Pete Martell

Apparently Jon was also in the studio audience for Aubrey's episode, from what the Saturday Night Network podcast said.

Chris Redd has several projects on the way, including a movie with Eddie Murphy. (former SNL writer Jillian Bell is also involved) https://collider.com/candy-cane-lane-cast-nick-offerman-robin-thede-chris-redd/ https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/ramy-youssef-amazon-animated-series-cast-alia-shawkat-mandy-moore-chris-redd-1235491735/ Eddie's movie with Julia Louis Dreyfuss is now out on Netflix, and he recently received an honorary Golden Globe. Recent Jay Pharoah interview. https://www.wccbcharlotte.com/2023/01/20/jay-pharoah-live-on-rising/ Bill Hader helped on Glass Onion. https://collider.com/glass-onion-bill-hader-rian-johnson-comments/ Adam Sandler has several Netflix movies coming out, and was recently nominated for a SAG Award for Hustle. The publicity tour for the awards circuit has included an interview with his old friend (and former SNL host), Brendan Fraser. https://variety.com/2022/film/features/brendan-fraser-adam-sandler-airheads-reunion-the-whale-hustle-1235450739/ His Mark Twain award ceremony will be airing on CNN. https://deadline.com/2023/01/cnn-mark-twain-prize-adam-sandler-kennedy-center-1235227169/ John Mulaney does one of the main voices in the new Puss in Boots movie. Beck Bennett was on Brooks Whelan's podcast several months ago. https://podcasts.apple.com/md/podcast/episode-235-beck-bennett/id1299984059?i=1000581619016

Sorry about that. This is what I posted (the promo). Hopefully it will work.

Tomorrow's Vintage will be Sigourney Weaver and the Ting Tings from season 35. An interview with Neil Levy, Lorne's cousin, who was involved in the show's early years in various roles, including talent coordinator (and he made several oncamera appearances). Robert Smigel helped get another classic Phil Hartman sketch (which Robert wrote with Bob Odenkirk) uploaded to Youtube.

Tonight's "vintage" is Jerrod Carmichael.

I'm hoping for some Ego too, and I can also see Bowen having fun with her. I was thinking of Sarah and Heidi more for their comic vibe and Chloe because of Coolidge. I could also see Aubrey doing something with Andrew or Michael Longfellow.

Jennifer Coolidge responded to SNL's parody of her, so I wonder if she might pop in for a cameo. Aubrey auditioned for SNL back in 2008, which probably helped lead her to be cast on Parks and Recreation. As she had never hosted the show I wasn't sure if she ever would, but I'm glad she is finally doing so. First shows back from long breaks can be rough, or sleepy, but she has such a unique energy, if harnessed, it could be a good episode. I imagine Heidi, Sarah and Chloe will have a lot to do. Michael is a little more of a, "That's nice..." for me, but if it gives Ego or Punkie more to do I'm glad. And knowing SNL, it will probably end up being the better of the two. Oddly enough, the schedule for this season which was accidentally put out earlier this season (I think from a backstage photo) had the 28th as the first day back. Either they've been given an extra episode or, more likely, they've just shuffled dates around.

Taran Killam on Kevin Nealon's hiking show.

Cheri Oteri appeared on CNN's New Year's Eve special to talk about Barbara Walters.

The Understudies and Dolly stunt pre-tapes are really fun. I always wanted Dolly to host the show again - this is probably the closest we'll get.

Punkie has such a good energy. I wish the show used it more often.

I agree. Lorne is always concerned about these types of headlines, and this would have been made worse by Pete (a very reliable headline-grabber) also leaving. I do think there is turmoil at SNL, that's not uncommon (I'm still confused about what happened with Aristotle), but the idea that she was forced out at the last moment due to budget cuts just screams bullshit, like a lot of these gossip headlines (there was another which claimed Kate and Aidy left because PDD and Colin were too much of a boys club). If SNL was firing based on budget cuts, Cecily would have been one of the last people to go, as it's obvious how much the show loved her. Only the second cut for time piece to even be uploaded this season. Written by Colin Jost, Ben Silva, and Rosebud Baker. It's good - nice to see a Marcello showcase too. I would have cut Update down to fit this in.

