Debbie Downer
Encyclopedia
Debbie Downer is a name of a fictional Saturday Night Live
character which debuted in 2004, and who was portrayed by Rachel Dratch
. In Debbie's first appearance, she is given the last name Matousek.
The character's name is a slang
phrase which refers to someone who frequently adds bad news and negative feelings to a gathering, thus bringing down the mood of everyone around them. Dratch's character would usually appear at social gatherings and interrupt the conversation to voice negative opinions and pronouncements. She is especially concerned about the rate of Feline AIDS
, a subject that she would bring up on more than one occasion.
. Debbie and five family members—played by Lohan, Jimmy Fallon
, Dratch, Amy Poehler
, Fred Armisen
and Horatio Sanz
—are eating breakfast at a restaurant in Walt Disney World. While the family makes small talk, Debbie makes negative comments on current events followed by a knowing look at the camera and a cartoonish "wah-wah" sound made by a muted
trombone.
The first sketch became famous for causing everyone on-camera (except for Armisen) to crack up because of the constant "wah-wah" sound effect. The sketch was listed as part of TV Land
's "Top 100 Most Unexpected Moments in TV History".
as the guest host. The cast members who appeared in this skit were more composed and did not laugh out loud at Debbie's pronouncements. This trend continued throughout the rest of the season.
In future airings of the Affleck episode, the live Debbie Downer sketch was replaced by the dress rehearsal version, along with an opening title card explaining that the dress rehearsal "worked better". In dress, the cast all cracks up just as they did in the Lindsay Lohan episode.
The character appeared two more times that season: once at Thanksgiving
dinner (with Luke Wilson
as host), and another at the Oscars
with Hilary Swank
(playing herself). The latter sketch revealed that Debbie babysat Swank when Swank was a child. Will Forte
appeared in the sketch as Swank's then-husband, Chad Lowe
.
's character, Bob Bummer, is just as negative, and Debbie and he fall in love.
The December 17, 2005 episode hosted by Jack Black
included a Christmas
-themed sketch showing Debbie in her childhood during a visit from Santa Claus
. This episode contradicts her debut sketch as here she refers to her last name being "Downer".
On April 15, 2006, Debbie returned for her final appearance before Dratch departed the show, this time at a bachelorette party at a strip club in Las Vegas
for her sister, played once again by host Lohan, despite not being invited in the first place. As with the very first sketch, there is one point when the orchestra mistakenly began playing the "wah-wah" sound effect at the wrong time. This led to speculation that the accident was actually purposeful, in effect an attempt to recapture the mood of Lohan's earlier appearance with the character. However, the cast does not seem to lose as much composure as the first skit.
, there was a Debbie Downer sketch filmed during dress rehearsal but was cut from the live show (it is now posted on NBC.com's Saturday Night Live page, featuring video clips of old and new sketches from the show's 35-years-and-counting tenure). A group of suburban women (all played by the guest actresses listed in addition to current female cast member Kristen Wiig
) are having a lingerie party, and, as usual, Debbie Downer ruins everyone's fun. One housewife (played by Amy Poehler
) yells at Debbie and asks her why she's so miserable all the time. Downer thinks back to her childhood where during her birthday, her depressed grandmother (played by White) warns her not to enjoy her birthday cake because gluten
allergies run in her family.
Theme song lyrics:
"You're enjoying your day,
everything's going your way,
when along comes Debbie Downer.
Always there to tell you 'bout a new disease,
a car accident,
or killer bees.
You beg her to spare you,
'Debbie, please!'
but you can't stop Debbie Downer!"
The Christmas sketch began with a new, probably one-time, theme song. It featured an animated Debbie, looking much like The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and a tune similar to the Grinch's song. Steve Carell's Bob Bummer also had his own theme song.
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
character which debuted in 2004, and who was portrayed by Rachel Dratch
Rachel Dratch
Rachel Susan Dratch is an American comic actress best known for her roles as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...
. In Debbie's first appearance, she is given the last name Matousek.
The character's name is a slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
phrase which refers to someone who frequently adds bad news and negative feelings to a gathering, thus bringing down the mood of everyone around them. Dratch's character would usually appear at social gatherings and interrupt the conversation to voice negative opinions and pronouncements. She is especially concerned about the rate of Feline AIDS
Feline immunodeficiency virus
Feline immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that affects domesticated housecats worldwide and is the causative agent of feline AIDS. From 2.5% up to 4.4% of cats worldwide are infected with FIV...
, a subject that she would bring up on more than one occasion.
First appearance in 2003–2004 season
The first appearance of Debbie Downer was on May 1, 2004 with guest host Lindsay LohanLindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
. Debbie and five family members—played by Lohan, Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...
, Dratch, Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler
Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
, Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and portraying off-color foreigners in various comedy films such as EuroTrip, Anchorman and Cop Out...
and Horatio Sanz
Horatio Sanz
Horatio Sanz is a Chilean-born American actor and comedian best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998-2006. Sanz most recently starred alongside his former SNL castmate Chris Parnell in the Comedy Central series Big Lake.-Early life:Sanz, the youngest of three sons, was born in...
—are eating breakfast at a restaurant in Walt Disney World. While the family makes small talk, Debbie makes negative comments on current events followed by a knowing look at the camera and a cartoonish "wah-wah" sound made by a muted
Mute (music)
A mute is a device fitted to a musical instrument to alter the sound produced: by affecting the timbre, reducing the volume, or most commonly both.- Musical directions for muting :...
trombone.
