julia Julia you said the last line so this I'm gonna give this line to Julia and so I'm thinking okay I mean that's you know I'm thinking okay all for one and one for all get the line is the line that Julia gives is funny and to your credit you maybe wrote it but equally as funny if not even more so I think is your reaction to her just going he don't he didn't do nothing you know and you're kind of like doing like crazy person uh gestures which you mentioned earlier right uh I love this fact that you're um uh Second City uh training yeah was was was pointing out the fact that you're a great reactor and that's what is funny about this I just right yeah that's yeah I I there are many reasons I loved my boss at Second City uh who I mentioned earlier Bernie silin but one was that he called the gabol one day in New York and said you're not you're not using Mary right she's she's a reactor you got to let it react to people and uh that was dear of him your one of your best reactions one of my favorites uh is where there's just panic when uh Jim balushi uh during the jackpot wad is try he introduces the axe and you're going I don't know yeah you know that was the only time I've been in a sketch that was the only time I was in a sketch with Christopher and Billy and uh who's Marty is in it Marty and Jim yeah and Jim and Pamela Stevenson and Pam Stevenson Jim Jim and I were sort of thrown in because um your panic in that is just so beautiful though oh thanks but I did the most fake at one point Jim is choking me and I did the most fake reaction to being choke that's um who who is the who is the uh brilliant actor who played um who played the uh oh God how could I forget his name right now um who played the the the character who married Seth Meyers uh Bill hater uh who the Fawn yeah so one day I'm at my favorite Cafe where I used to run into Billy Crystal and I walk into the cafe and I see Bill haer waiting to go into the one bathroom they have you know a unisex bathroom and again as if I know him I yell Bill and love it I I go over and we start talking he says oh my God you were in one of my favorite SNL scenes and he mentions that scene and inside I'm sort of I'm sort of falling apart because I'm thinking I didn't have much to do in that scene I was just that lady who gets upset when Jim chok me um but anyway oh you got to go back and watch it again I think sorry that that way but your your your panic when he's screaming at you is real is is is real and hilarious yeah well Jim Jim could Jim Jim and I actually work well together is in Chicago and and a few times we could work together in uh in uh New York yeah I got along with Jim not everyone did but I I I lik Jim I I I'm glad to hear that and I think he after his brother died I think he took he took it on upon himself to look after me a little bit in sort of a brotherly way uh that's nice to hear yeah so I I have I didn't I mean Jim could be a troublemaker sometimes but basically I found he had the same sort of soft site as his as John did I mean John wasn't always nice to me John came backstage once in Second City and he was really high on whatever and he I was physically in his path and he sort of punched me in the forehead with his the palm of his hand to kind of get out of his way and I remember thinking oh okay this is the the other John beloi but uh yeah I I like the B I miss I miss them I mean I miss John and I miss Dear Judy I'm sad that I didn't talk to her uh in the last many years yeah um Mary I do have one more question on my list that I wanted to ask you about today um and that was uh we spoke about Eddie a little bit before um you know one of the things that has become very well known about Eddie's time at the show was that when he got into season 9 UM he pre-recorded sketches for season 9 and there's sort of this uh mysterious SNL show that was recorded in September before season 9 started where Eddie records a bunch of sketches and then dick decides okay if Eddie can't make the live show we're g to throw those sketches in do you remember anything about that day that sort of like preseason show where you're recording sketches and did it happen more than once during the season where you would record these extra sketches oh I'm sorry to disappoint you but I don't remember I mean I guess it we were just going with the flow and doing what they wanted to do they they clearly wanted to uh keep Edd's presence as long as they could but I I I don't even remember that I don't even remember that no problem yeah again we had no problem with whatever they wanted to do with Eddie they were trying you know I think the way many of us looked at it was like if the rumors we were hearing were true that they were thinking about cancelling us and if Eddie's presence was going to help keep us having a job by all means bring in Eddie you know right so we had no no no bad feelings about that and we liked it he was he was a very likable guy well we we loved you on the show too and um this was absolutely incredible to get to hear all these stories Mary I feel like um you you know I I know you sort of like undersold it when we spoke before you said oh I'm not sure if I'm going to remember a lot but you remember so much and people are going to love this so James did you have anything else that you wanted to run by Mary or are you good for tonight just quickly to say this and I'll frame it in a question which I think is you know you had mentioned to me previously and I think at the front of the show if I if memory serves that uh being on Saturday Night Live was not really uh something that you were necessarily aspiring or aiming uh for um and obviously we just spent how how much time talking about those Seasons that you were there and it's been over 40 years and your memory is very very good um I I heard someone I think it may have been like Nora Dunn or somebody say being on Saturday Night Live and this is maybe an exaggeration maybe it's not I don't know being on