saturday night live

[pete]

AMAZING KATT WILLIAMS IMPRESSION.

[cine]

i thought Cine would be the next black cast member.

haha my friend was really banking on the idea that he could get on the show. he had moved to Chicago to perform/teach with IO (where the new members Brittain and Bayer are from). now he can basically bet his life savings that he'll never be hired to SNL ever. Jay Pharoah is 22 and my friend is almost 28. no chance.

[ono]

Quite an opening lineup they've got this year, especially compared to last year:

Sep. 25 Amy Poehler / Katy Perry
Oct. 2 Bryan Cranston
Oct. 9 Jane Lynch
Oct. 23 Emma Stone
Oct. 30 Jon Hamm

Pretty sure that's right.  Whee.

[polkablues]

Five actually funny people in a row?  Has that ever happened before?

[Ravi]

I'm definitely DVRing (and then fast-forwarding through 90% of) these episodes.

[modage]

If anyone hasn't read this NYMag article from 1995, you should.  It's FASCINATING.

http://nymag.com/arts/tv/features/47548/

[Ravi]

If anyone hasn't read this NYMag article from 1995, you should.  It's FASCINATING.

http://nymag.com/arts/tv/features/47548/

I'm in the middle of reading this.  I can see why you capitalized "fascinating."  I don't see how good comedy could ever come out of such an atmosphere.

[Tictacbk]

If anyone hasn't read this NYMag article from 1995, you should.  It's FASCINATING.

http://nymag.com/arts/tv/features/47548/

It is fascinating, but 90% of the quotes in that article lack an actual name being attached to them.  Its all "says ex-cast member" or "a close friend to Jim" or "A former key writer who stays in close touch with the politics of SNL" or even "a young comedian who rejected an offer to join Saturday Night Live."  At first I was willing to let them get away with a few of those, but at a certain point it became absurd.

[Pas]

That article was great though. Makes you realize hard-hitting entertainment news is rare nowadays. Nice find.

[pete]

yeah I like the gossipy salaciousness of it all.
though he constantly backed the wrong horses and history had proven him wrong.  those 22 year olds went on to make that show pretty legendary in the 90s.  he laments the show's new writing process without really understanding what the old ones was like, past golden-age nostalgia, and seemed like he wasn't funny enough as a person to understand how to write jokes and how laborious comedy can be sometimes - instead he immediately dismisses all labor as signs of trouble, and writes disparaging remarks for sandler and his clan.
now, there are legitimate critiques to that type of humor, to that awful year of snl, and all of that, but this reporter didn't catch it.  he did, however, get a few comics to open up to him and talk shit about each other.
live from new york was a little more sanitized, but provided much greater insight.

[tpfkabi]

i found it interesting, too.

one thing it made me wonder - what do they do in the two weeks between a live show - rerun aired - new live show, like this coming Saturday?

also, does anyone know the fate of people they talked about - the head writer in particular?

[polkablues]

I know Jim Downey quit when Norm MacDonald was fired, but I think he came back a few years later, and as far as I know he's still with the show.

[modage]

Pretty sure the show schedule remains the same so when there's a rerun they have that week off. 

[polkablues]

Finally watched this past weekend's SNL.  Big improvement over the rest of the season so far.  Emma Stone hosting well, Kings of Leon playing good music, lots of Nasim Pedrad, Brett Favre's No-Fly Jeans, more John fucking Mulaney on Update  ... I left happy.  I'd like to say I hope they can keep the momentum going next week with Jon Hamm, but let's be real; they can't do two good episodes in a row.

[ono]

It's funny you say that, 'cause in other circles, this episode has been considered a letdown.  As for me, I fell somewhere in between.  Emma Stone, like Bryan Cranston, was very underused, and there were too many recurring sketches (the Dream Home being the most egregious, being a direct ripoff of a sketch from the '07 Brian Williams episode).  Kings of Leon are so blah (for me).  I loved the digital short, Les Jeunes de Paris, and My Brother Knows Everything.  And like you polka, I'm a big fan of Nasim now.  Waiting for her to shove Wiig aside.

None of the episodes this year have gotten me incredibly excited.  Poehler's was great, but part of that was the cameos, and the excitement over it being back.  Cranston was underused (no Breaking Bad parody, either -- really?!).  Jane Lynch's was good -- the one I found myself watching the most, despite the horrid Glee parody, sullied by Gilly.

Right now, I'm reveling in the mastication of old(er), more scrumptious episodes of SNL that VH1 is playing.  I've never loved my DVR more.  The Ben Affleck/Fiona Apple episode did air, and Affleck was great in his first appearance, complete with Paltrow coming up on stage and giving him shit.  Fiona performed Limp (I'd only sparsely seen her perform live, and seeing how small she is, and her convulsive dancing, was something else).  "SNL Fanatic" did not make the cut in this hour-long edition.  So many other classic shows from that era.  Just saw Ricci/Beck, and am now watching Rob Lowe/Eminem (w/Dido).

Since when did John Mulaney deserve a "fucking" modifier?    I mean, I like him just as much as the next guy, but he seems to have come out of nowhere (and impressed, yes).  Here's hoping he shows Seth the hook soon.  I have liked Seth ever since he first came on the show, but WU's gotten so dull without him having Amy to pingpong with.