Sure, Saturday Night Live has skewered the Law & Order franchise several times over the years, but that doesn’t mean the two NBC stalwarts don’t share some crossover. From Chevy Chase to Darrell Hammond, a number of Not Ready for Primetime Players have turned up in episodes of Dick Wolf’s procedural empire. Among them: Ana Gasteyer.
Gasteyer’s brief but memorable dramatic turn came in April 1998, during her second season on SNL.
The 21st episode of Law & Order Season 8, titled “Bad Girl,” follows the investigation into the fatal stabbing of a police officer—an act committed during a mugging gone wrong by drug-addicted teen Monica Johnson (Isabel Gillies). The episode builds toward a gripping courtroom confession and a controversial verdict: Monica is sentenced to death. The story echoes real-life headlines about Karla Faye Tucker, the Texas woman who found religion on death row before her execution.
Gasteyer plays Monica’s unnamed social worker at the city welfare agency. In a single scene, she briefs Assistant District Attorney Jamie Ross (Carey Lowell) on the girl’s turbulent past in the foster care system. “Some kids, by the time they hit five, you know they’re finished,” she says. “You can hug them until your arms fall off. It won’t make a damn bit of difference.”
Though the role is limited to one scene, the strictly dramatic performance marked a notable contrast to Gasteyer’s comedic work on SNL, where she had already made a name for herself as NPR host Margaret Jo McCullin and music teacher Bobbi Mohan-Culp—two recurring characters that had appeared in seven sketches each by the time of her guest spot.
Gasteyer would stay on SNL through 2002, remaining a full-time repertory cast member for the entirety of her six-season run.
I wish there was another season of People Of Earth!