When biting the inside of your cheeks isn't enough
July 28, 2013 12:37 PM Subscribe
Is it just the accessibility of the tape, or did the amount of corpsing on SNL increase dramatically @ 2000?
posted by to sir with millipedes at 12:47 PM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by to sir with millipedes at 12:47 PM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
This is fantastic. If only SNL was always this funny...
posted by Strass at 12:54 PM on July 28, 2013
posted by Strass at 12:54 PM on July 28, 2013
I hate this more than you can possibly imagine.
posted by eamondaly at 12:57 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by eamondaly at 12:57 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
I hate this more than you can possibly imagine.
Well young man, if you spend any more of your time lazin' around on websites, hatin' on jokes, tellin' others they should waste their precious time unpossibly imagining your hatred, why, one day you'll be living in a VAN down by the RIVER. THEN you'll REALLY have somethin' to hate.
posted by fraula at 1:02 PM on July 28, 2013 [29 favorites]
Well young man, if you spend any more of your time lazin' around on websites, hatin' on jokes, tellin' others they should waste their precious time unpossibly imagining your hatred, why, one day you'll be living in a VAN down by the RIVER. THEN you'll REALLY have somethin' to hate.
posted by fraula at 1:02 PM on July 28, 2013 [29 favorites]
If the audience boo'd instead of applauded this would happen a lot less.
posted by bleep at 1:04 PM on July 28, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by bleep at 1:04 PM on July 28, 2013 [6 favorites]
Alas, no Janet Jackson struggling with soaking cork.
posted by ambient2 at 1:09 PM on July 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by ambient2 at 1:09 PM on July 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
Phil and Chris. How anyone kept a straight face around those two...
posted by Brocktoon at 1:20 PM on July 28, 2013
posted by Brocktoon at 1:20 PM on July 28, 2013
Actually that last bit with Phil and the cosmetics infomercial also has a great Chris Farley character in drag. It was the voices he gave his drag characters that really put then over the top.
posted by Brocktoon at 1:23 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Brocktoon at 1:23 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
This is fantastic. If only SNL was always this funny...
posted by Strass at 3:54 PM on July 28 [+] [!]
And with Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, and Jason Sudeikis now leaving - Seth Meyers is leaving too, but his Weekend Update has always been weak anyway - it may be bad on SNL for the foreseeable future. Though I do love Vanessa Bayer, Taran Killam, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, and Aidy Bryant. Just in passing, can anyone explain what the hell Tim Sullivan is doing there?
posted by anothermug at 1:31 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Strass at 3:54 PM on July 28 [+] [!]
And with Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, and Jason Sudeikis now leaving - Seth Meyers is leaving too, but his Weekend Update has always been weak anyway - it may be bad on SNL for the foreseeable future. Though I do love Vanessa Bayer, Taran Killam, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, and Aidy Bryant. Just in passing, can anyone explain what the hell Tim Sullivan is doing there?
posted by anothermug at 1:31 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
We want you outside our little invisi-square
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:34 PM on July 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:34 PM on July 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
It's kind of enjoyable when they occasionally break character. It highlights how funny the sketch really is. If it happens all the time it starts becoming about how funny they think they are.
posted by orange swan at 1:38 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by orange swan at 1:38 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
No matter how many times I see it, that Debbie Downer sketch has me in tears.
One conspicuously absent from the list: That strange and hilarious sketch where Will Ferrell is a doctor meeting with Molly Shannon and her husband...I think Tim Meadows comes in and does The Robot at some point...and Molly Shannon just cannot keep it together. Sorry I can't find a link anywhere.
I don't really get why SNL actors sometimes get so much flack simply because they don't have the luxury of doing a bunch of takes. No one ever complains about the blooper reels from films and other TV shows.
posted by Room 641-A at 1:50 PM on July 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
One conspicuously absent from the list: That strange and hilarious sketch where Will Ferrell is a doctor meeting with Molly Shannon and her husband...I think Tim Meadows comes in and does The Robot at some point...and Molly Shannon just cannot keep it together. Sorry I can't find a link anywhere.
I don't really get why SNL actors sometimes get so much flack simply because they don't have the luxury of doing a bunch of takes. No one ever complains about the blooper reels from films and other TV shows.
posted by Room 641-A at 1:50 PM on July 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
I often wonder if Phil-Hartman-as-Frankenstein breaking through the wall of the set was scripted or just the easiest way to stop corpsing. FIRE BAD!
God, I miss Phil Hartman
Also tried to find a clip of Eddie Murphy as Shabazz K. Morton in "Black History Minute" almost, but not quite, losing it. "Y'all better not make me smile."
