Today in TV History: Maya Rudolph, God’s Gift to the National Anthem, Was Born

Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone. 

IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: July 27, 1972

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: It’s a testament to the prodigious female talent that has emerged from Saturday Night Live in the past decade that Maya Rudolph can sometimes get lost in the shuffle of SNL alums. She shined in an era that featured Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. That era directly preceded a stretch where SNL has produced Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Leslie Jones, and briefly Jenny Slate, Michaela Watkins, and Casey Wilson. While the debate would be fierce, you could absolutely make the argument that Maya Rudolph was the most talented of that group. Certainly, her accomplishments on the show were numerous and hilarious.

From her Whitney Houston impersonation …

… her Beyoncé impersonation …

… to the single greatest rendition of our national anthem that has ever aired on television in any form or fashion.

As one half of “Bronx Beat,” Rudolph helped deliver perhaps the last great SNL talk show (…okay, “Girlfriends Talk Show” is a pretty solid performer, I’ll grant you).

After Rudolph left SNL, she returned in 2012 for the now-customary homecoming episode. It remains to best front-to-back episode that the show had aired in recent memory. An all-killer affair that included a “Bronx Beat” reunion, a note-perfect Cosby Show/Obamas crossover sketch that will probably never play the same way again in the wake of the Cosby allegations, unfortunately. What WILL endure forever is Maya Angelou’s prank show.

And as the cherry on top, “Super Showcase,” a sketch that went so delightfully off the rails that neither Rudolph nor Kristen Wiig could keep it even remotely together.

Happy birthday, Maya Rudolph! Here’s hoping Jonathan Franzen returns the favor and sends you back 50 pizzas.

[Where to stream Saturday Night Live.]