With hundreds of credits to her name, Laraine Newman is as well-versed in comedy as anyone working, and she boasts the unique pedigree of being part of the original cast of SNL, as highlighed in Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night. She’s appeared in some of my personal favorites over the years, from American Dad and Beavis and Butt-Head to St. Elsewhere and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Every show on TV could use a jolt of Laraine Newman.
She’s set to hit the 2025 TV schedule with her latest project, the animated fantasy-novel adaptation The Sisters Grimm, which begins streaming October 3 via Apple TV+ subscription. The series doesn’t lean quite as hard into the laughs as many of her other roles, but she’s still a fun delight as Relda. (More on that show below.)
As seen above, I had the pleasure of talking with Laraine Newman about her new show, and I had to ask if Saturday Night Live currently still had any kind of impact on her, and she gave quite the positive response, saying:
I still watch SNL. I love it. I love sketch comedy, and I’m always inspired by the new talent that comes on year after year, and watching them develop. Some of them have been in the Groundlings, and I’ve watched them develop there, and then I’ve seen them go on to SNL, and that’s always exciting for me.
Gotta love that kind of a spirited answer. I’m also a huge fan of sketch comedy, and would be remiss if I didn’t bring up Newman playing “The President of the Network” in one of the funniest episodes of the Bob Odenkirk-produced The Birthday Boys, Season 1’s “Goofy Roofers.” It all comes full circle, or something.
More to the point, the SNL icon enjoys when the cast gets shaken up by new players signing on, so she’ll likely be enthused when new episodes start and the finalized Season 51 cast can show off how it compares on the whole to last year’s vastly different lineup.
How Often Do New SNL Cast Members Reach Out To Laraine Newman For Advice?
Considering how many former cast members she’s worked with on other projects, I thought that some of them might have called her up to ask her advice when joining the Saturday Night Live ranks, and was shocked when the Coneheads co-star told me:
I have…I mean, I’ve worked with a lot of, you know, current and former cast members… No, Nick. No one’s ever asked my advice.
Astonishing! If I had Laraine Newman in my contact list, I’d probably get her advice on a daily basis, from comedy writing to performing to restaurant suggestions to vacation spots. Speaking of suggestions, both she and I would recommend checking out her new show.
The Sisters Grimm is among the many upcoming book-to-screen adaptations, but one aimed at more of an all-ages audience than most. The first season adapts the first novel in the Sisters Grimm series, titled The Fairy Tale Detectives, as written by author Michael Buckley. It follows siblings Sabrina and Daphne (voiced respectively by Ariel Winter and Leah Newman) who find themselves in the middle of a fantastical town pulled straight out of Grimm’s fairy tales as they search for their missing parents.
Newman portrays the girls’ grandmotherly figure Relda, who helps them navigate their new surroundings. Check out a trailer for the new show below!
Watch On
The day before SNL‘s 51st season arrives, all six episodes of The Sisters Grimm will be available to stream on Apple TV+.