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| 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!
