SNL in the Media

[nymusix]

Colin Jost to coanchor SNL Weekend Update

 

 

Any thoughts? As others have pointed out, the head writer continues to hold the Desk...

Edited July 21, 2014 by stacey

[EricJ]

Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller are updating their great oral history of SNL for the 40th season.

[ApathyMonger]

Oh, interesting. I'll probably have to pick that up.

[Milburn Stone]

The guy I saw subbing for Matt Lauer on The Today Show this morning (don't know the name, but it's not Carson Daly) was a dead ringer for Jost. I wonder if that's partly how Jost got the gig--he looks like an actual Today substitute anchor!

Edited to add: Got my answer on The Today Show thread. It's Willie Geist. Separated at birth!

Edited April 17, 2014 by Milburn Stone

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

The first time I saw Colin Yost doing WU I was totally distracted by his good looks. Then it made me laugh because he looked just like one of those smarmy talking head major news anchormen - the ones that are cookie cutter looking. I think he's getting better but the problem is that Seth was so well loved that it would take anybody a while to fill his shoes. 

[Toaster Strudel]

I like Colin's sly smile after the joke. I can't take Cecily for some reason.

[Kromm]

Oh, interesting. I'll probably have to pick that up.

Ditto.  It was a great book.  

 

Hopefully they'll keep the consistency in the new parts.

[vb68]

I thought we could start this topic , too.

 

 

Here's  Mike Ryan's top 10 sketches of the year.   It's very heavy on pre-recorded bits, and he really seems to love Mike O'Brien.  But I'm not sure how the great "Let's Do It On My Twin Bed" isn't number one.  But that's me.  

Edited June 2, 2014 by vb68

[vb68]

Adam Sandler explains  why he will never host the show.

[helenamonster]

Eh, I don't really agree with that Top 10, but whatever. I agree, vb68, I would have put Twin Bed at #1. It's catchy, the jokes are constant...it just had everything going for it, honestly.

 

Mike O'Brien is just hit or miss for me. I didn't see what was so special about Monster Pals, tbh.

 

And if they were gonna pick a sketch from the Gaga episode, I would have gone with Old Lady Gaga. For me it was the perfect mix of sad-because-it-could-be-true and just straight-up funny, with the ending being weirdly optimistic. I think it helps that Gaga came up with the idea. As a fan, I just noticed certain touches that were undoubtedly her that I really appreciated.

[vb68]

I just wanted to send some good thoughts to Tracy Morgan.  

. 

[VCRTracking]

Me too. I hope he pulls through.

[vb68]

Here's a really good interview with Lorne.

 

Among other things, he says they are still rebuilding, and there are still going to be cast changes this year.

[Maverick]

 

Among other things, he says they are still rebuilding, and there are still going to be cast changes this year.

 Good.  I hope that means more than just backfilling Nasim and replacing one or two featured players.  The current cast hasn't gelled and they need a cast overhaul nearly like what they did in the mid 90s.

[vb68]

I would be more excited if he said they were going to overhaul some of the writing staff.   I think that is more crucial than cast tinkering at this point. 

[helenamonster]

I'm hoping the cast changes just involve dropping the dead weight, at least for the first half of the season. Bringing more new people on could help, as they could magically gel, but that doesn't seem like a dependable option. Imo, they should consider waiting until January (or even later, possibly after the three-hour anniversary special in February) before bringing on anyone new that they'd had their eye on. Their current players still don't seem quite settled. And if there is a cast overhaul, the only person I would be absolutely devastated to lose would be Kate.

 

Overall I thought that was a good interview. I give Lorne a hard time, but I can't deny that he has done an incredible amount for the entertainment industry. He's a legend, honestly. However, I still take issue with his approach to casting. Yeah, when a bunch of white guys leave it's a mad scramble to replace them, but Maya Rudolph left in 2007 and there was no rush to find another black woman. I'm not saying that that's a constructive way to approach cast changes, as it then turns SNL cast members in stock characters with little room for innovation, but that's the logic that Lorne's going by. I think it's fairly obvious that Kate was brought on as Kristin's replacement, but Kate seems to be more of a team player with no desire to constantly hog the spotlight like her predecessor.