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 2:19 PM on July 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
God, I miss Phil Hartman
Also tried to find a clip of Eddie Murphy as Shabazz K. Morton in "Black History Minute" almost, but not quite, losing it. "Y'all better not make me smile."
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 2:19 PM on July 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
"Laughing and all that dumb shit [Jimmy Fallon] used to do - he wouldn't mess with me because I didn't fucking play that shit. That's taking all the attention off of everybody else and putting it on you, like, 'Oh, look at me, I'm the cute one.' I told him not to do that shit in my sketches, so he never did." - Tracy Morgan, waxing nostalgic about SNL.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:31 PM on July 28, 2013 [11 favorites]
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:31 PM on July 28, 2013 [11 favorites]
Taran Killam is the future Phil. Just look at his Andrew character in the McD sketch. Pure genius.
posted by Max Power at 2:37 PM on July 28, 2013
posted by Max Power at 2:37 PM on July 28, 2013
While I love these (though Colbert Report corpsing is my all-time favorite corpsing), I am intellectually against corpsing. Part of the reason is the Tracy Morgan quote above. If you're going to be serious about your work (and I think you can be serious about comedy), then part of the idea of a sketch is that these ridiculous things are happening, but are nothing more than slightly odd within the world the sketch creates. So as not to pick on the easy targets of Fallon and Sanz, look at Spade and Applegate in the brilliant Chris Farley down-by-the-river sketch. The point of this sketch is the utter weirdness of the Farley character, and, on a second level, the desperation and out-of-touch-ness of the parents in bringing this oddball into their homes, thinking he could help some way. When Spade laughs at Farley, it is, certainly, tribute to the latter's talents. But it's also breaking the soap-bubble-delicate suspension of disbelief that the sketch requires.
After this, there will be some old man ranting:
I also seem to recall that there was a lot less corpsing Back In The Day. Certainly, the appearance of more post-2000 sketches in this compilation bears this out. But maybe I read (in the Tom Shales SNL book?) that Lorne Michaels used to crack down on corpsing, even get furious at it. It was grounds for a fine or worse. If you were the sort who couldn't make it through a sketch without corpsing, you weren't getting on the show (as a player, not as a guest, obviously) in the first place!
posted by aureliobuendia at 2:49 PM on July 28, 2013
After this, there will be some old man ranting:
I also seem to recall that there was a lot less corpsing Back In The Day. Certainly, the appearance of more post-2000 sketches in this compilation bears this out. But maybe I read (in the Tom Shales SNL book?) that Lorne Michaels used to crack down on corpsing, even get furious at it. It was grounds for a fine or worse. If you were the sort who couldn't make it through a sketch without corpsing, you weren't getting on the show (as a player, not as a guest, obviously) in the first place!
posted by aureliobuendia at 2:49 PM on July 28, 2013
The best is almost-corpsing. In older episodes of Reno 911, look for Carlos Alazraqui (Garcia) to turn away from the camera in the middle of a good sketch. In an episode of Veep, there's a scene where the chief of staff is sitting down to dinner with a racist Texas senator, and she quickly covers up a laugh when he enunciates the word "Mexico". It reminds you that these comedians are human beings, without distracting from the ridiculousness in front of you.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:06 PM on July 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:06 PM on July 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
My favorite SNL sketch with multiple cast members corpsing is a Will Ferrell one that didn't even make to air - it got cut after dress.
But it's pretty damn funny, if you like prospector humor.
posted by joechip at 3:12 PM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
But it's pretty damn funny, if you like prospector humor.
posted by joechip at 3:12 PM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
I thought it was too short. But it is 4:20. Hrm.
Admittedly, that Tracy Morgan quote make sense. On the other hand, Bill Hader is hilarious and he shouldn't stop it.
posted by Glinn at 3:13 PM on July 28, 2013
Admittedly, that Tracy Morgan quote make sense. On the other hand, Bill Hader is hilarious and he shouldn't stop it.
posted by Glinn at 3:13 PM on July 28, 2013
It's kind of enjoyable when they occasionally break character. It highlights how funny the sketch really is. If it happens all the time it starts becoming about how funny they think they are.
posted by orange swan at 4:38 PM on July 28 [+] [!]
I agree, but there's also something so exceptional about Chris Farrell not breaking character at all in the "van down by the river" sketch while Christina Applegate and David Spade are cracking up. Really special.
posted by sweetkid at 3:35 PM on July 28, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by orange swan at 4:38 PM on July 28 [+] [!]
