Debra Wilson: I quit MADtv because they never gave me a raise

This is still one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Yeah that would piss me right off! That sucks because she is a very talented lady.

This one, too

I just love me some Bunifa Latifah Halifah Sharifa Jackson!

Her comedic presence/timing and her different roles (like Oprah, Whitney) were among the very best on MadTV.

Loved MADTv. Always funnier than SNL and never took itself as seriously.

If that’s true, then Fox is really shitty in ALL divisions.

Awww she’s my favorite actress from MadTV. Her Whitney was hilarious.

Whitney, MTV Icon

She is very talented. Love her, always funny.

that's too bad, she was one of the best things about it.

Years later, now that the show is long off the air, she's really the only cast member people still talk about.

The disrespect they showed her was terrible.

She should have gotten paid the most of anyone. Would love to see her doing characters again.

I agree with other posters. She was the best cast member they ever had.

She was the best part of MadTV. I stopped watching the show every week after she left in 2003.

She, Nicole Sullivan and Michael McDonald WERE that show. Their characters are the ones people still remember. I still quote some of her Whitney stuff 20+ years later. A lot more talented than any of the SNL crew of the last few years, no doubt.

She’s doing voiceover work now. I wonder if that’s a good gig.

Her and Nicole Sullivan were by far the best things about MadTV.

She looks rough @OP.

I can understand her being upset about the pay, but on the other hand, you don't leave a good gig unless you have something else lined up.

Mad TV was always more funny than SNL especially once people like Molly Shannon and Cheri Oteri left. I can't think of more than 5 memorable sketches that show has produced in the past 20 years. It's not that the actors are untalented, but the writing took a major nose dive.

Debra was hysterical on Mad TV and her Whitney is still one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

She had cancer, R17.

Oh, r17...

R1, I always lose it when she says "Mary J. BLY-JAH"

The beauty of that Diane Sawyer thing is when you see the real thing and then see where Debra took it....it's so fucking genius.

I always wish someone would write a book about the history of Mad TV. There have been a ton about SNL.

Too bad she's very talented. It always irked me that everyone is up the asses of even the most mediocre SNL performers, particularly the women, while the comedic genius of the ladies of Mad tv get ignored. Compare an Amy poehler or Tina Fey to someone like Debra Wilson,Nicole Sullivan or Moe Collins. The former are merely competent while the latter are truly hilarious. I will give it to mad tv that they did diverse casting before it was cool. And because they actually wanted to, unlike SNL who fought kicking and screaming against diverse casting for years and only relented when Twitter demanded it.

R25, agreed. I'd also include Alex Borstein to the talented MADTv ladies.

Completely agree with previous posts- she was and is such a singular talent- and MadTV mopped the floor with SNL regularly. What a time capsule!

Here's the actual DI-ane Sawyer / Whitney interview for comparison.

I wonder what Whitney was on when she was taping it.

R26 yeah Alex Borstein is another good one. Whomever did casting for mad had a good eye for talent

[quote]R25: Moe Collins

Oh, dear.

Alex Borstein is a major entitled cunt. Nastiest bitch I’ve ever dealt with

Stepfanie Weir was/is also very talented. She came out of Second City in Chicago just like Fey, Poehler and Dratch, but SNL never went for her so she went with MadTV. Seriously, some of the stuff Weir did at Second City was absolutely brilliant.

R31, more details?

I don't blame her, she was by far one of the best people on the show.

R25 I second that about Mo Collins. She’s a tragically underrated comedienne. Good in pretty much anything they throw at her.

R31, according to former castmate Aries Spears, she's also a nasty racist cunt.

I thought they were all supremely talented, but for me the three standouts were Debra Wilson, Stephanie Weir, and Aries Spiers. Especially in creating their original characters, they were sublime. Here's my favorite Wilson skit.

R33 I’ve dealt with her professionally. She’s miserable, openly berates her staff and I wasn’t allowed to either look at or address her directly in business meetings. Refers to herself as an “artist”.

Debra, Stephanie Weir and Mo Collins really deserve to have her career and money (millionaire many times over from that dead horse, Family Guy - a show which she allegedly hates btw)

Stephnie Weir's Anna Nicole was a thing of brilliance.

I would love to Debra Wilson see her in a dramatic role.

One thing for sure, she understands comedy.

Tina Fey enjoys herself too much.

I don't ask that comedians and comic actors be nice, since I don't have to work with them and since almost all of them are assholes. I ask only that they be funny.

Alex Borstein is hilarious.

^^I would love to see Debra Wilson in a dramatic role.

Stephanie Weir from 10 months ago...

There was a thread awhile back on here that spoke of Debra Wilson doing very well in voice over work (which is a decent paying outlet in general). I think the general consensus is that many of the 'MadTV' players were heads and tails better than their 'SNL' counterparts. Lorne Michaels has an abysmal track record of trying to make stars out of his cast, but he also has so many connections that we still have Amy Poehler and Tina Fey hosting the Golden Globes this year. (I will specifically not watch the awards because they're hosting, for what it's worth.) Debra and others from 'MadTV' can hold their heads high that their sketches are still viewed millions of times on YouTube a week...hopefully they get some sort of residuals from that.

