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Saturday Night LiveBitches get stuff done: Amy Poehler discusses her Emmy nominationSaturday Night Live has always been classified as a variety show by the folks who make the Emmy laws (yeah, I have no idea who those people are either). This year, however, a rule change pushed SNL to the comedy category, and the only Emmy contender left standing was Amy Poehler.
Poehler is up against Kristin Chenoweth from Pushing Daisies, Jean Smart from Samantha Who?, Vanessa Williams from Ugly Betty, and Emmy favorite Holland Taylor from Two And A Half Men for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at this year's Emmy Awards. She chatted with L.A. Times award guru Tom O'Neil this week about her chances of winning in such a tough category. "There may be some last-minute injuries," she told O'Neil. "There might be some Nancy Kerrigan, Tonya Harding thing coming your way. You never know. Maybe I'll reject the award on behalf of someone. I'll think of something controversial. It's better to burn out than fade away, right?" … continue reading Submitted on August 15, 2008 at 12:00 pm Former ladies of "Saturday Night Live" will rule the tube (again)There was so much exciting information spinning out of the TCA press tour last week that it was kind of like being on a 12-day sugar buzz — especially because so much of the news revolved around some of my favorite former Saturday Night Live ladies. Let me condense a week's worth of information for you: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Molly Shannon will be lining up side-by-side with their own NBC comedies this year.
Tina Fey will, of course, be back as Liz Lemon for the third season of 30 Rock. She'll return to the set with her TCA award for for individual achievement in comedy, and probably at least one more Emmy. In April Entertainment Weekly asked, "Is it hot in here or is just Tina Fey's career?" It is hot in here, Entertainment Weekly, but it's not just her career.
Molly Shannon will be staring alongside Selma Blair in NBC's remake of the popular Australian comedy Kath and Kim about a dysfunctional mother-daughter team. NBC's hopes, it seems, are even higher than mine. They've slated Kath and Kim to anchor their legendary Thursday night of Must See TV. … continue reading Submitted on July 30, 2008 at 6:00 pm Amy Poehler, "SNL" go to ThursdaysMy love for Amy Poehler goes almost as far as my infatuation with Tina Fey (though I don't think I have quite reached the level of Dorothy Snarker's adoration). Thankfully, there has been no lack of political material for Poehler and the cast of Saturday Night Live to parody lately, and it looks as though the NBC execs plan on taking full advantage of that fact.
Taking a cue from the mass media coverage of their politically based skits in recent weeks, NBC has announced that it will add a 30-minute show, entitled SNL Thursday Night Live (creative, no?), to follow The Office during the three weeks leading up to the election. Here's what NBC had to say in its official statement:
On the surface, this seems like a brilliant move. Saturday Night Live is cashing in on the ongoing Democratic primary in the best way — with humor. Whether you think their coverage is biased toward Hillary Clinton or that Fred Armisen was a poor choice to portray Barack Obama doesn't really matter to those at SNL. The bottom line is that the sketch show hasn't been talked about this much in a very long time. … continue reading Submitted on April 8, 2008 at 2:10 pm Hillary laughs it up on "SNL"I want several things from our next president. A coherent foreign policy. An economic plan that helps the poor and middle class instead of corporations and the rich. An extension of full equal rights to all LGBT Americans. And last, but not least, an ability to laugh at her/himself. However you feel about Sen. Hillary Clinton, she proved she could deliver the latter this past weekend, with a surprise stop by Saturday Night Live. Hillary appeared in an “Editorial Response” to the show's opening skit, which spoofed the most recent Democratic presidential debate. Her on-screen doppelganger Amy Poehler joined her, and the resemblance was pretty uncanny.
With the next, and possibly deciding, primaries just a day away, it remains to be seen whether Hillary's appearance swayed any votes. But it should go a long way to dispelling that old sexist chestnut about women and their senses of humor. I mean, how good of a sport do you have to be to go on right after it's implied that your plan to take down special interests is to be “so annoying, so pushy, so grating, so bossy and shrill, with a personality so unpleasant, that at the end of the day the special interests will have to go, 'Enough! We give up! Life is too short to deal with this awful woman!'”? According to TMZ, Hillary was given the skit in advance for approval and told them not to change a thing. … continue reading Submitted on March 3, 2008 at 6:16 pm Ellen Page plays a "primo lesbian" on SNLSo, did you see Ellen Page on Saturday Night Live?
More important, did you see her in that last skit? Page played a young woman named Marty whose life was forever changed by a Melissa Etheridge concert. Here it is: Yes, you heard that right: She did say, "Why does everything have to have a frickin' label? Why can't I just hug a woman with my legs in friendship?" Ha ha!
Around the interweb, the sketch is being seen as a response to all the gay rumors about Page. But whether or not it was really about Ellen herself, it was refreshing to see such a positive gay-themed skit on SNL. Its ultimate message seemed to be, "It's OK to be gay." … continue reading Submitted on March 2, 2008 at 4:57 pm Tina Fey gets things done on SNLSometimes my expectations are way too high. Like for Bionic Woman — my expectations for that were way, way too high. But I expected great things from Tina Fey's hosting gig on Saturday Night Live this past weekend, and I wasn't even a little bit disappointed.
