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SNL in the Media


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This popped up in my facebook feed: it's a cute article with the cast interviewing each other before the 40th anniversary.

http://gotham-magazine.com/personalities/articles/saturday-night-live-current-cast-reflects-on-40-years-of-snl

Oh man the video attached to that article. So much good stuff. Taran's voices and quips, Kyle being Kyle, Kate's cooky-ness, and Cecily's Dress!

 

And Colin Jost is still sucking the energy out of the whole thing. Who stole his Charisma. At least Michael appears comfortable and the usual comfortable guy we see in his stand-up and on TDS.

Bill Hader talks about where the idea for "The Californians" came from.

 

 

When they talked about them impersonating Dana Carvey's son I was like "Isn't he a little kid?" Then I looked it up and both Dana's sons are in their early 20s! Time flies since I heard Dana talk about them in his stand up special from the 90s!

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Also I've heard Dana's Paul McCartney impression before but never heard him do a John Lennon impression. Love Hader just losing it:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz0fIlWwxpI#t=33

Carvey's been in the media and in appearances a lot the past year or so, and it's helped me come to the conclusion that his talent has aged well, unlike, lets say Martin Short's.  

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Carvey's been in the media and in appearances a lot the past year or so, and it's helped me come to the conclusion that his talent has aged well, unlike, lets say Martin Short's.

I wouldn't say that. I loved when he hosted two years ago. I also love Jiminy Glick(him asking Mel Brooks "What's your beef with the Nazis?" always makes me laugh. He also does a great David Lynch impression.

 

Alan Sepinwall from HitFix.com wrote a great article looking through the 40 year history:

 

'Saturday Night Live' at 40: The 'SNL' story told through its sketches.

 

Excerpt about the 'word association' sketch with Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor:

 

This is arguably the edgiest the show would ever intentionally get (as opposed to something like Sinead O'Connor surprising everyone by ripping up a picture of the Pope). The series would skirt various boundaries of language and sexuality in later years — a  late '80s sketch where the word "penis" was said or sung over 40 times, or the '00s sketch revealing that the name "Colonel Angus" sounds like a sex act when recited (over and over) with a Southern drawl — but rarely in a fashion intended to provoke and shock to this degree. A cynic might suggest that it's been all downhill for "SNL" since its seventh episode ever, but the fact is, the broadcast networks were somehow more permissive 40 years ago than they are today. This sketch would never be allowed to air as a new piece on NBC this year, and it felt shocking that it aired unedited in a rerun earlier this season, grandfathered in from an earlier, bolder era. But nor would characters like Archie Bunker or Maude be allowed to front network sitcoms in 2015. The '70s were a strange and glorious time, and while there were certainly "SNL" writers back then pushing the boundaries of good taste — see also the first season's "Claudine Longet Invitational," where Chase and Jane Curtin made great light of a celebrity murder defense, or frequent host Buck Henry's recurring child molester character Uncle Roy — there was also an environment where much more was allowed.

 

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Rolling Stone takes on the ambitious task of rating all 141 SNL players from the last 40 years! (Of note, Steve Martin, while memorable as a recurring host over the years, was NOT a regular cast member and is not included, in case some wonder why he is missing.) Here is the list - with much disagreement in the comments. (Click the comment bubble on the side of the article, and there will be a pop-up window with them.)

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Oh yeah I dispute the hell out of that list. Norm MacDonald should be higher and he wasn't just a "Dennis Miller clone". His Bob Dole impression alone puts him above other cast members. Also Jim Breuer should get more respect: Joe Pesci, Mickey from Rocky.

Biggest thumbs up ever.

 

Norm is the comedian's comedian even still.  He's the guy the public largely doesn't get, but they all do.  While overall there's a rule that if the public doesn't get a joke, the joke needs repairing--that comedy has to have an audience react or it's just self-indulgence--there are exceptions to every rule and Norm is one of the ones for comedy.  His comedy is so droll and deadpan, it's not really like he has a choice anyway (at least with the American public's handicaps with even being able to process dry humor, compared to let's say, the British).

