AGES: Maya Rudolph, 28; Ana Gasteyer, 34; Beth McCarthy Miller, 37; Tina Fey, 31; and Rachel Dratch, 35

WHY THEM? Saturday Night Live's mythic boys club is officially over thanks to this clan of X chromosomes: Dratch, Gasteyer, Rudolph, and Fey deliver trenchant comedy and flawless impressions on camera (Fey was SNL's first female head writer for two seasons prior to the "Weekend Update" gig); McCarthy Miller is the show's third-ever director.

SECRETS OF THE TRADE: In comedy, "you kind of have to neuter yourself," says Dratch, who finds glory in the supremely freakish (see her drooling love child of Angelina Jolie and her brother). "It's maybe why I don't have a boyfriend."

CAREER LOW: "I played an old schoolmarm who doesn't sing in a movie-of-the-week musical," says Gasteyer of Drew Carey's 2000 Geppetto. "A real nadir."

CAREER HIGH: "Getting the phone call that I got SNL-even though Lorne (Michaels) was very subdued," says Dratch. "He was like, 'Um, someone will be calling to set up the deal.'"

BEST ADVICE: For Rudolph, it was a tip from Molly Shannon: "No part is small. If you've got one thing in the show, be happy abot that."

CLOSEST BRUSH WITH CAREER IMMOLATION: Rudolph skipped her first SNL audition to join the doomed CBS series City of Angels. "I was worried if I didn't take the job I wouldn't work again." She got another tryout after she left the series.

INFLUENCES: "I learned a lot from Jon Stewart," says McCarthy Miller, who helmed the comedian's talk show on MTV.

KNEW THEY'D MADE IT WHEN: For Gasteyer, it was popping up in a New York Times crossword puzzle. "I probably got 15 phone calls about that."

DREAM COLLABORATORS: Fey: "Joan Jett, Julianne Moore, and Loretta Lynn... And I'd like to meet Oprah-if you want to print my phone number, she can call me."

ULTIMATE AMBITION: "I'd love to direct an episode of The Sopranos," says McCarthy Miller.

NEXT: More SNL; Gasteyer will appear in Broadway's The Rocky Horror Show; McCarthy Miller may direct MTV's Video Music Awars for the fifth time.