Jane Lynch will host an upcoming episode of Saturday Night Live.
From 40 Year-Old Virgin to a regular on the prematurely dismissed TV show Party Down, the Second City alum has stolen nearly every scene she’s been in.
Her most recent acting venture on Fox’s Glee has lead her an Emmy nomination. And now she’ll be doing what many – if not all – improvers, stand-ups and sketch players dream of—hosting the longest running sketch show on television.
Lynch’s episode will air on NBC Oct. 9, according to movieline.com.
For his 35 years at the helm of Saturday Night Live as well as launching a great many movie careers (and wholly changing the face of television comedy), Lorne Michaels will be honored with the International Emmy Directorate Award.
“With Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels opened the door to a new kind of comedy on television and since then nearly everyone has walked through it. He has changed our entertainment, affected our politics, and shaped the way we view the world,” said International Academy President and CEO Bruce L. Paisner.
Michaels will accept the award Nov. 22 at the 38th annual Emmy Awards in New York.
Tina Fey has recently been announced to be the 2010 recipient of the highly prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor; making her the youngest recipient ever for the award. She’s set to receive the prize Nov. 9 in Washington D.C., in a ceremony that in the past has seen appearances from some of the most prestigious faces in comedy, including David Letterman, Bob Newhart and Robin Williams.
In reference to Betty White’s recent appearance on Saturday Night Live, Fey commented, “I am truly thrilled to receive this honor. I assume Betty White was disqualified for steroid use.”
It’s quite the honor, though I doubt many of us are surprised; Fey is a recent and well-known master of comedy. Whether it’s her famed Sarah Palin impression, her brilliant brainchild 30 Rock, or that nerdy beauty of hers that sends fanboys and girls into fits of swooning and Internet babble, we’re very familiar with her, and the fact that she is hilarious.
She’ll be joining ranks with previous award winners George Carlin, Bill Cosby, Steve Martin and Richard Pryor, among others. Given these names though, it does beg the question: is she ready for the prize?
Not denying the fact that she’s funny as hell, it’s rather a question of whether she has yet earned that level of comedic renown. She may certainly be on her way, but does she deserve this recognition now? Is giving this prize to Fey like Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize? Discuss!
Watching the season finale of Saturday Night Live felt a lot like lunch the day after Thanksgiving… slapping together a bunch of odds and ends, reheating leftovers, adding a few new ingredients to turn that same turkey into a turkey salad sandwich. I’m by no means saying it was bad… how could it be with Alec Baldwin hosting for the 15th time? But coming off the hot orthopedic heels of last week, this episode felt like pajamas and paper plates to Betty White’s good china and dining room attire. Laid-back. Comfortable.
Grab a spork. Here are a few of the show’s yummiest dishes.
Baldwin sauntered casually onto the stage for his monologue, which both demonstrated and hinged on his vast experience in the role of hosting. He called out newbie Betty White and, as expected, called out Steve Martin, who is now tied for most times hosting. How he did it was unexpected, however. And so was the turn in topic, with some great one-liners and a perfect culminating punch line.
Andy Samberg’s digital short immediately followed and was a fantastically freaky musical number that included a few twisted turns of its own.
The show had a few twists and turns, too… as in Nasim Pedrad and Abby Elliott each getting some spotlight time. Pedrad reprised her parentally-obsessed Bedilia character, this time focusing all her attention on her dad (Baldwin). Elliott spoofed Sally Field’s osteoporosis ads with a commercial for “Preniva,” a drug which will strengthen your bones, but can’t solve your real problems…
Jenny Slate got to play a hooker opposite Baldwin as a business man. Still, seeing Pedrad and Elliott featured only made it all the more weird that we didn’t see Slate’s signature doorbell/answering machine girl. It’s especially odd given Baldwin’s accent acumen.
As Kostas, however, he did get to show off a Greek accent, that is in between trying to keep a straight face and busting some saucy lovemaking moves in “Grady Wilson’s Intimate and International.”
And though it was more funny for Baldwin’s wig than anything, the Hudson Valley Swim Team awards distribution did give Baldwin a chance to bust out some Boston. It was also an opportunity for all the cast members (except Seth Meyers) to be seen. I mean, who knows what casting decisions could be made before Season 36 begins?
If I had to guess, I’d say Bobby Moynahan, of all the featured players, is safest for next season and should move to a full repertory role. If for no other reason, as long as Jersey Shore is on the air, his Snooki will always be fun to watch.
As for the ladies’ fates… Slate, Elliott and Pedrad haven’t really been positioned as any kind of stand-outs. In fact, in costume and makeup, it can sometimes be difficult even to tell them apart. I guess we’ve got a few months of speculation and reruns before we find out! See you then!
Everything old was golden again for this week’s historic Saturday Night Live. Anticipation for host Betty White was sky-high. The hype, for a lesser star, could have meant disaster for the show. As you’ll see, the writers took the easy way out. The lines they wrote weren’t what was funny, it was the fact that Betty White that delivered them that got the laughs. It only goes to prove that it’s more than just age or a sitcom title that makes Betty White a “Golden Girl.” It’s a combination of professionalism, open-mindedness, chops, timing and good old-fashioned sense of humor. Everything she touched turned to gold.
And, luckily, that was just about the entire show. White appeared in every sketch from beginning to end, including a bit during Weekend Update and several more that could only be seen at dress rehearsal or as a Web Exclusive. She didn’t just keep up with the cast. She didn’t even just keep up with the cast plus a bunch of returning stars from casts past. Oh yeah, by the way, the cast was bolstered by Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph and Rachel Dratch.
