video Well no one says Lorne Michaels doesn't have his finger on the pulse of our culture: Tonight's SNL featured a cold open where ex-Rep. Eric Massa fessed up to groping his staffers, tickle-fights, and a whole bunch of Navy "snorkeling." Update: Special guest Jerry Seinfeld joined Seth Meyers in a second take-down of Massa during "Weekend Update". Both videos below. (more...)

The rumors are true, and yes, Facebook had something to do with it. USA Today is reporting that Betty White will be hosting the May 8 broadcast of Saturday Night Live after refusing the spot for years. White, whose legendary status has persisted to a younger generation through her role in The Proposal, playing beer pong with Jimmy Fallon, and, yes, those Golden Girls reruns on Lifetime, became the center of a Facebook campaign to get her to host after the debut of her new Snickers ad during the Super Bowl. And Lorne Michaels couldn’t sound happier about it. (more...)

Who: Lorne Michaels and Seth Meyers, interviewed by Ken Auletta What: Newhouse and the New Yorker’s “Live from New York” Where: W Hotel - Union Square When: March 2, 2010 Thumbs: Up For many Saturday Night Live writers, the gig is their first real job. And that makes Lorne Michaels their first real boss. Contrary to what you may have heard, Michaels actually sounds like a supportive and understanding boss, setting aside the pressures of producing a weekly comedy show in favor of focusing on how to help his young talent get better at what they do. Michaels said that to make the show great, it takes the right mix of many ingredients: talent, on- and off-camera; a fresh approach and new insights; patience with young writers to allow them to reach their potential (he says it takes two to three seasons); and that there are no bad ideas in comedy. It’s the last point that head writer Seth Meyers really agrees with. Meyers has to navigate through roughly 50 different sketches each week to determine which will make the final cut. His selection process, he said, is eased by rehearsals that, based on the laughter or lack thereof, make the decisions easier on him. At a certain point, he added, there’s just no more room to fight for the nobility of the piece. Both Meyers and Michaels were entirely upfront about the process they go through to put the show on the air. Michaels says that his show requires a certain precision and camera timing to put together that doesn’t allow for improvising, despite the comedians’ proficiencies and wishes. However, when Michaels was asked about the way NBC handled the Leno-Conan handover, he quickly silenced himself. It showed how disciplined Michaels is, and prefers his show to be. The best performers can do the most with the opportunities they are given. Michaels points to Dana Carvey who he says did a better George H.W. Bush than Bush himself. Michaels frequently mentioned past cast members like Carvey as examples, showing that even after all these years none of them have ever truly left him. He says that’s the great thing about the show – each separate cast means something to viewers. Most often, people will claim the cast that appeared on the program when they were in high school as the “hey day” of “SNL.” Michaels believes that those formative teenage years are when people begin to take in the messages of the show and it stays with them for the rest of their lives. What They Said “We deal in the world of perception - it’s not real - and we deal with what’s on the surface.” - Lorne Michaels says that the first thing his staff has to do is find what’s funny about certain people "Lorne goes about getting the best writing out of somebody by pointing out that the current writing could (long pause)... be better.” - Seth Meyers indicates that he’s been on the receiving end of his share of writing critiques “If you feel the audience is ahead of you, you’re losing.” - Lorne Michaels recognizes his important it is in comedy to out think your viewers “It survives because fresh voices come in on both the performing and writing sides and have free reign to do things.” - Seth Meyers on why the show has lasted so long on the air, with so many new casts of characters “If I wasn’t more engaged, I would have left. If I hadn’t figured it out, I would have left.” - Lorne Michaels explains why he’s still at it, 35 years later What We Thought Ken Auletta did a great job asking questions and then staying out of the way. When you have a star like Michaels at the helm, it’s best to let him control the conversation. Even Meyers realized it, looking on in awe for much of the evening. We liked Michaels’ comments about how it’s the cast’s job to figure out how to use the weekly hosts in sketches. With such diverse hosts, this task can be particularly onerous at times. We can’t imagine how difficult it must be to write for Zach Galifianakis this week. PANEL RULES! Some audience behavior seems to repeat itself panel after panel. We’ll be updating a running list of “PANEL RULES!” that will help ensure that you are not the dweeb of the Panel Nerds. Panel Nerds don’t like…Overreachers Early on in the panel, Michaels refused to select one cast member or full cast as his favorite. So what makes you think that he’d be willing to indulge the reverse? Asking Michaels to identify which actors failed in their stints at “SNL” is disrespectful and gossip-mongering. If you want to know who didn’t work out, check the archives. There’s a record of who has lasted and who has teetered out. This isn’t the right forum to research that question.

