2 Broke Girls Featured More SNL Stars Than You Probably Remember
In 2011, CBS multi-cam comedy "2 Broke Girls" introduced viewers to Max Black (Kat Dennings), who is working her usual shift at The Williamsburg Diner when in comes (formerly) rich and spoiled Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs), ostensibly ready to make her way in the world for the very first time. Caroline's waitressing skills leave a lot to be desired, and Max is far from impressed as she attempts to train this new hire in the art of what is ultimately a very draining job. But when they share tips at the end of their shift, Caroline surprises Max with a brilliant idea that combines her business degree with Max's baking abilities. All they need to do is raise $250,000, and they can start a cupcake business together. And so, their journey as friends and business partners begins.
Over the course of six seasons, "2 Broke Girls" follows Max and Caroline's quest for success. Each episode documents their everyday ups and downs and ends with a tally of how much money they have at that point in their lives. Drama always ensues, of course, but the heart of the show is a particular brand of biting and — let's just say it — surprisingly dirty comedy for primetime TV.
"2 Broke Girls" created the perfect environment for some of the best comedians in the business to drop in and make their mark, from Jennifer Coolidge, who plays Max and Caroline's neighbor Sophie Kachinsky, to Eric André, who shakes things up with a brief supporting role in Season 3 (via IMDb). As such, the CBS show seems like a natural venue for "Saturday Night Live" alums to show up and deliver comedy gold. In fact, several "SNL" actors appeared as secondary characters and in guest roles.
Garrett Morris played the oh-so-feisty Earl
It's pretty hard to miss Garrett Morris on "2 Broke Girls." Throughout the series, he stars as Earl Washington, a mainstay of The Williamsburg Diner since the 1960s. Though he's in his 80s when the show begins, he's sharp, witty, and willing to stand up to anyone for his friends, as evidenced in Season 1, Episode 5, "And the '90s Horse Party," when he takes a baseball bat to the counter to disperse a group of less-than-desirable customers (via YouTube).
In some ways, Morris' role on "2 Broke Girls" mirrored his real-life career. On the CBS comedy, he took on the "old guy" character and the well-established actor in one fell swoop through his performance as Earl. The "well-established" portion of this equation comes courtesy of him cutting his television teeth on "Saturday Night Live." He is just a former cast member — he's a former member of the original cast (via Brittanica). When the sketch show first aired in 1975, he was there, playing with Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner. According to his IMDb profile, he stayed with "SNL" until 1980.
IMDb reminds us that, throughout the next decade, Morris appeared on popular TV shows including "Diff'rent Strokes," in 1982, "The Jeffersons" from 1983 to 1984, "Murder She Wrote" and "Hill Street Blues" in 1985, and "Who's the Boss?" in 1988. He kept going straight through the 1990s, including roles on "The Jamie Foxx Show," from 1996 to 2001.
Abby Elliott showed up as a ditzy intern in Season 2
By the time the Season 2 episode "And the New Boss" aired in 2012, Max and Caroline had plotted out their cupcake business idea. They're working toward getting a shop up and running, but they hit a fairly disgusting snag: The building they want to house their new business has rats. They decide to hire an unpaid intern to deal with the problem, and the pool of interested applicants dwindles to two. When Max's top choice opts out, they're left with Ruth (Abby Elliott), a college student who quickly proves inept. She ditches her duties, sends unprofessional texts, and practically begs to be fired, which — after some soul-searching — Max is happy to oblige. It's no big loss for Ruth, who only briefly laments her lost college credits (and possibly her entire post-high school education) before happily leaving the shop.
As for Elliott, she'd come to the show with plenty of prospects for her future career. She was an "SNL" cast member since 2008, starring on the show during the Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, and Jason Sudeikis years (via IMDb). After her role on "2 Broke Girls," Elliott appeared on several Season 8 and 9 episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" as Ted's girlfriend, Jeanette. She also appeared on "Inside Amy Schumer" in 2013 and 2014 and played Brooke Von Weber on the TV series "Odd Mom Out" from 2015 to 2017. In 2022, she appeared on the final season of the HBO Max original series "Search Party" and in the Disney+ movie "Cheaper by the Dozen," starring Zach Braff and Gabrielle Union.
