Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Oh, Cheri


Cheri Oteri can do no wrong in my book. Nadeen, Collette Reardon and the Spartans' own Arianna were classic SNL characters. But when she went on Andy Cohen's "Watch What Happens Live" last week to explain why she wasn't more involved in the "Saturday Night Live" 40th anniversary special, I'm hearing she wasn't being entirely truthful in saying it was merely a "scheduling conflict." While her tenuous relationship with her old show has been rumored for years -- word was she was excluded from the SNL "Women of Comedy" special a couple of years ago because Lorne Michaels hates her -- a well-placed source confirms that she was initially not invited to the 40-year festivities. At the 11th hour -- after she started to freak out and make noise and call people -- she finally reached out to fellow cheerleader Will Ferrell pleading with him to please "DO SOMETHING." Apparently that didn't even work, but then Tina Fey -- who apparently isn't a fan of Oteri's either -- finally spoke up to the powers that be and said, "I mean c'mon, guys -- you're not even going to INVITE her?" In the end, Oteri was allowed to attend but was not asked to perform or even appear. Obviously I've never had the (dis?)pleasure to work with Oteri, so I haven't a clue if her difficult reputation is deserved or not. But given how integral she was to the show's success during her tenure, I definitely agree with Fey that she deserved to at least be included. 

2 comments:

Blobby said...

for g-d's sake, I think they even invited Victoria Jackson - and she's talentless and a loon. I only half-watched, but I don't think Nora Dunn was there either.

Dan G said...

I was in line with her at a Starbucks in Studio City once. She was obnoxious and grating, making loud dumb jokes and goofing around with a roll of toilet paper with her equally annoying friend. I have no idea what her work behavior is like but on that morning over ten years ago, I wanted to strangle her.