 

Miller, even before he got old and turned into a political weirdo, was a very different character.  I happen to think the old school Miller was actually pretty funny, before he got weird and self-righteous in his later years, but other than some superficial stuff, he's not much like Norm. Or rather, Miller was very highly telegraphed sarcasm, via his tone, facial expressions and mannerisms, whereas Norm was (and still is) deadpan.  Both sarcasm, but with very different deliveries. But interesting, when they were at their best.  But hardly the same.

 

Norm's best on air SNL bit is for me one of the great moments of the show.  Oh there's the hilarious Burt Reynolds stuff he did for the Celebrity Jeopardy skits, but personally it's the newsdesk where he aced it... if you understood him humor.

 

http://youtu.be/wCPBwuQKJx4

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Last night, I discovered that 1st Look - which comes on right after SNL, and usually stays on in my house because I'm too lazy to look for something else to watch and it's mostly benign - is actually an official NBC production.  I always figured it was one of those syndicated shows that local stations put on in the middle of the night.  Anyway, last night the show was all about SNL with a bunch of cast interviews.

 

https://twitter.com/1stlooktv

 

A few different folks than I've seen talking about it, plus some sweet interviews with the current cast.  Could have done without Paris Hilton though.

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Tina had a hilarious interview on Howard Stern years ago where she did not speak kindly of her. Apparently they had a bet going of who would be the first person she'd actually ask a personal question of (i.e. "How are you?" or "Where are you from?"). Tina said she thinks Seth won when Paris asked him, "Is Maya Rudolph Italian?"

 

Tina also said that Paris was one of those hosts that just did not want to look stupid, and apparently wanted to use the show to air all her personal grievances against other celebrities (like playing female celebrities she didn't like, but they were fat, etc).

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Robin Duke reminisces in Slate about working with Eddie Murphy.

 

Write for Eddie Murphy? Who wouldn’t want to write for Eddie, if only to hear his distinctive laugh? If Eddie laughed at something I wrote or said, I knew it was funny. He wasn't a fake laugher. And, of course, at Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s, if I wrote a sketch for him, it would have a much better chance at getting on the air. I have met a lot of people in comedy who are very skilled at getting a response from an audience, but few who are so naturally funny that they can make fellow comics and writers double up until they’re screaming and crying “Sssssssstop!” Eddie is one.

 

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Tina had a hilarious interview on Howard Stern years ago where she did not speak kindly of her. Apparently they had a bet going of who would be the first person she'd actually ask a personal question of (i.e. "How are you?" or "Where are you from?"). Tina said she thinks Seth won when Paris asked him, "Is Maya Rudolph Italian?"

 

Tina also said that Paris was one of those hosts that just did not want to look stupid, and apparently wanted to use the show to air all her personal grievances against other celebrities (like playing female celebrities she didn't like, but they were fat, etc).

 

Here's that interview. From around the time 30 Rock premiered in 2006. I recall reading somewhere (in Fey's book) that her mom scolded her for trashing Paris, and I think that's why she's never been back on Stern.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3x97gcXtmU

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Taraji P Henson was on Late Night With Seth Meyers and mentioned something about doing SNL.  I couldn't tell if she was semi-announcing that she was going to be on or if she was indicating she wanted to be on.  Seth essentially said she'd be on if "they know what's good for them." 

 

I do hope they tap her to host.  She has a lot of energy and I think she'd be great. 

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Just wanted to let you all know, there's a new topic I moved some posts regarding Ghostbusters to - It's SNL Outside Projects: From Animal House to Wayne's World. It seemed like it might be good to have a place to discuss all the various projects through the last 40 years that have been influenced in some way by SNL, and since the discussion of the Ghostbusters 'reboot' was starting to stray from the topic of SNL in the Media, it seemed like a good place to start.

 

Resume your regular posting!

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