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Saturday Night Live-related stories

What's On Tonight: Personal Effects, Robin Hood, Sit Down, Shut Up

  • 48 Hours MysteryAt 7, Cartoon Network has a new Bakugan, followed by a new episode of The Super Hero Squad Show.
  • At 8, ABC has College Football, Kansas vs. Texas.
  • FOX has a new Cops at 8.
  • HGTV has a new Divine Design at 8.
  • Food Network has All-Star Thanksgiving at 8.
  • At 9, FOX has a new America's Most Wanted.
  • CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show at 9.
  • Lifetime has the movie Personal Effects at 9.
  • BBC America has a new Robin Hood at 9, then a new Graham Norton Show.
  • Also at 9: Cartoon Network has a new episode of The Secret Saturdays.
  • At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
  • At 11, FOX has a new Wanda Sykes Show, followed by a new Sit Down, Shut Up.
  • At 11:30, NBC has a new Saturday Night Live, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and The Dave Matthews Band.
  • At 1AM, Cartoon Network has a new Bleach.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Palin had dirty bit cut from her SNL show

Here's a shocker: something from Sarah Palin's memoir that hasn't been disputed.

Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers confirmed a claim made by the former Republican VP candidate that she asked the writers to remove a rather ribald joke from Amy Poehler's rap performance that referenced the phrase "drill, baby, drill" during her appearance on the show last year.

The full joke went, "When we're in Wascilla (sic), it's chill, baby, chilla/In the bedroom with Todd, it's drill, baby, drilla." That's weird, Take out the "with Todd" and you've got an exact quote from Levi Johnston's MySpace page (that joke so would have killed in 2008).

Kathie Lee not happy about SNL skit

This weekend's horrible Saturday Night Live featured another takeoff on the Kathie Lee Gifford/Hoda Kotb hour of Today and the two hosts talked about it on their show. Hoda thought it was funny (and so did the crew) and that Kristen Wiig can sing. Kathie Lee didn't like it (well, she liked the part about Hoda).

To be honest, I don't think this is the best sketch they've done about Hoda and Kathie Lee. Maybe she'll think the other ones they've done are funny (probably not). (Stay through the talk about Palin as Hoda and Kathie Lee talk about the sketch more.)

Review: Saturday Night Live - January Jones/Black Eyed Peas

january jones snl
(S35E06)
There was a strange moment of nodding recognition at the end of the night, as I watched Jason Sudeikis and January Jones in the cloud-gazing sketch. Throughout, the man pauses to consider the woman's weird behavior and then concedes, "Ohh, you're a very pretty, pretty woman." Yup. That's pretty much how I reacted the entire night, especially during really bad sketches like the farting Grace Kelly (take a moment to think about that: Farting. Grace. Kelly.)

Jones was kind of a stiff host with not particularly daring material, but, goodness gracious, her real-life 50s Barbie prettiness was mesmerizing. Her performances in the mid-century instructional video and the aforementioned cloud-gazing sketch were the best of the evening, but that's not saying much since the rest of her appearances were strange and wooden. Even her good night felt like it had been programmed in and auto-tuned for maximum polite insincerity.

Continue reading Review: Saturday Night Live - January Jones/Black Eyed Peas

The TV Squad Podcast: Mad Men finale, November sweeps, and more

TV Squad logoIt was an eventful week in TV, especially for fans of Mad Men. This week, Jason Hughes and Bob Sassone join me to talk about the show's finale and what may be in store for next season. We also talk about:

  • Why November sweeps don't mean as much as they used to,
  • Another dip into our Ask TV Squad mailbag, where we discuss why we promote SlashControl and other AOL-related ventures,
  • Our picks for the week, and much more.
Run time is 57:28.

You can listen to the podcast below, or download from here or by subscribing to our RSS podcast feed. It is also available via iTunes. Feel free to leave us feedback in the comments or drop us a line at tvsquadpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com.

By the way, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Life" by Justin Trawick.

