The Wishlist: What We'd Like To See & What We Expect

[vb68]

 

t's a popular show, no doubt but I wouldn't exactly trace that success because of his desk gig.

 

 

I would just respectfully disagree there. I think his success at the Update desk is the only thing that made him a viable talk show host.    And I do think Jimmy's success with The Tonight Show makes him a big star now, and Tina and Amy are major figures in the comedy world irregardless of their respective shows. Look at the Golden Globes.  I think the cachet of anchoring Update has gone up some in the past decade or so.

 

Cecily says she's happy about the change.

Edited September 13, 2014 by vb68

[Milburn Stone]

I also like the other idea in the article to show one episode for each season in the 10 pm primetime slot.  Good idea. 

 

I'd love to see an episode from the Jean Doumanian season. Unless they've all been composted.

[helenamonster]

Wow, I'm sans computer for a few days and all this shit goes down. Um, where do I start?

 

I'm pleased by the first three announced hosts (assuming Bill Murray is official). Sarah Silverman used to grate on me but I've come to appreciate her and am kind of excited. I'm the only person on the planet who hasn't seen Guardians of the Galaxy but I enjoy Chris Pratt on Parks and Rec reruns so I'm hoping he'll be good here as well.

 

WU...holy guacamole, did not see that coming. Part of me feels a little bad for Cecily. I thought she was coming into her own just as Seth left, but then when Colin came on all the air got sucked out of the room and they never had much chemistry. On the other hand, her work on WU never affected the quantity of her sketch appearances, imo, and I don't think she'll necessarily disappear into the ether because of this. She's still pretty clearly a favorite. Though I'm sure it'll be awks backstage for awhile (also, didn't she and Mike O'Brien break up? yikes, talk about a tense work environment).

 

I'm not familiar with Michael Che, but of course I'll be open to his new status. Though I do have to lol a teensy bit at people marveling that this is the first double-male Update desk, as if representation for men on this show has ever been a problem (though this does help the PoC issue a little bit). My one concern (which will probably turn out to be unfounded) is that WU will seem kind of separate from the rest of the show with both anchors not appearing in sketches. I realize Seth anchoring alone was a time when the WU desk was manned by someone who wasn't in sketches, but Seth had appeared in sketches for years before his appointment as anchor, so I feel like that's different. Neither Colin nor Michael have ever appeared in a sketch, so I'm wondering if there will be a sense of disconnect. Of course, there are still the walk-ons, so that might help things. It'll just be interesting to see.

 

Does the fact that they've started announcing hosts and a new WU anchor mean no new cast members (I know Michael Che will technically be a cast member, but he won't appear in sketches)? Cuz if so, thank the Lord.

[Miss Scarlet]

 

Cecily says she's happy about the change.

Yeah, I don't know what to make of this. I just can't imagine someone asking Lorne to be let out of doing Update. 1) It's such a prestigious position and has only become more so over the last few years since Seth and Jimmy have gone on to Late Night/The Tonight Show and 2) I feel like even if you actually want out of doing Update it would look really bad to ask Lorne for this. It's like admitting that you weren't competent enough at it. I think most cast members would probably be too scared to do that.

 

I've seen on other website that people are saying maybe SNL is doing this to really push Cecily as the star of the show. Again, wasn't this what they were trying to do by having her host Update in the first place? While also having her in a ton of sketches? I feel she couldn't even be in more sketches than she already was last year. I do worry that removing her from Update and having two male co-anchors is a sign that they're returning to the boys club days. I don't think they could, since there is such a strong female cast right now, but that's kind of what it feels like.

Edited September 14, 2014 by wudpixie

[Miss Scarlet]

It's funny that a lot of people on other sites are reacting to the news about WU by saying how great Cecily was. I feel like there's some revisionist history in terms of their opinions on her. She was better than Colin Jost, but most of last season people just wrote about she was passable or "getting better".

 

 

WU...holy guacamole, did not see that coming. Part of me feels a little bad for Cecily. I thought she was coming into her own just as Seth left, but then when Colin came on all the air got sucked out of the room and they never had much chemistry. On the other hand, her work on WU never affected the quantity of her sketch appearances, imo, and I don't think she'll necessarily disappear into the ether because of this. She's still pretty clearly a favorite. Though I'm sure it'll be awks backstage for awhile (also, didn't she and Mike O'Brien break up? yikes, talk about a tense work environment).

