SNL in the Media

[vb68]

Update will have its own primetime shows in August.

[absnow54]

I know SNL is on top right now, and 3 months is a long hiatus away from the train wreck, but Weekend Update isn't what people are clamoring about on Sunday and Monday. What they really need is a Kate McKinnon Variety Show to lampoon various members of the administration with special guests Alec Baldwin and Melissa McCarthy, but Kate's making a lot of movies right now and probably needs the summer off.

[helenamonster]

Yeah, Weekend Update is uneven at best right now. Some weeks are really great but the weeks that are bad are bad. Is the world really clamoring for more of Michael Che and Colin Jost, Sentient Smirk?

[mtlchick]

Big updates here! Final 4 hosts AND SNL is going live across all time zones!

 

http://deadline.com/2017/03/saturday-night-live-air-live-all-time-zones-for-final-four-telecasts-of-season-1202044775/

 

(side note: Melissa McCarthy AND The Rock hits the 5 Timers  Club!)

Edited March 16, 2017 by mtlchick

[shantown]

I hope they do something special for Melissa and Dwayne when they hit the 5-Timer's Club. I was disappointed that all they gave Scarlett Johansson was a song in the opening that was a knockoff of the Subway jingle. 

[vb68]

This is huge! Or bigly.  I'm excited.

I don't think they have ever had back to back hosts join the 5 Timers Club.  I agree there has to be a big sketch for both of them. Bring Scarlett back too.

And the fact that she's hosting pretty much guarantees that Melissa McCarthy is coming for that Guest Actress Emmy.

[possibilities]

I wonder if they'll do The Rock Obama... on vacation, or sitting at home heckling his TV.

[Trini]

5 hours ago, possibilities said:

I wonder if they'll do The Rock Obama... on vacation, or sitting at home heckling his TV.

I love me some The Rock Obama! But what would he be angry angry about? Real Obama is so well-rested now...

[mtlchick]

Quote

But what would he be angry angry about? Real Obama is so well-rested now...

Reports claim that Obama was pretty livid about the wiretapping accusations.  If the story continues until then, it's a great starting point.

[Kimmmmmm]

On March 15, 2017 at 11:09 AM, helenamonster said:

Yeah, Weekend Update is uneven at best right now. Some weeks are really great but the weeks that are bad are bad. Is the world really clamoring for more of Michael Che and Colin Jost, Sentient Smirk?

I always love WU, and look forward to the summer episodes...they will certainly have plenty of material

[ChiCricket]

On 3/16/2017 at 0:33 PM, mtlchick said:

SNL is going live across all time zones!

http://deadline.com/2017/03/satury-night-live-air-live-all-time-zones-for-final-four-telecasts-of-season-1202044775/

If anyone else out there is like me (too math challenged/lazy) to figure out when the show will be aired in each time zone), I found this:

"Under this new arrangement, the show will air live at :

11:30 p.m. ET

10:30 p.m. CT

9:30 p.m. MT

8:30 p.m. PT

"The episodes will also be repeated at 11:30 p.m. for those in the Mountain and Pacific time zones."

[helenamonster]

Do we think they might have to censor themselves a little more, since 3/4 of the country will be watching in primetime? Curious to see how this goes.

[Irlandesa]

Considering that what airs on network TV at that time is often more graphic than what airs on SNL, I doubt they'd need to or at least shouldn't feel the need to censor themselves. 

It's not like SNL plays as loose with its time period as it could.  Technically, they could swear at the time it normally airs without being fined by the FCC.  However, they don't. Now if someone slips up, they could technically get fined since it'd air before 10 p.m. in two of the time zones but what they write is more suggestive than graphic.

[JZL]

Louis CK, Jimmy Fallon, Chis Pine, Melissa MCarthy, and Duane Johnson-- these five plus the recent ScarJo ep yield a good chance for half a dozen strong eps in a row to close what may be one of the better seasons ever.

[Poohbear617]

When the mentioned the last 4 shows all I could think of was "wow 4 whole shows in a row"

For the last few seasons I have gotten so annoyed at haw little there is one. At the beginning of the seasons (which now start in oct. Instead of sept) we get 2 episodes then 2 or 3 weeks off. Then on 3 wait 1.. I understand being off at thanks giving and. Christmas etcc..but when they repeat an episode that was from only 1 month ago..that is a bit much.