The first sketch became famous for causing everyone on-camera (except for Armisen) to crack up because of the constant "wah-wah" sound effect. The sketch was listed as part of TV Land
TV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
's "Top 100 Most Unexpected Moments in TV History".
2004–2005 season
Debbie Downer appeared in a skit in the 2004-05 season opener with Ben AffleckBen Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
as the guest host. The cast members who appeared in this skit were more composed and did not laugh out loud at Debbie's pronouncements. This trend continued throughout the rest of the season.
In future airings of the Affleck episode, the live Debbie Downer sketch was replaced by the dress rehearsal version, along with an opening title card explaining that the dress rehearsal "worked better". In dress, the cast all cracks up just as they did in the Lindsay Lohan episode.
The character appeared two more times that season: once at Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
dinner (with Luke Wilson
Luke Wilson
Luke Cunningham Wilson is an American film actor known for his roles in Old School, Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde, Idiocracy and Death at a Funeral.-Early life:...
as host), and another at the Oscars
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
with Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank
Hilary Ann Swank is an American actress. Swank's film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid , as Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi...
(playing herself). The latter sketch revealed that Debbie babysat Swank when Swank was a child. Will Forte
Will Forte
Orville Willis Forte IV, better known as Will Forte , is an American actor, voice actor, comedian and writer best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2002–2010 and for starring in the SNL spin-off film MacGruber.-Early life:Forte was born in Alameda County, California, the son of...
appeared in the sketch as Swank's then-husband, Chad Lowe
Chad Lowe
Charles Conrad "Chad" Lowe is an American actor. He is the younger brother of fellow actor Rob Lowe. He won an Emmy Award for his supporting role in Life Goes On as a man suffering with HIV. He has also had recurring roles on ER, Melrose Place, and Now and Again...
.
2005–2006 season
In 2005, the season premiere of Saturday Night Live featured a Debbie Downer skit at the end of the episode. Host Steve CarellSteve Carell
Steven John "Steve" Carell is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office...
's character, Bob Bummer, is just as negative, and Debbie and he fall in love.
The December 17, 2005 episode hosted by Jack Black
Jack Black (actor)
Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black is an American comedian, actor and musician. He makes up one half of the comedy and satirical rock duo Tenacious D. The group has two albums as well as a television series and a film. His acting career is extensive, starring primarily as bumbling, cocky, but internally...
included a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
-themed sketch showing Debbie in her childhood during a visit from Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
. This episode contradicts her debut sketch as here she refers to her last name being "Downer".
On April 15, 2006, Debbie returned for her final appearance before Dratch departed the show, this time at a bachelorette party at a strip club in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
for her sister, played once again by host Lohan, despite not being invited in the first place. As with the very first sketch, there is one point when the orchestra mistakenly began playing the "wah-wah" sound effect at the wrong time. This led to speculation that the accident was actually purposeful, in effect an attempt to recapture the mood of Lohan's earlier appearance with the character. However, the cast does not seem to lose as much composure as the first skit.
2010 appearance
During the May 8, 2010 episode hosted by Betty WhiteBetty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
, there was a Debbie Downer sketch filmed during dress rehearsal but was cut from the live show (it is now posted on NBC.com's Saturday Night Live page, featuring video clips of old and new sketches from the show's 35-years-and-counting tenure). A group of suburban women (all played by the guest actresses listed in addition to current female cast member Kristen Wiig
Kristen Wiig
Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American film and television actress who currently appears as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Wiig was a member of improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings, and has appeared in several films and television series, including Bridesmaids, MacGruber, Flight of...
) are having a lingerie party, and, as usual, Debbie Downer ruins everyone's fun. One housewife (played by Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler
Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
) yells at Debbie and asks her why she's so miserable all the time. Downer thinks back to her childhood where during her birthday, her depressed grandmother (played by White) warns her not to enjoy her birthday cake because gluten
Gluten
Gluten is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat and related grain species, including barley and rye...
allergies run in her family.
Theme song
Every sketch opened with a prologue, then the theme song (and corresponding video) plays, followed by the body of the sketch. The sketch would ultimately close with the last line of the song played again (and one more negative fact from Debbie). The song ends with an extreme close-up of Debbie's pained expression.Theme song lyrics:
"You're enjoying your day,
everything's going your way,
when along comes Debbie Downer.
Always there to tell you 'bout a new disease,
a car accident,
or killer bees.
You beg her to spare you,
'Debbie, please!'
but you can't stop Debbie Downer!"
The Christmas sketch began with a new, probably one-time, theme song. It featured an animated Debbie, looking much like The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and a tune similar to the Grinch's song. Steve Carell's Bob Bummer also had his own theme song.
SNL episodes featuring Debbie Downer
| Date | Host | Link to Video |
|---|---|---|
| 2004-05-01 | Lindsay Lohan | Link |
| 2004-10-02 | Ben Affleck | Link |
| 2004-11-20 | Luke Wilson | Link |
| 2005-02-19 | Hilary Swank | Link |
| 2005-10-01 | Steve Carell (as Bob Bummer) | |
| 2005-12-17 | Jack Black (Debbie Downer Christmas) | Link |
| 2006-04-15 | Lindsay Lohan | |
| 2010-05-08 | Betty White (unaired) | Link |
External links
- New York Daily News: Cracking up 'Live on air by David Bianculli