Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Jen Maravegias | Celebrity | October 22, 2025
On her Good Hang podcast yesterday, Amy Poehler dug into Mariska Hargitay’s foundation in comedy. For 25 years and 577 episodes, Hargitay has played America’s favorite cop, Olivia Benson, on Law & Order: SVU. She’s been nominated for eight consecutive Lead Actress Emmys and won in 2006. But she started as part of The Groundlings, the LA-based improv/sketch comedy theater and incubator that was the launching point of many of our favorite comedians. Phil Hartman, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Conan O’Brien, and Paul Reubens are some of the most notable alumni of the program.
Mariska’s Hollywood debut was in 1984’s Ghoulies. It’s not a comedy, but it’s pretty funny. At this point, if you’re not familiar with Ghoulies, it’s probably best to keep it that way. Here’s a clip of the dinner party scene with Mariska, featured in a red dress with great hair. To give you a sense of the whole thing.
In her interview with Poehler, Hargitay talks about auditioning for comedic roles on Seinfeld and Friends, feeling like it was her fate to be on a sitcom. She and Poehler laugh about wishing they’d had each other’s careers. With respect, Mariska can do comedy, but I don’t think Poehler could pull off being Olivia Benson with the same intensity and gravitas.
Like a lot of beautiful up-and-coming actresses in the ’90s, Mariska made it onto one episode of Seinfeld in 1993. Surprisingly, not as one of Jerry’s girlfriends but as an actress who auditions for the role of Elaine in the episode called ‘The Pilot,’ when Jerry and George were casting their sitcom about nothing.
She also starred as the supportive, sex-positive best friend of Nancy McKeon in a one-season sitcom called Can’t Hurry Love. It aired during the 1995-96 season on CBS, and then it was no more. It looks and feels a lot like Seinfeld and Friends. Like, I think they were using some of the same set pieces and exterior shots. It’s dated now, but after 25 years of Benson, it’s fun to watch Hargitay be bubbly and make network-approved sex jokes.
It was after she did 13 episodes of ER from 1997-98 that Marsika was advised to seek out a Long Island psychic who told her that she was going to get famous for doing drama, not comedy. Six months later, she landed Law & Order: SVU. And the rest is television history.
You can watch the whole interview here:
