| Enid Strict | |
|---|---|
| Saturday Night Live character | |
 Dana Carvey as The Church Lady | |
| First appearance | October 11, 1986 |
| Last appearance | December 1, 1990 (regular) December 7, 2024 (guest:S50E08) |
| Created by | Dana Carvey Rosie Shuster |
| Portrayed by | Dana Carvey |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Title | The Church Lady |
| Occupation | Talk show host ofChurch Chat |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Nationality | American |
Enid Strict, better known asThe Church Lady, is a fictional recurring character portrayed byDana Carvey on American sketch comedy television showSaturday Night Live. The character appeared on the show from 1986 to 1990, and episodically again in 1996, 2000, 2011, 2016, and 2024. She also appeared onThe Dana Carvey Show in March 1996, reading aTop Ten List, "New Titles forPrincess Diana."[1]
Dana Carvey developed the character in his stand-up comedy act prior to joiningSNL.[2][3] He said, "At one point it was a schoolteacher being very condescending to kids as they made sailboats."[4] Carvey decided to make the character a religious figure when his mother said his impersonation reminded her of women from their churchgoing days who would keep track of people's attendance.[4][5] "Mom would bring a casserole to potluck dinners, and then feel inferior. I remember walking into church after our family had missed a few Sundays, and their turns of the heads, that 'Well! Good to see they finally made it!' attitude."[4]
WriterRosie Shuster helped Carvey develop the concept of theChurch Chat talk show.[6] Carvey recalled that he was prompted by executive producerLorne Michaels to introduce the character (when it was still inSNL rehearsals) at aNeil Young concert atMadison Square Garden, which Church Lady interrupted, fussing and fuming: "What are wedoing here? What's all this noise?"[7]
The Church Lady made numerous appearances onSNL, andNora Dunn recalled that "everybody loved that character."[8]
The Church Lady is a mature woman named Enid Strict who is the uptight, smug, and pious host of her talk showChurch Chat.[9] Her show includes guests, usually celebrities whom she interviews, played by other cast members ofSNL or by the celebrities themselves. However, the interviews are only a guise for her to call out the guests on their various alleged sins, which are often publicly known news events of the day. They initially receive sarcastic praise from her, until the interview degrades into a tirade against their apparent lack of piety and their secular lifestyles, culminating with her judgmental admonishments and condemnation. She often takes others to task for following the desires of their "tingling" and/or "engorged" "naughty parts."
Sometimes the Church Lady was accompanied by a character known as "Minister Bob," played byChevy Chase.[3] He seemed to be the only person the Church Lady admired. During a church picnic an inebriated woman interrupted the gathering, shocking all the old ladies present, and saying how the Church Lady acts so high and mighty but is out of touch with the problems of people in everyday life. Minister Bob then acts more down to Earth than the Church Lady, saying it is the responsibility of a pastor to deal with people with problems. When he seems to be leading the woman into why problem drinking is a bad idea, he ends with saying "...because of SATAN!", and joins the Church Lady in her Superior Dance.
