We’ve made a concerted effort on this blog to do things just a little differently, to present our material in a way that is somehow unique from the dozens of similar sites out there, whether that be reviewing The Office from the perspective of the series as a whole, or comparing Conan O’Brien to President Obama, or finding any excuse to link to an episode of Pete & Pete (like right there, for example). But sometimes, no matter how hard you to try to keep an eye on the bigger picture you get lost in the details, and you can’t see the forest for the trees. That’s why it’s always great to have a loyal reader (and good friend) who can fill in the blanks. And for us, that person is Kieran Walsh.
And, once again, Kieran replied to one of our SNL posts with his own excellent thoughts, expanding on a couple of our points and suggesting some ideas we might have missed. We’re grateful to have Kieran around reading our posts, clarifying our arguments and providing his own keen insights. So, without further ado, we’re proud to bring you what we hope is the first of many visits to Kieran’s Korner:
It’s kind of painful to say this, but I think Fred Armisen is now moving into eclipse while Bill Hader is on the ascent. Manuel Ortiz is a good example. It’s barely even a sketch – more of a gimmick, and not a particularly funny one, either. For that matter, it’s waaaay too reminiscent of “What Up With That” to be comfortable (talk show constantly interrupted by dance routine, etc.) Meanwhile, Bill seems to have found a new level of accessibility by crafting more user-friendly breakout characters (Stefan!) Perhaps these are the side-effects of dating a scientologist. Not entirely his fault. The pop culture pendulum swings wildly.
Don’t really understand Scarlett Johansson. I mean, in general. She must be incredibly easy to work with because I don’t really know why SNL and Woody Allen keep going back to her. I dunno. She’s just excruciatingly limited. On the one hand I get the sense that she’s up for anything – but that’s incredibly different from being genuinely good at anything. Clearly, she’d like to get laughs, but, jeez…
Yes. Bayer had an incredibly strong show, particularly with the Stars of Tomorrow sketch. She’s got definite potential. Pharoah, too, but he really needs his own thing.
I think it’s definitely time for Andy to leave.
Very astute observations on both the Armisen and Johansson fronts. Regarding Fred, perhaps that’s why he seemed so unenthusiastic during the “Mike’s Busteria” sketch. And perhaps his character’s recalcitrant disposition on “Update” was a reflection of Armisen’s current displeasure with the show. Perhaps he feels like he’s stranded at sea with a shrill, prickly Jewish wife.
And as for Johansson, Kieran hits it on the head, and gracefully encapsulates the point we attempted to make in our earlier post. She’s beautiful. And it’s not as if she’s January Jones out there (boy, Jones is never going to live that down, is she?). But as Kieran’s so eloquently notes, Johansson is “excruciatingly limited,” so she must just be a person SNL enjoys having around. Or maybe she drives up the ratings. Let us not forget that it’s always about the bottom line.
But, then again, sometimes it’s about the byline. So look out for more Kieran authored posts in the near future, and maybe a Snark-Walsh debate. Because if we blog on the web and no one is around to respond does it really post?
Amy Poehler returned to host the 36th season premiere of SNL this past week, but did it feel like she ever really left? Between her frequent appearances last season on the big show and her stint co-anchoring 
It’s hard to believe that a year has passed by since we waved goodbye to Michaela Watkins (we hardly knew ye) and Casey Wilson (probably for the best) and welcomed with skeptical arms the rookies Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad. And it’s sad to report that a year later we’re already 
It was an up and down decade for Saturday Night Live, but then again it’s been an up and down 34 years for Saturday Night Live. The show started gangbusters in 2000, taking advantage of the 2000 election and perhaps becoming more relevant than it had at any point during the previous decade (media and communication majors and political scientists will be analyzing SNL‘s Gore-Bush debates for years to come, studying how the show interpreted the real events and how the sketches then in turn affected the election). Then the show kind of treaded water until the 2004 election when it once again made the best of the political fodder, although with the relatively benign John Kerry as a central character the political satire was not as entertaining or as incisive as 2000. But With a mostly new cast then the beginning of the decade the show returned to prominence in 2008, most notably mining the comedy goldmine that was the renegade Sarah Palin. However, although SNL’s strongest seasons were during the election years, the best sketches were scattered throughout the aughts, with a fair share of political material, but also crazy characters, inventive monologues, traditional bits and the now ubiquitous Digital Shorts. Here, in a particular but not necessarily meaningful order is a very subjective list of the top ten (and then some) Saturday Night Live sketches of the decade that was.*
Jumped The Snark 