Whether you're new to the Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated Andy Samberg or you're looking for the latest Andy news, images, and videos, come here to find out about the king of The Lonely Island, Saturday Night Live, Lazy Sunday, Laser Cats, Junk in a Box, Dear Sister, Hot Rod, J**z in My Pants, I'm on a Boat, Mother Lover, On the Ground, and Shy Ronnie. Next movies: What's Your Number, and Friends with Benefits.
Here are The Lonely Island rejected album covers for their second album:
Andy's face was pasted on. These are obviously a joke to remind everybody that TLI is working on their album. My guess is that in these few weeks between SNL episodes, Andy and Akiva are helping Jorma work on the album in high gear (and that this is Jorma's full-time job right now).
So as is often the case in films (ever see Entourage?), pre-casting is quite a roller coaster, and it looks like Andy Samberg might have lost his place on the coaster to... his friend Justin Timberlake. Check out this article...
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...Apparently, [Justin Timberlake is] being considered for a role in the upcoming Three Stooges film and we'll find out in three weeks!
The comedy directing duo Peter and Bobby Farrelly are considering Justin Timberlake as Larry, Johnny Knoxville as Moe, and Will Sasso as Curly!
We can kind of see it, actually.
But don't get too excited because nobody is cast yet and for good reason, as the filmmakers explain:
“We haven’t cast it yet, we haven’t picked anyone. It’s a little tricky, right? Because they all have to be about the same age and even around the same height. We’re waiting for that first person that we’re going to say, ‘This is going to be our Moe, Larry or Curly’ and we’ll build around that. But it’s going to happen soon. It will be within three weeks.”
The Farrellys are also considering Chief Wiggum Hank Azaria for Moe and have reached out to Woody Harrelson and Larry David for the Larry role, but are considering a host of unknowns for Curly.
We can DEFINITELY see Hank as Moe, but overall are pretty satisfied with these options.
So it looks like Andy isn't being considered anymore. Overall, I like these options better (except for losing Andy), because it looks like they're looking at comedians more.
The Rise and Terrible, Terrible Fall of THE LONELY ISLAND
On stands March 04, 2011
What began as post-grad goofing by three best friends has launched the careers of these seriously funny—and Emmy-winning, Grammy-nominated—SNL dudes. Which is exactly why Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg let us follow them around New York for an afternoon of highs, lows, and—hey, did you just hear that?—maybe a royal haunting or two in the not-so-normal lives of The Lonely Island. Graduating from their early days of online sketches to writing and acting gigs with Saturday Night Live, the dudes have redefined musical comedy with their SNL Digital Shorts, featuring guests appearances by everyone from Justin Timberlake to T-Pain, and singing about all facets of life from cupcakes to creepin’. Here, we discuss how the group delegates, the balance between friendship and work, what it’s like on Saturday evenings at 30 Rockefeller Center, and just a little bit about what it is that makes them so damn funny.
Also inside Issue 43: Our Tribute to landmark ’90s Britpop outfit Suede, whose rapid rise to fame and decline was punctuated with relationship tensions and drug use, but unified by an undeniable talent and extraordinary catalog. We talk history and discography with Brett Anderson and Mat Osman, while former Suede conspirators Justine Frischmann (of Elastica), drummer Mike Joyce (The Smiths) and producer Ed Buller weigh in on their time with the band—who are set for a comeback in 2011 after a near-decade-long absence. Elsewhere, we humanize the missing link of Paul with director Greg Mottola (including a weigh-in from frequent collaborator Bill Hader), whose films (Superbad, Adventureland) touch poignantly and hilariously on the bonds of friendship and beyond. We discuss methods of cinematic portraiture with filmmaker/artist Julian Schnabel, whose latest film, Miral, strikes deep political, religious and human themes. Additionally, we trace family lineage with songwriter Liam Finn, whose apple fell not far from the Crowded House tree; delve into the illustrated world of Kramers Ergot cartoonist Sammy Harkham; and go on a soul-searching daytrip around the streets of N.Y.C. with Lykke Li.