 

I just don't see the point of having a certain kind of person, whether they be a certain race or gender or whatever, just because they fill that role. Just get talented people and let the show go from there. I can see why the show wants to have a stock of white guys for election seasons (as most politicians tend to be white guys, and I don't think SNL has ever seen an election season and not beaten it into the ground), but like I said back on TWoP, maybe the show could be okay with going light on coverage of the 2016 race anyway. It looks like it's gonna be hella boring. If Hillary runs, she'll be the one they do the most with, so as long as they have someone to do her then they're good (note to show: NOT VANESSA). And if she doesn't, then it's just gonna be a hot mess both within the parties and the media, and I'll probs be so tired of it all that I won't want to see more of it at 11:30 on a Saturday night.

 

I'm looking forward to next season mostly because it's a big anniversary, but I'm also incredibly curious as to how they'll continue with the rebuilding. Nothing seems certain right now, not even Nasim leaving.

[Maverick]

 

And if there is a cast overhaul, the only person I would be absolutely devastated to lose would be Kate.

  I would hate to lose Kate, Taran and Bobby.

[cpcathy]

I know it won't happen, but I can dream that Colin Jost and Cecily will be taken off update and replaced. It has NOT worked out.

[helenamonster]

I agree, cpcathy. I think they might have done well with other people, but together they are just not clicking. I think it's especially glaring given the great Update pairs we've had over the past decade or so. Tina/Jimmy, Tina/Amy, and Amy/Seth all worked really well together. Tina and Jimmy had a kind of faux-sexual tension, if that makes any sense. Tina and Amy...well, put those two women in a room together and magic is bound to happen. And Amy and Seth were super snarky together, and I think their tenure at the desk came at a really good time (when the US was slowly circling the drain, and everything around and during the stock market crash and election in '08) when their "Really?!" segment, which kind of set the tone for their Update, was much needed.

 

Colin and Cecily are trying. Lord, are they trying. But it's just not working. Idek who I would replace either of them with (I remember people suggesting Beck and I think that would be a fantastic choice), but they've got to figure something out.

[BetterButter]

Ben & Jerry’s Saturday Night Live Flavors

[vb68]

Kenan's wife had a baby.

[nowandlater]

Why do the VH1 Classic reruns go back to 1998? What's so special about 1998? Monica Lewinsky?

 

(Also, it was weird seeing Lewinsky on SNL just a few months after Clinton's impeachment....yet I saw it when it actually aired.)

[nowandlater]

Just saw They Came Together, in which Amy Poehler sits across from Bill Hader the entire movie (with other things going on, of course). Kenan is in it, too.

 

And then there's this:

 

[BoogieBurns]

Just saw They Came Together, in which Amy Poehler sits across from Bill Hader the entire movie (with other things going on, of course). Kenan is in it, too.

 

Did you like it? I saw it this past weekend as well.

 

It seems like there were more SNL folks in the movie, but maybe they were just SNL-adjacent (Paul Rudd, Ellie Kemper, Ken Marino, Jason Mantzoukas, Michael Ian Black and so on).

[nowandlater]

Jost promises to be funnier next year.

http://nypost.com/2014/07/05/colin-josts-plans-to-fix-snls-weekend-update/

[helenamonster]

Moderately off-topic, but was that Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter) as the scuba instructor in The Skeleton Twins trailer? Yum. The movie looks kind of cute and has a lot of people I like. *waits for it to come out on Netflix*

[formerlyfreedom]

SNL News in the media goes.... HERE!

[vb68]

At the Creative Arts Emmys, SNL won more than any other program.  Jimmy Fallon won for hosting again.  I was disappointed though that Kate and Aidy lost for writing  the Twin Bed song. 

[mtlchick]

RIP Don Pardo. http://tvline.com/2014/08/18/don-pardo-dies-dead-saturday-night-live-announcer/ :(

[WendyCR72]

Just coming to post about Don Pardo's passing, but someone beat me to it. Can't say he did not live a long, full life, but man, SNL's intros will never be the same.  :-( He did so from the beginning. Sigh.

 

May he RIP and say hi to all the SNL greats who made it to the afterlife (assuming one believes in such a thing) before he did.

[Galileo908]

Sad day. 96 is a hell of a long run, and he'll never be forgotten. Who expected him to last as long as he did, even doing the opening from home?

 

So...is it too soon to predict who will replace him? I'm banking on Steve Higgins.

[formerlyfreedom]

So sad to hear about Don Pardo. Please go ahead and take your memorial posts over to The John Belushi Memorial Thread for SNL Players...

 

I'll miss you, Don...

[alynch]

So...is it too soon to predict who will replace him? I'm banking on Steve Higgins.

 

Darrell Hammond's who they've used as an emergency sub in the past. Wouldn't surprise me if they make it permanent. I doubt he's all that busy, after all.