 

The carol Burnett show and Your Show shows were fantastic..and they would start in September and end in june. Your Show of Shows were also 1 1/2 hours long and live just like SNL yet they did over 30 episodes for a.few.seasons. 

[JZL]

On 3/20/2017 at 1:53 AM, Poohbear617 said:

When the mentioned the last 4 shows all I could think of was "wow 4 whole shows in a row"

For the last few seasons I have gotten so annoyed at haw little there is one. At the beginning of the seasons (which now start in oct. Instead of sept) we get 2 episodes then 2 or 3 weeks off. Then on 3 wait 1.. I understand being off at thanks giving and. Christmas etcc..but when they repeat an episode that was from only 1 month ago..that is a bit much.

 

The carol Burnett show and Your Show shows were fantastic..and they would start in September and end in june. Your Show of Shows were also 1 1/2 hours long and live just like SNL yet they did over 30 episodes for a.few.seasons. 

I think they're still averaging around 22 shows a year and have for quite a while.  This year is maybe only 21. 

The Carol Burnett Show was taped before a live audience so that's less stressful.  I believe Your Show of Shows, however, was in fact live, and some people have argued that their routine or method for producing the show each week was superior to SNL's relatively frenzied approach.  I doubt the people who produced Your Show of Shows had much in the way of side projects like the SNL people today.

[Bruinsfan]

Seeing the remaining lineup my immediate thought was "three out of four ain't bad." Not looking forward to Fallon constantly breaking character to laugh at his own lines, though.

[cpcathy]

Unpopular opinion, I'm looking forward to Fallon's episode.

[Dejana]

Harry Styles will be the musical guest for Jimmy Fallon's April 15 episode.

[DollEyes]

Since he's been killing it as Trump, I think that this is the place to post that Alec Baldwin will be on the next cover of Vanity Fair. Cue Trump tweet storm in 3,2,1....

Edited March 29, 2017 by DollEyes

[AriAu]

Quote

Not looking forward to Fallon constantly breaking character to laugh at his own lines, though.

But I am looking forward to Timberlake dropping by...or maybe a Lonely Island digital short.

[peeayebee]

21 hours ago, DollEyes said:

Since he's been killing it as Trump, I think that this is the place to post that Alec Baldwin will be on the next cover of Vanity Fair. Cue Trump tweet storm in 3,2,1....

"... the failing Vanity Fair..."

[cpcathy]

Sad!

[vb68]

I hope we do get the May shows, but to me it sure sounds like there's a better than even chance of a writers' strike happening.

[possibilities]

Shit. The previous strike was brutal. I hope they get a decent contract before the deadline. The last strike did a lot of damage. Maybe TPTB learned it's not worth going to war with your talent. I can still dream, right?

[peeayebee]

From The Daily Beast:

Quote

Last week, a Republican source close to Trump confirmed to The Daily Beast the president’s level of insecurity over Bannon’s reputation, and mentioned that Trump was seriously “irked” after catching a glimpse of a recent cold-open on Saturday Night Live that depicted Bannon as the real, “Grim Reaper” president and Trump as a dumb stooge.

"Did you see this crap?" Trump asked the confidante, referring to the SNL sketch.

[Inquisitionist]

It follows a long tradition.  See Robin Williams as Reagan.

[wknt3]

Jay Pharoah did an interview about his time on SNL and his problems there that is getting a lot of coverage.

http://ew.com/tv/2017/04/13/jay-pharoah-slams-snl-over-firing/

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/jay-pharoah-snl-fired-diss-interview-1202030820/

The quotes that seem to be getting the most attention -

Quote

They put people into boxes and whatever they want you to do, they expect you to do. And I’m fiery. I’m not a yes n—-

Quote

If you really noticed, for the last year and a half, they didn’t do any Obama sketches,” he said. “I was like, ‘Just let me do my character and we’ll be fine.’ [They] didn’t want to do that ... No disrespect to them, but I kind of feel like they gave up … gave up on the Obama thing … I think it was just a whatever attitude.

Quote

I was at the audition and me speaking up, they were ready to get rid of me in 2013 when I spoke up,” he said about the casting call for African-American women. “When I said what I said and it went viral … I almost lost my job.