Paul Mooney's TV history from Black Is the New White

Paul Mooney Black Is the New WhitePaul Mooney is well known to stand-up comedians for his own work and for writing for his longtime friend, Richard Pryor. Outside of that, though, his name recognition gets a little fuzzier. So for TV comedy fans, Mooney's new memoir, Black Is the New White, provides some great behind-the-scenes moments they should probably know.

There are a lot of heartfelt stories about Richard Pryor and Mooney's own personal life, but there is a lot of fun TV trivia, as well. Mooney talks about getting forced onstage by a couple of friends to do his first solo stand-up spot in the early 60s in San Francisco. Mooney is drunk and nervous, and winds up doing the act of a comic named Ronnie Schell, who would later co-star with Jim Nabors on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Mooney admits whenever he catches the show in reruns, he feels a little guilty.

Continue reading Paul Mooney's TV history from Black Is the New White

Review: Saturday Night Live - Taylor Swift

taylor swift snl
(S35E05) I had to talk myself through being allowed to criticize Taylor Swift. Ever since Kanye West VMA outburst turned everyone in America into Swift's over-protective mom, she's been shown even more as an innocent country-inspired sweetheart. Every time she messed up in this episode, I felt the need to hold back any not-super-great remarks because, well, she's a teeny-bopper! Teeny-boppers are just kids goofin' around!

And then I have to pause and remind myself that she's almost 20-years-old, around the same age as Shia LaBeouf and Ellen Page when they first hosted and Abby Elliiott when she initially joined the featured players. Screw it, there's no need to hold back. Swift is a musician, so we can't expect her acting skills to be super-good, but the fact I keep thinking she's only 14 shouldn't affect anything else.

Continue reading Review: Saturday Night Live - Taylor Swift

More poetry: Kristen Wiig reads the words of Suzanne Somers

Don't let anyone tell you that you can't get culture and literature from TV Squad. This is the second post about poetry today. (Tomorrow: e.e. cummings.)

I saw Suzanne Somers on Rachael Ray this morning, and then I go to Best Week Ever and see video of SNL's Kristen Wiig reading excerpts from Somers' book of poetry! Unlike the post link above, these words really are from Somers.

What You Missed Last Night: Ten@Ten with Tina Fey

Tina Fey was supposed to be on The Jay Leno Show several days ago but didn't make it for some reason. But last night she showed up. Well, via satellite, to do the Ten@Ten (not sure what that means to viewers who watch the show at 9 PM).

Fey actually discusses something I mentioned in my review of last night's 30 Rock when she answers Leno's question about notes from the network.

[Watch clips and episodes of The Jay Leno Show and other shows at SlashControl.]

New TV on DVD releases this week

Fawlty TowersHere are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I wasn't even aware that there was already a Fawlty Towers complete set out. Or maybe I knew it and forgot and didn't get reminded of it until I heard about the new remastered set that comes out tomorrow. I'm gonna get that.

I'm also tempted to get Vegas, just because I liked that show and haven't seen it in years. I hate these "Volume" sets though. Just give us the whole season!

  • Black Adder - Black Adder 1, II, III, IV, and V (All remastered) and Ultimate Edition
  • Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman - Complete Series (New package)
  • Eleventh Hour - Complete Series
  • Faerie Tale Theatre - Bedtime Tales and Magical Tales

Continue reading New TV on DVD releases this week

Review: Saturday Night Live - Gerard Butler/Shakira

gerard butler and shakira
(S35E04) I remember sitting down and staring at Gerard Butler as he made funny, smarmy faces at the camera. And then I blinked, only to see Butler was thanking the cast and viewers for a wonderful show. I looked on the computer screen. There were half-remembered notes haphazardly tapped out at some point.

Somehow, I had jumped forward ninety minutes. Had I finally mastered short-term time travel? Or did I just watch an incredibly forgettable episode of Saturday Night Live? Probably the latter. However, I vaguely recall a destructive robot adorably struggling through a wall. If that was actually a dream and not real life, please don't tell me.

