One of the great things about Saturday Night Live is that, even though it’s in its 37th season, every episode delivers fresh new sketches and comedy. The same can be said for panels covering the show. We’ve previously heard head writer Seth Meyers discuss the show at another panel, and recently covered Jason Sudeikis moderating another, but the entertaining material we got on Sunday afternoon from the show’s team of writers was all brand new.

The show’s production schedule and process are well-documented, yet always worth rehashing for the audience on hand. A team of 15 writers (9 men, 6 women); Wednesdays are the key day when sketches are accepted or declined; it’s a loose environment that allows for creativity and collaboration; Lorne Michaels is a supportive boss; and, yes, it’s all performed live. Changes can occur on the fly leading up to the show – “the script department hates us the most,” joked Meyers.

Topical sketches have a greater chance of making it onto the show, the writers say, but that’s never a guarantee. Sometimes the time that news breaks can impact whether – or how – SNL tackles a story. Marika Sawyer pointed out that last week Herman Cain benefited from two bigger stories (Rick Perry‘s gaffe, Penn State scandal) overshadowing the sexual harassment charges against him. They have to guess on Monday afternoon what people will be talking about later in the week; nevertheless, they wind up writing new material with what’s happened over the course of the week.

They rely heavily on the audience at dress rehearsal on Saturday evening to telegraph what’s working and what’s missing the mark. Their approval is reflected through their ratings – which the writers claim doesn’t influence them – but another gauge  is Internet reaction. The writers say that SNL was made for YouTube well before YouTube even existed. After all these years, it continues to connect with new viewers and to cater to the times.

What They Said

“If it dies in that room, the last thing you want is for it to go and die in front of America.”
- Seth Meyers says that the meritocracy of the writers’ room can save them all embarrassment

“Lorne empowers writers to produce the piece… it helps make your vision come to life.”
- Bryan Tucker and the rest hold their boss in high regard

“You don’t know how to write for ratings, really.”
- Colin Jost answers only to the comedy gods

“Everyone cross-pollinates, which is new. People collaborate with each other.
- John Mulaney believes this cast has good camaraderie

What We Thought

• Steve Gaydos did a fantastic job keeping the conversation moving, making the most of a large panel, and encouraging the audience to participate (squeezing in a remarkable 15 questions during the Q&A). He’s a veteran moderator, as he indicated at the top of the panel, and it sure showed.
• From listening to the writers break down their sketches, it’s clear that a lot more thinking and fine-tuning goes into jokes than audiences appreciate. A sketch this past weekend included an Of Mice and Men reference.
• They insist that if a host falls flat (about once a season, they say) it’s not always the host’s fault. They occasionally get untrained non-performers to work with them. And for the failing entertainers, John Mulaney explained that hosting is not a natural thing to do, outside of their comfort zones.

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… Palin Obsessers
For the most part, the questions were all excellent. One question came about Sarah Palin, a reliable source of laughs during the past presidential election. But that was several seasons ago, and Palin has largely become an afterthought as we gear up for the next election season. There are more promising characters and recurring bits to focus on now. It’s time to leave Palin behind.

My first glimpse of Reggie Brown was his “debate” against perennial GOP straw poll champ Ron Paul, using verbatim President Obama quotes. Engineered by Fox’s John Stossel, I was struck by how sad the shadow-boxing spectacle was for Paul, but also by Reggie’s spot-on impression of Obama. Weirdly, many of the blog posts about the “debate” didn’t mention Reggie by name, identifying him only as an “Obama impersonator,” and it took me a few minutes of googling to track him down.

That shouldn’t be a problem for Reggie going forward (his 186 Twitter followers also figure to multiply). His performance at the Republican Leadership Conference catapulted him to molten-hot status in the perpetually overheated news cycle. Initially, his performance was panned, by liberal blogs, as “racist” and a “minstrel show,”  but as video emerged of an RLC organizer pulling Reggie off the stage when the jokes turned against Republicans, the narrative changed.

RLC President Charlie Davis pulled Reggie in the middle of a chuck about Republican candidates, but insisted that it was because of the “racially insensitive jokes” from earlier in the act. Reasonable people acknowledged that Reggie’s racial jabs were mild, and not all that different from humor that the President himself has employed. The tide quickly turned in Reggie’s favor, especially with those who have no ax to grind, politically.

Before joining William Gold Entertainment’s “Politicos” impersonator troupe (along with Bill Clinton lookalike Tim Watters, Sarah Palin ringer Patti Lyons, and Tim Northern as Juan Williams), Reggie Brown was a regional Emmy-winning broadcaster in his own right, following a stint as a model. A native of Chicago, Reggie first learned of his resemblance to Barack Obama in 2001, from his brother, Lawrence, and others who told him “you look like my professor, you should google him.”