Saturday Night Live means that you are going to talk about that every day of your life that no matter what you done and you have done a lot of like films and TV it's just a very very you know amazing career and oh trust me I wanted to ask Mary all about Sabrina the Teenage Witch so I'll to do that after the show because I love that show Growing Up and Mary I remember you on that show and just uh that was that was so cool she always shows up at Christmas time in the in in the Santa Claus as well our house but um I I I want you to finish your thought and then I want to say something well just to say thank you but also to kind of go you know is that true or is that how you feel about I mean you know you run into somebody or over the years when you when you you know maybe run into a fan or somebody who recognizes you I mean it's it's probably this crazy show right um I or not always you know as time passes it's it's it's you know like when I was doing subina I did about 21 episodes of that so uh people were were talking about that when I did Boston Lego people were talking about that what whatever people would would refer to but I'm GNA say something that's probably not wise to say but I'm going to say uh I had to um I I don't know what the future is going to bring but uh some years ago I had to just stop my career because of uh back problems and and chronic pain and um and uh I I feel sad because I'm GNA show up on all these lists of like yeah what became a her you know like I guess I guess she couldn't get arrested but well that's what makes this conversation so special and of course as I'm saying it it's not released yet but I I know I think John knows I see him nodding that this is uh going to be a treat a true gift to people that really respect admire and adore you oh thank you very much thank you very much and um it's been a pleasure and and also Mary I mean I just want to reiterate as you know a younger person who got into the show and went back and watched your Seasons I uh I can tell you that there's always new generations of SNL fans who fall in love with your performances on the show and and they're not you know looking up to to look to see what happened to her they're really just looking to want to hear from you and I think that this is uh really like a a blessing that we got to talk to you tonight and a gift that we got to hear all of your stories so just really just thank you for everything oh thank you now now I'm gonna be crying but that's uh really really sweet of you um it was a it was a blessing to do the show and and uh you know even though I thought I could have been doing something else who knows what I would have been doing I don't know I I met a lot of friends I'm still friends with like Robin and Margaret and uh it was what a who gets an opportunity like that to go even if it's it's only for four years and it's not you know 20 years or or 12 years or whatever even if it's only four years every week it's a new host it's a new musical guest I mean I we were so busy on that show I didn't even realize that Freddy Mercury was there I mean I years later I mean maybe a couple years ago I'm reading something about his last appearance was on SNL in 198 something and I'm like wait a minute I I was there that year I I I didn't remember Freddy was kind of keeping to himself because the story was that he had had a fight with a boyfriend the night before and he had lost his voice so he was uh he' had a big fight where he would been screaming so he was you know uh changing uh his plans as to what he was going to sing something that would be less stressful something that the drummer could back him up with uh vocally um it was interesting and I'm reading about this after the fact like good God I didn't know Freddy Mercury was in the house how could that how could that have happen but you're so busy focused on you know okay what wig where do I stand what are my lines what do I do but anyway thank you guys thank you for for even giving me the time and um yeah well I think I think this is the impetus to to get you back again because I feel like there's more to talk about for sure another time and perhaps maybe with one of your castmates because I feel like when you when we have you guys on together um it always inspires new memories and stories and stuff like that so um I'll say thank you so much Mary and until next time okay and I know I know we'll talk again soon thank you thank you guys I had a lot of fun thank you so much to Mary gross for joining us on the Saturday night Network tonight and of course James Stevens for helping us out with that interview um it was just so cool just to get to hear everything from Mary um you know my experience with her I mentioned it a little bit at the end but when I you know I wasn't around when her seasons were airing but I was very excited to see that she was a cast member I had no idea but I knew who she was because I used to watch Sabrina the Teenage Witch and she was one of the teachers there I know this is aging myself but but I just I was so excited to see Mary gross and she was so good I think she's definitely one of the more underrated cast members ever really contributed to the show had good range I I think that there were so many fun moments from her and the fact that she was there for you know so many changes from season seven bringing new cast members in season eight and then a complete turnover practically in season 10 so um some really cool stories from Mary just really proud of that interview that we had here today uh a crazy story I'll tell you about the production of this interview if you're still listening here at the end you get a little bit of a bonus behind the scenes so the day we recorded this with Mary we've been asking Mary to do an interview for a few years now um you know I guess she's selective about what she wants to do and we were really thrilled and fortunate that she wanted to do it so as soon as she said yes we're like okay