 

[helenamonster]

I love this show and I will watch it until it dies or I do, whichever comes first, but I also kinda live for former cast members who drew the short straw talking shit about it. I know Lorne won't change his ways now but the cult of personality around him needs to dissipate with a quickness. Props to Jay for his honesty.

[possibilities]

Seriously, I am developing a great fondness for Jay Pharoah.

[JZL]

SPLITSIDER article slams SNL, Studio 60, and Baldwin's Trump (and current TV comedy in general)

[vb68]

I couldn't help thinking while reading that article that Alec Baldwin has run over the author's dog or something.  It was a bit over the top.

[helenamonster]

I couldn't follow the correlation between Studio 60 and current SNL. The sketch show on Studio 60 inflated its own importance, while SNL's importance is being inflated by others (most notably news outlets and the president). I do kind of agree that 45 is putting way too much stock in SNL's reach and importance, especially as it's pretty softball stuff compared to people like Seth Meyers, John Oliver, and Sam Bee. But the fact that a reality star becoming president is really an SNL sketch come to life isn't SNL's fault, but the article read to me like it was blaming SNL for that.

It also seemed like the author had been holding in his feelings about Studio 60 for ten years and couldn't take it anymore so decided to stick them into this article. I recognize the author from the AV Club (don't know if he writes there anymore, I can't recall seeing anything from him recently) and he always left me scratching my head there too.

[vb68]

5 hours ago, helenamonster said:

I couldn't follow the correlation between Studio 60 and current SNL.

Yeah, it was spectacularly tortured. I'm not sure I understood his big overarching point about comparing them, or why anyone cares about Studio 60 at this point besides him. I think you're exactly right that he's been carrying all that around bottled up inside him for years.

It did remind me of Aaron Sorkin's response to Liz Lemon bringing up Studio 60-- "Shut up." Hee. 

Edited April 26, 2017 by vb68

[VCRTracking]

From the Huffington Post

‘If You Take Out Kenan Thompson, The Studio Will Explode’

I will always love the first "What's Up With That?" sketch. I do think Kenan may not be the best impressionist  but he is a great sketch player or at least a reliable one.

Edited April 27, 2017 by VCRTracking

[Inquisitionist]

In case you're wondering who holds the record for most seasons that Kenan appears poised to break, it's waaaaaaay down toward the end of the article:

Quote

When will Thompson decide to leave SNL? Darrell Hammond, who is tied with him for longest run on the show, decided that his time was nearing after he didn’t win a role portraying anyone in the Obama administration. Tim Meadows, who held the record before Hammond, said that after a decade, “I kind of felt like at a certain point, you have to sort of give somebody else a shot.”

Thanks for the link, VCRTracking!

[VCRTracking]

Aww, poor Jenny. Her experience on the show really messed her up. I'm glad she realized eventually that being fired from SNL wasn't the end of the world.

[JZL]

On 4/26/2017 at 10:04 AM, helenamonster said:

I couldn't follow the correlation between Studio 60 and current SNL. The sketch show on Studio 60 inflated its own importance, while SNL's importance is being inflated by others (most notably news outlets and the president). I do kind of agree that 45 is putting way too much stock in SNL's reach and importance, especially as it's pretty softball stuff compared to people like Seth Meyers, John Oliver, and Sam Bee. But the fact that a reality star becoming president is really an SNL sketch come to life isn't SNL's fault, but the article read to me like it was blaming SNL for that.

It also seemed like the author had been holding in his feelings about Studio 60 for ten years and couldn't take it anymore so decided to stick them into this article. I recognize the author from the AV Club (don't know if he writes there anymore, I can't recall seeing anything from him recently) and he always left me scratching my head there too.

Yeah there's so much wrong with that article it's hard to know where to begin or if it's worth it.

tl;dw (too long, didn't write-everything):  Studio 60's  show almost had to inflate its own importance, unless they wanted to do a spin-off with a show-within-a-show about public reaction to the show-within-Studio 60.  Also, in that article, any references to the buzz and influence of the Fey/Poehler Sarah Palin sketches in '08 are noticeably absent.  And then, the fact is SNL can help heal the nation, see the post 9-11 episode (Is it all right to be funny?  Why start now?)

