(S34E04) This season so far has been more than a little iffy, but Anne Hathaway managed to make things slightly less painful. Even though the writing still wasn't quite spot-on, Hathaway's enthusiasm brought a light to the show that made even the most irritating sketches a bit more bearable. Honestly, I had my doubts about her hosting abilities, mainly because her good girl giddiness clashes heavily with my black-hearted bitchiness, but I didn't mind her. I'm sure she could even easily make the jump from "pretty good" to "absolutely spectacular," given the right material. Also, she managed to read the cue cards without looking like a complete idiot, which most other hosts have somehow turned into a massive ordeal lately. Mmm, literacy plus natural reading: a combination so deliciously rare, the writers don't even know what to do with it.Posts with tag AndySamberg
Saturday Night Live: Anne Hathaway/The Killers - VIDEOS
(S34E04) This season so far has been more than a little iffy, but Anne Hathaway managed to make things slightly less painful. Even though the writing still wasn't quite spot-on, Hathaway's enthusiasm brought a light to the show that made even the most irritating sketches a bit more bearable. Honestly, I had my doubts about her hosting abilities, mainly because her good girl giddiness clashes heavily with my black-hearted bitchiness, but I didn't mind her. I'm sure she could even easily make the jump from "pretty good" to "absolutely spectacular," given the right material. Also, she managed to read the cue cards without looking like a complete idiot, which most other hosts have somehow turned into a massive ordeal lately. Mmm, literacy plus natural reading: a combination so deliciously rare, the writers don't even know what to do with it.Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Anne Hathaway/The Killers - VIDEOS
Saturday Night Live: Michael Phelps/Lil Wayne (season premiere) - VIDEOS
(S34E01) Well, well, Saturday Night Live is back for another season and we couldn't be more excited. Actually, we probably could be more excited, but we're still tuning in and that's what matters.Personally, I believe they took a risk in inviting an athlete to open the season with a bang, as I often find their performances super-awkward and damn near unwatchable, but there are folks that go totally nuts when sports people host. Plus, Michael Phelps was definitely the sweetheart of the summer and it was a smart move to grab him before he retired to his giant fish tank in Baltimore. His performance was still pretty awkward, but at least they didn't give him a lot of crazy characters to struggle through.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Michael Phelps/Lil Wayne (season premiere) - VIDEOS
SNL's election coverage, and Jimmy Fallon will start online - TCA Report
Just wanted to post a quick report about yesterday's late-afternoon Saturday Night Live panel. On the panel was (new TCA Career Achievement award winner) Lorne Michaels, Weekend Update anchor and co-head-writer Seth Meyers, and cast members Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Kristin Wiig, Will Forte, and Casey Wilson.Given the comedy star power on stage, the panel was strangely unfunny. That's probably because Michaels answered most of the questions. Anyway, two pieces of news came out of this panel:
- SNL will run live 30-minute Thursday election specials in primetime starting October 9 and running until the election. The specials will feature Weekend Update but may also have sketches. There will also be a primetime "Presidential Bash" episode the night before the election.
- Michaels mentioned that Jimmy Fallon will air his show online for "five or six months" before it airs in Conan O'Brien's old timeslot, in order to give it a headstart in finding its creative legs. "We learned with Conan how brutal it was to find a show when it was on the air," he said.
Continue reading SNL's election coverage, and Jimmy Fallon will start online - TCA Report
Saturday Night Live: Steve Carell/Usher (season finale) - VIDEOS
(S33E12) To ensure a strong season finale, Saturday Night Live made a very smart choice to go with Steve Carell. He is an incredible comedic performer and his first hosting stint went pretty well, so I wasn't surprised to see him pull it off again this time around. Actually, this picture is from the first time Carell hosted. Is it weird that I've had it sitting on my desktop since then? Yes, probably. Anyway, the material was better than some of the other episodes', with a few spectacular highlights, including the hilarious digital short.
