TVSquad

Yes, that title is correct.

Not Just Another Cable News Show, a half hour comedy series that will focus on politics and pop culture, will debut on CNN Headline News on April 5. It's going to air at 7pm on both Saturday and Sunday nights, with repeats at 9pm and midnight. That seems like an awful lot of showings for one night, but I'm sure these cable execs know what they're doing.

Fox News tried something like this with their Half Hour News Hour, which was canceled a few months ago. But this Headline News show has some potential, because it has a great group of contributors, including Time / L.A. Times writer Joel Stein, The Huffington Post's Rachel Sklar, Time.com's Ana Marie Cox, comedian Hugh Fink, and political strategist and commentator Amy Holmes.

A few days ago I wrote about Rachel Sklar's Saturday Night Live piece in The Village Voice. Being that she had full access to the cast members as well as to executive producer Lorne Michaels, she gathered plenty of information, much of it not included in her Village Voice article.

So, rather than tossing it in the trash, Sklar took those remnants and posted them at The Huffington Post, where she is editor as well as contributor. There's some pretty good stuff here. For example, Michaels says 40 to 50 sketches are read and written during the normal show week, with only 10 to 15 of those making it to air on Saturday night. Also of interest is that cast member Jason Sudeikis' uncle is George Wendt, the happy-go-lucky alcoholic Norm from Cheers.

As Sklar says, a lot of this information is for the committed comedy wonk. So, if you aren't into the behind-the-scenes stuff this may not be for you. However, if you want to know about the "Really Important Things That SNL Staff, Cast & Writers Should Know" bulletin board, click here.