SNL 40

Visiting 30 Rock and 8-H in 2013.

I am a huge nerd, I have admitted it in the past and I will continue to admit it into the future. One of the things that gets my nerd juices flowing the fastest is Saturday Night Live. Last night was SNL40, the highlight of my storm-stayed holiday long weekend at home. I have been waiting for the huge special that aired last night since I first caught wind of it and believe me, it did not disappoint. After over a year of hard work the special was absolutely magical to me.

My Highlights:

-Bradley Cooper making out with Betty White.

-The auditions feature during the show with clips of SNL favourites auditions back in the day.

-Chris Rock’s tribute to Eddie Murphy.

-The montages, all of em’.

-Tributes to my hero Lorne Michaels throughout the night, my favourite one had to be during Adam

Sandler and Andy’s Samberg’s Digital Short. 

My Forgettable Moments:

-Miley Cyrus’s performance, it was good but had everyone in my house scratching their heads.

-Eddie Murphy’s 73-second appearance.

This morning I woke up and re-watched most of the special again and there are honestly very few things I would cut. I thought Jerry Seinfeld’s question and answer segment was great but would have been better without Dakota Johnson’s awkward plug for her upcoming episode and a throw to the uncomfortable antics of Ellen Cleghorne. Also, the Californians went a too long. It was an absolute treat to see Wayne and Garth back together and impersonating Lorne.

My favourite moment is a hard one to judge, but it would have to be Celebrity Jeopardy.

I could go on and on about the magic of SNL 40 last night, unfortunately some people failed to see it. The internet is a-buzz today with feedback about the special but I think the most important thing to remember about SNL is something that I was told when touring NBC and visiting the SNL set.

Studio 8-H is tiny, it truly is. The crew does an incredible job making it look WAY bigger than it really is. That is one of the reasons it is so hard to get tickets to the show. During the tour they tell you that the show is not created each Saturday night for the people in the audience, it is made to watch at home. Last night’s Sunday night special was a change in format, I watched it as a performance for the incredible cast and crew that has made SNL over the past 40 years. From the comfort of my home I felt like I was peeping into a window watching something special created by and for some of the most talented comedians to ever live. It is hard to articulate exactly how I feel about last night’s show, but I feel privileged to say that I watched it and that I visited 8-H a place where magic truly does happen.

Last night it was exciting to see the incredible casts of the past work with the contemporary SNL night crew. I have mourned many people leaving the show in the past few years only to be blown away by the incredible new talent that joins the cast. It was wonderful to see them all working together.

If you have not watched SNL40 yet make sure you watch it all soon, do not just watch the clips online you will not get the incredible impact of the entire show as it was meant to be seen.

One final note, THANK YOU to everyone who has worked at SNL in the past and continues to provide laughs for the future. As I type this there are three people on screen in the TV show that I am watching (not SNL) that were once on SNL working together with other talented comedians to produce one of the funniest shows on television right now. Saturday Night Live has made the world a funnier, better place.

Also, props to Global TV here in Canada for live streaming SNL 40 for FREE online. Now SNL start letting Canadians view your YouTube videos, common' Lorne I know you have the power!

"Yes Please" by Amy Poehler

My drive home from work today was extremely lonely. I have been spending the last week and a half with a bright, hilarious, female companion as I ripped around the Annapolis Valley. I have been listening to “Yes Please” the new audio book by the brilliant Amy Poehler.

I am a BIG fan of listening to the comedians read their own books as I drive; it helps pass the incredible amount of time I spend in my car. Whilst listening to incredible books like Tina Fey’s “Bossypants” and Mindy Kaling’s “Is EveryoneHanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)” I actually started to resent having passengers during my trips who distracted me from listening to the special voices living inside my car. “Yes Please” was no different. My sister and other travel companions would recognize Poehler’s voice instantly and tell me to continue listening with them or start the book over.

Sometimes it is nice to have a little something to yourself, even if people all over the world are enjoying the same thing at the exact same time. There is something so intimate and private about listening to someone read you a book and tell you their stories that it makes you feel connected to them in a way that would probably creep them out (at least a little bit).

To be honest with you I am not big on listening to books that are anything other than authors talking about their own lives. I could never listen to Game of Thrones via audio book, although it would take until I settled into retirement to finish them. Listening to Tina and Mindy’s books really added that special touch, something I think I missed by reading Sarah Silverman’s ballsy “The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee”.

Listening to “Yes Please” was a treat. Poehler’s book is honest in a way that the other books in the female comedian semi-biography genre are not. Her take on life, her words of advice and her humble roots combine to make a very accessible book that can be appreciated by readers of all ages. I love the cameo voice-overs interjecting with advice and bits throughout the book as well. Not only does Amy offer up words of wisdom from experience her parents also interject with more advice on living.

