Saturday Night Live

As a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1995 until 2001, Molly Shannon became famous for playing Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher. That should have felt like a triumph, but instead, she felt depressed. Shannon's mother, along with her 3-year-old sister and a cousin, died decades earlier, when her father, who had been drinking, crashed the family car into a pole. For years, the memory of her mother and sister propelled her forward in her career. Her new memoir Hello, Molly! recounts the tragic as well as the wonderful turning points in her life.

In the 1960s and '70s, Johnson, who died Jan. 11, played on recordings by Charles Mingus, McCoy Tyner and Carla Bley. He also led his own ensembles, including Gravity. Originally broadcast in 1984.

The Late Night writer and performer hosts The Amber Ruffin Show on NBC's streaming service, Peacock. "I've earned (hopefully) enough grace to do whatever I want," she says of her new hosting gig.

Colin Jost's new memoir, A Very Punchable Face, describes his experiences growing up in a middle-class household on Staten Island. "Part of writing this book was being excited to talk about parts of my life and weird episodes in my life that I thought that would be entertaining for people," he says. Or, he adds, for people to "just get another chance to laugh at me."

Henry, who died Jan. 8, co-created the film Get Smart with Mel Brooks and made regular appearances as a guest host on Saturday Night Live in the show's early years. Originally broadcast in 1997.

Hader co-created and stars as a hitman who enrolls in acting classes in the dark comedy series. In the second season, Barry struggled to express himself as an actor — while keeping his past a secret.

John Mulaney spent five years as a writer on SNL. He won an Emmy for writing his 2018 comedy special Kid Gorgeous, which was recorded live at Radio City, and is streaming on Netflix. In the animated series Big Mouth, about adolescence and puberty, Mulaney voices the character Andrew.

Melissa McCarthy stars in the new film Can You Ever Forgive Me? as a biographer turned literary forger. She talks about growing up on a farm, her early comedy act. her breakout role in Bridesmaids, and playing Trump's former press secretary Sean Spicer on Saturday Night Live.

Nick Kroll and John Mulaney talk about comedy, puberty, and hosting the Independent Spirit awards on Saturday, honoring the year's best independent films.

When it comes to comedy, Late Night host Seth Meyers is clear about what drew him in: "I got into it because it looked like the most fun job in the world," he says. "And it has not led me astray."

Alec Baldwin has been keeping busy lately. The star of the animated film The Boss Baby has a new memoir out and also keeps popping up on Saturday Night Live to play President Trump.

Forte tells Fresh Air about landing a job on Saturday Night Live and learning on the set of Nebraska that acting is "all about commitment."

Crystal isn't happy about turning 65, but at least he's finding a way to laugh about it. The actor and comedian's new memoir — Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys? — is on the best-seller list and he'll be back on Broadway in November.

This weekend will be Hader's final romp on Saturday Night Live. He joined the cast in 2005 and has been nominated for an Emmy for his character Stefon, an obsessive clubgoer. Hader talks about not understanding how people do standup and about watching old films, which sparked his interest in Hollywood.

With the end of the writer's strike, live programming returned to network television this weekend in a big way. TV critic David Bianculli reviews last night's 80th Annual Academy Awards telecast, as well as the weekend's new episode of Saturday Night Live, starring Tina Fey.

Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller, authors of the new book, Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live (Little Brown and Company). The book is a history of the late-night comedy mainstay, which first aired in 1975. Shales and Miller interviewed the shows' producers, writers, cast members and guest hosts, including Lorne Michaels, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Al Franken, Will Farrell, Tom Hanks and many more. Tom Shales is the Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic of The Washington Post and a movie critic for NPR's Morning Edition.

Will Ferrell is a regular cast member of Saturday Night Live. Last weekend the show began the new season in a somber tone, opening the show with Mayor Giuliani surrounded by a group of New York fire fighters, police and EMT workers. Ferrell has portrayed President George Bush on the show as well as Janet Reno, Alex Trebek and Robert Goulet; his other send-ups include musical middle school teacher Marty Culp, and Spartan cheerleader Craig.

Robert Smigel (SMY-gull) is a writer and creator of animated comic episodes for Saturday Night Live, including “X-Presidents” and “The Ambiguously Gay Duo.” His newest effort is the new Comedy Central series “TV Funhouse,” described as a broken kid’s show for adults. The Funhouse combines real animals, puppet animals, short films and animation (Wednesday nights at 10:30). Smigel has also written a new comic book based on the X-presidents filmed shorts (called “X-Presidents”/Villard Books).

Saturday Night Live celebrates its silver anniversary this Sunday, with a prime time special. Fresh Air's TV critic David Bianculli has a review.