we're gonna make this happen this is going to happen this day um when we reported this a few weeks back so I was very pumped about it um I was out I was like doing some stuff with some family come back to my house and it is the near the end of like a hurricane that came up here I'm in Montreal Canada so it came up here and my power was and this is like you know I've experienced power failures but never right before a podcast which is like really annoying so I was trying to figure out what to do so I was looking up like okay when's the power going to come back like trying to you know we have like a something called Hydro up here so we're trying to you know find out from them uh when the power is GNA come back so I'm like looking okay it's gonna come back in an hour so I called Mary and I said hey Mary I'm so sorry like I don't want to push this any later but can we just do it about an hour later no problem John like super sweet no problem okay so we're getting a little bit closer to time to record I'm like I can't push this Mary interview back anymore James's like I think I'm just going to drive to one of my relatives house and record the interview from there and I've really never in almost you know four years of doing this podcast recorded an interview outside of like this mini studio I have set up in my house so I go and I drive out there and I get stuck on one of our highways because there's been so much flooding from this end of this hurricane that it is like bumper to bumper traffic and I'm not moving and I'm looking at the clock and like five minutes to go to the Mary interview I was like all right I'll just figure it out so I put my laptop on the passenger seat of the car and I Hots spotted from my phone to my laptop and I plugged in my external mic that I was going to bring over this microphone and most of that podcast was recorded while I was driving like I wasn't moving so like everything was very safe like I I totally was safe but I had the craziest podcast recording experience while I'm just basically sitting on the highway with the microphone and then every time I like okay is a good time to speak I'm not moving everything's good okay let's go and I'm like talking and there's like people in the cars they like looking next to me like trying to figure out what I'm doing and I was like I'm just talking to marry gross but anyways it was a crazy experience I'm glad the audio turned out really well uh the fact that Mary wanted to do it on audio only sort of made the experience better but um you know as you know like I said we have a lot of new listeners I know you're getting to know uh me as a personality some of the other personalities on this network uh you know I figured it's fun to share a little bit behind the scenes but uh sincerly thank you all again for checking out the interview today uh as I want to remind you please leave comments because we want to hear your thoughts on this interview and maybe anybody else you want to hear from SNL stories uh in our SNL Story series if you want to hear from them just like put those names down in the chat uh for sure and reach out whenever you can as for what's coming up here next so uh we had a few shows this week we just finished 78 and N in our countdown series of the greatest hosts of all time that's been really fun to do every week with Bill we got two more weeks of that Series so next Monday night we got six five and four coming up and then the following week we're going to reveal the top three greatest hosts of all time as voted by you so that will be very fun we'll talk about all the honorable mentions everyone who did make the list so you got to tune in for these last couple weeks because I think it's going to be really fun to parse through the you know best of the best on this list so we have that last night on I know we were releasing a lot for you this week but last night we had a draft that we put out which was really fun it was an SNL alumni draft where we said you know what like my Rudolph's been already announced sort of as coming back as Kamala for season 50 I'm sure there's gonna be a bunch of other alumni that are gonna pop in so let's make a game of it so we did draft 40 SNL alumni on eight different teams and we're giving out a point system to see you know if they pop up in an episode they get a point or whatever so uh go check that out it was it was a really fun show if you want are looking for something to listen to over the weekend in addition to this podcast and yeah we'll be back with more countdown stuff and then as soon as we get some information from NBC and Saturday Night Live about season 50 including new cast members uh you know who's going to be hosting those first four episodes uh once we have that information then we'll do some perhaps live content or at the preseason Round Table uh that we do every year before the season uh we'll also have a cast draft hopefully we'll get everybody together for that and then you know we'll be back September 28th for the hot take show followed by the round table and by the numbers so a lot of content coming over to you in the next few weeks and uh to never miss any of it you got to subscribe to the podcast YouTube Apple podcast Spotify wherever you listen um you know it's going to be fantastic so just all the stuff that we're gonna get to talk about with season 50 I'm very excited about it uh and you can follow the podcast anywhere on social media at the SNL Network and make sure to check out later.com our presenting partner for all of our shows uh to never miss any of the episodes uh that uh we post we post them on the website as well and any of the articles that they post about late night television whether it's SNL or anything else late night all over there on late nigh. comom so appreciate them as always all right on behalf of James Stevens and Mary gross my name is John Schneider from the Saturday night Network and we will see you next time everybody have a good one [Music]