Last night’s Saturday Night Live, had several highlights, including a funny return visit by cranky 1860s newspaper critic Jebidiah Atkinson reviewing holiday shows and movies (“the Charlie Brown Christmas Special was garbage!”). One of the laugh-out-loud segments featured host Paul Rudd as Dan Charles, the number one fan of the show’s musical guest, One Direction. The segment gives an interesting take on obsessive fandom, but mostly it is funny (and a little bit creepy). The guys in One Direction gamely play along, showing they have a sense of humor too. Check it out.
What was your favorite part of last night’s Saturday Night Live? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Happy Halloween! You probably have a favorite horror movie, but this week my favorite horror movie that was never made is The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders. Saturday Night Live ran the trailer that imagined how a horror film might look if it were made by writer-director Wes Anderson. The clip incorporates references to Anderson’s films, including The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Rushmore (1998), and Moonrise Kingdom (2012). Edward Norton, who guest-hosted one of the better recent SNL episodes, also does an excellent turn as Owen Wilson. Check it out.
FYI, Merriam-Webster defines “coterie” as “a small group of people who are interested in the same thing and who usually do not allow other people to join the group.”
What is your favorite part of The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders? Leave your two cents in the comments.
One of the highlights of Saturday Night Live is seeing performers breaking character because they cannot control their laughter — as long as it does not happen too often. This video montage features cast members from various seasons — going back to the late 1970s — as they crack up. See if you can make it through without laughing.
The term for unscripted giggling is “corpsing,” referring to the fact that the worst time to laugh is when you are playing a corpse. For a discussion of when it is okay for SNL cast members to laugh and when it becomes annoying, check out Slate.
What is your favorite SNL moment where a performer started laughing? Leave your two cents in the comments.
The actress and comedienne Gilda Radner was born on June 28, 1946 in Detroit, Michigan, meaning on this birthday she would be in her late 60s if she were still around. It is hard to picture the ever-youthful Radner in her old age. But it is not difficult to imagine what Radner, who passed away from ovarian cancer in May 1989, would be doing now. She would be making us smile.
I was a kid when Saturday Night Live premiered in 1975, and I remember staying up late to watch it with my older sister and her boyfriend (both who wished I would go to bed). Live television was something new for my generation, and there was something strange and wonderful about the new show. Although I had no idea how the Not Ready for Prime Time Players would ultimately be a constant presence in my life, I did sense that those folks would be around awhile. It was just too bad that some of them like Radner and John Belushi did not stick around longer.
In 1979, during one of her final seasons on Saturday Night Live, Radner appeared on Broadway in Gilda Radner – Live From New York, and one of the performances was later taped for television. In this segment she captures some of that childhood innocence in the song “Honey (Touch Me With My Clothes On).” If you watch closely, you’ll catch Paul Shaffer on piano, and the saxophone player is Howard Shore, who went on to win three Academy Awards for writing the themes to the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies. [2016 Update: Unfortunately, the video of the performance is no longer available, but you may hear it below.]
More recently, Radner’s performance of “Honey (Touch Me With My Clothes On)” was sampled in Kid Koala’s “Vacation Island.”
We miss you Gilda.
What is your favorite Gilda Radner performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Slate recently featured an essay about an episode of NPR’s This American Life that was co-hosted by Fred Armisen of Saturday Night Live and Portlandia. I am a fan of This American Life, even though I only sporadically catch it on the radio. I also loved the short-lived TV version of the show, watching every episode on DVD.
Two years ago, Fred Armisen did an imitation of This American Life host Ira Glass on Saturday Night Live. But, you probably never saw it because it was only performed in dress rehearsal. Armisen later explained that they cut the bit because they concluded that Glass was not famous enough for an SNL segment so people would not get the humor.
I can imagine if you have never heard of This American Life, you might not find the imitation funny. But if you have listened to or watched This American Life, like me you might find yourself laughing at this segment from Saturday Night Live that never made it on the air.
Update September 2013: The Saturday Night Live video with Fred Armisen as Ira Glass is no longer available through NBC. But, you may hear Armisen imitating Glass at the beginning of the following This American Life episode on doppelgängers (FYI, the show’s link to the Armisen video takes you to NBC’s website but the video is no longer there):
Did you like Fred Armisen’s impersonation of Ira Glass? Leave your two cents in the comments.
