Suffice it to say, the number of women who became famous on Saturday Night Live before graduating to solo success is few and far between. Sure, Gilda Radner can be considered a pioneer in the art of sketch comedy. And Julia Louis-Dreyfus undoubtedly honed her comedic skills before becoming a sitcom icon on Seinfeld. And, yes, Tina Fey can easily be considered a heroine to comedy nerds everywhere who have witnessed her climb from Weekend Updateanchor to Mean Girls scribe to single-handedly decimating the vice presidential chances of one certain gun-wieldin', six-pack-totin' Alaskan governor.
But, sadly, the number of men who left Studio 8 for the superstardom of Planet Hollywood (not the theme restaurant) easily outnumbers the ladies. For every Amy Poehler, there's a Will Ferrell. And a Bill Murray. And a Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler (although, to be fair, there's also a David Gary Kroeger, A. Whitney Brown, and Charles Rocket for every Melanie Hutsell, too). (And for the record, no, you shouldn't recognize those names.)
It looks like NBC is going to expandSaturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" segment with more half-hour specials, most likely on Thursday nights. Judging by the success of SNL and its Thursday night election specials during the campaign season, this move isn't too surprising. Plus, this is a progressive step in reaching the network's ultimate goal, which seems to be filling the airwaves with as many former SNL employees as possible. Actually, the next season of Celebrity Apprentice is probably just going to be all the early-90s players that aren't doing movies right now. And Rob Schneider. That guy isn't doing anything.
Saturday Night Live head writer/Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers stopped by Jimmy Fallon's show last night and explains why he thinks that he's smarter than Amy Poehler's new baby. Fallon also shows a clip of an SNL rehearsal. The joke doesn't go over too well, but I think it's actually pretty damn clever.
I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who has been breathlessly anticipating Sit Down, Shut Up(premiering on FOX Sunday at 8:30 PM ET), the newest series from Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz. SDSU is an animated series based on a live-action Australian show by the same name. It follows a group of under-performing teachers at a Florida high school.
The teachers are all flaky, disinterested in their students, and with the exception of Larry Littlejunk (Jason Bateman), highly under-qualified for their positions. An example? Miracle Grohe (Kristen Chenoweth), the science teacher, beat Larry out of the job by stripping off all her clothes and yelling, "I ain't come from no monkey!"
The humor manages to be both broad and subtle at the same time, much in the way Arrested Development managed to be. However, though Bateman himself calls this show an animated version of AD, that's overstating it a bit. Sit Down, Shut Up, is more like Arrested Development's annoying younger brother.
Believe it or not (and like it or not), there are only two episodes left in the 34th season of Saturday Night Live. It looks like no one from my "Nine people who must host SNL next season" wish list actually did it, but that's okay because there were some great stand-outs anyway, including Anne Hathaway and Jon Hamm.
The show seems determined to end with a bang, bringing in two sure-to-deliver performers. May 9th will bring in Justin Timberlake (and musical guest Ciara) and season finale duties will be left up to former SNL player Will Ferrell.
As a kid, my parents were totally cool with my television viewing habits, as long as it never became excessive or kept my face from being kissed by the light of day every once in a while. Not that they had anything to be worried about, of course, considering that all I was watching was Nickelodeon.
While my fellow prepubescents were slowly but surely migrating to more grown-up programming on MTV (and Playboy, if you had a cable box), I spent the bulk of my time between 1992 and 1996 fully devoted to Roundhouse, a 30-minute sketch show sandwiched between the more popular Clarissa Explains It All and Are You Afraid Of The Dark? on SNICK, Nickelodeon's Saturday night programming block.
At one point or another during this latest season of Saturday Night Live, every viewer has wondered, "Who is this new guy, and why does he wear so many giant cat costumes?"
While I can't answer the second part of this question (it will remain one of the great mysteries of the late night universe), I can offer a little more information on SNL's resident new guy and rising star, Bobby Moynihan. Despite appearing as a featured player in only twenty episodes so far, Moynihan is fast becoming one of my favorite cast members on the show, right up there with Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig.
Fellow Moynihan fans, prepare to love him even more!
(S02E19) Chuck, Chuck, Chuck. Just when you think you're on the verge of getting answers, you wind up with a lot more questions. We knew going in that Chuck had finally tracked down his father, ostensibly to fulfill Ellie's dream of having her dad walk her down the aisle at her wedding.
On the most superficial level, Chuck achieved his goal. He did find his father, Steven J. Bartowski, but he also found all the craziness that sent him off in the first place. Only it wasn't really, really craziness. It was something far more nefarious.
If you tune in to the premiere of the newComedy Central Presents...stand-up shows tonight, you'll see a couple of familiar faces in John Mulaney (11PM) and Kristen Schaal (11:30PM).