We hand out our Getting to Knows to The Boxer Rebellion, Smith Westerns, GAYNGS and The Naked and Famous and offer up a You Should Already Know with Mogwai; trip overseas to Hawaii with Sailor Jerry and Switzerland for the Heartland Festival; and Miss Polly Jean Harvey gives us a picturesque EndNote worth 1,000 ships to cap it all off.
The novelty song used to be popular, but it has never, ever been cool. Whether it was Allan Sherman making his 1963 hit “Hello Mudduh! Hello Fadduh!” or Weird Al Yankovic parodying Michael Jackson with “Eat It” in 1984, the comedian who made singalong spoofs was like the hip stand-up comic’s embarrassing country cousin. There were exceptions, of course, like the cerebral, political Tom Lehrer — but let’s just say that, in general, Lenny Bruce and George Carlin did not sing. The novelty song was an outlet for nerds, morning-show shock jocks and the kind of guys who put the word “weird” in front of their names. This might help explain why the era of the novelty song seemed to end right around the time that hip-hop came of age: the greatness of Weird Al’s “Straight Outta Lynwood” notwithstanding, the average funny-song singer was not cut out to spoof N.W.A.
The Lonely Island has changed all that. The group, consisting of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, who are familiar from their “Digital Shorts” on “Saturday Night Live,” has not only revived the novelty song, but they’ve done the unthinkable: they’ve made it cool. And catchy. They make novelty songs you can laugh at and also bob your head to.
Their 2005 breakthrough video, “Lazy Sunday,” was directed by Schaffer, with music written by Taccone on his Mac computer, and featured Samberg and Chris Parnell, who was then Samberg’s “S.N.L.” cast mate, as dweeb pals rapping over a gangsta backbeat about planning to see a matinee of “The Chronicles of Narnia.” It was an ingenious bit of high burlesque that became a YouTube sensation, drawing five million viewers in two months. In 2009, they released an album, “Incredibad,” which featured a single, “I’m on a Boat,” that was nominated for a Grammy. And “I Just Had Sex,” the first single from their next album (due to be released this spring) has more than 50 million YouTube views since its debut in December.
“We are so excited by the idea of songs being funny,” Taccone told me, “but it adds to the joke if they also sound good.” To that end, the Lonely Island’s songs aren’t punning parodies, but keen dissections of a genre’s cliches. A novelty hit like “Eat It” was really only funny if you were familiar with “Beat It,” but a song like “I’m on a Boat,” which features Samberg and Schaffer rapping aboard a yacht, lovingly spoofs every over-the-top hip-hop video. And if the boasts in “I’m on a Boat” are intentionally funny — has there ever been a better yachting-based taunt than “I got my swim trunks/And my flippy-floppies/I’m flipping burgers/You at Kinko’s, straight flipping copies”? — the song itself could pass as the best track in the Hot 97 rotation. (The auto-tuned refrain by a guest star, T-Pain, is, no joke, among his finest work.) The humorist Andy Borowitz compares the Lonely Island to the mock-metal band Spinal Tap, in that “the best Spinal Tap songs also work as lumbering heavy-metal songs.”
The group’s collaborations — they have performed with Akon, worked with the esteemed reggae producers Sly & Robbie and used beats by T-Minus, a producer for Nicki Minaj — also help smooth the racial politics of their music. Samberg, Schaffer and Taccone met in junior high school in Berkeley in the 1990s, where everyone listened to hip-hop. “It was a ton of N.W.A., Beastie Boys, the Ice Cube solo records,” says Samberg, who at 32 is a year younger than his partners. In their best songs, the joke is never directed at a specific performer; rather, it’s on them — these three white guys from the Bay Area, posturing like gangstas while rapping about cupcakes. In an age of uninspired pop and fragmented audiences, the Lonely Island’s most significant accomplishment is not reviving the spirit of Allan Sherman but simply rallying people around music that also happens to be funny. Even my parents, who think Kanye West is a Florida Key, have both heard — and laughed at — the Lonely Island single “Motherlover.” That’s no longer a novelty song: it’s more like a national anthem.