I agree, but there's also something so exceptional about Chris Farrell not breaking character at all in the "van down by the river" sketch while Christina Applegate and David Spade are cracking up. Really special.
posted by sweetkid at 3:35 PM on July 28, 2013 [8 favorites]
Breaking character should not be celebrated.
posted by davebush at 4:03 PM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by davebush at 4:03 PM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
Got it.
posted by sweetkid at 4:33 PM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by sweetkid at 4:33 PM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
I dunno... I have half a mind that says the "van down by the river" sketch is memorable just because everybody in the scene is cracking up. I mean, yeah... it's funny, but so were most a number of Farley's other sketches, they just weren't memorable like this one.
posted by Blue_Villain at 4:40 PM on July 28, 2013
posted by Blue_Villain at 4:40 PM on July 28, 2013
Also, re: Tracey Morgan. I sorta enjoyed the occasional corpse or two. I mean, this is SNL we're talking about, not the Grover Norquist hour. Lighten the [expletives deleted] up.
posted by Blue_Villain at 4:43 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Blue_Villain at 4:43 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
When Bill Hader was on WTF, he said that the writers would always try to make him break character in the Stefon sketches. They'd change the script between the dress rehearsal and the live show and he wouldn't see it until it was on the cuecards.
posted by roll truck roll at 5:04 PM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by roll truck roll at 5:04 PM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
Also, re: Tracey Morgan. I sorta enjoyed the occasional corpse or two. I mean, this is SNL we're talking about, not the Grover Norquist hour. Lighten the [expletives deleted] up.
I always enjoy what looks like a sincere corpsing, personally. I think Morgan was talking about something else.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:22 PM on July 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
I always enjoy what looks like a sincere corpsing, personally. I think Morgan was talking about something else.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:22 PM on July 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
Yeah, I'm not sure that Stefon really counts, since more than most sketches it was basically a competition to see if they could get him to corpse.
I do not mind the occasional one, especially like when Gilda picks up the ball and runs with it. I generally disliked this era of the show, but when Don Rickles was on, he got Joe Piscopo to totally lose it mid-sketch and it was a thing of beauty. It sort of highlighted how Rickles's style was completely orthogonal to the SNL approach, really, but it got me gasping for air.
Breaking character should not be celebrated.
Oh, c'mon, it's live TV. (Or as Phil said, "Fuck it, it's dress." They always had the option of sending out the dress version for the West Coast, or using it for the home video/syndication version.) But god, I hope they're making each other laugh, at some level.
posted by dhartung at 5:43 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
I do not mind the occasional one, especially like when Gilda picks up the ball and runs with it. I generally disliked this era of the show, but when Don Rickles was on, he got Joe Piscopo to totally lose it mid-sketch and it was a thing of beauty. It sort of highlighted how Rickles's style was completely orthogonal to the SNL approach, really, but it got me gasping for air.
Breaking character should not be celebrated.
Oh, c'mon, it's live TV. (Or as Phil said, "Fuck it, it's dress." They always had the option of sending out the dress version for the West Coast, or using it for the home video/syndication version.) But god, I hope they're making each other laugh, at some level.
posted by dhartung at 5:43 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also, re: Tracey Morgan. I sorta enjoyed the occasional corpse or two. I mean, this is SNL we're talking about, not the Grover Norquist hour. Lighten the [expletives deleted] up.
Morgan wasn't saying that Fallon could never corpse under penalty of death; he was talking about Fallon's tendency to giggle his way through every sketch he was in, even when he was just in the background. That shit is unprofessional, and I don't blame Morgan at all for wanting Fallon not to ape and clown to his co-workers' detriment.
posted by Etrigan at 5:52 PM on July 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
Morgan wasn't saying that Fallon could never corpse under penalty of death; he was talking about Fallon's tendency to giggle his way through every sketch he was in, even when he was just in the background. That shit is unprofessional, and I don't blame Morgan at all for wanting Fallon not to ape and clown to his co-workers' detriment.
posted by Etrigan at 5:52 PM on July 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
This reminds me that I keep meaning to read Live, From New York... and haven't gotten around to it yet.
posted by Sara C. at 6:16 PM on July 28, 2013
posted by Sara C. at 6:16 PM on July 28, 2013
Yeah, I was just learning that Stefon story last week from my roommate (himself a stand-up.) Apparently John Mulaney was really the guy in charge of Stefon's writing, and would just use it as a personal challenge to see if Hader could get through it without corpsing.
posted by Navelgazer at 7:08 PM on July 28, 2013
posted by Navelgazer at 7:08 PM on July 28, 2013
OK, this is probably more appropriately an Ask MetaFilter question, but I have a SNL two-parter.
