Now that we’ve looked at some of the highlights from the past season of SNL, let’s talk about the cast. One thing that often fails to get mentioned is the comedic powerhouse we have in the current ensemble. Save for an occasional low-drama tweak (Paul Brittain was let go from the show in February; Kate McKinnon added in April), there has been relatively low turnover throughout the past few seasons — a sign that Lorne is pretty happy with the way things are going. As he should be! Not since Phil Hartman have we seen performers so clearly suited for sketch comedy the way Kristen Wiig and Bill [...]
When your show has become a cultural icon, I imagine it’s difficult to just be a “good comedy show.” SNL season finales carry a special burden — they must feature an appropriately iconic host (Steve Carell in 2008, Will Ferrell in 2009, Alec Baldwin in 2010, Justin Timberlake in 2011, and now Mick Jagger in 2012), end the season on a memorable note to keep people buzzing over the summer, and provide a proper send-off to any cast members that might be leaving the show. That’s all on top of being strong, stand-alone episode… a feat in and of itself.
This year’s finale seemed to prioritize two objectives — [...]
Over the past two decades, Amy Poehler has amassed one of the most impressive resumes in comedy history. Not only did she play a significant part in America’s largest comedy institution, Saturday Night Live, she also co-founded the UCB, a venerable comedy institution in its own right and one that grows in influence every year. If those were Amy Poehler’s only accomplishments, it’d still be pretty damned impressive, but, for the past three years, she’s produced and starred in Parks and Rec, arguably the best sitcom on TV. Throw on top of that recurring roles on Arrested Development and Late Night with Conan (before it was a hit) and [...]
A non-actor celebrity host on SNL can be a recipe for disaster.
On the surface, booking a popular stand-up comedian seems like an obvious choice for a late-night comedy show with notable appearances by George Carlin and Richard Pryor. However, comedians who have spent years refining a specific voice as a solo act often don’t make good team players. Andrew Dice Clay’s controversial humor caused a publicity nightmare that overshadowed the episode itself, and Jerry Seinfeld brought in his own writers, which resulted in some uncomfortable tension in the writers room.
Then there are the politicians. Though there have been a number of brief cameos over the years, only [...]
One interesting aspect about reruns of Saturday Night Live is how they’re sometimes very different than what went over the air live during the original airing. The piecemeal nature of the show makes it easy to remove an entire segment from the show rundown if necessary, and the producers can easily fill time using a pre-taped bit, material that originally aired during another show or even debut a previously unaired segment. This practice dates back to the early years of the show and continues today. Some segments have been restored for syndication, the DVD and online streaming versions. Reruns of shows after Lorne Michaels’ 1985 return have an increased amount [...]
After the season finale 'SNL' on Saturday, a stage was set up at the 30 Rock rink for the afterparty, where the Foo Fighters (actually, their cover band alter ego "Chevy Metal") set up shop and played for a couple hours. They did a bunch of covers and invited a number of castmembers up to sing/play with them. Above you can see Kristen Wiig singing "I Love Rock n Roll" with help from Jason Sudeikis and Andy Samberg. Other songs included Will Forte singing some Black Sabbath, Amy Poehler singing "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett and Fred Armisen playing drums on Cheap Trick's "Surrender." It was just like when [...]
Saturday Night Live has been home to over a hundred cast members throughout the past 36 years. In our column Saturday Night’s Children, we present the history, talent, and best sketches of one SNL cast member each week for your viewing, learning, and laughing pleasure.
It's important to remember that before the dawn of the strong woman contingent that began with Molly Shannon, Cheri Oteri, and Ana Gasteyer and peaked with Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, and Kristen Wiig, female cast members were often underused, forgotten, or written off as either too ladylike or anti-ladylike to compete in the bro's-club chaos of early 1990s SNL. Siobhan [...]
Saturday Night Live has been home to over a hundred cast members throughout the past 36 years. In our column Saturday Night’s Children, we present the history, talent, and best sketches of one SNL cast member each week for your viewing, learning, and laughing pleasure.
Despite Laura Kightlinger's fruitless year as an SNL writer and featured player, she's built up a pretty kickass comedy resume over the years, with credits as an actor, writer, producer, and director working with comedians like Roseanne Barr, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Jack Black, and Louis CK. With company like that, it's a surprise that Kightlinger's managed to fly so far under the radar, [...]
With only three new episodes of SNL left this season, time is growing short for Mittens Romney to swing by and awkwardly interact with Jason Sudeikis's version of him during a cold open. And it looks like it's definitely not happening, at least not this season, according to Lorne Michaels. He said that “We only have three shows left and they’re pretty jammed packed. It might be in the fall, but we’ll never know, that’ll all depend on his availability.”
That's a nice reminder of how long a slog this presidential campaign will be, isn't it? There are three weeks left in this season of SNL, then [...]
Saturday Night Live has been home to over a hundred cast members throughout the past 36 years. In our column Saturday Night’s Children, we present the history, talent, and best sketches of one SNL cast member each week for your viewing, learning, and laughing pleasure.
Diversity has never been one of SNL's strong points — if you're not an Irish-Catholic improv star from Second City or The Groundlings, odds are you'll have to scrape your way to Lorne Michaels' attention. As a result, sexual orientation has always taken a backseat to the issues of gender and race on SNL, and prior to the recent hire of featured player [...]
Now that Season 37 of Saturday Night Live has come to a close, let’s talk about some of the highlights from the past 22 episodes.
What struck me most about this season was the apparent hunger for new hit sketches. While the show’s tendency to recycle worn sketch premises lives on, Seth Meyers and his writing staff have eased back a bit from tentpoling the lineup with pieces from seasons past, occasionally striking gold with a new premise, and hustling to bring it back as soon as possible. J Pop America Fun Time Now, Drunk Uncle, Lord Wyndemere, Bein’ Quirky with Zooey Deschanel, Piers Morgan Tonight, and The Californians [...]
After Jimmy Fallon and Maya Rudolph’s spectacular stints hosting SNL earlier this season, I proposed (only somewhat facetiously) that all episodes should be hosted by former castmembers. Fallon’s episode was a gleeful trip down memory lane, complete with cameos by Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Rachel Dratch, and Horatio Sanz, and Rudolph’s might have been the highlight of the season, with the multitalented actress bringing the best out of the cast and crew to with her own masterful performance. I expected this episode would be the closing argument to my former-castmember-hosts proposition.
So was it? Sure, so long as I get another closing argument at some point.
Conservative blog The Daily Caller got their hands on a draft of a potential cold open for this past weekend's SNL, written by Jim Downey and featuring Fred Armisen's President Obama addressing the nation about the anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's death. And because this one was not used but one about Fox and Friends was, you know what that means: their liberal bias made them scrap the one critical of Obama! It certainly had nothing to do with Fox and Friends being a funnier cold open, I'm sure. SNL is so in the tank for Obama!
And because this was released to a conservative political website, you [...]
Saturday Night Live has been home to over a hundred cast members throughout the past 36 years. In our column Saturday Night’s Children, we present the history, talent, and best sketches of one SNL cast member each week for your viewing, learning, and laughing pleasure.
The first few seasons of SNL are more or less synonymous with hard partying (see the invisible robot hypnotist Garrett Morris swore was following him around 30 Rock), but there was one Not Ready for Prime Time Player who chose to keep her head clear and hands clean during the show's first and grittiest of eras. By the time 27-year-old Jane Curtin joined [...]