I know the skit at r3 is supposed to be a joke but I actually enjoyed her singing.

Debra's Whitney signing the theme song to "Little Nicky."

She may or may not have once said that she was surprised Family Guy even got picked up.

I think SNL has a decent track record over the past 20 years. Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, and Jimmy Fallon have all had great careers and are households names, and there are lots of others (Maya Rudolph, Jason Sudeikis, Fred Armisen, Seth Myers to name but a few) have all done quite well.

MadTV skits were always a bit janky and definitely more "what will make 15 year olds laugh"? Like that skit @R37. Wilson always elevated the material.

She's one of those people like Jan Hooks who were brilliant and hilarious, but never got the credit they were due.

Debra could actually sing, R45, which made her parodies of singers that much more funny and special.

Love her parody of DL fave Beyoncé here - Bey was still in Destiny's Child when Debra was on the show.

She’s hilarious but the tattoos say Borderline Personality Disorder.

She was the best cast member they had. She should have had her own show. She was so hilarious, so politically incorrect, she was not afraid to push the envelope. I still remember the Price Is Right sketch where she keep jumping so hard her tits keep falling out.

She says that she was the only black female cast member, but that’s not actually true. Daniele Gaither was on Mad TV and she was also hilarious.

[quote]I still remember the Price Is Right sketch where she keep jumping so hard her tits keep falling out.

Which was a reference to an actual incident that happened on the Price is Right, R52.

Oprah on Jackass.

Oprah 9/11.

Sorry, this is Oprah 9/11.

what fucking idiots. She was the most talented, funny and pretty one there! She should have been a superstar.

Oprah thinning camera

Price Is Right.

Remember when we could laugh about things? Wow, comedy has went downhill.

R54, it must be. Bob was hot back then.

[quote] Daniele Gaither was on Mad TV and she was also hilarious.

R53, Nicole Randall Johnson was also on the show, very funny, and underrated/not remembered.

R45 Yes! She has (or had) a great voice.

Another genius clip - she does Whitney AND Mariah and nails them both. So, so good!

You guys forgot about Reality Check!

Damn, Reality Check predated Diamond & Silk!

R38 Well to be fair Family guy is terrible. Its big problem is that it's too disconnected. Just a series of non sequiturs. Anyone can make a series of one off jokes. A genuinely talented writer and director is able to connect the jokes to a larger storyline and Seth Macfarlane (sp?) can't do that.

She looka like a man.

You guys are insane to believe that:

1) MADTV was funnier than SNL. SNL was usually funnier, but it depends on the season. MADTV was certainly funnier than SNL today. But around 2000, SNL had Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, etc. and it was MUCH funnier. r19 is just an out-of-touch eldergay who's never heard of Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader or Will Forte. You don't know funny if you don't find "Debbie Downer," "Stefon," "Black Jeopardy," "Jamie Lee Curtis for Activa," "The Maharelle Sisters on Lawrence Welk," "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," "Colonel Angus," "Schweddy Balls," "MacGruber" or Kate McKinnon as Hillary "memorable."

2) "Debra's really the only cast member people still talk about." r12 must not even read DL, because we talk about Nicole Sullivan, Mo Collins and Alex Borstein as Mrs. Swan all the time. Darlene McBride is ultra-relevant to 2020 because of all the Trump trash.

One thing I noticed about MADTV is that the funniest star talent was female, which is the reverse of SNL.

The women were way more talented, popular and remembered than the men. And I never even found Michael McDonald funny — just annoying.

[quote] 1) MADTV was funnier than SNL. SNL was usually funnier, but it depends on the season.

The Adam Sandler, Chris Farley years were the last time I thought SNL was funny. SNL's skits are not funny and they just go on forever. It's painful.

This had me in stitches

Her funniest was "Cocoa and Leblanc" with Mary Scheer.

Loved her Miss Ross

Debra is divorced (from a man). Does she date women?

I don’t blame her one bit. How are they gonna hire people who started after you that aren’t any more famous than you and not as funny yet pay them more? And white people will still claim white privilege doesn’t exist.🙄

R69 MadTV was consistently funnier, smarter, and more professional than the obvious cue-card readers at SNL. And Will Ferrell was overrated.

R76 But, when it comes to MADTV don't forget it was at least partly a Quincy Jones Production.

"Hi, I'm Mariah, and I'm from Mars. I requested "Lovemuffin" so I can say, zzzzgfdsjhubraaaAAAAAPPP!"

"My comedic takes on African-American women are not here to make you laugh, white supremacist America."

R72, that brilliant skit could never air today.

She seems to be getting a ton of work as a voice artist, specifically demon voices for horror films and video games.

I wonder why Aries Spears doesn't do more voice work. He's brilliant as an impressionist.

Mo Collins Catherine Zeta Jones is hilarious. It's so odd seeing her on Fear The Walking Dead these days.