First, there is a sketch in which froofy goofball people are gadding about and marrying two teeny chihuahuas to each other and trying to do pet voices and goddam if it isn't ridiculously funny. And, I haven't yet watched the video up top, but either the characters are completely giddy assholes or every player in the sketch is corpsing. This was from the late 90s. What is this sketch, where can I see it?
Second, same era SNL; there is a clip of a Sunday matinee movie in which Horatio Sanz plays an alien with a stupid-ass horn on his head who is trying to seduce a blind girl in a stable, and her dad (Phil Hartman, pretty sure) breaks in on the whole thing and tries to disrupt it but then doesn't and then the girl leaves and then Horatio Sanz looks at the camera and says, "Now I can get at that horse" or something like it, at which point it fades to black and a voiceover guy says "What was that? Maybe this movie is a front for laundering drug money. But what do I know? I'm just the voiceover guy." or words to that effect. Again, what is this sketch, where can I see it?. I realize all this makes me sound like a meth head. I am, but that's beside the point.
I'm virtually positive that Sarah Michelle Gellar was in the second sketch, and am reasonably certain she showed up in the first.
posted by cog_nate at 7:26 PM on July 28, 2013
First, there is a sketch in which froofy goofball people are gadding about and marrying two teeny chihuahuas to each other and trying to do pet voices and goddam if it isn't ridiculously funny. And, I haven't yet watched the video up top, but either the characters are completely giddy assholes or every player in the sketch is corpsing. This was from the late 90s. What is this sketch, where can I see it?
Second, same era SNL; there is a clip of a Sunday matinee movie in which Horatio Sanz plays an alien with a stupid-ass horn on his head who is trying to seduce a blind girl in a stable, and her dad (Phil Hartman, pretty sure) breaks in on the whole thing and tries to disrupt it but then doesn't and then the girl leaves and then Horatio Sanz looks at the camera and says, "Now I can get at that horse" or something like it, at which point it fades to black and a voiceover guy says "What was that? Maybe this movie is a front for laundering drug money. But what do I know? I'm just the voiceover guy." or words to that effect. Again, what is this sketch, where can I see it?. I realize all this makes me sound like a meth head. I am, but that's beside the point.
I'm virtually positive that Sarah Michelle Gellar was in the second sketch, and am reasonably certain she showed up in the first.
posted by cog_nate at 7:26 PM on July 28, 2013
I don't know, but I'm pretty sure Horatio Sanz was on SNL after Phil Hartman had already passed. Sarah Michelle Gellar was not famous in Phil Hartman's lifetime, either.
posted by Sara C. at 7:41 PM on July 28, 2013
posted by Sara C. at 7:41 PM on July 28, 2013
But maybe I read (in the Tom Shales SNL book?) that Lorne Michaels used to crack down on corpsing, even get furious at it. It was grounds for a fine or worse. If you were the sort who couldn't make it through a sketch without corpsing, you weren't getting on the show (as a player, not as a guest, obviously) in the first place!
Yeah, Michaels hates corpsing or any other unforeseen digression. And it's not simply the fact that you're upstaging or otherwise diverting attention away from the sketch; it's because a live show is on such a tight schedule. Part of the dress rehearsal involves timing not only the material, but the laughter. A live television producer or director can't afford to spend extra seconds of unexpected action plus extra extra seconds of reaction when you have to cut to commercial or to the network break or the next program. It's always better to run short than run late.
That's why Elvis Costello was banned from SNL after stopping "Less Than Zero" to launch into "Radio Radio". Yes, he openly defied an order not to sing the anti-corporate anthem, but what really pissed Lorne Michaels off was that the song simply runs longer than what he was expecting.
Of course, the other side of this is that the audience absolutely loves it any time something goes awry. That's part of why you watch live television! Anything can happen! However, the audience's enjoyment in this case is the very same thing what gives television directors ulcers and cirrhosis of the liver. So there's that.
posted by Spatch at 7:56 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah, Michaels hates corpsing or any other unforeseen digression. And it's not simply the fact that you're upstaging or otherwise diverting attention away from the sketch; it's because a live show is on such a tight schedule. Part of the dress rehearsal involves timing not only the material, but the laughter. A live television producer or director can't afford to spend extra seconds of unexpected action plus extra extra seconds of reaction when you have to cut to commercial or to the network break or the next program. It's always better to run short than run late.
That's why Elvis Costello was banned from SNL after stopping "Less Than Zero" to launch into "Radio Radio". Yes, he openly defied an order not to sing the anti-corporate anthem, but what really pissed Lorne Michaels off was that the song simply runs longer than what he was expecting.
