Product Description

LAUGH ALONG WITH MOLLY SHANNON'S HILARIOUSLY STRONG FEMALECHARACTERS LIKE CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL MARY KATHERINE GALLAGHERAND 50-YEAR-OLD SALLY O'MALLEY.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15627 in DVD
• Brand: LIONS GATE HOME ENT.
• Released on: 2003-08-12
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 90 minutes

Customer Reviews

Molly: One of the all time GREAT TV ladies of comedy!
Molly Shannon's presence is sorely missed on "Saturday Night Live" but not you can relive some of her finest moments with this DVD. Although I personally would have chosen some different sketches , this DVD is sure to put a big smile on even the grumpiest of faces.

Included are:

"Mary Katherine Gallagher"- Mary auditions for the school variety show and sings "Sometimes When We Touch" and does a Meredith Baxter Birney tv movie monologue. (with Gabriel Byrne)

"Helen Madden, Licensed Joyologist"- "I love it! I love it!" Helen appears on "Pretty Living", hosted by Ana Gasteyer. (with Matthew Broderick)

"The Courtney Love Show"- Courtney's got a talk show, and she interviews Julie Andrews (played by Christine Baranski)

"Elizabeth Taylor"- Elizabeth picks the winning lottery numbers on Weekend Update ("Gladiator!")

"Jeanne Darcy"- the very unspontaneous and over rehearsed comedienne makes an inappropriate appearance at a nursing home.

"Monica Lewinsky"- Monica addresses court, with Hillary watching.

"Sally O'Malley"- Sally auditions to be a Rockette! "I'm 50 years old! And I like to kick! Stretch! And kick!" (with Danny DeVito).

"Veronica & Co."- The European supermodel has a talk show whose set is located in the middle of a fashion show runway (with Val Kilmer).

"Delicious Dish On NPR"- Molly & Ana Gasteyer as the very low-key hosts of a radio cooking show. This is the famous "Schweaty Balls" episode (with Alec Baldwin).

"Leg Up!"- Molly as Ann Miller, and Cheri Oteri as Debbie Reynolds. (with Phil Hartman as a very cranky Frank Sinatra)

"MTV FANatic"- Molly as Anna Nicole Smith (with Ben Affleck as an obsessed fan who looks to Anna Nicole for a mother figure).

"Mary Katherine Gallagher"- Mary meets the real Tina Turner by hiding in her dressing room. (with Alec Baldwin)

"Rae Murphy"- an awkward blind date at an airport bar goes horribly wrong (with Will Ferrel and Chris Kattan).

"Dress Rehearsal Sketch"- that was cut from the final broadcast features Molly as an odd, accent loving girl who brings home date Bill Paxton to meet her parents (with Ana Gasteyer and Horatio Sanz).

Also features a photo gallery of Molly in different costumes, outtakes: Molly as Xena, Princess Warrior (with Brendan Frasier), as Helen Madden (with Ben Stiller), NPR's Delicious Dish (with Alec Baldwin), 70's Ladies In Bar (with Calista Flockhart), Dog Show! (with Will Ferrell- it's just a teeny blooper clip), and Jeanne Darcy on Weekend Update.

Two more goodies: two appearances on Conan O'Brien. On the first one she discusses how Courtney Love didn't seem pleased to be parodied and how Gary Coleman once trapped her in his hotel bathroom and tried to put the moves on her; the other appearance is with Will Ferrell and she talks about dating and a new sketch she was working on called "Hot Cocoa Girls."

Great collection! I would have given it five stars had it included some "Goth Talk" and "Dog Show" sketches on it. My absolute favorite Mary Katherine Gallagher sketch isn't here either (Gwenyth Paltrow was the host that week)- but it'd be nearly impossible to include everyone's favorites. I'd say that Molly Shannon definitely deserves a second "Best Of" DVD!

The Radner Of The 1990s' Gets Her Due
For seven years Molly Shannon ignited the "Saturday Night Live" stage with a comedic falir not seen in any female cast member since Gilda Radner. Whether performing one of her memorable recurring characters, impersonating an annoying figure in the news perfectly or engaging in intense physical comedy reminiscent of Farley and Belushi, Molly could always be counted on to garner gargantuan laughs from the audience.

"The Best Of Molly Shannon" captures all of her best moments from those seven years, focusing, as most of the best - of's do, on her famed recurring characters. And what a gas they are - from Mary Katherine Gallagher to Helen Madden to Terri Rialto (in the classic "Schwetty Balls" sketch with Alec Baldwin), they are all hilarious and adorable, just like Shannon herself. Also, four great impressions of her are here. There's her famed Courtney Love imitation in which the Hole singer hosts her own talk show with hysterical results. There's her as Elizabeth Taylor hilariously reading the lotto numbers on "Weekend Update". Anne Miller and Debbie Reynolds (played by Cheri Oteri) interviewing Frank Sinatra (played by Phil Hartman, another "SNL" all time legend) on "Leg Up". Then there's Anna Nicole Smith on "FANatic". Well, I personally think there's a better sketch with her as Anna out there, but this one is pretty funny.

This dvd is not perfect. For starters, two of her most popular recurring characters are missing. They are Circe Nightshade from "Goth Talk" and Miss Colleen from "Dog Show". They could've cut out "Jeannie Darcy At St. Joseph's" and "Veronica And Co." in favor of these two much funnier sketches. (To be fair, there's a great "Goth Talk" on "The Best Of Chris Kattan, but "Dog Show" has been a hold out for all the best - of's, appearing in only a 10 second clip on "The Best Of Will Ferrell", which incidentally is also hilarious). And they definitely could have cut out the airport bar date sketch at the end and replaced it with either her Meredith Vierra impression on "The View" or a complete Monica Lewinsky sequence (there's only a 50 second clip shown in the beginning of the disc).

Overall, a great sampling of Molly's work on "SNL". Other than the two Conan O'Brien interviews and the Margaret Healy bit, the extras are nothing great. What would have been nice is if they included Molly's audition tape. But still, it's hilarious.Molly is a cast member who deserves a volume two. But until then, this will so do.

Good, but brief.
I believe that most people buy a "Best of" title mainly to see some of their favorite skits. Don't set your expectations too high here. This is just 76 minutes long, which includes outtakes, tv interviews, a dress rehearsal, and some recognizable skits. One can always argue about what should be on a "Best of", but this is so limited as to leave one convinced that this was made short to allow for other "Favorites" to be bundled up by producers for other DVD's to be released later. Disappointing.