# RIP Jan Hooks
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 9, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904 "2014-10-09T21:59:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/21 "2014-10-10T07:59:45Z")
I thought she was hawt as French Stewart’s girlfriend on _3rd Rock_.
Au revoir, Miss Dubcek.
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### Author:  [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/22 "2014-10-10T12:36:51Z")
I liked her as Jenna Maroneys Trailer Trash mom.
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### Author:  [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/23 "2014-10-10T12:51:53Z")
> [@Sampiro](#):
>
> I loved her. I never understood why she didn’t have a bigger career.
>
> She did a sketch called “Miss Self Esteem” in which her character is a talentless drama queen who performs a scene from Ibsen as the talent portion of a pageant. It was one of the funniest things ever on SNL. The sketch wasn’t that funny because it had Victoria Jackson in it (Hooks LOATHED her- another reason to like Hooks) but those few seconds were perfection. Wish I could find a video.
I was thinking of that one too. I remember how she kept reminding the judges “Now, ah worked one thousand man-hours on mah performance!” Melanie Griffith won the contest and offered to give Hooks the prize, but the judges wouldn’t allow it. I don’t recall Jackson contributing much to the sketch, but that was years ago.
What I liked about Hooks was that she was from Georgia and could parody southerners the right way. Even when she played Jenna Maroney’s white trash mama on _30 Rock_. She was a despicable leech, but a \*lovable \*despicable leech.
Man, I’m depressed.
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### Author:  [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/24 "2014-10-10T12:54:11Z")
She was one of the good ones. Here’s Jan & Phil Hartman in **[Love is a Dream](https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1777471750167)**. (Facebook link. Couldn’t find it anywhere else).
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/25 "2014-10-10T13:47:39Z")
My first thought was “Vicki Dubcheck is gone.” The scene 15 minutes into this episode of [Third Rock from the Sun](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt6HqSTlsjc-) is one of the funniest things I have ever seen
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/26 "2014-10-10T14:04:40Z")
One of the reasons I love to hate on Marsha Blackburn is because she reminds me of a Jan Hooks caricature.
But yeah, she was part of the golden era on SNL in my opinion.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/27 "2014-10-10T14:14:21Z")
Sad to hear. She was really versatile as a comedienne. I recall her having to play multiple roles in their Twin Peaks parody (made fun of by lamp shading in-sketch. She and Phil Hartman were perfect ‘everyman/woman’ when they needed to be but could ramp up to specialized characters when they needed to (Sweeney sisters, Troy Maclure voice).
IIRC they were both Canadian and did a mocking song sketch after a the Blue Jays won the World Series.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/28 "2014-10-10T14:14:45Z")
Jan Hooks was the closest thing \*\*\*SNL \*\*\*ever had to a female Dan Aykroyd or Phil Hartman. She was their most versatile female performer ever.
I’m sure I’m in the minority here, but I think her years on\*\*\* SNL \*\*\*were the most consistently strong years the show ever had.
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### Author:  [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/29 "2014-10-10T14:17:32Z")
Looking at her IMDB entry, it doesn’t seem she has done much acting since about 2001, which leads me to think maybe her illness was a long term problem.
I remember her most from the SNL skit where she played Hilary Clinton to Phil Hartman’s Bill Clinton as a couple having a domestic dispute on _Cops_
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/30 "2014-10-10T14:18:08Z")
“A little club soda will get that out.”
“_LIAR!!_”
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### Author:  [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/31 "2014-10-10T14:22:17Z")
> [@lost4life](#):
>
> **[Love is a Dream](https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1777471750167)**. (Facebook link. Couldn’t find it anywhere else).
Couldn’t find it _anywhere_ else?
Not even in post#19 of this Thread?
😉 (I’m actually glad I wasn’t the only one to think of it. It’s beautiful.)
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### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/32 "2014-10-10T14:49:47Z")
> [@Shakes](#):
>
> But yeah, she was part of the golden era on SNL in my opinion.
Well, the Sliver era. The Golden era would be the time with Radner, Newman, Curtain, Ackroyd, Belushi, Morris, etc.