Bill Hader has been tapped by Volkswagen to shill their 2011 Jetta, Tiguan, and Touareg models, and the resulting spots are… surprisingly funny.
The web series, titled Inside the VW Academy, features Hader and “vehicle expert” Danielle Gumro in a total of eighteen videos that mix scripted and improvised comedy with cold, hard Volkswagen facts.
SNL writer John Mulaney is on hand, providing the voice of a VW executive (and presumably assisting with witty dialogue).
I think John Mulaney and Bill Hader are incredibly hilarious when writing together, and these are perfect examples. They are all funny, and even when a gag seems funny, they keep with it, and it pays off by the end.
7. Andy Samberg (12 points): I’ve always liked the vibe when Samberg and Hader team up for a sketch (“Laser Cats”!), so it was a joy (albeit a very shouty one) to see their “A Spot Of Tea” sketch.
And let me tell you, that episode deserved the ratings it got! Those who tuned it could not have been disatisfied with an episode like that (especially if they were Jim Carrey fans).
This one was written by Taran Killam (which is why Taran is in it):
Here's the article:
Jim Carrey’s long-awaited SNL return boosted the show to its largest audience among young viewers in over two years.
With Carrey at the helm (hosting for the first time since 1996), and music from Grammy nominated The Black Keys, SNL scored an impressive overnight rating of 7.8/18—the highest household numbers since the Betty White/Jay-Z episode last May (8.8/21).
Among advertiser-worshiped 18-49 year olds, SNL posted a 5.4 rating / 20 share—the best numbers in that category since the November 2008 episode featuring Ben Affleck/David Cook (as well as a cameo from Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain).
NBC’s prime-time programming—the Jets/Colt NFL Wild Card Playoff Game—was a mixed blessing, delaying the show by 15 minutes but providing a substantial lead-in audience.
First, Fred no longer has the only great/usable Obama impression on SNL.
Jay Pharoah arguably has a better Obama impression. Kenan also claims to do a great Obama impression, but Kenan isn't the right build, and I know that would pull me out of it (Kenan's portrayal as Carlton on Fresh Prince last week proved to me that when he plays skinny guys it distracts me from his impression).
Second, Fred's been on the show for 9 years.
NINE YEARS! That's a long time. So long in fact, that here's how it stacks up to other SNL players (listing 8 or more years on the show)...
(1). Darrell Hammond - 14 years
(2). Al Franken - 11 years (Lorne's friend and original SNL writer. He was always a Featured Player, and he was on from 77-79 and 85-94, and Lorne set him up to take over the show, but NBC execs never went for it. Now he's a senator.)
(3). Seth Meyers - 10 years
(4). Tim Meadows - 10 years (The dude's time stretched from Meyers/Hartman/Carvey through Sandler/Farley/Spade and into Ferrell/Shannon/Kattan.)
(5). Fred Armisen - 9 years
(6). Maya Rudolph - 9 years
(7). Kevin Nealon - 9 years
(8). Kenan Thompson - 8 years
(9). Will Forte - 8 years
(10). Amy Poehler - 8 years
(11). Chris Parnell - 8 years
(12). Horatio Sanz - 8 years
(13). Chris Kattan - 8 years
(14). Phil Hartman - 8 years
Third, Fred's kind of hit and miss with his skits. Fred has a few characters/impressions I love, like his Governor Patterson, the Native American comedian (Billy Smith), Garth and Kat (obviously it came out of Fred's head), and Nicholas Fehn, the character on Weekend Update who keeps getting distracted and never says anything. His Weekend Update Map bit was amazing, and he has some great impressions, including the best SNL Prince impression.
But he's also got some stinkers (Billiam from Gays in Space, Gay Guy from New Jersey, Gunther Kelley, Mike from the Mike's Columns and Fountains (was funny the first time), ) which includes a bunch of Spanish ones I never really got the humor of (Feritico, Manuel Ortiz, and Telemundo Actor). And the ones I find the most annoying are Elinda Spade (the court stenographer) and Roger Brush (the producer that messes up shows for women).
