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It’s Live and From New York, But Is It New?
“New York’s hottest new club is called, ‘Copycat.’ And it has everything: Glow sticks, red bouncy balls, women dressed like Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, Spud Webb and a Ground Mine.
What’s a Ground Mine?
It’s when someone watches a funny sketch by The Groundlings and they say ‘mine!'”
There have been reports this week that sketch giants Saturday Night Live (SNL) stole a Tina Turner routine they performed last weekend from the famed Los Angeles sketch comedy group The Groundlings. After watching the skits side-by-side, it seems virtually indisputable that SNL didn’t lift the sketch. In normal circumstances, it could possibly be a coincidence. Well, actually, not true. But the reason why this is such a big deal right now is that SNL (celebrating its 40th anniversary) has been barely treading water the past couple years. This creative comedy problem has been exacerbated by the departures of Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Fred Armisen, Nasim Pedrad and head writer/Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers.
Plus, the co-creator of Stefon and veteran SNL writer John Mulaney left the show to write and star in his Sunday night FOX sitcom Mulaney with SNL alum Pedrad.
Despite the major cast shakeup following the end of last season, SNL still has some quality performers, like Kenan Thompson, Jay Pharoah, Taran Killam, Vanessa Bayer, Bobby Moynihan and Aidy Bryant. However, Weekend Update newcomer Michael Che is far too amused by his own jokes and the cast (in a broad sense) is lacking that special spark that fans tune in for on a late Saturday night. The expectation for gut-busting laughs is at a very low, low level. The writing has also been geared more towards flat-out opinions with an agenda about certain topics and people instead of playful, cleverly disguised comedic jabs at anybody and everybody.
Fortunately, impressionist extraordinaire Bill Hader is hosting this Saturday night with musical guest Hozier. This means (in 99.99% likelihood) a return of Stefon to the Weekend Update desk. Thank goodness! And it also means that the sketches including Hader should be laugh-out-loud hilarious, with a possible surprise guest star or two (cough-cough, his movie co-star Kristen Wiig…)?
Unfortunately, such a quick return from Hader indicates that SNL is trying to rejuvenate its audience with a past favorite. To be fair, Hader did just release a critically acclaimed drama, The Skeleton Twins, so the booking is legit and appropriate timing wise. However, like the sketch scandal, it just appears like SNL wants to stop treading water for a couple hours and instead climb into Samberg’s nearby boat with its recently departed cast members for some relaxed laughs for a change.
And judging by SNL’s current struggles, they have to be hoping that 40 turns out to be the new 30.
(P.S. Look for Saturday Night Live to lampoon itself over the scandal with The Groundlings this weekend)
Seeing is Believing (Literally)
It’s Wednesday, February 26, 2014. Do you know what that means? Well, something incredible occurred last night/really early this morning (by definition) that warrants a visual repeat.
Ladies and gentlemen, it all started with a challenge from The Office’s John Krasinski during Jimmy Fallon’s tenure at Late Night. Now, after a few other participants (like the eternally energetic Joseph Gordon-Levitt) have tried their luck at channeling their inner rock star, comedy and musical aficionado Paul Rudd took the Late Night tradition to its premiere on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night with two lip-synching masterpieces.
However, it also needs to be stated that Jimmy Fallon’s skills would never be considered foreign to any lip-synching fan.
And yes, this really happened.
Paul Rudd and Jimmy Fallon were unequivocally good to the audience as lip sync heroes for the fans in the studio and for the millions of people watching at home.
The best news from the continuous success of these lip-sync battles? They will be happening again and again and again!
Jay Leno Was #1 in More Than Just Ratings
Somewhere between 44,000 and 60,000 jokes were told with great, widespread applause (millions of people each night) throughout the course of 22 years as Jay Leno not only took on the nearly impossible task of replacing Johnny Carson, but he entered and left the coveted Tonight Show stage #1 in the ratings. That is not an impressive feat…that is a damn impressive feat! It’s borderline surreal when his daily presence, changing dynamics of television and comedy, plus the vastly increased competition are considered from when he began in 1992 and signed-off in 2014.
In replacing an icon he became one.
Jay’s final monologue included some flashbacks to his favorite and most memorable comedic targets, like NBC, O.J. Simpson and, yes, a very clever Hugh Grant jab!
Last night, the show’s staff and longtime friend Billy Crystal had a circus of surprises ready for The Tonight Show host and dear friend Jay. If you saw the show, it was magnificent. A long list of Jay’s good friends offered him their advice as what to do next. This ranged from starring in a new Tyler Perry Madea movie to him finally %*!@$ inviting Matt Damon to his garage to Bill Maher welcoming Jay back to The Tonight Show for a third term. But the best advice may have come from Charlie Sheen who essentially told him to spend his saved Tonight Show money and buy NBC and then fire everybody!
All of which was done with great fun and laughter.
