"Saturday Night Live" veteran Maya Rudolph took on playing everyone from LaToya Jackson and Whitney Houston to Donatella Versace during her tenure from 2000 to 2007. She has appeared on TV with "Up All Night" and in films like "Bridesmaids" and "Grown Ups." On May 19, she tried her hand at the TV variety show with a special on NBC. Click through to see the other female SNL comedians through the years: 
Laraine Newman was one of the original cast members, appearing from 1975 to 1980. She went on to have a successful career in acting and doing voice work, including "Beavis and Butt-Head" and "Despicable Me 2." 
Gilda Radner, left, made characters such as Roseanne Roseannadanna popular during her time on the show from 1975 to 1980. She died of ovarian cancer in 1989. 
Jane Curtin was an original cast member who helped make "Weekend Update" popular. After leaving in 1980, she found further fame on the sitcoms "Kate & Allie" and "3rd Rock from the Sun." 
Before "Seinfeld" made her a superstar, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was cast on "Saturday Night Live" from 1982 to 1985. 
Canadian actress Robin Duke followed up her gig on another late-night comedy sketch show, "SCTV," with a spot on the show from 1981 to 1984. 
Only on the show from 1984 to 1985, Pamela Stephenson has since turned from performing to a career in psychology. 
Nora Dunn appeared for five years beginning in 1985. She once famously boycotted an episode of the show to protest what she viewed as the misogynistic humor of Andrew Dice Clay. 
Danitra Vance was the first African-American female full cast member from 1985 to 1986. She had roles in some films including "Little Man Tate" and died of breast cancer in 1993. 
Her official time on the show was from 1986 to 1991, but Jan Hooks (right) continued to appear on the show occasionally until 1994. She later had a role on "Designing Women." 
Victoria Jackson appeared from 1986 to 1992. She is now known more for her political activism and has written the book "Is My Bow Too Big? How I went from Saturday Night Live to the Tea Party." 
Julia Sweeney started as a feature player before becoming a regular from 1990 to 1994. She's done some one-woman plays and is a regular on the NPR quiz show "Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me." 
Ellen Cleghorne became the first black female cast member to stay beyond one season when she was on the show from 1991 to 1995. She has mostly been off the Hollywood scene lately, appearing only occasionally in films such as "Old School." 
Janeane Garofalo after six months during the 1994-1995 season before starring in the hit film "The Truth About Cats & Dogs." In recent years, she's appeared in TV shows including "24." 
Sarah Silverman, left, was only on the show from 1993 to 1994 and Jenny Slate from 2009 to 2010 but both made an impression during their brief times on "Saturday Night Live." 
After appearing on the show from 1995 to 2000, Cheri Oteri has been seen in several films, including "Liar, Liar," "Dumb and Dumberer" and "Scary Movie." 
Ana Gasteyer often teamed with Will Ferrell for some funny musical skits during her time on "SNL" from 1996 to 2002. She currently stars on the ABC series "Suburgatory." 
Rachel Dratch specialized in quirky characters while on the show from 1999 to 2006. She appeared on "30 Rock" with fellow "SNL" alum Tina Fey. In 2012, her book "Girl Walks Into a Bar: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters and a Midlife Miracle" was published. 
Molly Shannon made the character of Mary Katherine Gallagher a cult hit during her time on the show from 1995 to 2001. That character was the subject of the feature film "Superstar" in 1999. 
Tina Fey spent her time on the show from 1997 to 2006 as not only a cast member but also the first female head writer. She found further fame as the creator and star of "30 Rock" and writer of the film "Mean Girls." 
Amy Poehler and BFF Fey not only hosted the "Golden Globes" and co-starred in their film "Baby Mama," but they also both became break-out stars of the show. Poehler appeared on the show from 2001 to 2009. She now stars on the sitcom "Parks and Recreation." 
Abby Elliott is not just the daughter of former "SNL" cast member Chris Elliott, she also appeared on the show from 2008 to 2012. 
Kristen Wiig used her time on the show from 2005 to 2012 to carve out a career in movies such as "Bridesmaids" and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." 
Appearing as a regular cast member since 2012, Vanessa Bayer has been making her mark with impersonations, including Miley Cyrus. 
Aidy Bryant was promoted from feature player in 2013. 
Cecily Strong, right, began co-anchoring "Weekend Update" in 2013. 
Kate McKinnon has been a cast member since 2012. In 2013, she was nominated for an EWwy Award for her performance on the show. 
Actress Sasheer Zamata appeared on her first episode of "Saturday Night Live" in January after becoming the first African-American woman hired on the show in six years.
- Maya Rudolph's variety special aired on NBC Monday
- It featured cameos from her former "Saturday Night Live" co-stars
- The ratings were nothing to sneeze at
- But critical reaction has been more mixed
(CNN) -- There's no question that Maya Rudolph is supremely talented. The real question is whether the best home for those talents is on her own variety show.
The "Saturday Night Live" alum tested that theory on Monday night with the hour-long NBC special "The Maya Rudolph Show." Critics weren't bowled over, but the ratings were nothing to sneeze at with 7.2 million tuning in. (It probably didn't hurt that "The Maya ... Show" premiered after "The Voice," which had 11.5 million watching the first part of its season finale.)
The concept for "The Maya Rudolph Show" is a callback to the variety specials of yore, with '70s programs like "The Carol Burnett Show" and "Donny & Marie" serving as inspiration. Monday's hour included song, dance, sketches and plenty of "SNL" cameos, but unlike Rudolph's former gig, the variety show wasn't live, late night TV.
"I always really responded to the familial aspect of it and how much fun they were having, which is what I miss more than anything about 'SNL' -- my friends and laughing," Rudolph previously told Entertainment Weekly.
According to critics, Rudolph's special wasn't too short on laughs -- but it did lack cohesiveness and timeliness.
"To be honest, it was a bit of a mess -- albeit a wildly entertaining one," said The Daily Beast's Kevin Fallon. "It was a sometimes too-corny, sometimes too-raunchy, scattershot hour that was as gut-bustingly hilarious as it was completely baffling." So while "it's certainly admirable that NBC is attempting to bring the variety show back -- and they've made a genius decision in entrusting Rudolph to lead the way -- the question is whether anyone will follow, or even if they'd want to."
With audiences accustomed to watching entire networks devoted to precisely what they're in the mood for -- music, comedy or otherwise -- the variety show necessitates the sort of patience the average TV viewer may not have, argues NPR's David Bianculli. And with critics divided on whether Rudolph was magnetic enough to hold viewers' attention for an hour, it's unclear if she can single-handedly revive the retro format. (Bianculli, for one, thinks Justin Timberlake or Neil Patrick Harris would be able to do it better.)
Slate's TV critic Willa Paskin agreed that "The Maya Rudolph Show" was "pleasant without being particularly funny or memorable, odd without being urgent or edgy, scattershot without taking any big swings."
"On the strength of last night's pleasant, listless example, maybe (the variety show) needs reviving even less than pop-up video."
New York magazine's Margaret Lyons, too, wasn't quite sold that "variety is a format that makes sense on American TV in 2014," but she did think the first airing of "The Maya Rudolph Show" had its strengths.
"I hope this isn't the series' only outing because I have almost infinite positive regard for Rudolph, and I'd rather see a show like this find itself than watch another second of some hate-soaked but competent sitcom," Lyons reviewed. "But I kept wondering what the mission of 'TMRS' is, what tone it aspires to, how it sees itself, how it's supposed to feel. ... Mostly, though, the show just needs to be more."
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