She was funny, adorable and awesome. Let's start with her monologue: I don't even know why that "old movie" voice worked, but it really did. Does she still think she's not really an actress? It's time to accept that you absolutely are, Tina. Of course, the highlight was her rant about Hillary Clinton. Even if you're not for Hillary, you have to agree that the Starsky joke was hilarious. And you have to love the whole idea of "bitch is the new black." … continue reading Submitted on February 25, 2008 at 9:55 am Tina Fey and Ellen Page go live from New YorkLive from New York, it’s Saturday Night Awesome! Sorry, I meant “Live!” I just got carried away when I heard that the first two post-strike SNL hosts will be Tina Fey and Ellen Page. The writers' strike hasn’t even been over for two full days, and already the good news is falling like manna from heaven. Tina will host Feb. 23, and Ellen will follow March 1. I’ve already marked my calendar.
Tina’s hosting gig will be her fist return to SNL since leaving the show in 2006 to create 30 Rock. While she is intimately familiar with the sketch comedy show’s inner workings (she joined in 1997 and served as a cast member, "Weekend Update" anchor and head writer), hosting is another animal altogether. Who knows: Maybe she’ll take another spin behind the anchor desk for old times sake. And you just know they’ll get in some inside jokes about her making a show about a show within the show that she once was on and is now returning to. Wow, sorry; I just have myself a meta migraine.
Like Tina, Ellen is also a first-time host. The Juno star has already proven her comedy chops in the film. I can’t wait to see how the freshly minted Academy Award nominee navigates the absurdities of live sketch comedy. Her appearance comes the week after she celebrates her 21st birthday. Oscar nominee, SNL host and X-Woman — and all by the age of 21? I’m equal parts in awe and jealous. … continue reading Submitted on February 14, 2008 at 10:05 am Maya says bye-a to "Saturday Night Live" — and then hello againUPDATE: No, Maya's not leaving SNL after all, so just look at the pretty picture in this post and ignore the rest! She's in. She's out. She's coming back. No, she's not. The rumors have been floating around for a while now, but EW.com insists that Maya Rudolph has resigned from, rather than re-signed with, Saturday Night Live. There's no official statement yet, but some blogs cite personal and family reasons rather than money or screen time. SNL returns this coming Saturday; this would have been Rudolph's eighth season.
The worst thing about this, other than the fact that we'll no longer get to see Maya's side-splitting impressions of Whitney Houston, Oprah Winfrey or Donatella Versace — or see her "translate" for Fred Armisen's kooky Prince or play Nooni to his Nuni — is that her departure leaves only two female cast members on SNL, Amy Poehler and Kristen Wiig. And although each of those women possesses more talent than any three of the male cast members put together, that's a ridiculously low percentage — even for a show that has a crappy track record of giving women their due. I'll miss you, Maya, but I wish you a happy life and a movie career that's more like Molly Shannon's than Victoria Jackson's. Hold on tight to the Shrek stuff! Submitted on September 25, 2007 at 1:55 pm Happy Birthday, Tina FeyOn May 18, 1970, an important event occurred in in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania: Elizabeth Stamatina Fey was born. We know her as Tina, or as Liz Lemon on 30 Rock, or as the best Weekend Update anchor in all of Saturday Night Live's history, or as one of the sexiest and funniest women ever to grace the planet.
According to her IMDb biography, Fey considered herself a "supernerd" in high school and college. And a few years ago, she told Bust magazine that she considers herself a feminist. And right this minute, I consider supernerdy feminists awesome. … continue reading Submitted on May 18, 2007 at 12:02 pm Molly Shannon hosts SNL tomorrowSaturday Night Live has been kind of boring lately (Scarlett Johansson notwithstanding), but it just might shine tomorrow night, when Molly Shannon returns to host. … continue reading Submitted on May 11, 2007 at 11:45 am Kristen Wiig loves spaghetti and Scarlett JohanssonLast night I watched the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Scarlett Johansson. Whether or not you think Scarlett is beautiful (I do! Pick me!), it's hard to deny that she has serious talent — she made even the unfunny sketches seem tolerable. And I loved the pop art-y interstitials. Everyone's raving about the "Mike's Marbleopolis" sketch, but my favorite was the weird "local hero" interview with Kristen Wiig's roving reporter character, Michelle Dison. Submitted on April 24, 2007 at 5:36 pm Jane, you're an ignorant, um, "nice girl"Jane Curtin -- where the hell has she been lately? -- has been cast in the NBC pilot Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office. The corner office? In my experience, they don't get an office at all. But OK.
The series relays the misadventures of a woman who "struggles to make it in the corporate world." Curtin will play a "feared and respected secretary." So, like a modern day 9 to 5, then? Speaking of which, have you seen the incredible David O. Russell freakout? Poor Lily Tomlin. Curtin was last seen in Crumbs. I tried to watch that — just for her — but it was pretty bad. Submitted on March 21, 2007 at 8:44 am Just don't call her Ms. PoehlerAccording to The New York Times, Amy Poehler doesn't like to be called a funny girl. Well, funny, yes; girl, not so much:
More like unbearably funny, you mean. Or at least that's likely to be my reaction to the Nickelodeon series she's developing, The Mighty B. The main character sounds like an animated version of her spazzy preteen character named Kaitlin. Rick, Rick! Can I have a ship of your shoda for shushtenance, Rick? Submitted on March 20, 2007 at 9:00 am |
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