Continue reading Review: Saturday Night Live - Gerard Butler/Shakira

What's On Tonight: NASCAR, iCarly, Ghostly Adventures, The Dish

  • 48 Hours MysteryAt 7, ABC has the Sprint Cup NASCAR Banking 500 race.
  • ESPN2 has College Football at 7, Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech.
  • At 7:30, FOX has Baseball Playoffs, the Yankees vs. the Angels.
  • At 7:45, ESPN has College Football, South Carolina vs. Alabama.
  • At 8, Nickelodeon has a new iCarly, then a new True Jackson, VP.
  • At 9, CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show.
  • Lifetime has the movie Sorority Wars at 9.
  • WE has a new episode of The Locator at 9.
  • Also at 9: BBC America has a new Robin Hood, followed by a new Graham Norton Show.
  • At 9:30, Biography has a new Ghostly Adventures.
  • At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
  • Food Network has a new Unwrapped at 10.
  • Style has a new episode of The Dish at 10.
  • At 11:30, NBC has a new Saturday Night Live, with Gerard Butler and Shakira.
  • At 12:30AM, Cartoon Network has two new episodes of Bleach.

Check your local TV listings for more.

NBC is being sued (no, not for canceling Southland)

The Jay Leno ShowThere are lawsuits filed every single day, some of them against media companies. But this is the first time that I've heard about a TV network being sued because of the fonts they use.

I don't mean that they're being sued for infringing on a logo or something like that, I mean they're being sued for the actual fonts that they use. I didn't even know you could be sued for using a certain font. The Font Bureau (which would make an excellent title for a crime series) makes fonts for such people as Apple and Microsoft, but NBC didn't get the rights to use their fonts in the logos for shows like Saturday Night Live, The Jay Leno Show, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for more than one time on one computer. NBC has been using them a lot more than that. They're asking for around $2 million.

Continue reading NBC is being sued (no, not for canceling Southland)

What's On Tonight: College Football, Good Eats, Wanda Sykes

  • Graham NortonTBS has Baseball Playoffs all night.
  • At 7, NBC has the President's Cup golf tournament.
  • At 8, ABC has College Football, Michigan vs. Iowa.
  • CBS has College Football at 8, Florida vs. LSU.
  • FOX has a new Cops at 8.
  • AMC has Rio Bravo at 8.
  • ESPN2 has College Football at 8, Georgia Tech vs. Florida State.
  • At 9, FOX has a new America's Most Wanted.
  • There's a new Suze Orman Show on CNBC at 9.
  • BBC America has a new Robin Hood at 8, followed by the season premiere of The Graham Norton Show.
  • At 9:30, Biography has a new Ghostly Adventures, then a new Celebrity Ghost Stories.
  • At 10, Food Network has the Good Eats 10th Anniversary.
  • Style has a new episode of The Dish at 10.
  • HBO has Wanda Sykes I'ma Be Me at 10.
  • At 11:30, NBC has a new Saturday Night Live, with Drew Barrymore and Regina Spektor.
  • At midnight, FOX has a new Sit Down, Shut Up.
  • At 12:30AM, Cartoon Network has two new episodes of Bleach.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Saturday Night Live: Ryan Reynolds/Lady Gaga

madonna lady gaga snl
(S35E02)
After that Jenny Slate f-bomb nonsense and Megan Fox's not terribly original hot girl material from the season premiere, it was exciting to see a really solid episode (and a star-studded one, at that). Ryan Reynolds did a fantastic job as host (snaps for his wavering voice during the porcelain fountains sketch and accent in SYTYCD), though he didn't have any major stand-out roles. Did I miss the memo that Lady Gaga wasn't just musical guest but co-host as well? Such a role is normally left up to Ryan Reynolds' giant biceps.

It's been a while since we've seen such consistently enjoyable writing in an episode. Usually, there's a distinct lull during the course of the 90 minutes, but I didn't feel it this time. Hopefully, this is a good indication of the rest of the season.

Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Ryan Reynolds/Lady Gaga

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