'Saturday Night Live' Weekend Update -- Cecily Strong Joins Seth Meyers at the News Desk

Seth Meyers has been manning the 'Saturday Night Live" Weekend Update desk alone for years, ever since the 2009 departure of Amy Poehler. This fall, however, he'll be joined on WU by new cast member Cecily Strong. She's probably best known for her visits to the newsroom as "The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation with at a Party."

While her rambling, "whatEVER" delivery as the annoying party girl had a few funny moments, it's not a character I need to see again. According to Seth, I thankfully shouldn't have to:

As for The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation with, it's prob safe to assume that she died somewhere, mid-conversation.
— Seth Meyers (@sethmeyers) September 15, 2013

With only a year on the show, it's tough to tell if Strong is going to be a good fit for the "Saturday Night Live" Update segments. Tina Fey had "Newswoman" written all over her, but Poehler's quirky collection of onscreen characters made her a less obvious choice that still worked amazingly well. Strong does have comedic talent; my personal favorite of her "SNL" sketches are her stints with Vanessa Bayer as the former porn stars hawking Moet and Chandon (forgive the low-quality vid, NBC likes pulling all of their "SNL" clips for some reason) :


Clearly the Powers That Be at "Saturday Night Live" have a lot of confidence in Strong, as her co-hosting stint may just be a training period for her to go solo when Meyers leaves in February. (The longtime "SNL" writer and Update anchor has a brand new gig at NBC, taking over the "Late Night" spot from Jimmy Fallon.) I personally would love to see Taran Killam take Seth's spot next to Cecily next year; the two could become a weird and wonderful duo that would add a much-needed spark to the currently creatively-struggling show.

What do you think, "SNL" fans? Does Strong seem like a good choice for Weekend Update? The new season of "Saturday Night Live" premieres Saturday night, Sept. 28 at 11:30/10:30c.

You might also enjoy: My "Saturday Night Live" gossip and recaps at Yahoo! omg!


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PHOTO: "Saturday Night Live" Weekend Update with Cecily Strong screencap, NBC, fair use.

"Up All Night" Like a Bad "Saturday Night Live" Episode--A Really Bad Episode

Christina Applegate and Will Arnett look as depressed
as we feel watching Up All Night.

Thanks to Up All Night, Will Arnett now has the distinction of starring in two sitcoms I turned off before they were over (the other was Running Wilde). At least this time I made it halfway through episode "New Car," but it was a painful 12 minutes. It's sad when you take Saturday Night Live writer and Parks & Recreation producer Emily Spivey and put her together with Maya Rudolph, Christina Applegate, and Will Arnett and you get this painfully awkward mess.

The beginning of the episode focused on Chris (Arnett) trying to bring the sexy back to his relationship with Reagan (Applegate). He's frustrated that she goes from attractive power-suited woman to a new mom in white sweats who thinks it's hilarious when she drops a spaghetti meatball in her lap. It's amazing I was able to contain the laughter.

There were a few funny moments, mostly supplied by guest star Will Forte, who appears as a relaxed, hippie-esque dude who offers Chris some advice on a sexy Dad makeover--and generally steps over personal boundaries.

Sadly, fellow SNL alum Maya Rudolph doesn't fare so well. Starring in Up All Night as a talk show host and unstable crazy woman, in "New Car" she finds out a destructive ex-boyfriend is getting married. Rudolph was one of my favorite performers on the late night sketch comedy show, but no one really seems to know how to cultivate her talents outside that realm. Once they got into the bad 80s flashback of her music video with her boy band boyfriend, my hand went for the remote.

Like many a Saturday Night Live episode, some of the set-ups seem like they should be funny, but they just aren't. The actors look uncomfortable, like they're trying to force the humor, and the whole thing becomes way too painful to watch.

There seemed to be a lot of hype and expectation for this show, which was the reason I tuned in to watch. I was sadly disappointed, and it looks like other viewers are as well. HitFix reports that the show's ratings have been sliding downward, and if they keep slipping, Up All Night could get relocated or removed altogether.

With the talented cast, maybe the show has the potential to get better. I just couldn't wait.