The Church Lady made her first appearance on the season premiere ofseason 12.[4] It was not until the twelfth episode of that season, whereWillie Nelson performs a duet of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with the Church Lady, that the character became more popular.[4] TheJim Bakker andTammy Faye Bakker scandal was parodied multiple times in sketches and helped make the Church Lady one ofSNL's signature characters.[4]
| Season | Episode | Host | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | January 24, 1987 | Joe Montana,Walter Payton | Joe Montana and Walter Payton join Church Lady for a game of football.[3] Montana throws a touchdown pass to Church Lady after she distracts Payton, who was playing defense against her. At the end of the sketch, all three do the Superior Dance. |
| March 28, 1987 | Charlton Heston | Jim (played byPhil Hartman) andTammy Faye Bakker (Jan Hooks) are interviewed about at the sex scandal involving Jim Bakker andJessica Hahn.[10] | |
| 13 | October 24, 1987 | Sean Penn | Actor Sean Penn is interviewed.[10] Church Lady refers to Penn as "Sin" and makes numerous references to his then-wifeMadonna and her overt sexuality, claiming Madonna "doesn't quite live up to hernamesake." Penn becomes angry at Church Lady's criticisms and eventually throws a punch, hitting her directly in the nose. Carvey later recalled that he was genuinely scared because Penn (who was well known for losing his temper) came dangerously close to actually hitting him. |
| December 5, 1987 | Danny DeVito | Church Lady interviews Danny DeVito.Jessica Hahn (Jan Hooks) talks about herPlayboy magazine photoshoot. | |
| 15 | February 24, 1990 | Fred Savage | Actor Fred Savage plays the Church Lady's niece, Enid. Enid is dressed in a miniature version of the Church Lady's outfit and glasses, and says all of the familiar admonishing catchphrases, including doing the Superior Dance.Donald Trump (Phil Hartman) andMarla Maples (Jan Hooks) stop by to talk about Trump's then high-profile divorce fromIvana Trump.[5] |
| March 17, 1990 | Rob Lowe | Rob Lowe is asked pointed questions about his sex tape scandal, but cuts a deal with the Church Lady where in return for not bringing it up, Lowe submits to corporal punishment at her hands.[10] However, Lowe began to enjoy being spanked by the Church Lady, who took this as a sign that Satan had possessed Lowe's butt and began screaming for Satan to leave the actor's body. | |
| 16 | December 1, 1990 | John Goodman | Church Lady interviewsSaddam Hussein (Phil Hartman) alongside her mother (John Goodman).[10] |
| February 16, 1991 | Roseanne Barr | In a parody of the filmMisery, Roseanne kidnaps Dana Carvey and holds him hostage until he does his Church Lady impressions and gets the facial expressions and voice just right. | |
| 22 | October 26, 1996 | Dana Carvey | Church Lady interviewsO.J. Simpson (Tim Meadows) andMadonna (Molly Shannon).[10] |
| 26 | October 21, 2000 | Church Lady interviewsAnne Heche (Chris Kattan) about herbisexuality, and talks toHillary Clinton (Ana Gasteyer) andEminem (Chris Parnell). | |
| 36 | February 5, 2011 | Church Lady interviews theKardashian sisters (played byNasim Pedrad,Vanessa Bayer, andAbby Elliott) andSnooki fromJersey Shore (Bobby Moynihan), whom she tries to exorcise.[10] Church Lady becomes enraptured and aroused byJustin Bieber before being settled down by God. | |
| 41 | May 7, 2016 | Brie Larson | Ted Cruz (Taran Killam) andDonald Trump (Darrell Hammond) are Church Lady's guests.[11] Cruz, who had been recently called "Lucifer in the flesh" byJohn Boehner, reappeared mid-sketch as the devil after Church Lady calls Trump "an orange mannequin".[5] |
| 42 | November 5, 2016 | Benedict Cumberbatch | Church Lady stops byWeekend Update to talk about theNovember 2016 presidential election, describing it as a choice between "a bitter, female android from the '90s...or a riverboat gambler with a big tummy and an orange head".[12] |
| 50 | December 7, 2024 | Paul Mescal | In the cold open, the Church Lady speaks withMatt Gaetz (Sarah Sherman),Hunter Biden (David Spade) andJuan Soto (Marcello Hernandez). |
In ateaser trailer for the 1990 filmOpportunity Knocks (available on that film's DVD), the Church Lady interrupts, warning viewers not to see the film and is punched in the face and knocked to the floor by Dana Carvey who introduces himself.[13] The Church Lady retaliates and the fight continues off-screen as the trailer ends.
The Church Lady appeared on ABC'sThe Dana Carvey Show as part of a larger sketch where a viewer letter asked whether Dana Carvey'sSNL characters were to appear on the show. The sketch responded by claiming that ABC used Disney's high-profile lawyers to engageNBC in ahostile takeover, gaining the rights to Carvey'sSNL characters, as well as some of the IPs ofDavid Letterman's show onCBS.[14] It then cuts to the Church Lady reading David Letterman'sTop Ten List.