More Stephanie from 5 months ago...

[quote]1) MADTV was funnier than SNL. SNL was usually funnier, but it depends on the season. MADTV was certainly funnier than SNL today.

MADTV was always funnier than SNL, which is waaaaaay too focused on politics.

Politics = Not funny, ever, unless you're boring and/or ancient.

I had a comment re Mo Collins but then realized I'd confused her and Mo Gaffney.

I wonder if fraught cast dynamics also contributed to her departure. At this comicon reunion from 2014 the other cast members barely interact with her except for Will Sasso. When Mo recounts the story her son seeing Debra naked backstage she still seems kind of pissed and mentions that she made Debra "apologize," which seems a bit much unless she shoved her boobs in the kid's face.

The cast members of MadTV were skilled impersonators, the cast of SNL were mostly just goofballs with some exceptions like Kristin Wiig.

The cast members of MadTV were skilled impersonators, the cast of SNL were mostly just goofballs with some exceptions like Kristin Wiig.

she was so damn good on everything she did, I really couldn't find one that she faulted, just check this one, she was the boss!

Mo, Stephanie, Debra, Nicole, and Alex have more talent in their discarded tampons than the entire cast of SNL combined.

Debra Wilson was the best thing about MADtv.

More Bunifa!

R4 = Bufina was ahead of her time with the loud cellphone chatter. Now nobody shuts the hell up in line because they are too "important" on their phones.

Saturday Night Live is like skin cancer. You think and hope it's just about done and then it comes back.

Or, is it "Lorne Michaels is like skin cancer...."

Bobby Lee has Sandra Oh's Christina Yang down!

I bet it was Michael McDonald who was being paid more. He would have came on later than Debra, and had some extremely popular characters. Still, Debra should have been making as much if not more than him.

People have pretty much concluded it was Frank Caliendo.

MADTV was always ten billion times better than SNL. The only good thing Lorne produced was Kids in the Hall.

MADtv was sooo much better than SNL and Debra was by far the best, although there were many talented cast members especially the women

r99 no way! He was the worst one.

Ike Barinholz, Pat Kilbane, Andrew Daly, Taran Killum, & Josh Meyers were all straight white men who came on after her.

R99 Why?

I mean, she says she only knew of one. So, it could be many. I just say it is probably Michael McDonald because he was their golden boy.

Here's the interview OP's article is based on. It's worth hearing the story from her own mouth. MadTV didn't even try to keep her, despite all that she had contributed to the show since its beginning.

Most women in comedy skit shows - SNL and MadTV - don't ever get the careers they deserve. Meanwhile, one-notes like Adam Sandler and a host of others get huge movie careers.

It really is the sexist casting of Hollywood and the older white males who don't believe women are funny.

These women anchored these shows and elevated the material more so than the men.

Not a Debra sketch, but I thought it was funny.

I agree the producers screwed up by not paying Debra what she was worth. She was my favorite cast member on the show.

She looks like Debra On Assistance now.

[quote] Loved MADTv. Always funnier than SNL

This apples and oranges comparison is all over this thread. MADTv was not broadcast live. The difference is vast.

r109= Lorne Micheals

How dare she demanded more money? She’s just a black person after all

[quote] must not even read DL, because we talk about Nicole Sullivan, Mo Collins and Alex Borstein as Mrs. Swan all the time. Darlene McBride is ultra-relevant to 2020 because of all the Trump trash.

Sorry to tell you this R69, but there's a whole world outside of Datalounge.

And Debra is regularly discussed outside of here and especially on Twitter.

I’ll take 1/10th of his wealth, please and thank you, r110.

Sad that people STILL don’t realize there literally no comparison between doing over an hour of live skits, and shooting a show that will be aired later.

Let's hear it for Mary Scheer!

Sorry Lorne but the lame overhyped SNL performers still suck live or on tape, which they appear on weekly in SNLs numerous pretaped, also unfunny, poorly written segments.

For those wanting to see or at least hear Miss Wilson in a dramatic role, she did an episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" titled "The Sound of Her Voice". Wilson's voice only performance runs the gamot from her typical comedy to the feelings of a lonely stranded crew member. Fantastic performance from her and one of the best episodes of the series overall.

[quote] Sorry Lorne but the lame overhyped SNL performers still suck live or on tape, which they appear on weekly in SNLs numerous pretaped, also unfunny, poorly written segments.

Any time you are ready to meander up to the point, let us know, Rupert. We will never know how MADTv would rate against SNL (which I detest btw and haven’t watched for 40 years) until MADTv is broadcast live every week.

Which of course we’ll never know, because it’s been in the landfill for decades.

MADtv is a series that would never be allowed to be on today. Cancel culture and the SJWs would see to that.

R117 = butt hurt lorne

Full interview with Debra Wilson just dropped!

When she quit, the possibilities might have seemed endless. Young, talented... surely the offers would be pouring in.

Not only didn't they, but I bet people saw her as 'difficult' for quitting a hit show.

She should have gritted her teeth and stuck it out. Sometimes a smile is the best defense.