Fourth, Fred is working on a new show, Portlandia.
Portlandia is a television series that debuted on the Independent Film Channel (IFC) in 2010. The show, produced by Andrew Singer and Jonathan Krisel, is set and filmed in Portland, Oregon and features Saturday Night Live cast member Fred Armisen.
There are six episodes in the show's first season. If the show gets renewed, then Fred has a reason to leave SNL.
Taran Killam rocks Eminem. Jay supports well as Lil Wayne. Vanessa tries in Livin Single (and doesn't too well), Nasim supports decently well, and Paul plays bit roles.
Weekend Update Taran Killam ... Eminem
Jay Pharoah ... Lil Wayne
Rap icons Lil' Wayne and Eminem stop by Weekend Update to drop their edgy Valentine's Day song.
Hahahaha! Taran kills as Eminem! Listen to the audience! The audience loves his impression, and it's obvious why. He sounds like a great parody of Eminem and the gag comes across clear. Let's see more of his Eminem!
Sketch - Royal Taster Russell Brand ... King Reginald
Bill Hader ... chef
Taran Killam ... taster
Michael Patrick O'Brien ... servant
Kristen Wiig ... narrator (voice)
It's not easy to taste all of a king's food for poison when the royal figure is a volatile person.
Taran is cute as the scared taste tester.
Show - Livin' Single Russell Brand ... Damian Cryer
Vanessa Bayer ... Dina D'Angelo
Abby Elliott ... audience member
Taran Killam ... DJ Terry
Kristen Wiig ... audience member
Super single host Dina DeAngelos gets extra friendly with her guest much to the dismay of her friend, DJ Terry.
Is Vanessa funny? Hmm. In her Miley Cyrus skit, but I don't really think so in this one. Taran can't help, but Brand saves her a little.
OVERALL: Here is our rank of how well I think they did overall...
1. Taran Killam - His Eminem was hilarious. The audience was dying whenever he opened his mouth, and it got to where they were laughing just when they looked at him nodding and staring stone faced. He also was in 5 other skits that night, the most of any cast member. He played a pretty good straight man as the concerned taste tester for the king. But he couldn't save Vanessa's Livin Single skit (luckily Brand saved it from being completely painful).
I think this is a huge step for Taran. This will hopefully prove that he should come back next year. Now it's a question of whether or not he can leverage this and deliver more funny. An easy way to do that is to bring this impression back the way Jay has brought his Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, and Denzel Washington back (and in different ways, each time).
2.Jay Pharoah - He played an amusing Lil Wayne, opposite Taran's Eminem on Weekend Update. Jay tweeted that Taran's Eminem really showed up his Wayne impression, but he promised to get them next time. Jay also supported in the Spider-man lawsuit commercial. Another Spider-man musical joke? Don't they have movies or other events to make fun of? Why does SNL have to be about current events?
I still think Jay should follow up his Denzel Washington skit with a sequel where Denzel is driving a taxi cab to prepare for a movie.
3. Nasim Pedrad - Sure Nasim didn't lead in any skits, but she was funny supporting in Bill Hader's English movie trailer, so I give her the edge over Vanessa, who starred in her own skit but still had less laughs than Nasim. Nasim supported in three skits this episode.
4. Vanessa Bayer - Vanessa starred in the Livin Single skit and she supported in the Spider-man commercial (a lot of the cast did). She wasn't overly funny, but at least she was featured on this show, which is more than we can say about...
5. Paul Brittain - Paul supports in two skits. Unfortunately nothing funny came from him this episode. After his James Franco impression, we're hoping he can keep proving himself. I still think there's a chance that he might not be back next season.
Fred Armisen ... Frank Gublin
Vanessa Bayer ... client
Paul Brittain ... victim
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Taran Killam ... actor
Bobby Moynihan ... client
Nasim Pedrad ... victim
Jay Pharoah ... victim
Andy Samberg ... actor
The law firm of Gublin and Green will represent anyone injured watching or acting in 'Spider-Man' on Broadway.