Up All Night currently airs on NBC, Wednesday nights at 8/7c.


PHOTOS: Up All Night, "New Car" screencaps, c2011 Broadway Video, UMS, NBC.

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Tina Fey Fantasizes About Justin Bieber

Ohnoshedinnit...ohyesshedid! Saturday Night Live went there tonight with host Tina Fey and musical guest Justin Bieber. Sixteen-year-old Justin took part in the monologue and some sketches--including one where he played the tempting student to Tina's lonely teacher. Tina fantasizes about her student, where he serenades her with song.

This was funny (and dangerous) enough in concept, but even funnier were the lyrics he sang about helping her with her back pillow and watching her "skip the hard parts" in her Pilates routine. Justin seems to be enjoying the whole Cougar lover persona he's been cultivating and he played his part hilariously, tossing his perfectly layered hair as Tina's teacher dreamed about how his hair "always knows just where it's going".

Tina was hilarious with her usual deadpan delivery of the lines, but she didn't sell it quite as well as she could have. As you can see below, in the backstage clip of shooting the Saturday Night Live promos, Tina seemed very conscious of not showing the least amount of attention that could be construed as worthy of a felony. Justin's no fool, however; in the promos and on air, he managed to squeeze in as many hugs as he could get.



Considering the whole Saturday Night Live sketch was about forbidden love, it would have been fun to see Tina play up the dirty old lady role a bit more indulgently. After all, there was no physical contact and the kid's not going to be harmed by a wink and a smile. Check out his adorable flirtatiousness on Chelsea Lately for the perfect example of Cougar comedy:



As for Bieber's musical performances on Saturday Night Live, I was impressed. I know kid artists like Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber get a lot of criticism in the press for not being "real" artists. If you've been watching American Idol this season, you'd know that a lot of the adult artists can't sing a note, can't play an instrument, and can't write songs. Whether you like his brand of youthful pop/R&B or not, you've got to give the kid credit for being so young and putting on such a professional style show, for his songwriting, for having a sweet voice, and for having pretty fly dancing skills--and a ridiculously charming personality.

I always say that anyone that sounds good on Saturday Night Live will sound amazing anywhere else--even the best bands notoriously sound like crap on that SNL stage. While he had a few rough spots vocally, overall Justin put on a good show. His singing during the Tina Fey teacher sketch sounded live--and if it was, he really has mad singing skillz.

Justin also slipped in a little love note later in the show, changing his song lyrics at the end from "When she smiles, I smile" to "When Tina smiles, I smile." And then he gave that adorable grin that inspires mature women to think very wrong thoughts.

Two years, ladies, and then you can think them all you want. Until then, stick to the wink and a smile.




PHOTO: Host Tina Fey and musical guest Justin Bieber; Saturday Night Live promo, backstage p.o.v. screencap, c2010 NBC.

Saturday Night Live -- Gerard Butler Photo Bumpers and Videos

Ahh, the SNL photo bumpers from last night's Saturday Night Live episode! Hopefully my straight male readers will forgive me while I g-guh over Gerard Butler's pictures. The man is still as strong, hot, sexy, and gorgeous as ever. And goofy, which is just how we like him. If you're here for the funny, scroll down for a couple video sketches from the show, and a link to more. Oh, and P.S., *click* the pics for slightly larger versions!


Looking for my review of the episode? Click here for the Saturday Night Live -- Gerard Butler October 17, 2009 post.


You couldn't have a Saturday Night Live with Gerry Butler without doing a spoof on 300, complete with near-nekkid outfits and plenty of man love:




Gerard shows his beastly side, and who knew a clock and candelabra could be so naughty...




This link is as much about Gerard's hilarious performance as it is about Jason Sudeikis' dancing, Kenan Thompson's singing, and James Franco wondering WTF he was thinking when he agreed to sit in on an SNL sketch...lol...




You can enjoy more SNL vids over at the NBC site, and see more of the photo bumpers as well, though they've deprived us of the bare-legged kilt shots. Damn.




PHOTOS: Gerard Butler photo bumpers, Saturday Night Live, c2009 NBC.

