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Andy Samberg Makes a Phone Call

Yeah I'm not entirely sure what's going on here either, but it features the voice of Andy Samberg, and if my Google stats tell me anything it's "mention Andy Samberg and make $$$".

Poehler Hears a Who

Blue Sky Studios, the CGI animation arm of 20th Century Fox, has brought in a batch of celebrity voices to contribute to its feature film version of Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who. Seuss vet Jim Carrey and Steve Carell have previously been announced as part of the cast.

Variety reports that Carol Burnett, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Isla Fisher, Dan Fogler, Amy Poehler, Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, and Jonah Hill will all be lending their vocal talents to the project. Burnett will play the "always skeptical Kangaroo" from the classic tale, while Carrey will voice Horton and Carell will take on the Mayor of Who-ville.

The film is currently scheduled to be released on March 14, 2008.

Steve Martin Goes Nonfiction

From the Associated Press:

Steve Martin would like you to know more about his years as a wild and crazy guy.

The comedian, filmmaker, actor and author is writing a memoir, Born Standing Up, billed by publisher Scribner as "his first work of narrative nonfiction," a "riveting chronicle of his early years as a stand-up comedian and a fascinating portrait of an era."

Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, is hoping to have the book out by early 2008, but no publication date has been set.

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.

He's Seen SNL 527 Times!

Ironic Sans has an interview online with Louis Klein, a *really* dedicated Saturday Night Live audience member who was waiting in line for this 528th show.

The interviewer met Klein 15 years earlier while waiting in line for SNL tickets, and decided recently to go back and see if Klein was still as dedicated as ever.

From the interview:

I seem to remember that 15 years ago you told me Tim Kazurinsky mentioned your name during a Weekend Update segment.
No, no. Not Weekend Update. It was in a sketch that he did. The Guru sketch. His name was Havnagootiim Vishnuuerheer [pronounced “havin’-a-good-time wish-you-were-here”]. What he was doing was he was answering Unanswered Questions of the universe. So he invited everybody in the country to write in unanswered questions that they had, and he picked one of mine, and all of a sudden I’m at dress rehearsal and he says, “Louis Klein from Ridgewood New York wants to know, does God wear Pajamas when he sleeps?”

And what was the answer?
The Guru says, “No he doesn’t. All he wears is a t-shirt. and on the t-shirt it says I created the universe and all I got out of it was this lousy t-shirt.” That was a Flip Wilson show in December ‘83.

Did they mention your name on any other episodes?
Yes, they did. And Jamie too. This was in April of 2004. Will Ferrell was the host. And he was doing the Pepper Sketch, where Will was putting pepper on Will Forte’s salad. And the character’s name was Dr. Louis something, and his wife Jamie. In honor of my 500th show.

Who was the writer that wrote you into the script?
Will Forte.

Continue reading "Interview: Louis Klein, audience member of nearly every episode of Saturday Night Live"...

NBC Launches 'DotComedy' Website

On Thursday, NBC Universal launched a new comedy broadband channel, Dotcomedy, that will host original Web shows as well as video from TV programs including Late Show with David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Other made-for-TV comedy shows that will air on Dotcomedy include Leave it to Beaver, The Munsters, Coach, and Significant Others, and the HBO series Dream On.

Wow, where to start with all this?  First off, I've checked out the site (www.dotcomedy.com) and there's not much there yet.  And much of what is there is just embedded YouTube clips.  Also, Leave it to Beaver?  The Munsters?  Dream On?  I thought this was a comedy website.  I know there's nothing emo hacker MySpace punks like more than dialing up their internets and checking out hot Brian Benben clips from Dream On...

My only hope for this site is that they include a slew of SNL clips, and not just the ones that are available on every DVD they've released but really great stuff that rarely sees the light of day.  That's going to make my job of showcasing that stuff much easier.

The Saturday Night Live Effect

If you are somewhat skilled in Abobe Photoshop, and have the desire to turn your portrait photos into stills that look like Saturday Night Live bumpers, here's the tutorial you need to make it happen.

Continue reading "The Saturday Night Live Effect"...

Forget the Cheerleader — Save NBC

NBC is in big financial trouble these days.  The once proud network will be laying off workers and cutting scripted shows to a minimum, replacing them instead with mindless reality and game shows.

TVGuide.com has a list of suggestions on how to save the network.  Number six on the list is the only one that bothers me...

6. Kill SNL and its Progeny — Having two shows spoofing your own irrelevant late night show is painful enough. Studio 60, 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live should all go away. That means big cash savings, and lots of empty time slots to play with.

Continue reading "Forget the Cheerleader — Save NBC"... 

Jeff Daniels talks 'SNL', 'Studio 60'

The Philadelphia Daily News recently spoke with actor Jeff Daniels, who hosted Saturday Night Live in both 1991 and 1995.  The subject of the article mostly involves Daniels' newfound career as a folk singer, but also during the interview he was asked to compare his experiences on SNL to the kinds of things that go on during any given episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.  His answers will shock you.

Okay, not really.  But still, it's a good read.

Continue reading "Actor Jeff Daniels is a singer-songwriter too"...