Schaal might be the easier face to place - her role as Mel, the lone groupie on Flight of the Conchords expanded this season, to the point where Bret and Jemaine were actually living at her apartment for a while. Mulaney has done more work behinds the scenes writing for Saturday Night Live (he's been on camera once or twice, in the fine tradition of writers like Conan O'Brien). But he's also been on shows like Important Things with Demetri Martin and Best Week Ever.
Both are worth catching for their stand-up acts. Schaal brings some of the quirkiness of her Conchords character, without the creepiness. She's got a great, vivid imagination, which is easy to see in this clip about her dreaming of George Washington.
Some things you never wanted to know about me, but that I'm going to tell you anyway: I'm 32 years old, 6'3" tall, and I weigh 235 hairy, pasty pounds. I have a weak chin and very strong glasses. I'm not balding (yet!) but I've got a head reminiscent of The Leader from the Incredible Hulk comics. Seriously, in a pinch, Sully Sullenburger could land a jet on my forehead.
Looking at myself in the mirror after a shower the other day, I came to some realizations. I'll probably never play in the NBA. It's doubtful that a woman will ever use me Brad-Pitt-in-Thelma-and-Louise style. Should my comedy career catch fire, it will be more Ray Romano than Dane Cook.
These are the facts and they are undisputed.
In the spirit of my heartbreaking realizations, I figured I'd list some of the sad (but undeniable) truths about television ...
The success of Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon recently inspired me to assess the ten best movies about television. TV has been a fertile source of entertainment for filmmakers. The TV turf is also a popular setting for TV shows, and there have been some all-time great shows about the tube. Here are nine that I think warrant special recognition -- in no special order.
1. The Mary Tyler Moore Show It all started at WJM-TV in Minneapolis. The Mary Tyler Moore Show was the perfect sitcom blend of home and work, and work happened to be the local TV news team. As Mary Richards, the associate producer, Mary Tyler Moore was the single girl America loved because she was real, funny, gorgeous and lovable. At work, the news was mangled nightly by Ted Baxter, the quintessential news reader anchorman who loved every dulcet tone of his voice and had no idea what he was reporting. In perfect irony, when the show came to an end, most everyone at WJM -- Lou Grant, Murray Slaughter, Sue Anne Nivens, Mary -- were fired. Only Ted was spared!
When you have a TV web site, you can be accused of spoiling what is going to happen on readers' favorite shows. Even if you post a spoiler alert warning at the start or talk about a plot point three days after it has aired, you can get comments that you shouldn't have posted the story because some people haven't seen the episode yet (why this is true even days after the episode airs I don't understand, but I digress...). Now fans have their own TV guy to champion their cause.
On last night's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen, playing an audience member, interrupted Fallon's desk talk to point out that what Fallon was about to reveal about Lost and Celebrity Apprentice was a "spoiler." He also objected when Fallon started to talk about an old episode of Home Improvement he saw on Nick at Nite this week. Full video after the jump.
Suffice it to say, the number of women who became famous on Saturday Night Live before graduating to solo success is few and far between. Sure, Gilda Radner can be considered a pioneer in the art of sketch comedy. And Julia Louis-Dreyfus undoubtedly honed her comedic skills before becoming a sitcom icon on Seinfeld. And, yes, Tina Fey can easily be considered a heroine to comedy nerds everywhere who have witnessed her climb from Weekend Update anchor to Mean Girls scribe to single-handedly decimating the vice presidential chances of one certain gun-wieldin', six-pack-totin' Alaskan governor. 
Food Network has a Chopped marathon all night.
Believe it or not (and like it or not), there are only two episodes left in the 34th season of Saturday Night Live. It looks like no one from my "
As a kid, my parents were totally cool with my television viewing habits, as long as it never became excessive or kept my face from being kissed by the light of day every once in a while. Not that they had anything to be worried about, of course, considering that all I was watching was 
At one point or another during this latest season of 
CBS has March Madness all night.
If you tune in to the premiere of the new
Some things you never wanted to know about me, but that I'm going to tell you anyway: I'm 32 years old, 6'3" tall, and I weigh 235 hairy, pasty pounds. I have a weak chin and very strong glasses. I'm not balding (yet!) but I've got a head reminiscent of The Leader from the Incredible Hulk comics. Seriously, in a pinch, Sully Sullenburger could land a jet on my forehead.
When you have a TV web site, you can be accused of spoiling what is going to happen on readers' favorite shows. Even if you post a spoiler alert warning at the start or talk about a plot point three days after it has aired, you can get comments that you shouldn't have posted the story because some people haven't seen the episode yet (why this is true even days after the episode airs I don't understand, but I digress...). Now fans have their own TV guy to champion their cause.
Food Network has an Iron Chef America marathon all night.
The Prisoner -- An early look
Sesame Street's 40th: Five funniest characters
Sesame Street's 40th: Five biggest controversies