[nowandlater]

Darrell Hammond's who they've used as an emergency sub in the past. Wouldn't surprise me if they make it permanent. I doubt he's all that busy, after all.

 

 

I always assumed it would be Hammond...but can they get away with him doing the Don Pardo voice? Or would he do the Don Pardo voice?

 

It's ridiculous that Pardo lasted this long.

 

Maybe they'll go younger. Get somebody in their 30s who can announce the show for the next 50 years.

 

 

Anyways, Pardo was fantastic:

 

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

Edited August 19, 2014 by nowandlater

[Princess Sparkle]

If they want to keep it in the family, I actually think Chris Parnell would be a perfect choice as a replacement. He has a voice made for announcing, and I think would be able to distinguish himself from Don (since no one can replace him really)

[cpcathy]

RIP Mr. Pardo.

 

I'll root for Higgins, or as a wild card, Jimmy Fallon.

[vb68]

Jimmy?  There's a thought.

 

Anyway, I'm going to post a sweet video in the Memorial thread.

[AriAu]

Grantland.com has a bracket game for best castmembers of all time.

 

http://grantland.com/features/saturday-night-live-greatest-cast-member-ever-nbc-40-years/

 

They are also doing a bunch of articles regarding SNL in honor of its 40th anniversary season.

It of course triggered a debate on your Top Ten castmembers of all time.

Mine are Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, Dana Carvey, Gilda Radner, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Amy Poehler, Darrell Hammond and Dan Ackroyd. Pains me to leave out the one season wonders-Billy Crystal and Martin Short- although that was likely the best season ever.

[nowandlater]

Grantland.com has a bracket game for best castmembers of all time.

 

http://grantland.com/features/saturday-night-live-greatest-cast-member-ever-nbc-40-years/

 

They are also doing a bunch of articles regarding SNL in honor of its 40th anniversary season.

It of course triggered a debate on your Top Ten castmembers of all time.

Mine are Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, Dana Carvey, Gilda Radner, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Amy Poehler, Darrell Hammond and Dan Ackroyd. Pains me to leave out the one season wonders-Billy Crystal and Martin Short- although that was likely the best season ever.

 

Also, some SNL stuff in this Grantland podcast with Grantland boss Bill Simmons.

 

They talked about whether Seth should've stayed on last season, the controversy over Leslie Jones and the missing videos from Yahoo's collection (due to music rights).

 

Seth wanted to show his wife the famous Peyton Manning-Will Forte dancing sketch, but he only could find it on some Japanese website. (http://pann.nate.com/video/14899578)

 

(One of my favorite SNL sketches is the 2009 season finale with Will Ferrell and they start singing Goodnight Saigon, and Norm Macdonald, Tom Hanks, Green DAy, Artie Lange, Paul Rudd are saluting Darrell Hammond after 14 years. Well, that sketch is not in the VH1 reruns of that episode. Though it does appear in the "SNL in the 2000s special, even when it's rerun on VH1.)

 

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

[Princess Sparkle]

Grantland.com has a bracket game for best castmembers of all time.

 

http://grantland.com/features/saturday-night-live-greatest-cast-member-ever-nbc-40-years/

 

They are also doing a bunch of articles regarding SNL in honor of its 40th anniversary season.

It of course triggered a debate on your Top Ten castmembers of all time.

Mine are Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, Dana Carvey, Gilda Radner, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Amy Poehler, Darrell Hammond and Dan Ackroyd. Pains me to leave out the one season wonders-Billy Crystal and Martin Short- although that was likely the best season ever.

 

There were some legitimately hard matchups for me to choose on in that bracket - it took me awhile to decide in the Chevy Chase/Dan Ackroyd, Sandler/Farley, Carvey/McDonald and Forte/Samberg matchups.  

 

I want to choose my top 10, but I think it might take me a bit to decide - do I give more weight to hilarity, or what they did for the show? (I'ts the same reason I had trouble choosing in the matchups)   For example, while he may not have been the funniest person on the cast during his time on the show, I know my top 10 list would have Andy Samberg, just because the Digital Shorts completely revolutionized SNL.

[AriAu]

it took me awhile to decide in the Chevy Chase/Dan Ackroyd, Sandler/Farley, Carvey/McDonald and Forte/Samberg matchups

 

I am going to show my age here, but the real problem is that the top quarter of the bracket (the originals, Murray and Murphy) is much stronger than the bottom right quarter (the newest stars). The fact that Eddie Murphy will knock out Bill Murray (or possibly vice versa) before getting to the top 4 is silly. I know why they did it, but it still is not fair since there is no one in the newbie category that measures up to Eddie or Bill Murray on the strength of their characters, the sheer comedy and energy they brought or the impact they had on future comics.

