It’s getting late and we had a long day (and, more importantly, we have to watch Top Chef and there’s pizza waiting), so we’re going with a search term staple today, “rashida jones.” Here’s the lovely Ms. Jones appearing on the brilliant Jeannie Tate Show, created by and starring Liz Cackowski, the former SNL and current Community scribe you might best recognize from Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
And if good comedy’s not your thing, here’s Jones on the cover of Vanity Fair‘s 2011 Hollywood Issue.
This past weekend’s SNL could have been the funniest of the season and it probably wouldn’t have mattered. That it wasn’t the funniest of the season also will not matter years from now. No, what this episode is being talked about for, the reason that it will ultimately be remembered, is that it featured the first public meeting between Jesse Eisenberg and the social network magnate he portrayed to the tune of a Best Oscar nomination. It was a worlds colliding, fabric of the universe fraying, I’m seeing double (four Zuckerbergs!), moment (although Andy Samberg’s presence as a tertiary Zuckerberg carried much less weight and meta-significance). It was awkward, sure, but that was by design, as the two ‘bergs, Eisen and Zucker, seemed rather comfortable with each other, indeed, giving the sense that they may, in fact, be bros. The tone was less confrontational and more self-congratulatory, as if Eisenberg and Zuckerberg had successfully pulled the wool over our eyes, that the real Zuckerberg is not an unnaturally focused, perennially scowling, monotone misanthrope, but a laid back, dorky, goofball visionary, and that perhaps Zuckerberg was in the on the joke the whole time. Now, that’s not the case, but if there’s any sense of animosity between the two ‘bergs, then Zuckerberg is a far greater actor than anyone is giving him credit for (and by all accounts he’s a terrible, terrible actor).
But, more importantly, what does this mean for SNL? And for Mark Zuckerberg? And WAS anything funny?
Remember in the cold winter days of December 2005 when “Lazy Sunday” premiered and basically made YouTube an inextricable part of our lives? That was a seminal, society altering, comedy-changing moment. Well, that’s not what people were looking for on our blog, they were searching using the term “michael scott dick in a box.” But, unfortunately, we don’t have that, a combination of Steve Carell’s Office character and the cultural successor to “Lazy Sunday” that became a phenomenon in its own right. But, what we do have is a combination of Michael Scott and “Lazy Sunday.” So, here we go, the ode of suburban Pennsylvania, “Lazy Scranton”:
Vodpod videos no longer available.Over on the wonderful Splitsider it’s “Women in Comedy Week,” so perhaps that’s why today we had the search term “best female cast members in snl history.” If that’s the case, we welcome those readers. And if that’s not why you’re here, we’re still thrilled to have you.
What would bring you to this site would most likely be a pair of in-depth SNL posts we’ve presented in previous years. The first, Lorne Michaels Dismisses Michaela Watkins and Casey Wilson & It Makes Sense: SNL Past, Present and Future, we put together in the fall of 2009 to address concerns of SNL restricting its female constituency. The second, The Real Women of SNL: They are Fambily; Plus: a Totally Unnecessary Look Back at the History of Female Not Yet Ready for Primetime Players, we posted last November following the SNL compilation special celebrating its female cast members, capitalizing on the momentum begun when Betty White hosted earlier in the year. We think that both posts are two of our best, most informative pieces, so we’re happy to have the chance to link to them again. And, for further reading, we recommend The Groundbreaking Women of Sketch Comedy, one of contributions to the aforementioned Women of Comedy Week on Slipsider.
And, of course, we’re going to leave you with an SNL sketch focused on the female contingent. But instead of looking back on the past greats, let’s look forward to the future of women on SNL:
Vodpod videos no longer available.Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein have created a terrific little sketch comedy show with Portlandia. The IFC show (executive produced by Lorne Michaels, because the only way an SNL cast member is allowed to do anything away from the show is if Michaels is involved) is a breath of fresh northwest air. And they made a very savvy choice recruiting Armisen’s SNL castmate Jason Sudeikis for the pilot, casting Sudeikis as successful organic farmer/charismatic cult leader Aliki. And, as usual, Sudeikis lit up the screen.
Unfortunately, video of his scenes aren’t available, but this should give you an idea:
But go watch the sketches that they have posted, and make sure to watch the new episode tomorrow night!
Filed under Good Humor, Saturday Night Live
Between Seasons 1 and 2 of Saved by the Bell, here’s a quick one just to keep Jason Sukeikis week going.
Easily the best four seconds from this whole episode:
Filed under Brilliance, Saturday Night Live
Well, after posting a quick Jason Sudeikis clip yesterday, we might just go ahead and make this Jason Sudeikis week because, apparently, he conquest of attractive female SNL hosts has taken him from January Jones to Scarlett Johansson. Pretty impressive stuff to be the rebound from Ryan Reynolds.
Curiously though, whereas Sudeikis and Jones had several moments together during her episode (sketches that Sudeikis basically carried her though, no doubt winning her over in the process) Johansson and Sudeikis shared very little screen time together during her last hosting turn in September. In fact, if we’re not mistaken this is the only instance in which they appeared in the same sketch:
Vodpod videos no longer available.But, then again, the guy’s got moves. It’d be no surprise if Scarlett fell for him in those few seconds.
So if this doesn’t work out who’s next? Betty White? Emma Stone? Which is the lesser of two evils?
(btw, the Santa Monica restaurant where this date supposedly took place, Father’s Office, is awesome. Just wanted to mention that)
Filed under Local Flavor, Mancrush, Saturday Night Live, Yasmine Bleeth
A rather odd search term today, part of which we understand, part of which we’re not so sure about, as one of today’s top phrases was “jason feeny.” Certainly, we could see why someone would end up on this site by searching for Feeny, as Boy Meets World’s Mr. Feeny (as portrayed by the esteemed William Daniels) is one of our all-time favorites, someone whom we should write about more. We’re thrilled if this is where searching for “feeny” takes you. And we cite the name “Jason’ at least once a week, thanks to our preferred SNL cast member, Mr. Jason Sudeikis. But “Jason Feeny?” We don’t know who that is. So since you get enough Sudeikis on this site (for example, earlier today, for no reason at all), we’re going to devote this post to the distinguished, debonair, George Hamilton Feeny.
In a post we hope to craft soon we’re going to argue that the shows that comprised TGIF (Family Matters, Full House, Perfect Strangers) weren’t entirely terrible. They certainly had their deficiencies, and no one would confuse them with truly smart, groundbreaking television. But they had their time and their place, and we’re important shows of their era. However, the cream of the crop from that block was Boy Meets World, which joined the TGIF line-up in 1993. In fact, it’s probably the only real quality show from that group by most criteria, and while we would accept a case that Full House and Family Matters were lackluster sitcoms, we’ll go to our graves defending Boy Meets World.
Lasting seven seasons, just barely making it to the new millennium, the show (through a few time jumps) followed Cory Matthews from elementary school to college, often reinventing itself in the process. Over its run the show featured new characters and locations, and even a change in comic sensibilities and personalities, but the one constant was Mr. Feeny. He started as school teacher to Corey, his brother Eric, his longtime love Topanga and best friend Shawn, then became their principal and finally their professor. But through it all he was their mentor, their guide, dispensing equal parts wisdom and tough love. So it was fitting then that the series ended with those children, now grown, thanking Mr. Feeny for teaching them, for caring about them, and for shaping them into who they are.
Did you cry? A little bit? That’s okay. Us too.
Filed under Feeny, Gratuitous Search Term Bait, In defense of:, TGIF
Catchy.
Filed under Just because., Mancrush, Saturday Night Live
Jumped The Snark 