saturday night live-related stories
Posted Dec 10th 2008 5:01PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Late Night, OpEd, Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the venerable Bravo series,
Inside the Actors Studio. The guest was Conan O'Brien, and since I have a thing for late night hosts, I was pretty psyched to see him up close and personal. I've seen the show a million times before, yet I wasn't really sure what to expect from the taping. Would it be like
The Daily Show, in which it's taped live with pauses for commercial breaks? Or would they do a longer taping and then edit it down for broadcast?
After discussing it with a few of my friends, we figured that they would cut it down. What I didn't realize is that I should have packed a snack. "What is your mother's name?" "What is the name of the primary school you attended?" "What did your father do for a living?" These are only a few of the questions that led Conan to crack, "I feel like I'm applying for a credit card."
Continue reading James Lipton holds Conan O'Brien and hundreds of others hostage
Posted Dec 6th 2008 4:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
At 8, ABC has the Big 12 Championship, Missouri vs. Oklahoma.- FOX has a new Cops at 8.
- NBC has a new Crusoe 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 Flirting with Forty at 9.
- Food Network has Paula's Cookie Swap at 9.
- Also at 9: Hallmark has The Christmas Choir.
- At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
- There's a new Trading Spaces on TLC at 10.
- BBC America has a new Graham Norton Show at 10.
- At 11:30, NBC has a new Saturday Night Live, with John Malkovich and T.I.
- At 1am, Cartoon Network has a new Bleach.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
Posted Dec 1st 2008 6:00PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.For some reason, I didn't know that
Jake and the Fatman was out on DVD (or I knew at one point and just forgot). Is this something I want on DVD? I'm tempted, because it's a show that you'll probably never see in syndication again. It's probably way down on my list though.
Password might be fun. I gotta start buying these game show releases at some point.
- Cannon - Season 1, Vol. 2
- Curious George - Leads the Band and Other Musical Mayhem
- Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist - Best Of
- Frost/Nixon - The Original Watergate Interviews
- Jake and the Fatman - Season 1, Vol. 2
- Law and Order - Season 6
- Metalocalypse - Season 2
- Mythbusters - Big Blasts
- Password - Best Of
- Perry Mason - Season 3, Vol. 2
- Saturday Night Live - Season 4
Posted Nov 23rd 2008 12:20PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S34E09) I had my doubts about Tim McGraw, since musicians hosting kind of freak me out and country music is inherently scary to me. Thankfully, the redneck humor was pretty limited, Tim McGraw only sang once, and his over-the-top enthusiasm was marvelous. A lot of the sketches felt underdeveloped, but McGraw jumped head first into every character and sketch, which made even the worst jokes a little more bearable. Check out some video highlights after the jump, plus a web exclusive sketch!
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Tim McGraw/Ludacris and T-Pain - VIDEOS
Posted Nov 22nd 2008 4:00PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
At 8 FOX has a new Cops.- ABC has College Football at 8, Texas Tech at Oklahoma.
- FOX News Channel has a new Huckabee at 8.
- ABC Family has the movie Once Upon A Christmas at 8, followed by Twice Upon A Christmas.
- Also at 8: Food Network has All Star Thanksgiving Recipes.
- At 8:30, Nickelodeon has a new True Jackson, VIP, then a new Naked Brothers Band.
- At 9, FOX has a new America's Most Wanted.
- Hallmark has the movie An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving at 9.
- CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show at 9.
- At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
- TLC has a new Trading Spaces at 10.
- BBC America has a new Graham Norton Show at 10.
- At 10:30, Cartoon Network has a new Naruto.
- At 11, FOX has a new Mad TV, then a new Talk Show with Spike Feresten.
- At 11:30, NBC has a new Saturday Night Live, with Tim McGraw, Ludacris, and T-Pain.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
Posted Nov 17th 2008 3:04PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Saturday Night Live, Video, Web, Talk Show, Webisodes
Amy Poehler is really taking this
mommy thing seriously. The
Saturday Night Live vet just launched a new web series, and I'm happy to report that it's probably not what you'd expect.