That does sound super awkward. ETA: I saw her tweets that were apparently about her break-up with Mike O'Brien. Yikes. I feel like between those and her tweets about "cruel bully dickheads" who asked if she was pregnant (although that was reactive, it was sort of understandable) it's probably for the best that she deleted her twitter. We've all had times where we've been super angry and just wanted to let it all out, but it just seems immature to do it on a public forum like that. Yeeeah, it seems like things will be quite awkward between her and Mike backstage. Unless they've patched things up since then.

Edited September 14, 2014 by wudpixie

[nowandlater]

But will Che not appear in any sketches? I mean, it would be interesting to see him and Jay Pharoah do something together?
 

 

I highly doubt Cecily asked to be bumped from the desk.  My guess is Lorne didn't love the chemistry between Colin and Cecily and decided to replace Cecily to achieve the chemistry instead of Colin since Cecily is legitimately strong in sketches.  She's stronger at sketch than she is at the desk; although I do think she's a stronger desk person than Colin.  And what is it Seth has said about having a head writer at the desk?  Lorne likes it because it ensures it gets written each week.

 

 

I think that 1) Lorne loves Colin like he loves Seth. Colin's been around for almost a decade. And it would've been unfair to throw him into the WU fire in midseason, then yank him after a few episodes.

 

Yet he needed to make a change. A bold change! And so Cecily was out.

 

I remember Cecily going on Jimmy Fallon's show her 1st season. I mean, how many 1st-season cast members go on a talk show during their first season?

 

She seemed like a big deal. And that's why she got the WU promotion last year. (But last year, and maybe I'm wrong about this, but it seemed like Cecily got eclipsed by Kate McKinnon -- even though Cecily got to do that Jeep ad.)

 

But what do you do about Jost's seeming toolish-ness? I have this weird feeling that Che will eventually become a solo act.

[BoogieBurns]

I have this weird feeling that Che will eventually become a solo act.

 

I somewhat agree. Obviously Che has never hosted Update, but I feel like Jost needs Che more than Che needs Jost. 

[vb68]

Supposedly this is the schedule of shows for the next season that I saw on another forum.

 

September 27
October 4
October 11

 

October 25
November 1

 

November 15
November 22

 

December 6
December 13
December 20

 

January 17
January 24
January 31

 

February 28

March 7

 

March 28

April 4
April 11

 

May 2
May 9
May 16

 

There is also the 40th Anniversary show scheduled for  February 15, which is a big reason I guess that February looks so barren.   It kinda bugs me that they have stopped  doing a 22  regular show season for the past few years.

Edited September 14, 2014 by vb68

[ajsnaves]

VH1 Classic aired the Best of Christopher Walken today.  It has been a while since he has hosted.  Maybe this is the year with him pushing Peter Pan in December. Maybe the November 22nd episode, assuming the above schedule is correct.

[vb68]

There is going to be one other new featured player.   It says that he is a very fast rising stand up that lots of people are very high on.  I watched his video at the end of the article and thought it was just OK.  It certainly didn't blow me away.

 

There is also confirmation that Mike O'Brien is being moved back to the writers'room.

[nowandlater]

1st cast member born in the '90s.

 

He was born 2 months into Sarah Silverman's season and 2 months after Conan O'Brien launched his talk show.

[helenamonster]

Wait, there's going to be a cast member my age on the show? That's so weird.

 

Kind of a shame about Mike O'Brien (why do they always name him as Michael Patrick O'Brien? It's so unnecessary, that's not how he's billed on the show). I don't think he had much presence in the live sketches, but I enjoyed some of his pre-taped bits. I suppose he'll still write them, but is it too much to ask that he still appears in them? He could be kind of a Jorma/Akiva from The Lonely Island type cast member/writer.

[nowandlater]

Wait, there's going to be a cast member my age on the show? That's so weird.

 

Kind of a shame about Mike O'Brien (why do they always name him as Michael Patrick O'Brien? It's so unnecessary, that's not how he's billed on the show). I don't think he had much presence in the live sketches, but I enjoyed some of his pre-taped bits. I suppose he'll still write them, but is it too much to ask that he still appears in them? He could be kind of a Jorma/Akiva from The Lonely Island type cast member/writer.

 

 

Only Deadline refers to Mike with his middle name (I've noticed that before).

 

I'm glad there are still people my age on the cast (Bobby Moynihan, Kenan Thompson).

