# Louise Lasser Appreciation Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 28, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915 "2009-09-28T22:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/1 "2009-09-28T22:46:00Z")
Last night I saw an old _Mary Tyler Moore Show_ episode where [Louise Lasser](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Lasser) played a bank employee, explaining to Mary why she couldn’t take money out of her own account. (Mary tied it up in a long term saving type account). Then later on she was on _Taxi_ playing Alex’s wife. So I got to thinking about her. I loved her in _Mary Hartman_ and she was so hysterical in _It’s A Living_ (it was retitled the second year as _Making A Living_ when Louise was in it). I really think she is quite the under-appreciated actress. Anyone else feel this way. I know she has had problems with drugs and such in the past, but for her comic ability I think she’s underrated. Anyone else like her? Thoughts? Comments? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/2 "2009-09-29T02:35:14Z")
She had a lost couple of decades–her SNL appearance defined “train wreck”–but her scene in **The Mystery Men** (as the Blue Rajah’s mother) totally redeemed the movie, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/3 "2009-09-29T03:08:14Z")
I remember watching Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman while exercising back in the late 70s. This was before people “worked out.” My favorite Lasser trivia is that she was married to Woody Allen. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/4 "2009-09-29T03:12:03Z")
Supposedly Lasser’s SNL appearance is one of the few shows (along with Milton Berle’s show) that Lorne Michaels would never allow to be shown in reruns. Although I think it does appear on the recent DVD releases. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/5 "2009-09-29T03:15:27Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Supposedly Lasser’s SNL appearance is one of the few shows (along with Milton Berle’s show) that Lorne Michaels would never allow to be shown in reruns. Although I think it does appear on the recent DVD releases. What happened? I missed it, or forgot. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/6 "2009-09-29T03:18:57Z")
It was in the very first season, 1975. Lasser was high/drunk out of her mind for most of the week that she hosted, doing things like crawling around on her hands and knees through the SNL offices, looking for pot. She got into a huge fight with Lorne Michaels shortly before the show was to go on the air and said that she wouldn’t do the show unless a certain skit was cut. The cast was actually dividing up her parts amongst themselves and preparing to do the show without a host, when Lasser was finally persuaded to come out of her dressing room and do the show. Which turned out about as well as you’d expect under the circumstances. (I know this only from other reports, not having seen it myself.) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/7 "2009-09-29T03:24:01Z")
Didn’t know the backstory, but it really was that bad. Favorite “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” moment: Mary (Lasser) is rescued from a hostage situation and is obviously panicked, scared, and confused. Someone asks if someone could provide her with a Valium. Everyone in the crowd holds up a prescription bottle. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/8 "2009-09-29T03:37:49Z")
I’ve always thought she was a talented and funny lady. Plus she’s got one of those sexy raspy voices that I love in a woman. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/9 "2009-09-29T04:26:35Z")
And had she kept her shit together through the 70s… Okay, I didn’t do it all that well, but she had more potential than I. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/10 "2009-09-29T04:59:19Z")
Louise Lasser and Paula Prentiss were actresses with great comic timing who all but disappeared after the '70s. I would watch anything that either appeared in. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/11 "2009-09-29T05:37:18Z")
Prentiss was hotter, despite my fixation on redheads. She has Sally Kellerman’s voice while being even prettier. She saw what was cool about being a housewife vs a movie/TV star so she chose the former. The hours are great and the time sitting around waiting for something to happen are actually SHORTER (I figured out being a professional actor blew more than working at McDonalds a few years ago). ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/12 "2009-09-29T06:09:36Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > It was in the very first season, 1975. Lasser was high/drunk out of her mind for most of the week that she hosted, doing things like crawling around on her hands and knees through the SNL offices, looking for pot. She got into a huge fight with Lorne Michaels shortly before the show was to go on the air and said that she wouldn’t do the show unless a certain skit was cut. The cast was actually dividing up her parts amongst themselves and preparing to do the show without a host, when Lasser was finally persuaded to come out of her dressing room and do the show. Which turned out about as well as you’d expect under the circumstances. (I know this only from other reports, not having seen it myself.) I remember seeing that train wreck. I wish I still had the brain cells that could recall details… I’ve done a half-assed search for links about that particular episode, but can’t find anything illustrative. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/13 "2009-09-29T06:12:27Z")
This clip is Louise Lasser’s tour de force: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tQWufjVHn6k/hqdefault.jpg "Norman Lear feels that this episode of Mary Hartman...") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQWufjVHn6k) (from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/14 "2009-09-29T21:12:16Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Supposedly Lasser’s SNL appearance is one of the few shows (along with Milton Berle’s show) that Lorne Michaels would never allow to be shown in reruns. Although I think it does appear on the recent DVD releases. I know I’ve seen it in reruns, but perhaps not in the most recent ones (years ago, actually) on cable. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louise-lasser-appreciation-thread/511915/15 "2009-09-29T21:48:18Z")
> [@kapri](#): > > My favorite Lasser trivia is that she was married to Woody Allen. Well, he’s been romantically involved with most of his leading ladies, so that doesn’t come as too big a surprise. I was too young to really “get” _MHMH_ so I mostly know her from his films with her–particularly _Bananas_, which I could never watch enough when I was a kid.