Cheri Oteri Interview

I don't know if you're in the market for a longform interview with SNL cast member Cheri Oteri but I saw this and said, "Yes, please."

I think it was already pretty known that the Rita Delvecchio character was based on growing up in Upper Darby but it was fun hearing about it. And SNL stories are always fun, especially when Christopher Walken is involved.

Jim Breuer Telling Norm Stories

 

As the title says, Jim telling Norm stories.

Jim's impression of Darrell's impression of Phil Donahue is phenomenal.

One story he doesn't tell, perhaps because he's tired of it, is the Twilight Zone sketch story:

Mr. T on Saturday Night Live

Mr. T appeared on Saturday Night Live twice. In fact, imdb lists his two different appearances in two different sections of his page. He appeared in one episode in a "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood" skit as well as "Mr. and Mrs. T Bloody Mary Mix" and then later co-hosted an episode along with Hulk Hogan to promote Wrestlemania I. Imdb lists his first appearance as "actor", they list his hosting of SNL as "self." I suppose that makes sense when you really think about it but it confused the heck out of me.

Mr. T's appearance on SNL is very typical stuff. There are a few things that stood out to me. I should mention that this is the Dick Ebersol era of SNL so it's the Christopher Guest, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, etc. cast. So that's the flavor.

First off, Mr. T and Hulk Hogan do the opening "monologue" and it looks like the picture above. Mr. T has made a career out of being a large guy, he's not tall, he's 5'11'' but he's big. It's amazing to me how small he looks next to Hulk Hogan. That guy really is giant.

The monologue is basically a wrestling promo. The only thing that stood out to me is they make a joke about the Richard Belzer incident. Maybe it's just hindsight or the fact that I'm from a weaker, wimpier era, but that seemed to me to be poor taste.

So then it's the skits... Mr. T appears in 3 skits and in all of them he's just playing Mr. T. Seems like this would be a chance for the writers to get creative and have him play against type but then again, it's possible they proposed that and he refused. This is the era of Mr. T being as serious as a heart attack.

Mr. T appears in "Mr. and Mrs. T Bloody Mary Mix" - a fake commercial where Robin Duke (made-up to look like Mr. T) and Mr. T sell bloody mary mix. According to Robin Duke, her repetition of "I pity the fool" in this sketch is what made "I pity the fool" is what really injected it into the mainstream and caused it to become T's official catchphrase. Oh, she did that? Call me skeptical.

The most famous sketch from the episode, and also one of the most famous SNL clips in existence, is "Fernando's Hideaway." In case you don't recall, you've probably seen it in the clip shows. It's the one where Billy Crystal improvs in a Spanish accent and Hulk Hogan and Mr. T struggle to maintain character and not break up. As the most famous Mr. T highlight, it's ironic that all traces of it seem to be erased from the internet. NBC: they do whatever they can to not make money.

So that's about it.

Fun Fact: The funniest Hulk Hogan SNL sketch, in my opinion, is the one that didn't have Hulk Hogan.

The True Story of The Lost Boys' Sax Man

Tim Capello, the Sexy Sax Man*, is finally getting the recognition he so desperately deserves. Read the article in gizmodo here.

[Technical Difficulties Embedding Youtube Video Here]

It's interesting to hear the article address the SNL skit from 2010, confirming what I thought then.

Yeah, and I still believe.

* Hopefully I can call him the Sexy Sax Man, not to be confused with the second Sexy Sax Man (I call him Sexy Sax Man #2) and also not to be confused with Epic Sax Guy. Gotta be clear.

A Weekend Update Reunion

Late Show - The "Norm Gets Fired" Saga

Norm Macdonald talks about getting fired from Saturday Night Live.

Bill Hader Meets Keith Morrison

Ohh nooo...

SNL - The Sensitive Drill Sergeant

This is one of those classic SNL skits that I've always remembered but would have trouble tracking down.

Would it be impossible for Will Ferrell to re-join Saturday Night Live?

SNL - Farewell Mr. Bunting

The odd thing about this is the age of the reference. Do the kids today know about "Dead Poet's Society"?

The odder thing about this is that SNL actually did something funny. Shocking.

Movie Review: Saturday Night (2014)

Saturday Night (2014)

Filmed in 2008, premiered in 2010 and officially released in 2014, I'm surprised that I had never even heard that this movie existed until today.

"Saturday Night" is a fly-on-the-wall documentary that follows the cast and crew of "Saturday Night Live" for the production cycle of one episode (one week). The host (John Malkovich) is introduced on Monday and from that point they have 5 days left to write and produce an hour and a half of  live television.