Jay’s first guest, Billy Crystal, was funny, smart and generous. He started by ordering the Burbank Moving Company around the stage to claim some necessary keepsakes for the road. This led him into his own monologue of sorts about his comedic colleague and friend of 40 some odd years that was sprinkled with Crystal’s own brand of pure class and humor.
This post will not recap the entire show, but there were humorous stories from “back in the day” between Jay and Billy Crystal, a Von Trapp-inspired tribute song, a Garth Brooks who sang for the heart and the party and a final heartfelt and tearful goodbye from the man himself. Jay’s speech at the end of the show was not only really emotional and tearful, but also deeply revealing to the casual viewer. He disclosed the fact that his mom died his first year as The Tonight Show host, his dad died during his second year and his brother died soon thereafter. He was, for lack of a more delicate way to say it, out of family. His writers, producers and everybody on his Tonight Show staff at NBC was his family.
And you’re always loyal and protective of your family.
Despite obvious and warranted friction with his NBC superiors, Jay made it clear that he was invested in more than just a job at NBC. It was something special for him, his staff and everybody who tuned in during the past 22 years.
What does Jay’s exit signify as for the future of The Tonight Show and late night comedy itself? A lot. In fact, it’s a seismic shift. Last night was not just Jay’ final bow to his loyal and always entertained audience, but also a generational goodbye, which is why his departure off the 11:35 p.m. time slot is proving to be such a difficult farewell. Jay is an old school stand-up comedian. There’s no political agenda or mean spirited attacks. He’s just funny. All he needs is a stage. And it’s truly sad he won’t have that anymore to make America laugh at the same time every weeknight after a long, stressful day.
His sense of humor and jokes are timeless.
We’ll especially miss Monday’s unbelievably printed Headlines, the hilariously unpredictable Jaywalking, those savvy gifts from The 99¢ Store and the surprising visits to Oakwood Apartments.
Throughout the post, I’ve almost exclusively written Jay and not his full name Jay Leno. There’s a reason. For most celebrities or personalities, we know them by their full name. But for the rare few where only a first name is the natural reaction to call someone, it usually means that we consider them as an extended member of our family. Whether it’s through music or a talk show, some entertainment personalities feel like that funny or inspiring uncle, aunt, brother or sister to us.
Jay was not just the #1 rated late night host…Jay was America’s stand-up comedian for more than two decades. As Jay alluded to last night, it felt a little like a high school graduation, except that everybody was held back for 22 years! But he’s right. We’ll still see him, whether it’s on the road, online in his iconic garage working on some steam-powered relic or on a television special, but it won’t ever be the same.
It’s the end of an era in too many sad ways to contemplate right now.
Jay ended his tenure as host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno with a shout-out to his wife Mavis, “I’m coming home honey.”
Jay, for 22 years, thanks for coming into our homes and making us laugh.
The Tonight Show Featuring XX
February 6th: The last The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
February 17th: The first The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
As these dates draw closer, a more in-depth analysis, reflection and celebration will be featured on this blog. However, for now, the temptation to throw one’s mind into a state of wild visions and predictions has become too irresistible to deny. And it starts with a simple, seemingly pointless and nonsensical question at this precise moment in time:
Who will take over The Tonight Show a couple decades down the road after Jimmy Fallon?
While this inquiry may derive an insulting premise, that could not be any more untrue. It’s simply an acknowledgement that the tectonic plates of the comedic landscape is changing right before our eyes and that it sparks a curiosity about what lies ahead. Appropriately, the mind wanders into the far reaches of what is possible and what even seems inevitable in the not so distant future, history wise.
Seth Meyers is taking over Late Night as an SNL veteran of late night laughs at the age of 40. He’s a clever, funny writer with good delivery. No doubt. However, can Meyers carry the same interest and entertaining interaction he always shared with Stefon to all his guests? If this proves to be the case, then get ready to laugh very late into the night. And unless Jimmy Fallon (39) tanks (which he won’t), the 20 or so year-old question into the future is, “who is Fallon’s heir apparent?” Meyers is the perfect age for taking over The Tonight Show (if he were chosen or the best fit) right now. Not in 10, 15 or 20 years. That’s too late (one of my better puns). His ticket seems cemented in Late Night and with whatever else Mr. Michaels pitches his way. Although, there’s always that one in a million chance…
My guess? The person’s name will not start with Seth and end in Meyers.
Instead, the next big star for NBC at 11:35 p.m. will (drum roll please…) be a female comedian (stand-up and skits) who has strong writing and performance ties to Saturday Night Live and, specifically and most importantly, Lorne Michaels. Given the longevity and success that Johnny Carson and Jay Leno had and how that will potentially translate to Fallon, it’s very likely this individual is still in college. Maybe, maybe, there are the quietest of whispers about her somewhere in her college hallways.
Somewhere, someplace, this person is making somebody laugh.
My prediction (via Carnac the Magnificent) is that the next host of The Tonight Show will be a beautiful, talented, clever, witty and nationally appealing female stand-up comic and master of sketches who will define a new era in comedy during the heart of the 21st century for girls and women of all ages across the United States and beyond.
No joke.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 