[JZL]

On 4/28/2017 at 1:21 PM, VCRTracking said:

Aww, poor Jenny. Her experience on the show really messed her up. I'm glad she realized eventually that being fired from SNL wasn't the end of the world.

I loved her in Married.  She wasn't in the second season much, iirc.  She probably pretty "poor" from doing the voice acting in all those blockbuster animated movies.  She's got the perfect voice for it.  I didn't care for the seashell stuff she did on Youtube, but that probably helped her land some of these big-budget jobs. 

(I assume actors get paid well for those movies but don't really know)

[Bruinsfan]

From what I've heard even roles on upper basic cable channel reality and DIY home improvement shows pay amazingly well compared to the jobs of most people who don't work in an industry involving fame. But then again, Martha Plimpton said she was in debt as a Tony-winning actress with occasional film roles until she booked Raising Hope, so who knows?

[vb68]

Here's a  long and detailed but interesting behind the scenes look at how this season came together. It gets into how Baldwin started as Trump, Melissa as Spicer (She was on the same plane as Kristen Stewart and pitched her an idea for Kristen's monologue), etc.   It's full of fascinating details and worth a read. The one thing I guess I would take issue with is Lorne said no to Rosie O'Donnell as Bannon because you can't do it from a place of anger.  Meh. Because Alec is even handed as Trump. Somebody posted in Melissa's episode thread that what made the Lester Holt interview sketch so good is that Alec was so angry. 

[cpcathy]

I see what Lorne means, or at least what I think he means. You can't cast people out of spite or meanness, Alec was cast as Trump because he does a funny Trump, Melissa is one of the funniest women in the world. Rosie as Bannon would have just been retribution.

[vb68]

3 minutes ago, cpcathy said:

Melissa is one of the funniest women in the world. Rosie as Bannon would have just been retribution.

Rosie is also one of the funniest women around, so I disagree there.   

[wknt3]

43 minutes ago, vb68 said:

Here's a  long and detailed but interesting behind the scenes look at how this season came together. It gets into how Baldwin started as Trump, Melissa as Spicer (She was on the same plane as Kristen Stewart and pitched her an idea for Kristen's monologue), etc.   It's full of fascinating details and worth a read. The one thing I guess I would take issue with is Lorne said no to Rosie O'Donnell as Bannon because you can't do it from a place of anger.  Meh. Because Alec is even handed as Trump. Somebody posted in Melissa's episode thread that what made the Lester Holt interview sketch so good is that Alec was so angry. 

That was me. And I stand by that. Not only does a lot of good political/topical humor come from a place of anger, but it's almost required to do the kind of humor the times demand. And if you go back and watch all the Trump bits there would be almost direct correlation between Alec's anger and the sharpness and funniness of the performance. The worst ones are the ones where he (and the writers) are just depressed, or disappointed, or disbelieving. The best are where they are righteously pissed off. I'd be willing to bet that his primary motivation was that he thought it was too gimmicky and didn't want to become a platform for every politically active celebrity to try to get some buzz. Especially if they don't have a deep connection to the show. If John Goodman wanted to play Bannon he wouldn't have thought twice or worried about it coming from a place of anger. There may have been concerns about not having a hook or anything to say beyond just wanting to piss off the Nazi, but they were secondary.

Edited May 16, 2017 by wknt3

[cpcathy]

2 minutes ago, vb68 said:

Rosie is also one of the funniest women around, so I disagree there.   

I like Rosie, I don't agree with Trump's assessment of her at all, but I'm just saying I see where Lorne might have been coming from.

[vb68]

One other thing from the article that drew my attention is that as much as I like and respect what Alec has brought to this season, I just can't believe how tone deaf he was to want Trump to appear on the show with him.  After the show got slammed (and still does) for having Trump host, of course there wasn't going to be any desire for that from anyone at the show. I can practically see them cringing from the suggestion. Really dumb idea IMO.  

[vb68]

Here's some interesting gossip from the afterparty.

[Hanahope]

I read something today that WU was going to get its own show in August?

[ottoDbusdriver]

17 hours ago, Hanahope said:

I read something today that WU was going to get its own show in August?

It wouldn't be the first time -- there was a Thursday edition of WU back in 2008.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_Weekend_Update_Thursday

[Dee]

Why Sasheer Zamata Never Had a Chance on Saturday Night Live