SNL’s Deleted Scenes: Debbie Downer, Bronx Beat and the Times Square Bomber

One of the best things about bringing back beloved SNL alums is the potential return of their beloved characters — Ana Gasteyer‘s Topless Martha Stewart, Amy Poehler‘s Amber, the One-Legged Hypoglycemic, Maya Rudolph‘s Donatella, Molly Shannon‘s Mary Katharine Gallagher, Rachel Dratch‘s Harry Potter. We didn’t get those characters last night — I was pulling for Topless Martha Stewart! — but we did get a selection of returning favorites in the form of next-day web-only videos (i.e. those cut from dress rehearsal). Sometimes the web-only vids contain the real gems — like Andy Samberg’s ultra-profane Rahm Emanuel — and here it was clearly a case of too much good stuff.

My favorite was the return of Debbie Downer — which, by the way, I’m shocked they didn’t run because it not only got all the returning women in one sketch, plus host Betty White, but because Debbie Downer was always such a favorite (and one of the few sketches that I can recall inspiring on on-screen full-cast crackup). I would have replaced the “Gingey” sketch with that, I think, much as I love Poehler. (We heard Betty White say so much that “She’s a lesbian” wouldn’t have been missed.) Also a personal favorite is “Bronx Beat” — which hasn’t been seen since the mustachiod-Brian Williams ep — featuring White getting a workout from hottie yoga instructor Andy Samberg (worth it for her acronym for yoga alone). The Ana Gasteyer-Molly Shannon return to the “Joyologist” sketch was weighed down by too many sad-singleton jokes from Gasteyer (and Shannon could either do Sally O’Malley or Helen Madden, but not both), but still sentimentally nice to see these women back. And finally, there’s what I’d bet was meant for the cold open but ended up being cut: the Times Square Bomber press conference. (More on that here.) Watch them all below.

Debbie Downer Returns!

Bronx Beat

Helen Madden, Licensed Joyologist

Times Square Bomber