Of course, the other side of this is that the audience absolutely loves it any time something goes awry. That's part of why you watch live television! Anything can happen! However, the audience's enjoyment in this case is the very same thing what gives television directors ulcers and cirrhosis of the liver. So there's that.
posted by Spatch at 7:56 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's impossible for me to watch an episode of SNL now without imagining a harried Liz Lemon-y producer in the windows muttering "NERDS!" and storming off.
posted by The Whelk at 8:42 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 8:42 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
First, there is a sketch in which froofy goofball people are gadding about and marrying two teeny chihuahuas to each other and trying to do pet voices and goddam if it isn't ridiculously funny. And, I haven't yet watched the video up top, but either the characters are completely giddy assholes or every player in the sketch is corpsing. This was from the late 90s. What is this sketch, where can I see it?
That would be Dog Show. Had Will Farrell, Molly Shannon, and I remember Drew Marrymore doing a part. I guess Hulu or NBC would be where you could find it, provided you're in the US.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 9:02 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
That would be Dog Show. Had Will Farrell, Molly Shannon, and I remember Drew Marrymore doing a part. I guess Hulu or NBC would be where you could find it, provided you're in the US.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 9:02 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Will Ferrell outtakes on Eastbound & Down have some great corpsing moments.
posted by mcmile at 9:31 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by mcmile at 9:31 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
I would have loved if that Ed McMahon/Dick Clark show were called "TV's Corpses & Practical Jokes"
posted by not_on_display at 9:40 PM on July 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by not_on_display at 9:40 PM on July 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
My favorite example of this was a sketch where the bit was Will Ferrell was a drill sergeant talking about his date last night in the form of barking at his at-attention troops in the quarters. David Spade was one of the rank and file, and at one point, he starts to crack; at which point Will Ferrell stops pacing the room and barrells towards him with the full force of that ridiculous bellow "YOU THINK THIS IS A GIGGLE FEST, PRIVATE SON-OF-A-BITCH!?" and forces him to improv a line while beginning to crack, at which point (never cracking so much as a smile) Will Ferrell begins pecking Spade with the brim of his hat. It was truly a thing of beauty.
(Oh, here it is, thanks internet!)
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 10:52 PM on July 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
(Oh, here it is, thanks internet!)
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 10:52 PM on July 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
Horatio Sanz plays an alien with a stupid-ass horn on his head
"Dusty's Love."
posted by MrBadExample at 11:21 PM on July 28, 2013
"Dusty's Love."
posted by MrBadExample at 11:21 PM on July 28, 2013
On the other hand, Bill Hader is hilarious and he shouldn't stop it.
Bill Hader corpsing is funnier that most people doing... anything. I am positive that the Stefon character's only reason for existing is to make him lose it.
Then again, I just look at Bill Hader and erupt in fits of giggles.
What is this about him leaving?
*SOB*
NOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
posted by louche mustachio at 11:32 PM on July 28, 2013
Bill Hader corpsing is funnier that most people doing... anything. I am positive that the Stefon character's only reason for existing is to make him lose it.
Then again, I just look at Bill Hader and erupt in fits of giggles.
What is this about him leaving?
*SOB*
NOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
posted by louche mustachio at 11:32 PM on July 28, 2013
Is it just the accessibility of the tape, or did the amount of corpsing on SNL increase dramatically @ 2000?
I seem to recall Tim Kazurinsky corpsing pretty regularly, but that era of SNL is kind of a blur.
posted by louche mustachio at 11:59 PM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
(this led me to try to figure out which was The Worst Season Ever, which led me to this list of SNL performers, from worst to best, as ranked by Nerve.
However, they placed Gilda Radner at NUMBER 13, and are henceforth DEAD TO ME.)
posted by louche mustachio at 12:16 AM on July 29, 2013
However, they placed Gilda Radner at NUMBER 13, and are henceforth DEAD TO ME.)
posted by louche mustachio at 12:16 AM on July 29, 2013
I was hoping for my favorite moment of not-quite-breaking-character to be in there.
