NEW YORK — It used to be the consummate bawdy boys club. But this season, it's ladies' night on Saturday Night Live as the show's female cast members have gone from saucy sidekicks to stand-alone stars.

• Amy Poehler and Tina Fey now co-host Weekend Update, becoming the first all-female anchors in the comedy's history.

• Cast member Maya Rudolph's Paris Hilton and Donatella Versace impersonations rank among the show's standout performances. So do Rachel Dratch's glum Debbie Downer and Bostonian babe Denise bits, and Poehler's Avril Lavigne and Kelly Ripa impressions.

• In addition to its performers, who all write sketches, the show has a writing staff of four women and 21 men, led by first-ever female head writer Fey.

Says executive producer Lorne Michaels: "These women have been the strongest thing on the show in recent years because they can do it all. And the good news is they all do different things."

Celebrated comediennes Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner and Laraine Newman were three of the original 1975 cast members, but they were second bananas to Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and Chevy Chase.

During the '90s, Molly Shannon and Cheri Oteri broke out in memorable roles. But generally, female cast members such as Melanie Hutsell were supporting players who faded with nary a trace. With the departures of Will Ferrell and then Weekend Update co-anchor Jimmy Fallon last season, Poehler, Dratch and Rudolph are getting their chance to shine.

"For the men, it's somewhat of a building year," says James Miller, who co-wrote Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live with Tom Shales. "But the women are hitting their stride, and they don't have established alpha males to contend with. And of course, there's only one Tina — she's incredible, a great switch-hitter with huge wattage."

SNL's most notable step forward? Having the peppy Poehler and sardonic Fey host Weekend Update. Despite the change, the show's ratings have stayed consistent, and SNL remains the highest-rated non-sports program on Saturday night.

Pairing two women was a gamble, Michaels acknowledges, but not for gender reasons. It was a question of replacing the likable Fallon with an equally charismatic player because "Weekend Update is the face of the show, and anyone following Jimmy and Tina was a risk," Michaels says.

Putting two women front and center "should shut anyone up who's saying it's a male-driven show," Miller says.