 

Incidentally, it appears he's mixed-race. He implies it in his standup.

 

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/snls-newest-hire-i-dont-even-know-what-race-i-am/

 

(I care about these things because I'm mixed-race, too.)

[BoogieBurns]

His name is Pete Davidson, and he is funny on Guy Code. I like him! I think I have actually been following him on twitter or insta for a while. Can't believe how young he is, but maybe they will have some more variety in the sketches since everyone isn't exactly 30 years old now.

 

He reminds me of Philip Chbeeb from SYTYCD. Good luck to Pete.

[helenamonster]

I was wondering about his race. Well, yay for more diversity! I wish him the best of luck. Still weird for me, though. I mean, I knew the day would come when I'd be the same age as people on SNL, but I was expecting that to be about 5 years down the road. It's just so odd (though of course I'm going to see Lorde tomorrow night, she's two years younger than me and made more money off one song than I'll ever make in my lifetime).

[ajsnaves]

You think that's weird.  Wait until everybody is younger than you.  I had this thought, and had to check.  Fortunately Bobby is about 6 months older than me.

[Princess Sparkle]

Yeah, I don't know what to make of this. I just can't imagine someone asking Lorne to be let out of doing Update.

 

Amy Poheler has said before that she asked to be let out of WU, but Lorne convinced her to stay.  It was for a totally different reason though; she said she didn't feel like she was nailing the character of it, and he told her that was the problem - she needed to be herself. (please note, I am in no way comparing Amy and Ciecily; just making the observation that it isn't unprecedented)

 

So, that says one of two things to me: Either Ciecily genuinely did ask to be let out, and Lorne wasn't feeling her performance, so he said ok OR they thought this was the kindest way of saying "she's kicked off the desk."  I'm guessing it's the latter.

 

As for the cast - I went up and looked up Michael Che's Daily Show efforts, and they were pretty freaking hilarious.  If his anchor persona is anything like his Daily Show persona, I think he already has it down.  

[helenamonster]

I mean, everyone (online, in the news, even my mother) has been saying that they thought Cecily was taking this thing really well but like...she's not exactly dumb enough to talk shit about her boss or complain about her job in public. Like, yeah, she's gonna be cool about it because, well, girl's gotta eat. I'm not saying she threw a raging fit or anything, but her public reaction to it might not necessarily be how she really feels. Hopefully she'll write a tell-all in 40 years and we'll get the scoop.

 

You think that's weird.  Wait until everybody is younger than you.  I had this thought, and had to check.  Fortunately Bobby is about 6 months older than me.

 

Lol I know, and I'm waiting for that day too. It's just one of the strange part of entering adulthood...so many people seem like such grown-ups and then suddenly you're the grown-up and it's a little disconcerting. I started watching SNL in the reruns on VH1 (and I think E! used to play them as well) when I was a little kid, and most of the people on the show were about my parents' age, maybe a few years younger. So now for someone to be the same age as me on the show (I realize it's rare for a 20-year-old to get on but still) is very strange.

[vb68]

It is kind of funny to realize that Pete Davidson is too young at present to (coughlegallycough) drink at the wrap parties.

 

I hope he is great and gets a lot of material on the air, but I'm having trouble seeing how he'll fit in better than Brooks did, especially with seemingly no improv background.  I bet he'll have a few bits on Update.

[DowntonStabby]

 

Lol I know, and I'm waiting for that day too. It's just one of the strange part of entering adulthood...so many people seem like such grown-ups and then suddenly you're the grown-up and it's a little disconcerting. I started watching SNL in the reruns on VH1 (and I think E! used to play them as well) when I was a little kid, and most of the people on the show were about my parents' age, maybe a few years younger. So now for someone to be the same age as me on the show (I realize it's rare for a 20-year-old to get on but still) is very strange.

 

I remember when half of Comedy Central's lineup was SNL reruns (and not just recent ones, either--I can remember when they even played ones from the doomed Doumanian season, along with the Ebersol years, plus the late '80s/early '90s run and so on) plus MST3K and random standup montage shows (my introduction to Marc Maron was him hosting one of these shows--I think Jon Stewart did, too). Then Comedy Central lost the rights to the SNL reruns to E! (who chose to play more recent reruns much less frequently than CC did), and subsequently--at least for a time--ran Mad TV reruns into the ground. But anyway...