I had no problem picking Ackroyd over Chevy since Chevy was only on for one year (same reason I could not vote for Martin Short or Billy Crystal, who were in the best season ever, but only that one season) and people forget how versatile and funny Ackroyd was-he was incredibly  funny in almost anything he did, including the fake commercials and point-/counterpoint with Jane "You ignorant slut" Curtin.

 Carvey was so versatile and funny and created some of the most memorable characters ever-Church Lady, Garth, Hans, H Ross Perot, even Bush, that I had no trouble picking him over Norm McD, who really was only known for WU, altho he did a great Burt Reynolds and Bob Dole.

And finally, I think Sandler has been so successful post SNL that we forget that he was only ok on SNL, especially if you compare him to the greatness that was Farley almost every week. The manic energy and childlike qualities he brought were tough to beat-he actually did better with it than Belushi since he had less of harsh streak-YMMV.

[ajsnaves]

What I think is telling about the Sandler v. Farley are the clips they chose.  What has made the Lunch Lady song funny to me is not Sandler, but Farley's dancing.  Without Farley, that song goes nowhere.

 

I think there are many people that could give Murphy or Murry a run for their money. In fact, I would put Gilda ahead of Murry.  But I think people like Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, or Bill Hader are just as funny as Eddie Murphy.  What I want to know is how the hell did Rob Schneider get past Jan Hooks, or Darryl Hammond (Who I find very funny) get past Maya Rudolph.

[AriAu]

But I think people like Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, or Bill Hader are just as funny as Eddie Murphy.

 

Blasphemy!! Just kidding. I think Eddie was the best, and clearly ahead of those (Hader never did it for me except as Stefon, but as always YMMV), but these are all great and memorable cast members.

And I agree-how could Rob Schneider get past anyone, let alone Jan Hooks-he was almost as unfunny as Horation Sanz! Hammond vs Rudolph is the result of a bad matchup since they were both great, but yes, I did vote for Maya.

[nowandlater]

Kenan Thompson: A Timeless ‘SNL’ Weirdo

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/kenan-thompson-a-timeless-snl-weirdo/

[vb68]

 

What I want to know is how the hell did Rob Schneider get past Jan Hooks,

 

I've always said Jan was the Ginger Rogers to Phil Hartman's Fred Astaire.

 

I've always thought she was just as good.

[ajsnaves]

I've always said Jan was the Ginger Rogers to Phil Hartman's Fred Astaire.

 

Well she did do everything Phil did but backwards and in heels.  Well Phil did wear heels too on occasion.

 

I would say that Jan Hooks is the Jan Brady of SNL

 

And to keep this media thread appropriate, here is today's article talking about yesterday's results, with special emphasis on Maya.  I agree 100% and am sad I chose not to record today's Britney Murphy rerun to see "Talking Tennis with Time Traveling Scott Joplin."  Good thing I was able to find it online. 

Edited August 22, 2014 by ajsnaves

[nowandlater]

[vb68]

Here's some tidbits from the updated version of Tom Shales' Live From New York book.   

 

Probably to no one's surprise, Bill Hader confirms his distaste for Justin Bieber.

Edited August 27, 2014 by vb68

[vb68]

And here's a much more  in depth article with detailed passages about political sketches focusing on the 2008 campaign.  I think it's worth reading through and really kinda fascinating, especially towards the end.  Jim Downey takes an unnecessary swipe at Bill Maher IMO, but then Horatio Sanz of all people lets loose on Downey.  Sanz  blames Downey for all the watered down sketches and says they could have been harder on the right in particular.  That's what I thought for years myself.  It was refreshing to see someone go on the record with that. 

[Princess Sparkle]

Oh man, now I can't WAIT for this to come out.  I tried to set a pre-order for it on Amazon though, and only the old version showed up.  Anyone know why that is?

 

Separate Emmy shallow note: I am a straight woman, and thought Kate McKinnon looked absolutely fantastic.  It's so rare to get to see any of the cast members really dressed up and decked out, and she looked very lovely.  I was hoping maybe she could pull off an upset, but I think Alison Janney got the win on name recognition alone.  

 

I thought Seth did a pretty good job hosting (hosting is a pretty thankless job, since people just assume you're going to crash and burn), but with his interactions with Amy, I kind of wish they could've hosted together.