In "America's Most Wanted: Former Child Stars", Michael J. Fox plays Danny Bonaduce, and when David Spade came in as Michael J. Fox, his voice breaking like a 13-year-old, the scowl on the real Fox's face was breathtaking.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 12:17 AM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
In "America's Most Wanted: Former Child Stars", Michael J. Fox plays Danny Bonaduce, and when David Spade came in as Michael J. Fox, his voice breaking like a 13-year-old, the scowl on the real Fox's face was breathtaking.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 12:17 AM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
I mean, this is SNL we're talking about, not the Grover Norquist hour
If that latter item were regularly on TV, my wife and I would be divorced. The look on her face when she comes in the room to discover I'm giggling at The 700 Club again. Still, if it Grover had a variety hour-type show, it might be worth the risk.
posted by yerfatma at 7:47 AM on July 29, 2013
If that latter item were regularly on TV, my wife and I would be divorced. The look on her face when she comes in the room to discover I'm giggling at The 700 Club again. Still, if it Grover had a variety hour-type show, it might be worth the risk.
posted by yerfatma at 7:47 AM on July 29, 2013
this list of SNL performers, from worst to best, as ranked by Nerve.
That rundown is so subjective and also dismisses how much some of those characters (Spartan cheerleaders, Mary Catherine Gallagher) were really popular in their time. Maybe just because I was in high school around then, but those characters were hilarious to me. Now, I agree they're pretty annoying.
Some of the reasoning behind the ranking too is just "their characters were annoying" which is so subjective. They're also, I have to say, colored by how we feel about those people now, like Victoria Jackson and Dennis Miller.
However, on any list Gilda Radner needs to be way higher than #13.
posted by sweetkid at 8:30 AM on July 29, 2013
That rundown is so subjective and also dismisses how much some of those characters (Spartan cheerleaders, Mary Catherine Gallagher) were really popular in their time. Maybe just because I was in high school around then, but those characters were hilarious to me. Now, I agree they're pretty annoying.
Some of the reasoning behind the ranking too is just "their characters were annoying" which is so subjective. They're also, I have to say, colored by how we feel about those people now, like Victoria Jackson and Dennis Miller.
However, on any list Gilda Radner needs to be way higher than #13.
posted by sweetkid at 8:30 AM on July 29, 2013
I don't know, Victoria Jackson wasn't funny at the time, either. I mean, I'd have ranked her above all the forgettable people from that one season in the early 80's, but no, not funny, regardless of politics.
I'm a little shocked they ranked Tina Fey above Gilda Radner. Especially since Fey mostly only did Update during her actual tenure on the show.
I also thought there was a bit of a bias in rating current or recent cast members (Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, etc) way higher than people from the 80's. It's very clearly written by someone who is about 23, aside from the expected nods to Hartman, Belushi, and Murphy.
posted by Sara C. at 8:39 AM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm a little shocked they ranked Tina Fey above Gilda Radner. Especially since Fey mostly only did Update during her actual tenure on the show.
I also thought there was a bit of a bias in rating current or recent cast members (Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, etc) way higher than people from the 80's. It's very clearly written by someone who is about 23, aside from the expected nods to Hartman, Belushi, and Murphy.
posted by Sara C. at 8:39 AM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
And with Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, and Jason Sudeikis now leaving - Seth Meyers is leaving too, but his Weekend Update has always been weak anyway - it may be bad on SNL for the foreseeable future. Though I do love Vanessa Bayer, Taran Killam, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, and Aidy Bryant.
You realize that you just named half of the remaining cast, right? I'm going to miss Hader and Sudeikis as much as anyone, but the current cast is still strong, and probably the strongest post-superstar-departure cast that SNL has ever had, if you count Wiig and Samberg's departures as part and parcel of the Hader/Armisen/Sudeikis departure this year, because let's face it, we all knew they were just taking a victory lap out of Wiig's shadow.
Just in passing, can anyone explain what the hell Tim Sullivan is doing there?
It's Tim Robinson, which I guess is just an indication of how little he stands out. I personally think of him as "that guy who isn't Bobby Moynihan," but he's also often the white version of Kenan Thompson (with that sort of "Seriously? WTF?" look).
posted by Etrigan at 8:44 AM on July 29, 2013
You realize that you just named half of the remaining cast, right? I'm going to miss Hader and Sudeikis as much as anyone, but the current cast is still strong, and probably the strongest post-superstar-departure cast that SNL has ever had, if you count Wiig and Samberg's departures as part and parcel of the Hader/Armisen/Sudeikis departure this year, because let's face it, we all knew they were just taking a victory lap out of Wiig's shadow.
Just in passing, can anyone explain what the hell Tim Sullivan is doing there?
It's Tim Robinson, which I guess is just an indication of how little he stands out. I personally think of him as "that guy who isn't Bobby Moynihan," but he's also often the white version of Kenan Thompson (with that sort of "Seriously? WTF?" look).
posted by Etrigan at 8:44 AM on July 29, 2013
I don't know, Victoria Jackson wasn't funny at the time, either. I mean, I'd have ranked her above all the forgettable people from that one season in the early 80's, but no, not funny, regardless of politics.