Saturday Night Live -- Gerard Butler, October 17 2009

Gerard Butler and Will Forte in a promo for tonight's SNL.

Wow. That hasn't happened in awhile. I actually laughed--a lot--at tonight's Saturday Night Live. With freewheeling, just-happy-as-#$%^!-to-be-here host Gerard Butler and the cast doing barely controlled insanity, it's the most conistently funny SNL I've seen in way too long.

Click here for Gerard Butler SNL photo bumpers and sketch videos!

The night started strong with a political opener that was spot on--President Obama getting so angry at his Republican rivals over health care that he hulks out--into The Rock Obama. Yes, that's right, we got to see Fred Armisen transform into The Rock, who was pretty funny as he combined smooth Obama calmness with angry Hulk arm-detaching.

Gerard Butler then did the monologue, talking about how he generally did two types of films: shirt off (action), and shirt on (sensitive role). To show his range, he sang "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera--then fended off groups of warriors, ninjas, and Kristin Wiig--who threatened him at knife point to take off his shirt. Sadly, he disarmed her and his shirt stayed on.

Gerard Butler monologue from Lilián López Camberos on Vimeo.

Next up, Kenan Thompson did a hilarious commercial spoofing rap star cliches, selling extra bubbly wine made for pouring over women's behinds--it's one of those things that can't be explained in print. It was just satirical and crazy and just plain funny--a sketch Eddie Murphy would have been proud of in his SNL days.

Other highlights included the two gay guys from Jersey talking about Obama's proposed repealing of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the military, and then a 300 sketch about the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the Spartan army. Playing on gay themes in 300 isn't all that original, but seeing all the guys in leather panties and chestplates was funny enough, and all the silly puns worked. They also took a playful jab at Butler, with Leonidas' men saying no one was convinced he was even born in Greece--frustrated, Leonidas presented them with a stone tablet birth certificate. (Butler is a great actor, but he definitely is known for his dodgy accents.)

Weekend Update's Seth Meyers tried to ignore the boy in the balloon story since "it wasn't news", until the balloon itself showed up. That's SNL at its ridiculous best, when a helium balloon floats into frame and says "Hi, Seth," in a forlorn voice.

One of the latest sketches had Kenan Thompson giving it his all as a singing talk show host who ignores his guests--one of whom happened to be James Franco--as he continually bursts into song. This was a riot because of everything going on in the background, for each time he launched into a new song, more people would come onto stage--backup singers, dancers, and Gerard Butler pimped out in white suit and big white sunglasses and a cane. And you haven't lived until you've seen Jason Sudeikis in a red track suit and gold chain doing the running man. Sudeikis was doing some serious moves back there, all in perfect white boy hilarious style.

And then there was the Beauty and the Beast sketch, with Wiig and Butler--where the Beast confessed he thought she was the beast. Once again you kind of have to see it to believe it, with trash talk by the clock and the beast, and you don't even want to know what's been going on with the tea pot. Then there's Lumiere, who's only attracted to candelabras--though once in college he dated a menorah.

To add to the fun, sponsor Budweiser was the only one who had commercials tonight--and as a trade for this monopoly of air time, they gave us behind the scenes clips of dress rehearsals of previous SNL sketches. There was Darrell Hammond getting extra friendly with a burro, and Jimmy Fallon and Sean Hayes cracking up even more than they did on the air at Will Ferrell and his mini-cellphone-using character. Even better was Harvey Keitel giggling uncontrollably during a Native American casino sketch, no doubt because it was impossible not to laugh at Rob Schneider wearing long raven hair in double braids--which Keitel was also sporting.

All in all, one of the more entertaining Saturday Night Live episodes I've seen. It was just pure bedlam and that's when it's the best. Since I knew Gerard Butler was ridiculously good-natured and goofy in real life, I was hoping it would transfer over to the show and it did. Here's hoping they bring him back again--he may not be quite as crazy as Alec Baldwin, but he's pretty game for general insanity.

Watch Saturday Night Live on NBC, Saturday nights at 11:30/10:30c.



PHOTO: SNL promo screencap, c2009 NBC.