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Posts tagged as george wendt

SNL

The Weirdest Episode of the Weirdest Season of 'Saturday Night Live'

by | March 12th, 2013

Every few years or so, between its now clearly delineated epochs or eras, Saturday Night Live has a “growth year” or “building period” or “godawful season.” For example, the 1980-81 season was the first without the original cast, and the bloated, 1994-95 “Saturday Night Dead” year.

The 1985-86 season is one of those off years. Creator and masterlord Lorne Michaels had left the show, as had his poor replacement Jean Doumanian, leaving NBC Sports executive Dick Ebersol in charge. Ebersol had very little understanding of comedy, nor did he care to understand. (Case in point: He publicly sided with Jay Leno during the 2010 Lenon/Conan/Tonight Show fiasco). Anyway, his [...]

Oral Histories

Say Goodbye to the Next Hour of Your Life with This Amazing 'Cheers' Oral History

by | September 27th, 2012

"I hope and assume that every good comedy writer, no matter the age, has a moment where they discover how great Cheers is…And I would encourage any young person getting into comedy to sit down and watch it," says Amy Poehler, in the introduction to an amazing new oral history of Cheers that was just published today in GQ. Writer Brian Raftery interviewed nearly 40 cast members, writers, and producers from the classic sitcom, and also Cheers fans from the next generation of TV like Poehler, Modern Family co-creator Christopher Lloyd, and The Shield creator Shawn Ryan. It's a long, fun, and occasionally heartbreaking read at eight pages, [...]

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