Yeah, that's kind of my point - she wasn't funny then, but I think she's ranked dead last because of her politics and truly terrible public persona now. Which, I mean that's fine with me, I'm not in any mood to defend Victoria Jackson on anything, but it just makes the whole list sort of suspect.
It's very clearly written by someone who is about 23, aside from the expected nods to Hartman, Belushi, and Murphy.
Yep, that's probably it.
posted by sweetkid at 9:03 AM on July 29, 2013
Yeah, that's kind of my point - she wasn't funny then, but I think she's ranked dead last because of her politics and truly terrible public persona now. Which, I mean that's fine with me, I'm not in any mood to defend Victoria Jackson on anything, but it just makes the whole list sort of suspect.
It's very clearly written by someone who is about 23, aside from the expected nods to Hartman, Belushi, and Murphy.
Yep, that's probably it.
posted by sweetkid at 9:03 AM on July 29, 2013
Maybe it's just me, but for me, I'm starting to think that the complaints about corpsing during a humorous, live, late-night tv show are really complaints about SNL in general and/or Jimmy Fallon in particular. Substitute "Carson sketches" for "SNL" and I have a hard time seeing anyone make the same criticisms. It's not like SNL is a Broadway run of Noises Off!.
"that guy who isn't Bobby Moynihan"
Bobby Moynihan's Time Bobby character is one of the funniest things ever on Comedy Bang Bang, which leads me to believe that SNL is simply wasting his talent.
Oh, and this episode of "The Californians" definitely needs to be on the list.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:20 AM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
"that guy who isn't Bobby Moynihan"
Bobby Moynihan's Time Bobby character is one of the funniest things ever on Comedy Bang Bang, which leads me to believe that SNL is simply wasting his talent.
Oh, and this episode of "The Californians" definitely needs to be on the list.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:20 AM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
Bobby Moynihan's Time Bobby character is one of the funniest things ever on Comedy Bang Bang, which leads me to believe that SNL is simply wasting his talent.
Drunk Uncle and Anthony Crispino (second-hand news guy) are two of the best Weekend Update characters and make his time on SNL not a waste all by themselves. His kid characters are among the least annoying instances of kid characters in SNL history, which is as high praise as I can muster for a form that I dislike. I think he's going to be in the foreground much more now that he's the senior white man on the cast.
posted by Etrigan at 9:30 AM on July 29, 2013
Drunk Uncle and Anthony Crispino (second-hand news guy) are two of the best Weekend Update characters and make his time on SNL not a waste all by themselves. His kid characters are among the least annoying instances of kid characters in SNL history, which is as high praise as I can muster for a form that I dislike. I think he's going to be in the foreground much more now that he's the senior white man on the cast.
posted by Etrigan at 9:30 AM on July 29, 2013
That rundown is so subjective
Quick, better provide us with an objective list of the funnyness of SNL performers. It will really be great to have that finally settled for all time.
posted by yoink at 9:44 AM on July 29, 2013
Quick, better provide us with an objective list of the funnyness of SNL performers. It will really be great to have that finally settled for all time.
posted by yoink at 9:44 AM on July 29, 2013
I don't know, Victoria Jackson wasn't funny at the time, either. I mean, I'd have ranked her above all the forgettable people from that one season in the early 80's, but no, not funny, regardless of politics.
I was just thinking about this the other day, probably due to some news story about yet another thing Jackson said publicly. I thought back to her SNL days, wondering if she went through some kind of Dennis Miller-esque transformation from moderately funny to humorless and shrill, and ... I drew a blank. All I remember of her work on SNL was her playing up some kind of cringe-inducing blonde stereotype that wore thin really fast. And even then, she still wasn't as unfunny as, say, Joe Piscopo or Jim Breuer.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 10:17 AM on July 29, 2013
I was just thinking about this the other day, probably due to some news story about yet another thing Jackson said publicly. I thought back to her SNL days, wondering if she went through some kind of Dennis Miller-esque transformation from moderately funny to humorless and shrill, and ... I drew a blank. All I remember of her work on SNL was her playing up some kind of cringe-inducing blonde stereotype that wore thin really fast. And even then, she still wasn't as unfunny as, say, Joe Piscopo or Jim Breuer.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 10:17 AM on July 29, 2013
I mean, the main problem with almost all women on SNL with the exception of Gilda Radner is that, until Tina Fey's tenure as head writer, nobody gave any of the women anything much to do but be ditsy.