 

It has been awhile since SNL has hired someone that young, though it does happen from time to time. Eddie Murphy was 19 when Jean Doumanian originally hired him to be on SNL (though if I remember from Live From New York, she was forced to do so; she wanted to hire Robert Townsend--who went on to be successful in his own right w/, among other things, the movie Hollywood Shuffle a number of years later, though obviously not at the level Eddie Murphy went onto).

 

Speaking of SNL and ages...upon some googling, I found this, made pre-Pete Davidson hire, so it's not complete for the upcoming season, but for past seasons, I find it interesting, but I also love stats, so....

[nowandlater]

Pete Davidson was 7 when he lost his father, an FDNY firefighter, in the World Trade Center on 9/11.

 

Read this profile of Pete's dad: http://www.silive.com/september-11/index.ssf/2010/09/scott_davidson_33_firefighter.html

 

[nowandlater]

Bill Hader as host. Yes.

 

But better than Bill Murray?

[A Boston Gal]

You think that's weird.  Wait until everybody is younger than you.  I had this thought, and had to check.  Fortunately Bobby is about 6 months older than me.

You dear sweet wide-eyed youngster.  When the first time a president's elected that's younger than you, then call me. ;)

[vb68]

Bill Murray must have pulled out at the last minute.    All the sites had it, so something happened.

[nowandlater]

Bill Murray must have pulled out at the last minute.    All the sites had it, so something happened.

 

Which sites? I heard some NBC affiliates listed him as hosting the season premiere, but that was clearly wrong.

[helenamonster]

Yay for Bill Hader! And Hozier is going to be the musical guest, he is the man. Sorry Bill Murray didn't work out (if it's certain that he was originally going to do it). But maybe he'll come back later this season? For the special at least, hopefully.

 

So I guess Bill hosting means we'll get a Seth cameo during Update for a Stefon walk-on? It would be pretty funny if they started it out with Stefon coming on and seeing Colin and Michael and being all who the hell are y'all?

[vb68]

It would be pretty funny if they started it out with Stefon coming on and seeing Colin and Michael and being all who the hell are y'all?

 

 

That might be the best way to do it  because I can't imagine him doing it without Seth there.

Edited September 18, 2014 by vb68

[nowandlater]

So Darrell Hammond is coming back as an announcer, not a surprising choice.

 

Hmmmm...but doesn't SNL need somebody to play Bill Clinton...hmmm...

Edited September 18, 2014 by nowandlater

[helenamonster]

Imo, they need to settle on a definitive Hillary before they start thinking about Bill (hint: Kate, not Vanessa...Kate, not Vanessa).

 

I wonder, though, if Hillary definitely runs, whether they'll bring Darrell back in a "Tina Fey as Sarah Palin" type way or if they'll give it to someone else. I think Beck could do it, except for the fact that he's too short. Oh well, they could just put lifts in his shoes or have him sitting or something.

[vb68]

 

Hmmmm...but doesn't SNL need somebody to play Bill Clinton...hmmm...

 

 

Darrell will obviously be around now if they need him, but I don't know that that figured into the announcing gig.  I'm pretty sure he had filled in for Don Pardo a couple of times in the past.

[TwoBitUsherette]

I like Vanessa well enough, but I'm really hoping they decide to give Hillary to Kate. I don't think Vanessa is strong enough to carry Hillary through an entire election season (provided, obviously, that Hillary does end up running).

[nowandlater]

Of course Darrell Hammond impersonated Don Pardo in the past, but  I had no idea this was him.

 

https://screen.yahoo.com/james-van-der-beek-monologue-000000339.html

[Bruinsfan]

Oh, Maggie Smith to host!  It won't happen, but boy it would be epic if it did.

Now I know what I'm going to use the wish from my birthday candles on this year. She would be phenomenal.

[nowandlater]

[vb68]

If anybody wants to hear an early take of Darrell being the announcer, he'll probably say something like "next week we return live with host Chris Pratt and musical guest Ariana Grande" tonight.

[nowandlater]

Pete Davidson is already familiar with the Week 3 host.

 

[BoogieBurns]

...and now I want Amy Schumer to host!

[vb68]

Well I was completely wrong about Darrell announcing the premiere next week.

[Miss Scarlet]

So Cecily being replaced as WU anchor means that we'll see the Girl At the Party character back. It wouldn't surprise me if she was a guest on the first episode. I'm not really looking forward to that. I feel like she we saw her more than enough during Cecily's first season and I don't think she's that funny or innovative. She's like every other ditzy character they've ever had on SNL, with more "outrageous" dialogue. I'm not sure why this character is so popular.