I feel like Cecily, Kate and Aidy each represent such a specific era of the show - not only having to do comedy, but also needing to be in the heart of political and social commentary - that nothing is likely to replicate her style. The closest of the current cast might be Ego, but she is doing her own thing, as all the ladies are, of course. I'm really hoping the show won't try to find a Cecily replacement. I still remember all the negativity Lauren Holt received over being "the new Aidy." I like Heidi a great deal as a cast member, enough to where I do enjoy some of these characters (it helps when she's with Mikey as they have good chemistry), but she feels somewhat desperate to me these days. Sarah has so much energy and she's much more versatile than I would have expected when she joined the cast, but this is why I am not as eager for her to take over the show as some may be. I think there's a certain role for the more coarse material to be balanced out by a wider plate. I hope the show will do that more often (this past episode had a lot of variety for me, even if I didn't think anything was fantastic viewing - Cecily's goodbye, Marzipan and the Christmas pre-tape coming closest). Writing credits:

Full goodnights. I thought this was a strong sendoff for Cecily, not as self-involved as some of these can be, and moving, particularly how hard a time Colin Jost had getting through. It makes me wonder how much longer he'll be on the show. I knew almost nothing about Austin Butler, but he was a pleasant surprise, both with comedy and the dramatic work, and being fearless. I hope he can host again. He reminded me of some of the other hosts like Adam Driver who fit right in. There weren't any sketches that wowed me (although Marzipan and the Christmas family pre-tape were two I enjoyed - and I usually enjoy PDD even if it's not a big moment), but there were a lot of creative premises, rather than the same old same old. Now I just hope they can build those up further. I really appreciated that. For instance, I was glad we got a game show sketch that wasn't about how many times they can say penis or what is on Instagram. Chloe has her moments, but I feel like I've seen a number of better Jennifer Coolidge impressions on social media. Sometimes I think SNL just squeezes the stuffing out of these bits.

The first midseason departure since Seth Meyers. I can only guess she wanted to leave last season but Lorne asked her to stay on so they wouldn't have headlines about Kate, Aidy, and Cecily all leaving. I felt like it was probably her time a few years ago, but she's still one of the best cast members the show has ever had, and there will be a void to fill, especially in the voiceover department.

Based on how much they rely on her in the promo, maybe.

Bobby Moynihan talks about his recent appearance on the show, as well as older stories of his time on SNL.

Cast photo:

Behind the scenes of the Kenan/Keke/Kel pre-tape:

You might enjoy the PDD pre-tape as he isn't in that much.

I think most of the viewers who wouldn't have heard of them probably aren't watching the show anyway. They have gotten another wind in the larger public eye thanks to their show with Selena Gomez. I thought Cecily was better used than she was last week, where she seemed to be in almost everything, but I am at a point now where I've seen enough of Bowen, Kenan, Cecily that I just don't have much reaction anymore (it doesn't help that Kenan keeps breaking). I know it's not a charity show, but when even the cold open makes it clear who the main cast are going to be, I just end up wondering why so many others are lucky to even get on. Beyond the Amy sketch (which was presumably co-written by Kent Sublette, who also co-wrote this sketch), it was also an homage to the "Snow" number in White Christmas. I thought it was a nice idea, one I could have enjoyed more without the try-hard lyrics and all the flubs and struggles (which were a running theme last night, although with Steve and Martin I can give a pass - others in the episode, not so much). Chloe - I was mostly confused about why this was around. She'd done most of the impressions before, a few years ago in some cases, and now they're back with this new character. Why not just try to play a new character? It made me wonder if she, or the show, felt her attempts earlier this season hadn't worked out. And it felt very long, especially compared to when Mikey did these Update pairings with Heidi or Leslie Jones. I went into this episode with mixed feelings, because I don't think Steve Martin has ever fully mixed with SNL since the late '80s or early '90s. His last three hosting stints were either badly written, or just had him trying to force a "wacky" performance which wasn't there anymore. Some of his cameos had been better, some hadn't. I thought this episode did a decent job of using his strengths and not forcing him to be anything he no longer was, but this also meant he had to take more of a backseat to Martin (if they wrote a wider variety of comedy material, like they used to many years ago, that may have given him more to do). Martin's energy went a long way to carrying his sketches, but sometimes you could really tell there was nothing underneath (that talk show sketch, for instance, wasn't even written for Martin - it was originally written for Willem Dafoe). I was surprised there weren't more cameos of past cast members or more of the old backstage moments (like the "Platinum Lounge"), but maybe they didn't want that. And NBC probably wouldn't want Alec Baldwin popping up either. Compared to what I thought the episode might fall into, it was better than I had feared, and only really started to falter more with Update (even then the last sketch was fun - if clearly cut to pieces), but the episode had a sloppy feel, for some reason, and the writing and cast use struggles got in the way. This is one of those seasons where you can tell they are struggling to adapt to all the changes backstage, and more changes on the way, which I'm fine with, but more in the episodes where you can see them trying new things than in episodes which are both poorly put together and also feel like things I've seen a million times on the show, many of them better. Writing credits: Some observations from someone who went to the live show:

Tom Schiller made many of SNL's all-time best pre-tapes from the late '70s to the early '90s. Michael Streeter wrote a book on those pre-tapes.