13 Trivia Tidbits About Iconic 'SNL' Characters

Daddy, where do comedy ideas come from? Well, if you're a writer at a little-known, not-at-all mainstream comedy troupe called…(checks notes)…uh, Saturday Night Live, ideas seem to come from writing thousands of jokes and pitching endless sketches in the short time span of a single week until you eventually strike gold. 

And look, we're big SNL fans here at Cracked, but we're not going to pretend they haven't had their ups and downs. That's the nature of doing a weekly sketch show for 47 seasons and counting. But man, when they strike that gold, they strike that gold. SNL is behind some of the funniest, most culturally zeitgeist-capturing moments in comedy history. We're here to celebrate those characters. And while it may look effortless on screen, the backstory to a lot of our favorite, most quotable characters are insanely fascinating. Whether it's a weird childhood haircut or a last-minute wardrobe change at dress rehearsal, some of our favorites come from wild places. 

Here are the backstories behind fourteen of SNL’s most popular characters.