[helenamonster]

If they do bring Girl at a Party back (which part of me is kind of hoping they will), I think it'll be awhile. No matter how well Cecily may or may not have taken being jettisoned from Update, it would probs still be a little awkward for everybody. I'd be surprised if she has any Update walk-ons in the first half of the season.

[nowandlater]

woah
http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/22/kenan-thompson-leaving-saturday-night-live/

[augmentedfourth]

So Cecily being replaced as WU anchor means that we'll see the Girl At the Party character back. It wouldn't surprise me if she was a guest on the first episode. I'm not really looking forward to that. I feel like she we saw her more than enough during Cecily's first season and I don't think she's that funny or innovative. She's like every other ditzy character they've ever had on SNL, with more "outrageous" dialogue. I'm not sure why this character is so popular.

Because she totally exists, and god help you if you ever get stuck talking to her at a party.

 

True story: my friend, who doesn't really watch SNL that much, got home from a party one night and started venting to me about, you guessed it, a girl at a party. (I think her full title is something like the Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started Talking to at a Party? Something like that.) I listened to him complain about her annoying tendencies for a while and then emailed him a clip of one of Cecily's WU appearances with that character.

 

He didn't know whether to laugh hysterically because it was so accurate, or weep for humanity that there are enough of them out there to make it onto SNL. 

 

Anyway, I'd be fine with the character coming back, but I doubt will happen for a while. Not only would it be a little awkward, I'd think they would want to put a little space in between her last appearance as an anchor and her first appearance as someone else so it's not so jarring.

[Miss Scarlet]

Oh, I know she definitely does exist, but I think this type of character has been done before. Not only that, but a lot of Cecily's characters are of the same ditzy girl archetype.

[vb68]

I definitely agree that it would be a mistake for her to be doing any Update characters right out of the gate.  They need to make that transition gradually. And I doubt they want that to split the focus with Che's debut as co-anchor.

[izabella]

I am hoping they drop the "Girlfriends" talk show sketch with Cecily and Aidy.  I've never thought that was funny when they first did it, and it's never gotten any funnier. 

 

I also hope Vanessa drops the Jewish bar mitzvah boy.  That's another one that isn't funny, but it's worse because it's always exactly the same.  I also hate the baby executive.  It's just not my kind of humor, I guess.

 

More Kate as Angela Merkel, please!  Love her Angela!

[nowandlater]

[ajsnaves]

See, I love Jake the Bar Mitzvah boy, even though it is the same thing every time.  I don't need to see him more than 2 or 3 times a season, but he makes me laugh.  I agree about the Girlfriends talk show though.  Baby executive is ok. But some people seem to like it, so who am I to deny them that.  A lot of people hated Wiig's Target Lady, but I found it hysterical. 

 

Has anyone heard what their schedule is for replaying old episodes at 10pm (Or 9pm where i live)?  Are we starting with 1975 this Saturday night? By the way, if they did one for every season we would get to June 21st for the first 39 seasons.  I wonder if they will skip some.

[Maverick]

 I like Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party and hope she also comes back.  I agree Girlfriends Talk Show needs to go though.  It was funny once; not enough to be recurring.  It seems like it dropped off in the last half of last season but I'm afraid it will come back now.  I'm also not a fan of her and Bobby's slam the coworkers bit.  It was also funny once, but it the same thing every damn time.  It's also a shit sketch for the host who plays the boss because they have like 3 (boring) lines; no character, no reactions.  They're barely the straight man.   This one disappeared for a while too but I fear it will be back.

 

 HATE Jacob.  Hate.  Amazingly boring, always the same thing.  I hoped it would stop with Seth leaving, but nope...still there.  

 

 The baby exec is funny for Beck's mannerisms, but after you've seen it once there's nothing amusing about (plus I hate puke humor).  This too is a crap sketch for the host because all they even do is play the straight man to the character.

[editorgrrl]

woah

http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/22/kenan-thompson-leaving-saturday-night-live/

TMZ reports this is Kenan's last season. Someone at SNL denies it, saying cast changes are never announced 'til season's end.

[helenamonster]

More Kate as Angela Merkel, please!  Love her Angela!

 

I could watch 90 straight minutes of Kate's Angela Merkel. She is the best.