This movie is exactly what I was expecting and exactly what I wanted. You always hear the lore of SNL - about how the writers stay up all night to try to squeeze out sketch ideas, how sketches can be killed by one bad rehearsal, how no one can memorize the lines because rewrites are happening right up to the time of going live - but you ONLY hear about it, there's never been a way to see it up close. In fact, most of the inner workings of SNL seem to be pretty well shrouded in secrecy. This movie really takes you inside and places you in the middle of everything that's happening.

Directed by James Franco, the film is extremely low budget but I get the feeling that that has more positives, in this case, than negatives. For one thing, I think a full documentary crew would be seen as too intrusive to the show and wouldn't be allowed access to begin with - better to have a few people with handheld cameras. But it also helps to shed the weight of being "a documentary". I don't need an interview about what Chevy Chase did in 1976 and I certainly don't need the backstory of how the show began. The movie is simply: how are these people going to get a show to air this week? Will it be funny? And the handheld cameras, unsteady as they may be, suit the stressful, hectic feeling perfectly.

7/10.

This movie is very hard to find (I thought) except that while writing this review, I found it's on Hulu. That was easy. You can watch it (with commercials) here.

Stefon Finale

Stefon stops by (for the last time?) to offer tourists some hot spot suggestions:



I was thinking that maybe this segment had jumped the shark. Maybe Hader's laughing at his own jokes more than the audience*. Perhaps. But then you get to a thing like "human R2-D2" and you realize that, like it or not, this is a brand of writing you won't find anywhere else.

* In his defense, certain jokes are hidden from him ahead of time so he ends up hearing them for the first time as he speaks. For better or worse, the whole thing is specifically designed to get him to crack.

Top Gun Auditions

The 25th Anniversary Edition of the "Top Gun" DVD features screen test footage heretofore unseen by the general public. You can see it here for the first time:

If you didn't see the season premiere of SNL last week, it's probably worth checking out. In terms of audience reaction, it was probably the strongest episode I've ever seen. In all episodes of SNL there are at least one or two clunkers. It just happens. This episode - every single sketch the audience was howling with laughter. It's probably and anomaly but who knows, perhaps they've hit a stride of some sort.

SNL - Dana Carvey

This week was a special event for Saturday Night Live. The guest host was Dana Carvey. The show saw the return of "Church Chat" and special cameos by Mike Meyers and John Lovitz.

Oh yeah and a little something called THIS:

Also, this one isn't so much funny as I just like this song and wish to buy the record album.

And I thought this was pretty funny too.

It was nice to see him back and it was one of the better episodes of the past few years. You can watch the full show here.

Stefon - Your NYC Guide

SNL "Weekend Update" correspondent Stefon gives us the 411 on popular New York City tourist attractions.

If there's one thing I know about comedy it's that if you're having trouble keeping a straight face in a scene, DO NOT mention midgets or dwarves.

We Are the World?... Really?

The cold open to this week's SNL pokes fun at the new "We Are the World". I actually haven't even seen the new one. I didn't even know it was released.

Like I said, I haven't seen the new one, so I don't know if the parody is accurate but I'm thinking it is. It isn't so much that there was a lack of effort or that stars just don't care about charity, it's that there aren't any stars anymore. Sounds weird to say, sounds like a stupid "things aren't like the old days", but think about it, who's the modern day equivalent of Michael Jackson? Who are the people that if you got them all in a room you would say, "I can't believe they got all these big names in one room, this is unbelievable!". Puff Daddy? Eminem? Black Eyed Peas? HA! At the moment I can't think of any group of modern-day pop musicians that would impress me.

Back in the day, SNL spoofed the original "celebrity cause anthem" trend by doing a pro-free-range chicken song called "Set the Chickens Free". There was one while after that that sought to explain the Whitewater scandal. Those were classics. I hope someone gets them on the internet sometime.

Is SNL Reading My Mind???

All throughout the Summer of 2008, me and a friend at work would periodically send a (now deleted) youtube link to each other that is essentially a shorter version of this video:

[Youtube Video Removed]

Love that song. The clip, in case you don't recognize it, is one from one of the opening scenes of "The Lost Boys" a defining movie of my youth.

The idea was you send a video link, the other person doesn't know what it is, click... oops, oily buff guy playing sax again! A catchy 80's song, a guy that's oily, buff, playing sax and, as if the clip needed more, is constantly "thrusting" his hips; this clip has it all. We'd send it to each other, I posted it on forums, I emailed people with it, I sent it via IM... I basically felt that, for me, this the new "rickroll". Apparently no one else agreed. I assure you that not only did this "rickroll" never catch on with the general public, it didn't even make the leap beyond two people!

And so I was a little astonished, watching Saturday Night Live yesterday, when this sketch aired on a nationally televised television show. See if there's any doubt in your mind as to what joke/reference is being made here and consider how truly obscure and random it would have to be:

Yeah, and I still believe.