Smart Girls at the Party is aimed at young girls and their parents, not Poehler's usual audience of late night TV watchers or cult comedy fans. Every five-to-ten minute episode will feature Poehler interviewing a talented and creative young girl.
"The show aims to help girls find confidence in their own aspirations and talents," says On Networks, the series' online distributor.
It's kind of like a blend of
Reading Rainbow, Larry King Live and
Gilmore Girls. Actually, I could see Rory and Lorelai Gilmore digging on Poehler's mock-serious interviewing style, the sunny power-pop theme music, and the show's "smart girls rule" attitude.
Continue reading Amy Poehler's new web series aims to inspire young girls - VIDEO
Posted Nov 15th 2008 4:00PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
- At 8, ABC has College Football, Boston College at Florida State.
- FOX has a new Cops at 8.
- TBS has two new episodes of The Bill Engvall Show at 8.
- Nickelodeon has a new iCarly at 8, then new episodes of True Jackson, VP, and H20.
- ESPN2 has College Football at 8 too, Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt.
- At 9, FOX has a new America's Most Wanted.
- CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show at 9.
- Lifetime has the new movie The Two Mr. Kissels at 9.
- Also at 9: HBO has the special Ricky Gervais: Out of England.
- At 9:30, HGTV has a new Divine Design.
- At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
- TLC has a new Trading Spaces at 10.
- At 11, FOX has a new Mad TV, then a new Talk Show with Spike Feresten.
- At 11:30, NBC has a new Saturday Night Live, with Paul Rudd and Beyonce.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
Posted Nov 4th 2008 11:40PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: News, OpEd, Reality-Free
MSNBC is perking along. Either they're getting better at the results or I'm getting more comfortable with all their bells and whistles and commentary.
8:48 David Gregory is good as a traffic cop. He's bouncing the focus around from Chuck to Chris to Ann to Lester really well. He's interviewing Obama's campaign chief strategist David Axelrod now. He doesn't look worried. He looks like Mr. Whipple, but he doesn't look worried.
8:55 Tom DeLay, former House Majority Leader -- is talking trash. He claims Nancy Pelosi is going to push President Obama around. Hmm...he sounds pretty bitter. Of course, he was forced to resign when he was indicted for election fraud.
Continue reading Election Night: MSNBC (Part 2)
Posted Nov 2nd 2008 12:00PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S34E07) Although I have fond memories of Mango and Ben Who-fleck working
Saturday Night Live together back in the day, I was pretty disappointed by this episode. I think someone told Ben Affleck that he's pretty all right on
SNL and it got to his head, because he was trying way, way too hard. It was almost to the point where it was unbearably awkward. If not for Senator John McCain's appearances, this episode would have been wholly unremarkable. I mean, apart from its super-weakness.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Ben Affleck/David Cook - VIDEOS
Posted Nov 1st 2008 4:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
- At 7, Sci-Fi has the movie Fire & Ice.
- Hallmark has the movie A Gunfighter's Pledge at 7.
- At 8, FOX has a new Cops.
- TCM has A Face in the Crowd at 8, then A Star Is Born.
- At 9, FOX has a new America's Most Wanted.
- BBC America has the season finale of Primeval at 9, followed by a new Graham Norton Show.
- CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show at 9.
- At 9:30, HGTV has a new Divine Design.
- At 10 CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
- TLC has a new Trading Spaces at 10.
- At 11, FOX has a new Mad TV, then a new Talk Show with Spike Feresten.
- At 11:30, NBC has a new Saturday Night Live, with Ben Affleck, John McCain, and David Cook.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
And don't forget to set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed!