What did you think? Again, Andy was only in two skits this week, and this was one of them.
Russell Brand ... lady
Paul Brittain ... butler
Bill Hader ... lady
Andy Samberg ... lady
Three elderly British ladies have a hard time taking sips of their hot tea thanks to an earthquake.
Unfortunately, no digital short this week, and Andy was only in two skits. Here's the second one, but it featured Andy a little better. The first one is called Gublin & Green.
Andy does his second SNL promo in a row with host Russell Brand (last week he did one with Dana Carvey)!
Russell Brand hosts Saturday Night Live with musical guest Chris Brown on Feb. 12.
My guess is it means more and more hosts want to do stuff with Andy. Afterall, in Dana's monologue, Dana got the most cheers (he had to get them to stop cheering), Andy got the second most with very loud hoots, followed by Kristen Wiig, Jon Lovitz, and Bill Hader. Andy is probably the most popular person on the show. I'm hoping he can leverage that to getting in more films (the Adam Sandler one and the Three Stooges one would make his film career).
Anyway, do you like these Andy jokes with Russell? These are obviously written by Andy.
Some video from inside the NYC premiere 2.8.11 of the Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston flick JUST GO WITH IT.
Thanks to Freya for the scoop!
That's got to be kind of painful to walk around in close quarters with mostly reporters and strangers and be expected to be "on" and "nice" to everyone. =^)
Of course, Pee-Wee was probably a fan of Andy's work (and vice versa), but Pee-Wee also had to know it was good for his career to appear in the SNL short.
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Most Amazing Sketch:
Have you ever had that dream where you meet Pee-Wee Herman at a bar and get ridiculously drunk with him, then run into Anderson Cooper on the street and ask him if he's ever hooked up with Barbara Walters? Us either. But, someone on the SNL staff has. And, as you would suspect, it ended with talking furniture. This digital short, "Andy and Pee-Wee’s Night Out," was so bizarre, it was practically Bunuel-ian. And awesome. Naturally, it resulted in rallying cries on Twitter for a Pee-Wee Herman-hosted episode.
1. Andy Samberg (Last Week: 2)
Was Samberg in every sketch Saturday night? Well, no, but it did start to feel that way at times. Samberg was part of the most talked about event of the evening, Mark Zuckerberg’s walk-on, and even got to debut his new (but predictable) Lonely Island song. Also, “El Shrinko.”
Andy Samberg on the blue carpet for the New York premiere of the romantic comedy 'Just Go With It". The premiere was held at the Big Apple's famous Ziegfeld Theater.
February 8, 2011
So why is Andy Samberg at the premiere of "Just Go With It"?
Could this be part of his relationship with Adam Sandler and the Happy Madison production crew about the possible matching of Andy as Adam's son for the upcoming "I Hate You Dad" movie?
To start us off, Jay Pharoah pulls out an impression that's better than those from Fred Armisen, Dana Carvey, and Bill Hader (which begins to show where Jay is headed as the future star of SNL).
Dana Carvey ... Mickey Rooney
Fred Armisen ... Ice-T
Paul Brittain ... caller
Abby Elliott ... Anna Faris
Bill Hader ... Alan Alda
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Taran Killam ... caller
Nasim Pedrad ... caller
Jay Pharoah ... Eddie Murphy
Kenan Thompson ... caller
Kristen Wiig ... caller
A new VH1 show features celebrities who answer calls for a teen crisis line and attempt to offer help.
Hahahaha. The crew take turns slamming their impressions in. Billy's Alan Alda was #1 (maybe #2 behind Jon Hamm's Robin Williams) in the Back to the Future DVD gauntlet of impressions, but here Bill's Alda doesn't stack up to the humor of the others.
Likewise, Dana Carvey's Mickey Roony just isn't all that funny in comparison to these other impressions. Of course, Jay Pharoah's Murphy stands out the most.