Gallery: Saturday Night Live: Steve Carell
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Steve Carell/Usher (season finale) - VIDEOS
Saturday Night Live: Seth Rogen/Spoon
(S33E02) "A Message From K-Fed": I suppose it would have been tough to avoid covering the news about Britney Spears losing custody of her children to K-Fed, but was it really worthy of a cold open? The sketch managed to make me crack a smile, but I didn't even come close to laughing, which is disappointing because K-Fed is already inherently hilarious."Monologue": Seth Rogen shared the Saturday Night Live monologue that he's supposedly always dreamed of doing, complete with Bill Hader as Steven Segal. It was cute but, again, didn't get huge laughs. I could tell that Rogen wasn't going to be one of those guests who lose all sense of comedic timing and rhythm on live TV, though. Honestly, I would have been crushed if that was the case. Oh, and speaking of Rogen and Hader, I totally expected more of them working together. I was pretty disappointed by Superbad (sorry, Michael Cera, I still love you), but Rogen and Hader were great as a team, with or without McLovin.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Seth Rogen/Spoon
Saturday Night Live: LeBron James/Kanye West (season premiere)
(S33E01) "All-But-Certain-To-Be Next President" (Cold Open): This was a funny piece, but it didn't pack the punch I would have expected for a season premiere open. Oh! Hi, Darrell Hammond. Still here, huh? No, it's not a problem, man. It's just that you've been crashing here for a while and, well, you haven't really been doing much to contribute. And we've kind of been wondering when you'd be moving out -- Yeah, I guess your Bill Clinton voice is still pretty funny and I guess it'll come in handy some time in the near future. Okay, I suppose it's okay if you stay for a little while longer. Just try not to creep out the younger folks, okay? With the announcer not cutting in until about halfway through the cast, it must have sucked to have such a slip-up this early in the episode. Was that even Don Pardo doing the voices for the cast intro? At first, it sounded like someone doing an impression of him.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: LeBron James/Kanye West (season premiere)
Comic-Con: Paramount Pictures Panel Report
Alright, kids. The Paramount panel. This is what Comic-Con is all about - big, marketing juggernauts produced by massive corporations. I'm sure a handful of indie comic producers turn in their graves at the thought of what Comic-Con has become, but you can't deny that it's all about the passion. There's something beautiful and deeply sincere about true fans connecting with the creators of their obsessions. The love of good storytelling and making life more bearable through sharing in an aesthetic experience can't be besmirched by even the crassest of capitalist gestures, and there's free stuff. Nothing wrong with that.
The Paramount panel was loaded with tidbits - mostly for the film, not TV, buff. (You can check out TV Squad and Cinematical scribe Kevin Kelly's live blog from this afternoon's event here.) However, some of our TV friends have made the jump to the big screen - SNL's Andy Samberg, Alias and Lost creator J.J. Abrams and Heroes' Zachary Quinto.
Continue reading Comic-Con: Paramount Pictures Panel Report
Saturday Night Live: Scarlett Johansson/Bjork - VIDEOS
(S32E18) Scarlett Johansson hosted just over a year ago (January 2006), but I don't remember much from that episode. I only recall the "Lazy Sunday" buzz still going strong, and nothing about Scarlett's performance. I suppose that entire month was a bit of a cupcake-y blur.I wasn't expecting much from Scarlett this week, so I think she did okay. She was one of those hosts that couldn't tear their eyes away from the cue cards at any time, but at least she made each of her characters varied and fun.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Scarlett Johansson/Bjork - VIDEOS
Saturday Night Live: Shia LaBeouf/Avril Lavigne - VIDEOS
(S32E17) I was tremendously surprised -- and pleased -- to hear that Shia LaBeouf would get to host SNL. Back in middle school, I would watch his Disney show, Even Stevens, all the time, because I thought LaBeouf was pretty much the funniest guy ever. I haven't seen anything he's done since Holes, but it looks like he'll soon be tough to avoid. Now, he has a new movie, Disturbia, along with Indiana Jones IV in the works. A rising star, he is. His enthusiasm and natural goofiness worked really well with the other cast members and, even though he wasn't given the best material, LaBeouf did a fantastic job.Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Shia LaBeouf/Avril Lavigne - VIDEOS
Saturday Night Live: Rainn Wilson/Arcade Fire - VIDEOS