Who: Jimmy Fallon interviewed by Bill Carter
What: The New York Times' Arts & Leisure Weekend
Where: The Times Center
When: January 8, 2009
Thumbs: At our palms, applauding (more...)

The year 2009 had many media bright spots, break-out stars, dominating networks and game-changing technologies.  The Mediaite 50 collects the finest, most exemplary innovators and influencers of the year, defining a media moment in time and setting the agenda as we move forward. (more...)

If you've ever seen the television network Video Hits 1 (a.k.a. VH1), you're probably familiar with flamboyant Barney's creative director Simon Doonan and his one-man crusade to reintroduce the cravat into mainstream fashion. He's known for his typically catty comments on the I Love the series, where what follows the word "the" in the title is any number from 1915 to 2020.

In his real life, Doonan is the Creative Director of the New York department store Barneys, and is responsible for, among other things, the store's street-level window displays. Earlier this week, the store revealed its displays for the season the theme of which, in the grandest of holiday traditions, is Saturday Night Live. If you find that to be an odd choice, I'd guess you're not alone.

The displays are heavy on allusion to various characters, scenes and personalities from the series' 35 years - but deciphering each of those references is hindered by the primary mode of presentation, papier-mâché. (Or, as Americans say: paper mache. Barney's generally prefers the fancy French spelling.) I can't help but suspect that this medium was chosen primarily to evoke sympathy - after all, it's possible, if not probable, that they were actually made by a class of  fourth graders. If their teacher saw fit to distribute gold stars for their hard work, who could possibly mock them?

Well, me. (more...)

Last week, Jake Tapper's potential facial hair (and high profile interviews) made him a big gain on the Power Grid -- all the way up to the #2 spot behind MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. Poised to strike, Tapper made the most of an increased profile this week, challenging White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and the White House's attack on Fox News. (more...)

It's no secret that we're obsessed with competition and we get our kicks from big movement on the Power Grid. Recently sickness has been responsible for much of the movement in the rankings, as Dr. Sanjay Gupta -- who recently announced he had swine flu -- jumped from #12 to #4 in the rankings among TV pundits, with his Google buzz peaking at #1. The third search result? "I went to Afghanistan and all I got was H1N1." (more...)

In its 34th season last year, SNL went mainstream — super mainstream. Thanks to Tina Fey's uncanny resemblance to Sarah Palin — a Vice-Presidential candidate who revealed herself to be a headline machine in one of the most riveting election seasons in U.S. history — SNL hit its stride with viral video after viral video, which skyrocketed it out of the realm of late-night ratings and onto daytime computer screens across the nation (and newscasts, and 24-hour cable shows, and The View, etc. etc. etc.) Finally figuring out how to make videos embeddable and loosening the next-day pickup sphincter helped, too. At long last, the choruses of "SNL sucks! I never watch it!" were quelled.

Fast forward a year. Tonight SNL premieres its 35th season (well, if you don't count the last two Thursdays). Times are tougher than ever for network television — Tivo is king, appointment television is scarcer than ever, Jay Leno has brought comedy to 10 pm. Okay, maybe not that last thing. The point is, SNL is premiering tonight in a non-election year — and expectations are high. How can it possibly meet them?

Two words: Megan Fox. (more...)

"I'm so heartbroken that the Internet, for the first time, was wrong about something. How are we ever going to trust the Internet again?" Who said it? (more...)