Here's how I'd rank them (just in how entertaining they are):
1. Jay Pharoah - Eddie Murphy
2. Abby Elliott - Anna Farris
3. Fred Armisen - Ice T
4. Dana Carvey - Mickey Roony
5. Bill Hader - Alan Alda
Paul Brittain is James Franco
Oscar host and best actor nominee James Franco stops by to talk about the multitude of projects he's working on right now.
Hahahaha. Paul nails this James Franco impression. Hilarious! I love that bit at the end about the news. Honestly, this has to be my favorite "skit" from Paul Brittain yet.
Show - Church Chat
First up is Nasim Pedrad, who busts out Kim Kardashian (and sisters) to contront the Church Lady (interestingly, Nasim brought new life into her Kim impression when she brought in Abby and Vanessa to play her sisters).
The church lady welcomes the Kardashian sisters, Snooki and Justin Bieber, who has a profound effect on her.
Bonus that they used old Phil Hartman (who is deceased) recordings to announce Wayne's World and Church Chat.
Nasim Pedrad does her Kim Kardashian to perfection here again. Abby also gets one good joke in with, "I'm third."
Sketch - Sports Bar
Next up, Taran Killam is in a supporting role, but his dancing at the end shows up Fred Armisen and Dana Carvey.
Dana Carvey ... musician
Fred Armisen ... musician
Paul Brittain ... musician
Bill Hader ... musician
Taran Killam ... Patrick
Bobby Moynihan ... patron
Jason Sudeikis ... patron
Kenan Thompson ... patron
It's Super Bowl weekend and 'The Fingerlings' annoy all the patrons of a Green Bay Packers bar with their song choice.
So Dana and Bobby are hilarious here, but the song itself isn't overly funny. This was obviously out of Fred's head. Fred actually came from the music industry before he was a comedian, so he finds ways to integrate his music into the show.
Taran Killam comes on at the end and outdances Dana Carvey. Wow Taran. You need to write yourself into the show so that people can see what you can do.
OVERALL:
So how would I rank the featured players this week?
1. Paul Brittain - I never thought Paul would make it to the top of one of my lists like this, but here he is. Paul's James Franco impression was hilarious, and he also had 3 supporting roles this week. That's enough to give him a slight edge over Jay Pharoah.
2. Jay Pharoah - With his Eddie Murphy impression and supporting roles in two commercials, Jay proves that he'll be the star of SNL a few years from now!
3. Nasim Pedrad - With her Kim Kardashian and Kelly Ripa, and 3 more supporting roles, Nasim proves that she's going to be bumped up to regular cast member next year.
4. Taran Killam - Dancing in the Sports Bar sketch, on Regis and Kelly, and another two supporting roles, I've got to give it to Taran for the awesome dancing!
5. Vanessa Bayer - Vanessa also had a good show with her Kourtney Kardashian, an amusing little girl beauty pageant model, and one more supporting role.
Dana Carvey ... Marion Suller
Vanessa Bayer ... Donna Elise van Donen
Abby Elliott ... Vonda Karen McMillan
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Nasim Pedrad ... Tama Janay Wentworth
Andy Samberg ... Brendan Jan Vincent Hobbs
Kenan Thompson ... Leon Phillips
Kristen Wiig ... Tatum Valerie Dunn
This was amusing. Andy can do awkward looks very well as this little boy, but I would have liked him to do more lines as his character.
Justin Bieber
Michael Patrick O'Brien ... advisor
Andy Samberg ... Ben Kingsley, Declan
Justin Bieber moves into his college dorm with a creepy guy in the new film 'The Roommate.'
Hahahaha. So this is a commercial, but really this is the digital short this week. The audience loved it, and it's great to see Justin Bieber do something silly like this. Andy is hilarious!
Dana Carvey hosts an all-new SNL 2/5 with musical guest Linkin Park.
Don't forget to watch SNL tonight! Taran Killam is excited (he's been tweeting about it).
Bonus videos below are coming thanks to Kelsey an NBC vendor. Thanks Kelsey!
In anticipation to Dana hosting this week, he was on Jimmy Fallon being hilarious:
I've got to say that normally trying any impersonations on Jimmy Fallon's show is suicide. Because then Jimmy just says, "Oh you're doing so and so" and then he gives it back to them ten times better (he did this with Martin Short and lots of people).