I'm not sure that's entirely true (was Fey head writer during the era of the cheerleaders and Mary Katherine Gallagher?), but it's definitely true that at some point in the mid 90's there were suddenly women on SNL who actually got to be funny. And I think Victoria Jackson missed the boat on that by a couple years. So it's really hard to tell if Jackson is actively not funny, or she was just unlucky.
Doesn't Janeane Garofalo have a thing about being given nothing at all and then there were a bunch of sketches with guys in drag?
posted by Sara C. at 10:37 AM on July 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'm not sure that's entirely true (was Fey head writer during the era of the cheerleaders and Mary Katherine Gallagher?), but it's definitely true that at some point in the mid 90's there were suddenly women on SNL who actually got to be funny. And I think Victoria Jackson missed the boat on that by a couple years. So it's really hard to tell if Jackson is actively not funny, or she was just unlucky.
Doesn't Janeane Garofalo have a thing about being given nothing at all and then there were a bunch of sketches with guys in drag?
posted by Sara C. at 10:37 AM on July 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
I mean, the main problem with almost all women on SNL with the exception of Gilda Radner is that, until Tina Fey's tenure as head writer, nobody gave any of the women anything much to do but be ditsy.
Whoah, I really gotta disagree with you there. Mary Gross, Jan Hooks, Molly Shannon, hell even Julie Louis Dreyfus were funny in myriad ways. Jackson's deal was ... I dunno, play the ukulele? In that sense, we could say she was even ahead of her time.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 11:02 AM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
Whoah, I really gotta disagree with you there. Mary Gross, Jan Hooks, Molly Shannon, hell even Julie Louis Dreyfus were funny in myriad ways. Jackson's deal was ... I dunno, play the ukulele? In that sense, we could say she was even ahead of her time.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 11:02 AM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
Mary Gross, Jan Hooks, Molly Shannon, hell even Julie Louis-Dreyfus were funny in myriad ways.
Nora Dunn, too!
posted by Room 641-A at 1:35 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
Nora Dunn, too!
posted by Room 641-A at 1:35 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh jeez, Cheri Oteri, Ana Gasteyer.... Come to think of it, a number of Will Ferrell's most popular characters wouldn't exist without a female partner.
posted by Room 641-A at 2:20 PM on July 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 2:20 PM on July 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
I have a distinct sense that some of y'all didn't actually read what I wrote past "...until Tina Fey".
For example, I didn't say that none of the women on SNL were funny. Just that they tended not to have a ton to do. (Though early 80's SNL is really not my forte in terms of knowing the sketches and who was doing what and really anything beyond "is that when Joe Piscopo was on?")
I also explicitly mentioned sketches that both Molly Shannon and Cheri Oteri were in.
posted by Sara C. at 6:23 PM on July 29, 2013
For example, I didn't say that none of the women on SNL were funny. Just that they tended not to have a ton to do. (Though early 80's SNL is really not my forte in terms of knowing the sketches and who was doing what and really anything beyond "is that when Joe Piscopo was on?")
I also explicitly mentioned sketches that both Molly Shannon and Cheri Oteri were in.
posted by Sara C. at 6:23 PM on July 29, 2013
I agree, Sara, before and after Tina Fey SNL had a definite woman problem. Especially while Kristen Wiig was Queen Bee, I would roll my eyes every week when the other women on the cast got relegated to literal backup singers in sketch after sketch. This season was noticeably better.
posted by bleep at 7:41 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 7:41 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
And it's not that they weren't talented or never came out with anything funny, it's a matter of getting screen time, which seems to be challenging for anyone on the show who isn't already famous, a chicken-egg problem.
posted by bleep at 7:42 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 7:42 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah. I think there's also somewhat of a tokenism issue at work. Which I think wasn't necessarily the case in the mid-late 90's and early 2000's when you had Shannon, Oteri, Ana Gasteyer, Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph, and Amy Poehler all doing awesome stuff, with no one person hogging the spotlight.
This was definitely the period when Fey was writing for SNL (though she came on in '97, after Molly Shannon and Cheri Oteri were already there), and includes her tenure as head writer. I'm not sure if she had any impact earlier on before becoming head writer, or if there was any type of top down "let's be better about women" influence on casting. But her time at SNL definitely seems to be the best, for female comedians.
posted by Sara C. at 8:27 PM on July 29, 2013
This was definitely the period when Fey was writing for SNL (though she came on in '97, after Molly Shannon and Cheri Oteri were already there), and includes her tenure as head writer. I'm not sure if she had any impact earlier on before becoming head writer, or if there was any type of top down "let's be better about women" influence on casting. But her time at SNL definitely seems to be the best, for female comedians.
posted by Sara C. at 8:27 PM on July 29, 2013
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