And still it’s fair to say that Betty White was far and away the star of this show. That’s saying a lot, especially when mega-star musical guest Jay-Z took a step back and dedicated his second performance “Young Forever” (his remix remake revamp of Alphaville’s early ‘80s hit “Forever Young”) to “the most incredible Betty White”.
Heck, even commercials (real ones, not the funny faux show ones) were Betty White-based: the Snickers ad that started the entire Facebook Betty White revolution and a promo for her upcoming show on TV Land, Hot in Cleveland.
Suffice to say, you’d be Betty White’s age by the time you finished reading if I went sketch by sketch commenting on every sketch or pointing out all the good stuff. So I’ll just pull a few of the super-highlight clips and leave it to you to search for the rest, which I highly recommend.
When you do search, start with CSI Sarasota, just in case it ever shows up. One of the best bits of the evening (and also one of only two that didn’t involve White being inserted into a pre-existing premise), wasn’t offered by the network, which also had it deleted from YouTube.
In it, White played Vivian Caruso opposite Rachel Dratch as Sy Horowitz, investigating the death of a 103-year-old in a nursing home. With plenty of mugging a la David Caruso (known to CSI: Miami fans as Horatio Caine), she postured and deadpanned lines like “Looks like he’s fallen… and he’ll never get up.”
Now on to what you can see here and now.
It’s not much of a stretch for Betty White to take on the role of a grandmother. She did it in four separate sketches, however, showing some pretty damn impressive range.
The show opened with a sketch that managed to get all the returning cast together on stage with White (plus Kristen Wiig’s not-quite-right Denise). Who could pull that off? Fred Armisen’s Lawrence Welk, of course! Check out how long the audience goes nuts when White first appears!
After a fine monologue, she was totally the bomb as MacGruber’s grandmother, and continued to be with each subsequent installment of the sketch. It culminated with different kind of bomb, then a bombshell ending.
She was a straight-talking, needle-pointing matron in a “Little Women” type sketch set in the early 1900s. And finally, best of all, when Kenan Thompson returned as his movie plot dropping con character Lorenzo Macintosh, he brought Grandmamie Loretta Macintosh to back up his threats and rough Bill Hader up to the point of nearly cracking. White even got the parting line, ending the sketch (for once) on a strong punch line.
But before you think White was just grandma over and over, when you do that search, see if you can find Andy Samberg’s Golden Girls themed digital short. In its absence from the website (also removed from YouTube), the most likely viral contender goes to…
On December 12, 1998, a sketch aired that was so spot-on that, watching it now it still seems like it was first splitting sides only yesterday. The premise had existed before, and went on for several years after, even trying to repeat its success with the same guest appearance. It last aired March 16, 2002… until Betty White came along.
Now, it’s likely that nothing will ever top Margaret Jo McCullen, Teri Rialto and Pete Schweddy discussing that “Delicious Dish”… Schweddy Balls. Not even Schweddy Weiners are as delectable. But Betty White talking about her muffin almost hits the spot.
She may not have unseated him for best ever “Delicious Dish” (or did she?), but for overall show success, White’s set the bar pretty high for Baldwin, who hosts the season finale next week with musical guest Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Listen, we know that you know Betty White is hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend and that it’s just like the biggest friggin’ deal in all of televised sketch show history. And we know you’ve seen a shit ton of coverage and promo videos and outlines of White’s face in your mashed potatoes as of late.
But we wanted to do something special for our readers. What would you say if we told you could have access to two and a half hours of lightly edited Betty White interview footage from 1997? Would you say, “That would be impossible without the help of the folks at the Archive of American Television.” If so, we’d submit that you are 100 percent correct.
So without further adieu, here’s an incredibly interesting and a grossly long interview with White from 1997. Enjoy!
NBC announced today that 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin will indeed play host to Saturday Night Live’s season finale. An obvious show favorite, this will be Baldwin’s 15th time hosting; he will have tied Steve Martin for the record. The finale is set to air May 15. Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker will be the musical guest.
Let’s celebrate. After the jump, check out a few of our — and your — favorite Baldwin SNL sketches.
This Saturday is the day– the day the Internet masses have been waiting for. Betty White will host Saturday Night Live. And a new promo just hit the NBC site featuring the Golden Girl and show favorite Kristen Wiig. Of course, White plays to her adorable attributes perfectly. Will you be tuning in?
In the special Mothers Day edition of the show, Tina Fey, Molly Shannon, Ana Gasteyer and others will also be dropping in to make appearances.
As you all know, Betty White will be hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend. And as such she’s doing the media rounds, thankfully. This morning she sat down with Meredith Vieira on Today, the former Golden Girls star admitted she’s “scared to death” about her impending live hosting duties, the odd pairing with musical Jay-Z and much more. Check it out and enjoy!
Here’s a video promo for Betty White’s upcoming, long-awaited, ultra-hyped Saturday Night Live episode – the gig she landed after the insistence of a massive, fan-based Facebook campaign. She’ll host a special Mothers’ Day episode on May 8 with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch all returning to spread some motherly love.
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Jane Lynch will host an upcoming episode of Saturday Night Live.
For his 35 years at the helm of Saturday Night Live as well as launching a great many movie careers (and wholly changing the face of television comedy), Lorne Michaels will be honored with the International Emmy Directorate Award.
Tina Fey has recently been announced to be the 2010 recipient of the highly prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor; making her the youngest recipient ever for the award. She’s set to receive the prize Nov. 9 in Washington D.C., in a ceremony that in the past has seen appearances from some of the most prestigious faces in comedy, including David Letterman, Bob Newhart and Robin Williams.
NBC announced today that 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin will indeed play host to Saturday Night Live’s season finale. An obvious show favorite, this will be Baldwin’s 15th time hosting; he will have tied Steve Martin for the record. The finale is set to air May 15. Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker will be the musical guest.
