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Debbie Downer
Saturday Night Live character
First appearance	2004-05-01
Last appearance	2006-04-15
Cause/reason	Portrayer left show
Portrayed by	Rachel Dratch
Episode count	7
Information
Gender	Female

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 was especially concerned about the rate of Feline AIDS, 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 Lohan. Debbie and five family members 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 an instant fan favorite because none of the actors could stifle their laughter, to the point that they were all wiping tears from their eyes.

Two days later, David Bianculli in an article written in the New York Daily News compared the sketch to when Harvey Korman and Tim Conway tried to one-up each other on The Carol Burnett Show or when Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis went off script to the delight of their fans on the Colgate Comedy Hour.

The sketch was named as part of TV Land'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 Affleck 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 in that season; once at Thanksgiving dinner (with Luke Wilson as host), and another at the Oscars with Hilary Swank (Swank played herself). The latter sketch revealed that Debbie babysat Swank when Swank was a child. Will Forte appeared in the sketch as Hilary's then-husband, Chad Lowe.

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 Carell'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 retcons her debut sketch as here she refers to her last name being "Downer".

On April 15, 2006, Debbie returned for her final appearance before Rachel 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. 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.

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.

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

See also

• Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches

References

External links

• New York Daily News: Cracking up 'Live on air by David Bianculli
• The original Debbie Downer sketch from SNL, set at Walt Disney World; aired May 1, 2004.