Tag Archives: Parks & Recreation

Our Favorite ‘Late Night’ A Capella Group Returns: Do it again, Rockafallon!

It’s really hard to pinpoint when we fully realized the genius of Late Night with Fallon, because there have been so many brilliant moments, like the California Dreams reunion, or the Muppets dropping by to sing “The 12 Days of Christmas”, or the visit from Zack Morris, or the Lost homage “Late,” or the Parks & Recreation-assisted Glee‘d version of “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”  It’s really been an incredible twelve months for Jimmy Fallon and his team, whom we’ve  praised over and over again, and plan to keep doing so.  But, for us, there was perhaps no greater pop-culture tribute than Late Night‘s very own incarnation of the a capella legends Rockapella, which they gifted us in March of this year.  Lost, Glee, even Saved by the Bell, those are rather obvious objects of affection.  But to channel something like Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?‘s house band, well that’s truly special, and perhaps more than anything else Late Night has done that showed the depth of their knowledge, humor, intelligence, and a disturbing awareness of references from our childhood that we will go crazy for.

And, just in time for the holiday season, they’ve done it again (this time with more Jason Segel!):

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Hats off, once again, gentleman.  Brava.

By the way, did you know that Rockapella founder Sean Altman auditioned for Season 1 of NBC’s The Sing-Off with his new a capella group the GrooveBarbers?  They didn’t make the cut.  Which somehow feels like if Marcel Marceau was rejected from a mime competition.  Must have been the name.  Oh, and it sorta sounds like he’s taking credit for the success of The Sing Off.  Sure, why not?

Jimmy, let’s get this guy on the show.

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Filed under Flashback!, Good Humor, Nostalgia Corner, Talkies

Last Night on Late Night Was the Intersection of the Venn Diagram of the Things I Love (And One Thing I Hate)

*Editor’s note: Jumped The Snark has been and will be busy for the immediate future on another somewhat related but also not really project, and thus updates may be few and far between for the next two months.  We’re going to do our best to keep up regular posts, but they may be of the very brief variety.  That is all.

Jimmy Fallon.  Parks & Recreation.  Rashida Jones.  Fred Armisen.  Weekend Update.  A.D. Miles.  Dee Snider.  Last night was a convergence of all of those things on Late Night.

Fallon proves once again that his show is the place to turn for pitch-perfect parodies (see: “Real Housewives of Late Night,” “Late“), and this time the team turns its scalpels towards the unfortunate phenomenon that is Glee.  And not only does their version, “6-Bee,” capture the exact tone and rhythm (and hokeyness) of the show, it pits the Late Night glee club against the Parks & Rec squad, treating us to Amy Poehler, Chris Pratt, Jerry and Jumped the Snark long time favorite Rashida Jones (but wherefore art thou, Asiz Ansari?), as well as an appearance from another longtime favorite, Fred Armisen.  And it all culminates in a truly impressive take on Twister Sister’s classic anthem of rebellion “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”

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(You may have figured out that the one thing I hate, as mentioned in the title, is Glee (the show, and by extension its cultural resonance).  A long time ago I intended to write a long blog post explaining why its characters are just caricatures, the tone muddled, the perspective confused, and that while I’m happy for Jane Lynch, her role in Party Down trumps her one-note performance as Sue Sylvester.  And this thoroughly enjoying Late Night interpretation shows that without the dramatic musical sequences Glee would just be a cut-rate Degrassi.  There, I finally said it).

And if that all wasn’t enough, later in the show we were treated to a charades battle of the former “Weekend Update” co-anchors, with Fallon and guest Tina Fey taking on Poehler (clearly pregnant by the way) and her old partner and current solo host Seth Meyers.

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And to top it off, arch-nemesis and top search term Justin Bieber!

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Keep up the good work, Jamie!

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Filed under Good Humor, Saturday Night Live, Talkies