However, this is the first time I've seen someone do that to Jimmy. Jimmy starts in his Dennis Miller, and then Dana just gives it back ten times better. I'm excited about tonight! Jimmy couldn't even give his commercials, Dana had him cracking so hard.
Dana shows Jimmy some of the characters he pitched for the upcoming episode of Saturday Night Live...
So Taran Killam was not in this episode of SNL. Did his skits get cut, did he have to be absent, or did he get an early axe? My guess is his skits got cut. Time will tell. He definitely didn't get fired, because he's been tweeting this week about how excited he is to work with Dana Carvey.
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NASIM PEDRAD
Show - Mr. Wizard's World
Jesse Eisenberg ... Chris
Abby Elliott ... Lauren
Bill Hader ... Don Herbert, Mr. Wizard
Nasim Pedrad ... Claudette
Kenan Thompson ... kid
Kristen Wiig ... announcer (voice)
A science experiment gets risque when two of the students start experimenting on their own.
Hahahaha. Nasim is hilarious! Totally her skit here.
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JAY PHAROAH
Show - The Essentials: Bride of Blackenstein
Jesse Eisenberg ... Igor
Nicki Minaj ... bride
Bill Hader ... townsperson
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Jay Pharoah ... scientist
Jason Sudeikis ... Robert Osborne
Kenan Thompson ... Blackenstein
Kristen Wiig ... townsperson
Everyone is familiar with 'Frankenstein' - but you probably never saw the tale of 'Bride of Blackenstein.'
Jay's pretty funny here as the scientist. Kristen's got a nice straight and flat joke.
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Here's how the featured players did...
1. Nasim Pedrad - 3 skits this week, including playing lead with Jesse in Mr. Wizard's World and being one of the sexy 12-year olds in Skins.
2. Jay Pharoah - only 1 skit this week, but it was as the mad scientist in Dr. Blackenstein. Funny enough to score him second place!
3. Paul Brittain - 2 skits. Paul was featured well in the Estro-Maxx commercial and as one of the Skins kids.
3. Vanessa Bayer - 2 skits. She just supported in Spa Talk and El Shrinko.
4. Taran Killam - He was absent. Likely that his skits got cut or nobody wrote him in.
Andy Samberg and Pee-wee Herman (aka Paul Reubens) were spotted leaving the NBC studios the night/morning, right after their digital short aired on "Saturday Night Live."
Jesse Eisenberg ... Derek Smalls
Bill Hader ... Herb Welch
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Andy Samberg ... student
Jason Sudeikis ... Jack
Kenan Thompson ... residential advisor
58-year veteran reporter Herb Welch covers a major drug bust at a prestigious New York college.
We were asked that question. So here's the answer...
Are you serious? Really? Dana Carvey saved SNL. I'm serious. It was on the brink of being canceled in 1985. Jon Lovitz and Dennis Miller got it just enough of an audience to have one final season after their failure season in 85. And that's the season (1986-1987) when they brought on Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman. Phil and Lovitz were good, but Dana's Church Lady (on the very first episode of the season) immediately made him into the "next Eddie Murphy" and brought SNL back on America's map.
His characters include Grumpy Old Man (inspired a series of movies), Garth, Ching Change, Hans (and Franz), Church Lady, and Lyle the effiminate heterosexual (hilarious).
His George Bush Sr. was the first legendary presidential impersonation that all of them have been trying to achieve the status of. On SNL he did over 50 impressions, also including his impossible-to-beat Johnny Carson and Jimmy Stuart.
Dana Carvey won an Emmy on SNL and was nominated an additional 4 times (only Lorne has that beat, and nobody has been nominated that often for acing on SNL). He was also nominated for another Emmy on another show, totaling 6 Emmy nominations with one win.
And all that to say, when he was on SNL, the man was a legend. However, he left SNL and everything fell apart for him.
