TVSquad

Why does SNL have such a great reputation? Admittedly I've only seen off episodes here and there over it's history here in the UK but I've watched it a dozen or so times the last 2 years and it's just crap, there's maybe 1 or 2 funny bits each episode and the rest is just dross.

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It seems odd that anyone who worked on saturday night live would support network censorship of satire. you can spend your whole career poking fun at everything under the sun and then object to someone poking fun at you?

FWIW I have never been more excited about a show than I am about studio 60.

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SNL was the "it" show YEARS ago, as in 20 or more years ago. But NBC gave Tina Fey a development deal and it's more about keeping her happy since she did so well with Mean Girls than anything else. I don't think Lorne had anything to do with it.

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A TV Show that airs late at night on a Saturday made NBC? I can understand Page Six writing this crap, but I don't understand your repeating it.

Last I heard, The Today Show and The Tonight Show were the biggest money making machines for NBC. And, NBC didn't hesitate to chop off Johnny Carson's head when Carson started to cost more money than he was bringing in. Since NBC used Lorne Michaels and Saturday Night Live to humiliate Carson into quiting, I guess Lorne Michaels recognizes that NBC is now using Sorkin to humiliate Michaels into going away.

Seriously, Office Pirates has funnier videos than Saturday Night Live. NBC has to see that something like Officepirates.com is cheaper than Michaels and SNL. The biggest buzz SNL has had in the last 30 years was from a video that produced for a website.

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I am hoping the Sorkin show will have the cleverness of Sports Night and early West Wing.

I suspect the Fey/SNL show will be a crap fest. Almost all SNL spinoff movies are crap. Also, SNL had a very unfunny season this year.

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I'm guessing the fake sketches on "Studio 60" will be better than the real ones on "SNL." Maybe that's what has Lorne's panties in a twist.

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I mentioned in my previous post that Officepirates.com is a good as anything on SNL. Well, Officepirates.com has an interesting post about a comedy routine about a man threatening suicide by jumping from a very low height. SNL did the routine last week, but a similar routine was done by the theater company associated with Officepirates.com before SNL did it.

SNL is still on tv because it is cheap to produce and there isn't anybody watching tv when SNL airs. Michaels is the man behind Conan O'Brien and Michaels appeared to be building his own little CARSON-like / LETTERMAN-like EMPIRE within NBC. But, I don't see how NBC airing a tv show by Sorking that is a "behind the scenes view of SNL" cannot be seen as a major, major hint by NBC to Michaels that Michaels is not an important part of NBC's business plan. Again, it is interesting that NBC previously used Michaels to give Carson the exact same kind of hint.

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Studio 60 isn't a satire of SNL, it's a workplace dramedy that shows us the characters and relationships that lie behind a sketch comedy show the same way that Sports Night did for sports television and The West Wing did for politics. Has Lorne Michaels even seen the pilot?

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The six minute preview which NBC used for Studio 60 at the upfronts is available http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo2klPzrYss

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The Sorkin show sounds like the best bet. I have no idea why Tina Fey is even doing this now. SNL has been extremely hit or miss all year--and with the Lindsay Lohan episode among others, it's definately been more miss...

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