Lorraine Swanson (Mo Collins) is a confused, middle-aged woman from Fridley, Minnesota who gets into trouble when failing to comply with people's instructions. Lorraine wears high, elastic-waist track pants into which she tucks her shirt. Lorraine also wears an unbuttoned knit sweater (usually red) and her trademark over-sized thick glasses. She speaks with a very thick Fargo accent.
Lorraine has many dogs and a huge family, including her obese husband, Carl (Paul Vogt in later seasons), and her overweight son, Carl Jr., both of whom videotape her zany exploits (often taped on location). She very rarely but indeed runs nude and/or has run-ins with the police during these tapings. She has a remarkable ability of finding the worth of objects, as seen on a sketch where Lorraine participates in The Price Is Right. Lorraine also has a daughter, named Bobby (Bobby Lee) and a son named Mohammed only seen on "Lorraine Goes Camping". Lorraine's catchphrases are "Uh-huh-huh-huh!" (a nervous tic combining a laugh and cough), "Huh?!" (usually spoken before someone is done talking), and "Gaaaaawd, that's/you're cute".
Every sketch features a certain word Lorraine cannot pronounce; she repeatedly interrupts the other character's correct pronunciation several times before going "Uh-huh-huh-huh!" Mo Collins plays Lorraine in a Lady Marmalade parody involving the characters of Lorraine Swanson, Dot Goddard, Melina Jacinto and Ms. Swan.
Lorraine appeared 34 times in the run of MADtv. She was in seasons 4-10 and 13. Collins came back for the series finale with Lorraine taking pledges in MADtv Gives Back.
Read more about this topic: MADtv Recurring Characters
Famous quotes containing the word swanson:
“She was custom built for the pictures—teeny tiny, one inch less than five foot, and a perfectly enormous head. Her face went right from one side of the screen to the other. Gloria Swanson was like that, as well. Joan Crawford, too. You need the big face, for the closeups.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)