Brian Doyle-Murray made quite the impression as Blarney Bill
Max and Caroline celebrate St. Patrick's Day together in Season 3, Episode 19, "And the Kilt Trip." While Max is happy to party with the diner crew, Caroline clearly wanted to be somewhere else, specifically at The Plaza Hotel. But that's no longer an option for her, and she's stuck chatting up — and unwillingly kissing — unsavory barfly Blarney Bill (Brian Doyle-Murray). "Wow, that's a wet mustache," she declares in horror after he's planted a wet one on her lips. It only gets worse when he explains the sogginess is the result of a combination of Scotch and fish (via YouTube).
Long before the fateful night that Blarney Bill meets Caroline, Doyle-Murray was a member of the "SNL" cast from 1978 to 1982 (via IMDb). Although his younger brother, Bill Murray, was arguably more of a breakout cast member during his time on the sketch comedy from 1977 to 1980, Doyle-Murray is certainly as well-known and respected within the comedy community. To wit, it was Doyle-Murray who gave an on-air tribute in 1982 after their fellow cast member John Belushi's death (via YouTube).
Throughout his career, Doyle-Murray showed up on-screen on "Sesame Street" in 1978 and 1979, "Caddyshack" in 1980, "National Lampoon's Vacation" in 1983, "Sixteen Candles" in 1984, and "Scrooged" in 1988. His IMDb also notes that in the 1990s, he had roles on several TV series including "Seinfeld" and "Ellen." The turn of the century brought more opportunities, including roles on "King of the Hill," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "Veep," and "The Middle."
Laura Kightlinger appeared as a flight attendant
On the Season 4 episode "And the Disappointing Unit," Max and Caroline take on the not-so-simple task of retrieving Sophie's (Jennifer Coolidge) wedding dress from customs. Naturally, this plotline leads to scenes at the airport, where they encounter flight attendants Veronica (Laura Kightlinger) and Bonnie (Caroline Rhea). It's the only episode of "2 Broke Girls" in which Kightlinger appears onscreen, but she maintained an offscreen role with the show for years. From the start of "2 Broke Girls" in 2011, she served as a consulting producer and wrote two episodes (via IMDb). So, if you've ever wondered about the brains behind all those dirty jokes and innuendos, there's a chance Kightlinger had a hand in it.
Before joining the "2 Broke Girls" team, Kightlinger's career in comedy took her to "SNL," where she was a cast member from 1994 to 1995. She made a name for herself impersonating Marcia Clark (via YouTube) and Connie Chung in sketches satirizing the news of the day while also playing fictional characters. While From there, she had her own TV show, "The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman," from 2006 to 2007.
Throughout her career, Kightlinger continuously worked as an actress, as well as behind the scenes as a producer and writer. Per her IMDb profile, her credits include roles on "Murphy Brown," "PEN15," and "Curb Your Enthusiasm." She also wrote, produced, and played Nurse Sheila on "Will and Grace" from 2000 to 2020. In 2022, Kightlinger appeared as Delia Thornton on "The Goldbergs."
John Milhiser played an escape room Mad Hatter
Season 5, Episode 5, titled "And the Escape Room," features John Milhiser. This time, the plot centers on Max and Caroline's friendship and a betrayal. Caroline discovers Max has been overcharging her for rent for the past four years. It all takes place — as one might guess from the title — in an escape room, where the diner gang finds themselves in an "Alice in Wonderland"-themed space. Randy (John Milhiser) appears as The Mad Hatter, tossing out riddles for them to decipher and eventually urging them to hurry things along as they only have 15 minutes left to escape.
