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More SNL: The Complete First Season Reviews

Moviehole.net gives the recent DVD release of Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season three out of five stars, having this to say:

"Looking back on the first season of Saturday Night Live is like staring at a photograph of your 10th birthday party: You knew you had a wonderful time first-time around, but you wonder whether it’d get you as excited now."

Also, TVshowsOnDVD.com checks in with their review, and reveals that using the word "complete" in this set's title isn't exactly accurate:

"Now here's the big problem with the set; it's not uncut, despite assurances from Broadway Video that it would be. The first bit of material missing are the bumpers (the still photos) that would appear before and after the commercial breaks. Broadway Video told me that they don't really consider those part of the show, and they were removed (except for the last bumper) to make the episode on DVD flow better. Some fans will be pissed by that, and others won't care, but it's an edit that was made. A discussion at the Home Theater Forum has turned up more edits, and these are far worse than missing bumpers. A few episodes have things missing from them, like the Wrigley's Gum commercial from the Rob Reiner episode, or the Ambassador Training Institute and New Dad commercials from the Peter Boyle episode. Those last two were rerun commercials (something they did quite often), but the Wrigley Gum commercial is missing from its original airing, and its rerun (in the Buck Henry episode). I've already contacted Broadway Video about the edits, and I'm waiting to hear back from them. These edits may be very minor to you, or they may cause you not to buy the set - that's a decision that you'll have to make; at least all the musical acts are here."

Continue reading Moviehole.net's review of SNL: The Complete First Season...
Continue reading TVShowsOnDVD.com's review of SNL: The Complete First Season...

SNL 12-16-06: Justin Timberlake

The Barry Gibb Talk Show is rumored to be making an appearance this evening...

Ferrell Up for Golden Globe

Will Ferrell has been nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical/Comedy), for his role in Stranger Than Fiction.

Ferrell's competition includes Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat), Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Kinky Boots), and Aaron Eckhardt (Thank You For Smoking).

The 64th annual Golden Globes will be awarded on January 15th, 2007.

Nickelodeon to Show Animated Series from Amy Poehler

Nickelodeon plans to televise a new animated series created by Amy Poehler of Upright Citizen's Brigade and Saturday Night Live fame.

The new series, Mighty B, is part of an extensive animation slate announced Tuesday by the network that includes a sixth season of SpongeBob SquarePants.

In Mighty B, set to debut during the 2007-08 season, Ms. Poehler will provide the voice of Bessie, the world's most ambitious 10-year-old Honeybee scout. Nickelodeon picked up 20 episodes of the series.

In all, Nickelodeon said it will create a total of 125 new episodes of its animated shows, including SpongeBob, and the newer series El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera and Tak and the Power of Juju.

Peter Boyle, First Season SNL Host, Dies

Peter Boyle, co-star of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, Taxi Driver and the CBS series Everybody Loves Raymond passed away Tuesday evening at the age of 71.

Among Boyle's other numerous performing credits, he was a guest host on Saturday Night Live during the very first season (February 14, 1976 to be exact), performing in the fan favorite sketch "Duelling Brandos" with John Belushi.

Boyle had been suffering from multiple myeloma and heart disease, said his publicist, Jennifer Plante.

Reign Over Me Trailer

The trailer for Adam Sandler's latest, a drama about the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, is now online.

Why the New Bush?

Wondering why the switch was recently made from Will Forte to Jason Sudeikis for Saturday Night Live's weekly President Bush imitation?  The New York Times has the scoop:

"Washington is watching closely to see whether President Bush will change much when he faces a new, Democratic Congress. But his character on Saturday Night Live already has. Previously played by Will Forte, Mr. Bush is now being played by Jason Sudeikis. Lorne Michaels, the NBC television show’s executive producer, said that where Mr. Forte played Mr. Bush as whiny and beleaguered, Mr. Sudeikis, below, is playing him as having “absolute confidence and buoyancy.” But in a sign that the world is starting to look past Mr. Bush’s tenure, Mr. Michaels said he was freeing up Mr. Forte to play a new political role eventually: that of one of the 2008 contenders."

Personally, I hope that Tim Calhoun runs for President in 2008.

Apocalypto Recut

The Boston Globe reviews SNL: The Complete First Season

The Boston Globe delivers their take on the SNL: The Complete First Season DVDs:

"Rumors of the amazingness of early SNL have been exaggerated since the 1970s. And now, with the recent release of the DVD set SNL: The Complete First Season, we can all see for ourselves behind the boomer-generated myths of SNL. From Oct. 11, 1975, to July 31, 1976, the show clearly delivered both diamonds and dust, as the sketches veered from inspired topicality and originality to Laugh-In-like frivolousness to self-indulgence."

Continue reading "SNL set says much about past and present"...

Have Alec Baldwin Call Your Friends

Remember when Samuel L. Jackson called you on the phone, yelling at you to go see his new movie Snakes on a Plane?  That worked well, didn't it?

NBC is hoping that this time the celebrity telemarketing scheme will pay off.  If you head over to this page, you can create a personalized message from 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin, and then "he" will call your friends and/or family to promote his show and then act creepy, telling them that he's calling from outside their bedroom window for example.

The site doesn't seem to work very well with Mozilla Firefox, so be aware that you might need to use Internet Explorer to get things up and running.