(S32E14) Rainn Wilson is probably best known from NBC's The Office, in which he plays the incredibly funny Dwight Schrute. As always, just because an actor does well in a sitcom doesn't necessarily mean it all translates on Saturday Night Live. Fortunately, Wilson delivered a great performance that was on par with the show's actual cast members. This was a pleasant surprise for me, so I really wish that the weeks' writing had done better justice to Wilson's talent.Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Rainn Wilson/Arcade Fire - VIDEOS
Saturday Night Live: Forest Whitaker/Keith Urban - VIDEOS
(S32E13) I'm not very familiar with Forest Whitaker's work, but I'm well aware of his new-found status as one of the biggest actors in Hollywood. He recently won multiple awards for his performance in The Last King of Scotland, so I knew that he could act. Whitaker didn't do such a spectacular job on SNL. He was good, yeah, but not spectacular.However, the writing this week was really something else. It was a lot weirder than usual, I thought. For the most part, I liked it. I see that they've cut down on a lot of the more formulaic recurring character sketches, which is a massive improvement. Plus, none of the those recurring sketches are accompanied shitty little theme songs! Remember the days of "Debbie Downer" and "Carol"? Thank goodness those are over.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Forest Whitaker/Keith Urban - VIDEOS
Saturday Night Live: Drew Barrymore/Lily Allen - VIDEOS
(S32E12) Cold Open (American Idol auditions): The animals angle was cute, but I think the best parts were the split-second clips of the good singers, a beautiful example of how American Idol loves to focus on the painful auditions and push the better performances to the sidelines. Oh, and the shaggy dog family was also kind of nice.Monologue: Drew Barrymore has only hosted five times? I mean, I know that's a lot, but I definitely feel like I've seen her more than five times. Maybe it's because of her occasional cameo appearances. Anyway, I thought this monologue was a great take on the typical romantic-comedy. The inclusion of Maroon 5 and Corinne Bailey Rae as the soundtrack was also hilarious.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Drew Barrymore/Lily Allen - VIDEOS
Parents Television Council unhappy about uncensored D**k in a Box skit
NBC and Saturday Night Live are on the naughty list of the Parents Television Council (known henceforth in this post as the PTC). The conservative watchdog organization of people who have nothing better to do are politely asking (OK, angrily demanding) that the network rethink its decision to air an uncensored version of the now famous 'Dick in a Box' skit on its own website as well as YouTube. In this particular skit, Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake liberally use Richard Nixon's nickname several times in a song about the perfect gift to give to your girlfriend.
When the skit originally aired on SNL the word was bleeped out a total of 16 times. However, since Scrooge the FCC has no jurisdiction over the Internet the network was able to leave the online clip uncensored. According to PTC blowhard president Brent Bozell NBC has hit a new low and will stop at nothing to find loopholes to have indecent programming to reach the public. In its defense the network has asked that unauthorized copies of the skit be yanked from sites like YouTube. The network's website airs both a censored and uncensored version of the skit and they have put up a warning saying that the uncensored version contains explicit lyrics.
Continue reading Parents Television Council unhappy about uncensored D**k in a Box skit
Saturday Night Live: Annette Bening/Gwen Stefani and Akon
(S32E08) I must preface this post by saying that I know virtually nothing about Annette Bening. She is married to Warren Beatty, she was in American Beauty, and... that's about it. So, if this episode was packed with Bening film references and I failed to catch them, I apologize.Bening had a really strong performance. All her characters were totally solid and natural (I mean, as natural as they could be). However, she had a really tough time with the cue cards. It wasn't like her eyes darted from side to side... she just full-on stared at the cue cards most of the time. That always annoys me a little bit about hosts, but perhaps it's just a personal annoyance and not particularly fair towards Bening. After all, it's not like something a film star should be used to, right?
The writing was very funny at some points, but the rest of the episode was only "okay". Hey, they can't all be winners.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Annette Bening/Gwen Stefani and Akon
SNL: Who should stay and who should go
With the recent departures of Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch from Saturday Night Live, and the announcement of (wink, wink) budget cuts by executive producer Lorne Michaels, one begins to ponder what SNL will look like once the bloodletting is complete. So, my dear TV Squad fans, I pose a question to you: if you were in Mr. Michaels' seat who would stay and who would go?
Six shows that I am watching pretty regularly this season
Five other TV shows where Sarah Palin should appear
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