When he appeared on "2 Broke Girls," Milhiser was only a short time out from his brief stint as a cast member on "Saturday Night Live," which lasted from 2013 to 2014 (via IMDb). He made his mark there impersonating Jon Cryer and Matthew McConaughey. More importantly, Milhiser made "SNL" history as the second openly gay actor to join the cast (per Indiewire), following Terry Sweeney, a cast member from the 1980s.
Earlier in his career, Milhiser worked as a writer and actor on shorts and shows, including "UCB Comedy Originals," which first aired in 2007, according to his IMDb profile. After "2 Broke Girls," he kept up a fast pace, appearing in TV shows including "CollegeHumor Originals" from 2015 to 2018, "Comedy Bang! Bang!" in 2016, "Adam Ruins Everything" from 2015 to 2019, "Foursome" from 2016 to 2018, "The Guest Book" in 2017, and "Betch" from 2017 to 2019.
Ego Nwodim made a brief appearance on the series finale
On April 17, 2017, Ego Nwodim tweeted some big news to friends, family, and fans: "I'm on tonight's episode of '2 Broke Girls' on CBS at 9:30 pm! Tune in if you wanna!" The Season 6 episode (and series finale) "And 2 Broke Girls: The Movie" focuses on the premiere of a film about Caroline's life, and Caroline and Max's thoughts about their future. In the episode, Nwodim plays a journalist named Jillian who profiles Caroline and Max ahead of the movie's debut.
It wasn't long after that prime-time appearance that Nwodim joined the cast of "SNL" for its 44th season in 2018 (via Variety). As a University of Southern California graduate with a biology degree, she might have seemed like a surprising addition, but she also had a background performing at the UCB Theatre, in Los Angeles, and even put on a solo show called, "Great Black Women ... and Then There's Me."
On "SNL," Nwodim made an impression with parodies and impersonations, playing Dionne Warwick and the fictional L'evanka Trump. As of 2022, she is still a main cast member on "SNL" and has also taken roles on "The Real Bros of Simi Valley," "Brockmire," and "Love Life" (via IMDb). In April, she appeared as Carole Andrews on the Apple TV+ show "Roar," and she has plenty of ideas for her future. "Ideally, I am creating my own show where I am speaking to my experiences and what I think is interesting and funny," she told Shondaland in March. "I'd like to direct, as well. I've found myself in positions in this industry that I did not anticipate, so I'm cool with just being open to where life or this work might take me."
Nora Dunn played Bobby's opinionated mom in Season 6
On Season 6, Episode 17, "And the Jessica Schmessica," Caroline meets Bobby's (Christopher Gorham) family and finds everyone is still very much into his ex, Jessica (Mikaela Hoover) — particularly his mother, Teresa (Nora Dunn). In fact, Teresa would be quite pleased to see Caroline's relationship with her son end, so Bobby could get back together with Jessica. Dunn reprises her role in Season 6, Episode 19, "And the Baby and Other Things," when Max explores the possibility that Bobby might even have a child with his ex.
Of course, "2 Broke Girls" being the sharp, witty show it is, the whole Bobby-and-his-ex fiasco is executed with liberal doses of humor, offering Dunn the chance to flex her comedy muscles, built up over a decades-long career. As her IMDb page notes, Dunn was an "SNL" cast member from 1985 to 1990, where she earned credit as a talented comedian. She was also unafraid to stand firm in her feminist beliefs. In 1990, she refused to perform with comic Andrew Dice Clay, citing his offensive content. "It wasn't about the language. It was because of the message, women were for nothing, women were there to be abused," she said in a December 2019 interview with Fox32 Chicago.
Dunn recalled to Fox32 that her stance on Clay led to a lack of work, and she even considered quitting show business. Thankfully, she bounced back with non-stop work over the years, including recurring roles on "Sisters" from 1993 to 1996, "The Nanny" from 1996 to 1999, "Entourage" from 2006 to 2011, and "Chicago Med" from 2016 to 2022. She showed her serious side on Broadway in "The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington" in 2020 (via Playbill).