I love the advice on everything from sex to tipping waiters in “Yes Please” but I can happily tell you that the book is not preachy. Poehler’s counsel is perfectly balanced with tales from her childhood and her personal and professional life as an adult. As much as I love Parks and Recreation I am happy that she feels too close to the show right now to write in depth about it, she acknowledges the impact of the show on her life but leaves more to be discussed (hopefully) in her next book.

It is hard to determine what my favourite part of the book is because the entire book was a pleasure to listen too. I can narrow it down to three parts:

-      Amy reflecting back on her time at SNL. I believe that the set of Saturday Night Live is equally as magical as Disney World/Land and listening to Amy talk about her time as part of the cast makes me feel like I am listening to a child talk about why they like Christmas so much.

-      Listening to Amy discuss her appreciation and love for the cast of Parks and Recreation. It sounds like the incredible characters that have made us love them on TV are just as easy to love off-screen. The workplace environment Poehler discusses sounds like the dream, there’s nothing better than working with talented, fun individuals who mesh well. You can hear the love in her voice when she talks about her co-workers and that is something to be cherished. It is nice to know that the cast of Parks and Recreation will miss working together as much (or more) than the fans will miss watching it after the final season.

-      The advice. Yes, I had to mention it one more time… and tip your server well. Words of wisdom touch on many topics like finding confidence, sleep deprivation, hugging inappropriate people and finding ways to be fun/funny during challenging times. There is a gem for everyone in this book.  

Poehler’s book is a winner; pick it up for any lady on your Christmas list this year. Or better yet, check out the audio book and have the one and only Amy Poehler read it to her herself! 

Last thought on “Yes Please”:

I think Amy Poehler could be the next Oprah. I just deleted a long paragraph justifying my stance on this statement but I really think you should let your mind wander on this topic until you agree with me. My question to you is, who would be her Gail? I would do crazy things to be invited to the “Amy’s Favourite Things” episode of this hypothetical television show…

For now I guess you can settle for checking out the "Yes Please" tour! For showtimes and locations click here.

Drake Hosts and Performs on SNL this Saturday Night!

Toronto’s Drake (Aubrey Drake Graham) will host and be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this Degrassi: The Next Generation acting roots… Yes, we Canadians will remember that before Drake was on the scene rapping he was put through the perils of life at Degrassi from around 2001 to 2009, he was in 138 episodes as Jimmy Brooks.

weekend. As a huge SNL fan I am always apprehensive when acts double up, but this little video of Drake takes us Canadians back to his

Sometimes I forget about Drake’s time on Degrassi, to be honest with you I do it willfully. I was not allowed to watch the original groundbreaking series when it was in its rerun phase on CBC, meaning I tried to watch it whenever I could just to defy authority; no one could tell Young Kate what to do with her preteen pre-evening time. We only had two channels and it would always be between CBC’s old reruns and whatever was on Oprah that day; both were equally as scarring some days to my young psyche (but, I liked it). I never really did get into the revamp of Degrassi, but my roommate in university forced me into watching them… she loved the old and the new. So, let’s just say I have had my fill of Degrassi.

Back to the point, this is what happens when I write blogs late in the day at my desk. Drake will be hosting Saturday Night Live this Saturday Night (January 18^th)!

Josh Hutcherson and HAIM on Saturday Night Live

         I am a massive Saturday Night Live fan, honestly if I am home alone I re-watch old episodes, when I am at home in Nova Scotia I drive my family crazy trying to make them laugh by showing them old clips from episodes I know they have not watched (they never find them as funny as I do) and I have no problem spending my Saturday nights at home waiting for ‘SNL’ to come on.

         Last night’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ was by far my favourite episode of the season, with one of my current favourite bands HAIM and Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson it was an incredible episode. I think this episode was great for multiple reasons:

1.   There was no shortage of jokes about host Josh Hutcherson’s height, he is 5’5 and as you can see next to his Hunger Game’s co-stars quite small. This was taken in stride, in one sketch Hutcherson is a character names ‘lil’ peanut’. Adorable.

2.   The host and band are still pretty unknown. Yes, Hutcherson is in one of the biggest movies of the year; but I bet you wouldn’t recognize him (unless you are a 14 year old girl) on the streets though! HAIM is blowing up, but still unknown to most people. I think this is a magical combination for SNL; it is harder for the episode to get overhyped and it lets the stars and cast shine without as much pressure.

3.   The sketches did not rely too much on recurring sketches from the past this episode. There was a free flow to the episode with great sketches that incorporated some of the new cast members.

I am no SNL expert, but I thought this week’s episode was brilliant. Here is my favourite sketch which incorporates two 80s songs we play on Mountain FM and HAIM’s ‘Don’t Save Me’.

Josh Hutcherson - Josie Sketch (Your Love... by IdolxMuzic
[HD] Haim - Don't Save Me - SNL 11-23-13 by IdolxMuzic

Click here to see the music video for HAIM’s ‘The Wire’ it was the song they opened with last night on SNL.