He was such a legend that he left SNL to create his own variety show and to star in his first movie, Clean Slate. The movie was funny, but didn't do well (it did inspire Momento though). Basically, it wasn't shocking enough. And his show was hilarious, but it also wasn't enough (a half hour variety show in prime time on a major network is a huge challenge and almost impossible to get to work).
So he did everything right on SNL and nothing right after that. He found his niche on SNL (crazy characters) but he didn't have the ability to turn those characters into longer stories the way Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, and Will Ferrell have. In fact, he was Adam Sandler's hero, which is why Adam cast him in Little Nicky, produced Master of Disguises (a flop), and has now cast him in Jack and Jill.
Which is why Dana Carvey is on. He's in a large role in an Adam Sandler film later this year, Jack and Jill. Basically Dana's trying again. I got to give him props for that, because he was the king of SNL back in his day and brought it back into popularity. So the potential for him to find another niche still exists.
He's a legend.
I think Dana was more important to the show than both Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell. However, they were far more successful when they left (even Jon Lovitz was, and he hasn't been all that successful). Plus guys like Rob Schneider, David Spade, Kevin Nealon, Chris Kattan, Tracy Morgan, and Phil Hartman didn't do as well on the show, but they all had better careers in TV and film than Dana did once they left the show.
Jesse Eisenberg ... Trent
Paul Brittain ... guy
Abby Elliott ... Cassie
Steve Higgins ... announcer (voice)
Nasim Pedrad ... girl
Andy Samberg ... head of programming
The controversial MTV show is trying make up for some sponsors who pulled advertisements from the air.
Hahahaha. Andy accidentally knocks over the moon man and almost breaks out laughing. He recovers well and then purposefully knocks it over as a joke.
It's like an extended sponsorship joke from Wayne's World! Nice!
What? Three posts in one day? What's the world coming too?
Dana Carvey hosts an all-new SNL 2/5 with musical guest Linkin Park. SCHWINGGG!
Wow. Jim Carrey and now Dana Carvey? SNL loves us!
Andy and Dana are hilarious here together, with Akiva doing his normal editing thing on the "Potato Man" title.
Dana is showing his age a little where Andy actually looks better doing Dana's gags.
Wow, the "schwing" gag is amazing. Talk about dedication to craft. I was laughing hysterically and had to watch it a few times just because I couldn't believe that they did that. They did the same gag for 30 seconds or so, knowing that the awkwardness of it would make it funny. Had to be Andy's idea.
I always see Andy doing these promos and it kind of makes me want a Lonely Island show where the whole show is Andy (and Jorm and Akiva) doing skits like their digital shorts with stars like Dana.
The video clips below are Russell Brand on Jay Leno. Hopefully to give you hint of what the SNL show will be like.
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New York, NY - February 1, 2011 - Comedian Russell Brand and musical guest Chris Brown will make their debut appearances on "Saturday Night Live" for the February 12 show.
Russell Brand, taking his first turn as SNL host, will lend his voice to the upcoming animated feature "Hop" due out April 1st, and will also star in the remake of "Arthur" alongside Helen Mirren on April 8th. Brand shot to fame in the Judd Apatow box office hit, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," and has also appeared in "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler and Keri Russell, and "Get Him To The Greek" with Jonah Hill.
Grammy nominated and multi-platinum recording artist Chris Brown will also make his first appearance as musical guest. Brown's single, "No BS" has currently held the top spot on the Urban Mainstream radio airplay chart for two consecutive weeks. His other single, "Yeah 3X" is also enjoying success in the Top 5 on the Mainstream Top 40 and Rhythmic radio airplay charts, while his newest single "Look At Me Now" featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes is already climbing the charts. Brown's fourth album "F.A.M.E." is due out March 22nd.
Jesse Eisenberg ... Randy
Vanessa Bayer ... girl
Bill Hader ... Derek
Bill Hader ... announcer (voice)
Nasim Pedrad ... girl
Andy Samberg ... Arthur Perkins
Kristen Wiig ... girl
Are women complaining about your penis being too large? El Shrinko might be the answer for you.
Hahahaha. Nice. Andy and Jesse make a good team. Did you like it?
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