Those wild and crazy 'SNL' gals!

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - It's good to be Tina Fey.

The bespectacled comedian is not only driving "Saturday Night Live" ratings with her dead-on Sarah Palin impersonations but she just won two Emmys (Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actress) for "30 Rock" and clinched a $5 million-plus book deal.

Safe to say Fey, 38, is "SNL's" most financially successful female alum.

But there are others who were more than ready for prime time.

Our favorites, in alphabetical order:

_Jane Curtin (1975-80): The 61-year-old original cast member actually made straight funny. She anchored "Weekend Update" for three seasons, playing the foil to wilder pals like John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.

Unforgettable as: Enid Loopner, Mrs. Conehead.

Post "SNL": The Massachusetts native stayed in TV, doing well in two long-running sitcoms, "Kate & Allie" and "Third Rock from the Sun."

_Rachel Dratch (1999-2006): Also from Massachusetts, Dratch, 42, is "SNL's" longest-serving female cast member.

Unforgettable as: Debbie Downer, a malcontent who bums out everyone in her path.

Post "SNL": After bit parts in movies like "Click" and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," life has slowed. "I know you're supposed to come up with fake stuff you're doing. But honestly, I'm not doing much," Dratch told New York mag recently. "I'd work in a black-box theater company at this point."

_Ana Gasteyer (1996-2002): Known for her restrained impersonations of Martha Stewart, Sally Jesse Raphael and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Gasteyer, 41, is also an accomplished singer.

Unforgettable as: (Seemingly) heavily Xanaxed-out NPR radio cohost Margaret Jo McCullen.

Post "SNL": Belted as Elphaba in "Wicked" (Chicago) and in "Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical."

_Victoria Jackson (1986-92): The 49-year-old squeaky voiced Miami native _ married to a cop _ can recite poetry standing on her head and play the ukulele with the best of 'em.

Unforgettable as: Cyndi Lauper; Toonces the Driving Cat's worried mom; pathetic nightclub singer Nancy Maloney from "The Jungle Room."

Post "SNL": Heavily into religion and mommying, Jackson has dabbled in TV and put in a few appearances at a South Florida comedy club.

_Amy Poehler (2001-present): Due to give birth this fall, the "Baby Mama" star, 36, is the go-to gal when over-the-top wackiness is called for (who could forget her one-legged Amber impersonation on the "Rock of Love" sketch?).

Unforgettable as: The manic host of "Good Morning Meth"; a perfect Sharon Stone; and most recently, a decent Hillary Clinton

Post" SNL": Alas, she's leaving the show to do a spinoff of "The Office." Note: Watch her at on NBC's "Weekend Update Thursday," which will air at 9:30 p.m. EDT each Thursday until the Nov. 4 election.

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_Molly Shannon (1994-2001): Shannon has had pretty good luck in the industry. It started in '95, when Janeane Garofalo dropped out of "SNL" mid-season because she didn't like the material and thought the atmosphere was sexist.

Unforgettable as: Neurotic Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher ("Sometimes when I get nervous, I put my fingers in my armpits and sniff them like that.")

Post "SNL": Shannon, 44, hasn't managed to parlay Mary Katherine into a successful movie career (thankfully) but you can catch her at 8:30 p.m. EDT Thursdays in NBC's "Kath & Kim," in which she plays a tacky mom to Selma Blair.

_Other notables: Julia "It's Pat" Sweeney; Maya Rudolph (her impersonations of J.Lo, Beyonce and Donatella were scary good); and last but certainly not least, the late, great Gilda "Roseanne Roseannadanna" Radner.

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© 2008, The Miami Herald.