Garofalo quit SNL in 1995 after just one season. As the show took heat for bad writing and general unfunniness, she became "anxious and depressed," she told TV Guide at the time. "It's hard to say dialogue that's not funny."
It was not hard at all, however, for Garofalo to find post-show success with her wisecracking, outsider persona. She gave memorable performances in cult classic Reality Bites, mistaken-identities comedy The Truth About Cats and Dogs, and summer-camp send-up Wet Hot American Summer. Garofalo has appeared with Jim Carrey, Alec Baldwin and Joaquin Phoenix, been nominated for two Emmy awards, created her own production company (wryly named I Hate Myself Productions) and co-written a book with Ben Stiller. Among her more recent gigs was as co-host of The Majority Report on the left-leaning radio station Air America—which, incidentally, was also a post-SNL refuge for her cast-mate Al Franken. Could a Garofalo Senate run be far off?