‘SNL’ Parodies ‘Exhausting’ Fran Drescher, Studio Negotiations and SAG’s Halloween Costume Restrictions
William Earl “Saturday Night Live” breakout Sarah Sherman portrayed SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher in a Halloween-themed sketch that took aim at studios, the guild’s controversial Halloween costume recommendations and “The Nanny” star herself. The sketch portrayed children running around in IP-branded Halloween costumes getting halted by Drescher, who was there to “teach you how to do Halloween during a strike.” That includes SAG-AFTRA asking members to not wear costumes based on movie or TV characters, or else “we would be promoting the companies we’re striking against, which makes all of these children a bunch of adorable scabs.” Drescher then recommended safe costumes like “Harry Potter, as described only in the book” and “minor characters from the Bible.” Pointedly, after Drescher says “That’s why we’ve been picketing for 100 days” and another character responds, “That must be exhausting,” she deadpans back, “Hey, did you just call me exhausting? Well, a lot of people have.” The quip could have been a response to recent A-list pressure on Drescher and the guild to make a deal quickly.