As mentioned in yesterday's post listing our favorite moments from this season of SNL, Season 38 has been dubbed a "transitional year" by many followers of the show. After a few years of relative stability among the core cast members, stars Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg left a year ago, followed by Abby Elliott later in the summer. With the start of the new season, three performers from Chicago's improv and sketch community joined the cast: Aidy Bryant, Tim Robinson, and Cecily Strong. In the wake of Wiig's dominating presence on the show, two freshman females in particular have emerged as go-to's: Kate McKinnon, who joined the cast [...]
While it was officially announced last week that Bill Hader and Fred Armisen were leaving Saturday Night Live following this weekend's season finale and each of them received their own goodbye sketch, Jason Sudeikis is expected to depart too but the news isn't official yet. Fellow cast member Jay Pharoah revealed via Twitter yesterday morning that Sudeikis is leaving, writing "Hader, Armisen & Sudekis the talent of those three and just them as people in general will be missed but we will be strong and carry on.." Pharoah quickly deleted the tweet after posting it, which is a little weird, but it's archived on Favstar where it will live [...]
Kristen Wiig is returning to host SNL this weekend after a year away, and she made this series of funny promos for the episode with help from Fred Armisen and no help from Olivia Newton-John, who is maybe guest starring on the show this week.
Here's an hour-long interview with Portlandia duo Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein from last year that was just uploaded online today. The discussion was moderated by serious moderator Julie Klausner and recorded at the Paley Center last year. Armisen and Brownstein talk in depth about the show, music, and how Saddam Hussein brought them together.
"Comedy has run alongside rock and indie rock for a long time. John Lennon was funny, so were David Bowie, Ween, Lou Reed, and Devo. The Clash even wrote hilarious liner notes for Sandinista. I have found that even the most serious of bands have had their own inside jokes."
- Fred Armisen to Fast Company in an excellent piece on the intersection of comedy and rock that features quotes from Marc Maron, Tom Scharpling, Aimee Mann, Ben Gibbard, and, best of all, an awesome infographic.
It snuck up on us, didn't it? The end of SNL Season 38 brought along with it key staff changes, among them the upcoming departure of head writer Seth Meyers and the immediate departures of cast members Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, and (unofficially) Jason Sudeikis. Few people have shaped SNL over the past 8 years more than these men — Meyers with his leadership in the writers room and charm as Weekend Update host, and Hader, Armisen and Sudeikis as the cast's workhorses and loadbearing performers. Indeed, many pegged Season 38 as a "transitional year" in the wake of Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg leaving the show a year ago, [...]
Fred Armisen's departure from Saturday Night Livewas announced today, and though the news came somewhat expectedly after Bill Hader's announcement on Tuesday, it's still sad to see one of SNL's strangest and most absurdity-driven players move on from the show. In the spirit of Fred's departure after eleven seasons, we've collected some of his most memorable characters and sketches, from the rambling Update frequenter Nicholas Fehn to his impressions of Liberace, Penny Marshall, Prince, and more.
IanRubbish.com, a website for Fred Armisen's punk rock character Ian Rubbish (of Ian Rubbish & the Bizarros) sprang up today. The character, a '70s punk rock frontman with a soft spot for "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher, debuted in a sketch called "History of Punk" (embedded below) from SNL's Vince Vaughn episode earlier this month. The website features photos of Ian Rubbish, an album cover, and a Best of Ian Rubbish EP composed of four complete downloadable songs – "Maggie Thatcher," "Hey Policeman!," "Living in the Gutter," and "Sweet Iron Lady." The songs are actually pretty amazing and a nice tribute to first wave English punk while standing on their [...]
This post is brought to you by Out There, premiering tonight at 10:30/9:30c on IFC.
Ryan Quincy has been working in animation for well over a decade. He spent 12 years on South Park (he's featured in the behind-the-scenes documentary 6 Days to Air) and now he's taking his original characters to IFC in his new animated series Out There (which premieres tonight at 10:30/9:30c on IFC). I had a chance to chat with Quincy about the show, his "out there" character designs, and fainting in sex ed class.
Tell us what Out There is all about, and how it came to IFC.
What a weepy week it was for comedy nerds. NBC packed a double-whammy of goodbyes, with The Office's poignant series finale last Thursday, followed by Saturday's season finale of Saturday Night Live and final episode to feature Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, and (perhaps) Jason Sudeikis as regular cast members, which was announced only days before. It is indeed the end of an era, not just for the network, but for TV comedy as a whole, and we will talk plenty more about this changing landscape over the coming days, weeks, and months.
Unlike last year's farewell to Kristen Wiig, which had a best-of-Wiig vibe that unfortunately repeated itself a week [...]
Following Tuesday's news that Bill Hader is leaving Saturday Night Live, it looks like the show is losing at least one big cast member (if not two) following this weekend's season finale. An NBC source tells The Post that veteran cast member Fred Armisen is departing and that Jason Sudeikis will probably go, as well. Armisen has been at SNL for 11 seasons and Sudeikis for 8. Seth Meyers expected to leave in the middle of next season (December) to take over Jimmy Fallon's duties hosting NBC's Late Night, the show sure is losing a lot of cast members over the next few months.
Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, and Martin Short are just some of the guest stars lined up for Hollywood Game Night, a new NBC game show hosted by Jane Lynch and produced by Sean Hayes. Deadline reports that in addition to those three amazing comedy people, Matthew Perry, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard, Maya Rudolph, Minnie Driver, Kal Penn, Ellie Kemper, Kristen Chenoweth, Cheryl Hines, Molly Shannon, and Max Greenfield have all signed on to guest, with more expected to be added later. Hollywood Game Night is an hour-long show that will feature celebrities and non-celebrities participating in game nights in a cocktail party environment. NBC gave the [...]
Fred Armisen played New York's Bowery Ballroom earlier this week, and he brought a lot of guests with him, including Leigh Nash (Sixpence None the Richer), Tim Harrington (Les Savy Fav), Marnie Stern, Michael Lerner (Telekinesis), James McNew (Yo La Tengo), and Matthew Caws (Nada Surf). Here they are covering the TLC classic "Waterfalls," which is the only responsible thing to do when you have this assemblance of musical talent. (via Paste)
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