Posted Oct 31st 2008 8:03AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: 30 Rock, Casting, Reality-Free, Mad Men
OK, so his name isn't going to be Don Draper, unless Liz Lemon finds a time machine at NBC and goes back in time, but it looks like
Mad Men's Jon Hamm is coming to
30 Rock.
Hamm is in negotiations to play Liz's boyfriend on several episodes of the NBC sitcom later this season. This is coming off of Hamm's great turn as host of
Saturday Night Live last week. The worlds of
SNL,
Mad Men, and
30 Rock are coming together, and it's all kinds of awesomeness.
Continue reading Liz Lemon to date Don Draper
Posted Oct 30th 2008 11:05AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Ratings, Reality-Free
30 Rock has been the little show that could for two years. Like
Arrested Develoment a few years back, it has a rabid fan following and the critics just adore it. Unfortunately, it also has the same problem that plagued
AD: low ratings. While those numbers did tick up during last year's strike-shortened season, the show still only averaged 6.4 million viewers, good enough for 94th place among all shows. It's also proven it does well with alternate viewing methods like online streaming and DVR recording but the networks are still struggling with how to account for that.
If ever there was a time for Tina Fey's little show to find that bigger audience, this would be it. Sure winning the Emmy for Best Comedy for the second year in a row is great. Hell, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin took home awards for Best Actor and Actress as well this time. But even that doesn't mean anything when the ratings numbers come in. What does matter right now is Sarah Palin. Thanks to John McCain picking the one woman on the planet
who looks exactly like Tina Fey, suddenly she's the most famous comedian on the planet, and that could just save her show.
Continue reading Will Sarah Palin make 30 Rock a success ... finally?
Posted Oct 29th 2008 10:43AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Saturday Night Live, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Wow! Talk about a spooky Halloween memory. This sketch is from
Saturday Night Live, just about a year ago. The date, in fact, was Saturday, November 3, 2007. How things have changed. It really proves the adage that a week in politics can seem like a year. Here's a case where a year seems like a decade.
Of course, the significance of the clip is that it's Senator Barack Obama's first appearance on
Saturday Night Live. And it's not looking as though he's
dropping by again before the election, although it's still possible.
If he does actually become president on November 4, 2008, this sketch will likely go into the National Archives or the Smithsonian or -- at the very least -- the Museum of Radio and Television.
Continue reading Obama's Halloween memory on Saturday Night Live - VIDEO
Posted Oct 26th 2008 8:29AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Saturday Night Live, Celebrities, Reality-Free
How appropriate!
Amy Poehler has given birth to her first child today, a baby boy. He is now officially known as Saturday Poehler Arnett. No, just kidding. The baby's name hasn't been announced yet. But considering Amy's connection to
Saturday Night Live, it's just perfect that her baby came on Saturday.
According to sources, Amy was in labor all day. Yeah, that's right. Instead of rehearsing for the show, she was in the hospital with her legs up, sucking on ice chips and generally concentrating on her breathing and listening to soothing music.
Seriously, when you consider that Amy was doing that
Sarah Palin rap just a week ago, you realize how far along she was and still doing the comedy business. Kudos to Amy! However, don't expect to see Baby Mama Amy back on
SNL too soon. She's taking a well deserved maternity leave.
Posted Oct 25th 2008 4:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
At 8, FOX has Game 3 of The World Series.- NBC has a new America's Toughest Jobs at 8.
- ESPN2 has College Football, Notre Dame vs. Washington
- TCM has Psycho at 8.
- Starting at 8, Nick has Halloween episodes of some of their shows, including iCarly, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, and Ned's Declassified.
- Also at 8: Food Network has a new Paula's Party.
- At 9, CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show.
- There's a new Primeval at 9 on BBC America.
- At 9:30, HGTV has a new Divine Design.
- At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
- CNN has the series premiere of D.L. Hughley Breaks The News at 10.
- TLC has a new Trading Spaces at 10.
- At 11:30, NBC has a new Saturday Night Live, with Jon Hamm and Coldplay.
Check your
local TV listings for more.
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