It’s not listed under Melanie Griffith’s IMDb credits, but other references say that season 14, ep. 9 was the ep. or SNL she hosted. That doesn’t sound right, because that would be 1989, but IMDb says Hooks was on from '86-'94, and Griffith did _Something Wild_in 1986, so '89 would be when she was at the height of her popularity.
I can’t find the show. Hulu had it, but took it down. Amazon doesn’t seem to have it, and youtube doesn’t have the “Miss Self-Esteen” skit up.
I expect there will be a Best of Jan Hooks on E!, Comedy Central, of NBC pretty soon, though.
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### Author:  [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/33 "2014-10-10T15:44:28Z")
> [@bienville](#):
>
> Couldn’t find it _anywhere_ else?
> Not even in post#19 of this Thread?
> 😉 (I’m actually glad I wasn’t the only one to think of it. It’s beautiful.)
Stop with your witchcraft that alters message boards :smack:
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/34 "2014-10-10T15:57:15Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#):
>
> . . .It’s not listed under Melanie Griffith’s IMDb credits, but other references say that season 14, ep. 9 was the ep. or SNL she hosted. . . .
😕 [???](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0694544/combined)
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### Author:  [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/35 "2014-10-10T16:08:52Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#):
>
> IIRC they were both Canadian and did a mocking song sketch after a the Blue Jays won the World Series.
As mentioned above and on IMDB, Jan Hooks was born in Georgia.
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### Author:  [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/36 "2014-10-11T04:20:52Z")
> [@Fiveroptic](#):
>
> [Here are six hours of her sketches](http://happyplace.someecards.com/celebrities/in-memory-of-late-snl-star-jan-hooks-here-are-six-hours-of-her-sketches/).
>
> The very first one, Brenda The Waitress with Alec Baldwin, is my very favorite.
Definitely the second best SNL skit ever, after the Chris Farley-Patrick Swayze Chippendale one.
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### Author:  [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2014, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/37 "2014-10-11T09:18:32Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro]
I loved her. I never understood why she didn’t have a bigger career.
She did a sketch called “Miss Self Esteem” in which her character is a talentless drama queen who performs a scene from Ibsen as the talent portion of a pageant. It was one of the funniest things ever on SNL. The sketch wasn’t that funny because it had Victoria Jackson in it (Hooks LOATHED her- another reason to like Hooks) but those few seconds were perfection. Wish I could find a video.
[/QUOTE]
> [@Knowed\_Out](#):
>
> I was thinking of that one too. I remember how she kept reminding the judges “Now, ah worked one thousand man-hours on mah performance!” Melanie Griffith won the contest and offered to give Hooks the prize, but the judges wouldn’t allow it. I don’t recall Jackson contributing much to the sketch, but that was years ago.
>
> …
>
> Man, I’m depressed.
I remember that sketch. Griffith’s character won only because she showed up in a bathing suit and Hooks kept coming back reminding everybody of the rules and the extra effort she put in. Funny stuff.
In my opinion, Hooks was the most underrated member of SNL. If there was any justice in the world, she should have gone on to a bigger post-SNL career than she did.
Also, if I may further inject my subjective opinion and be completely superficial, Hooks was one of the top five most attractive regular female cast members on SNL. I had a bit of a crush on her.
And, I’m also depressed. She wasn’t that much older than me.
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### Author:  [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/38 "2014-10-12T01:31:58Z")
Saturday Night Live’s website still shows no evidence that they ever even knew who Jan Hooks was.
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### Author:  [@Orr\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orr_G)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/39 "2014-10-12T04:08:35Z")
> [@bienville](#):
>
> [“Love Is a Dream” was popularly used as a tribute when Phil Hartman died. I believe it is fitting to also use it as a tribute to Jan Hooks.](http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/watch-jan-hooks-and-phil-hartman-in-the-weird-gorgeous-1644570315)
Nailed it. They just used this scene as a tribute to Jan on tonight’s show.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jan-hooks/700904/40 "2014-10-13T00:32:41Z")
> [@johnpost](#):
>
> the early Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon.
they did an ‘in memory of’ in today’s credits.
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