An Affair to Remember: Seth Meyers, The SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Years
By: Victoria Nelli
When Seth Meyers joined the cast of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE back in 2001, he didn’t really become a household name. He didn’t have any specific sketch or character he was known for, that is until 2005. In 2005 the future LATE NIGHT host became the co-anchor to one of the most memorable Weekend Update teams in SNL history. Meyers and long time pal Amy Poehler took the Update desk with power and confidence, and their performance as the news-spouting duo took America by storm.
Meyers didn’t just make the move behind the desk, he also made the move behind the scenes, Meyers became SNL’s head writer in 2006. Writing a majority of SNL’s Presidential sketches, the most notable being the cold open where Tina Fey portrays Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hilary Clinton, where Fey says the quotable line “I can see Russia from my house.” [Read more…]
Live From New York… It’s Our Take on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’s Evolving Cast
By: Victoria Nelli
“The show is doomed,” a phrase that has been said about plenty of shows. Usually followed by the show being canceled or completely changing and miraculously being saved, or in SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’S case, a new season.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE premiered on NBC October 11, 1975, since it’s premiere it’s given 129 improvers a chance to show their talent on one of the longest running shows in television history. From Gilda Radner to Tina Fey, the show has not only jump started countless careers, it has also become a staple of New York, and a show people have grown up with. [Read more…]
Jane Lynch and Fred Armisen promote this weekend’s SNL…
Bryan Cranston Hosts SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and we’ve got your Good, Bad & Ugly
THE GOOD: Despite the fact that the host subsituting his or her monologue for a song-and-dance is one of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’s most overused devices, Bryan Cranston’s little ditty that cleverly played on the fact that outside of New York and Los Angeles he is one of the least known actors in recent memory to have been given the opportunity to host the iconic late night series was quite funny. Also funny, the evening’s two faux commercials (“Pepto-Bismol Malt Liquor,” and “iSleep Pro”) and newcomer Vanessa Bayer. The latter of which absolutely stole the show with her eerily spot-on Miley Cyrus sketch (Video above). Not so funny…
You Be the Critic: Betty White Hosts SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
This just in: The massively overhyped television event that was last night’s Betty White hosted instalment of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE actually bucked the trend and… wait for it… lived up to the hype! Which is why, rather than nitpick about the little things — like the show’s astoundingly unimaginative writing that relied far too heavily on age-related humor and juvenile sexual innuendo upon discovering that having an eighty-eight-and-a-half year old woman says “balls” and “lesbian” on TV is, well pretty darn funny, or the fact that Cheri Oteri was M.I.A. among SNL’s fabulous funny female alumni that included Tina Fey, Maya Rudloph, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph and Rachel Dratch — we’d rather focus on the positive and commend White for bringing with her the type of infectious energy and talent that resulted in one of the funniest episodes of the season.
Today’s TV Addict Top 5: Reasons why we regret staying up for last night’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
Tina Fey
After last week’s welcome return to the studio that made her a household name, Tina Fey did not buck tradition and surprise us with a first-ever command performance.
Ryan Phillippe
And while truth-be-told, we’ve always had a soft spot for the actor thanks to his work in such guilty pleasures as Cruel Intentions and Antitrust, the actor simply didn’t bring with him that special something that inspires writers and cast members to raise their game (see: Taylor Swift, Neil Patrick Harris, John Hamm etc.) Which unfortunately meant we were in for a long night of…
Zach Galifianakis Hosted SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (And We’ve Got Your Good, Bad & Ugly)
The Good: It doesn’t take much for The Hangover star Zach Galifianakis to make us laugh (Said the actor during his understated opening monologue, “I’ve been in Canada, opening for Miles Davis.” Only to quickly follow that that up with… “Kilometres Davis.”) Which is why — combined with the-never-not-funny mockery of Kathie Gifford and Hoda Kotb’s fourth hour of the TODAY SHOW, the always sharp Seth Meyers manning the Weekend Update Desk, and a digital short that had Galifianakis weaving his way in and out of NBC properties such as the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, 30 ROCK and LAW & ORDER — added up to a better than average episode of SNL.
Jon Hamm Hosts SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. We Approve.
Just as we were ready to pull out what has unfortunately become our go-to Sunday morning headline where SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE is concerned — you know, the one that goes a little something like…. “We Watched SNL So You Didn’t Have To!” — along comes Jon Hamm. Who — from his fantastic opening monologue that had him mercilessly poking fun at his Don Draper alter-ego (see above) to his sketch as newly elected Massachusetts Senator, the surprisingly seductive Scott Brown, threw caution, not to mention clothes (Sergio!) to the wind doing whatever it took for a laugh — not only officially cemented his status as the real deal acting wise, but one that we have a feeling will be haunting the hallowed hallways of Studio 8H for some time to come. Seriously. Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, watch your back. Lorne Michaels has a new favorite. See for yourself after the jump. 
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: What Is Up With That?
Forget “What was up with that?” The question TV Addicts should be asking ourselves as we once again wake up on a Sunday morning with a bad taste in our mouths following yet another disastrous instalment of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE is, “What is up with us?!” Why is it that week-in-week-out, we continue to tune into this disappointing train-wreck in the hopes that this time things will be different? (Oh right, Taylor Swift)