It wasn’t until 2008, though, that Brown turned his resemblance to Obama into a career, one which he describes as “the best job in the world.”

Despite the whirlwind of attention surrounding him at present, Reggie Brown agreed to be interviewed by Mediaite, and even sat through a few minutes of technical delay, to allow our readers to get to know him better.

Throughout our interview, Reggie stressed the nonpartisan nature of his act, and shied away from politics in general, but he did offer his views on marriage equality, and spoke with obvious affection about the President. We talked about the RLC performance and its aftermath, but also about his career as an Obama impersonator, what he won’t do for money, what he thinks of fellow FOTUS Fred Armisen, and some of his future goals:

Tommy Christopher: There were people on both sides of political spectrum who criticized you for being “racist” in your remarks. Do you feel like you’ve been thrown under the bus?

Reggie Brown: Well, to be called a racist is absolutely ridiculous, for one. To call my jokes racially insensitive I think is inappropriate as well. We work hard on my material and we feel that it’s appropriate to deliver. I think it’s something that the President himself has opened the door on by making cracks at the Correspondents Dinner… and I think he wouldn’t feel offended by the material. My mother’s white, my father’s black, and I felt like I wouldn’t do anything to offend the progress made by the black community over all these years or… you know, it’s absolutely ridiculous to say that it was racist or racially insensitive.

TC: Did those reactions surprise you in any way? Did the RLC chairman’s reaction surprise you?

RB: Oh, of course. Upon going backstage after my performance, I had organizers saying to me, “Oh, you did a great job. You have the best spot-on impression,” and being very complimentary. And then, I left feeling like I did a great job. The audience was laughing, they were enjoying the show and by the time I got back to my hotel there are already about 30 articles up saying, “Obama Impersonator Mocks President, Delivers Racist and Gay Jokes,” and there wasn’t one gay or racist joke in my material.

TC: What about the reaction from liberals? Did that surprise you?

RB: Well, I think that afterwards a lot of the statements that started to come out were in support of me because, in the beginning, people were just reading the articles and being like, “Oh my God” without watching the full piece, and then when people actually started to see the whole thing where I was going and how we hit one side and we hit the other and it was a well-rounded show. So all the responses I’ve been getting after the initial story hit have been very positive, overwhelmingly positive from all the different… I was just on the Tom Joyner Morning Show yesterday morning, which is one of the biggest… it reaches about 8 million listeners every morning… a lot of black listeners and…they were all laughing, saying it was funny, and we had a good time with it. So after people saw it, I think they kind of relaxed a bit, and I have Republicans getting my back, I have liberals, Democrats, and everyone in between saying, “Listen, he’s a comedian, he was booked to do a job at a political event. He came and did his job, and that’s the end of it.” It wasn’t my fault.

TC: A lot of people thought the reason you were pulled is because some of your jokes hit too close to home for the Republicans. Do you think that’s accurate?

RB: Oh, yeah, of course. It wasn’t because of the reasons they released initially, or else I would have been pulled a lot sooner.

TC: Has that ever happened to you before, where the audience…

RB: No, it’s never happened before. I’ve toured all over the world, I just got back from Trinidad on a comedy tour, I was doing my presidential comedy. We performed for the troops, a big USO show in Guam, I just got back from Austria, and all over the United States performing for Republican clients, Democratic clients, and I’ve never been pulled offstage for the material that we deliver or I have delivered because we also do a three-person show with the Politicos… Patti Lyons is Sarah Palin, Tim Watters is Clinton, and never been pulled or had a reaction like this.

TC: I was watching some of the videos on your website, and I saw you did the same material for the USO. And this is the first time you’ve ever gotten criticism for it?

RB: Yeah, and it’s not like this wasn’t different routines for different audiences, and we tailor our scripts to meet the client, we do custom material. So for this, one of the top things in the news is the new Republican candidates that are popping up and we performed that for San Diego Republicans last month, and the material went over well, and then we just did it again, so my intent was not to outwardly offend anyone. I think the decision to pull me off was one or two individuals behind the scenes, the overwhelming response from the attendees…

I was walking with my manager back to his hotel to get picked up by a shuttle. I was wearing flip-flops, t-shirt, sunglasses and shorts, ’cause we were in Louisiana, it was hot as hell. And people were like, “Oh my God. Are you the Obama? Are you the Obama? Yeah he is!” And then everyone starts mobbing me for autographs, pictures, and everything in between and they’re just saying, “Oh my God, why did they pull you off? You were the best part of this conference for us. You were amazing, your impressions are great.”

I spent the rest of the day delivering some of the jokes for the people then I went back to my hotel room, and I got a call from the gentleman who actually pulled me off the stage, and he said, “Your presence is requested at the reception later,” and so I showed up at the VIP cocktail and hors d’oeuvres reception after. And everyone from Dale Peterson from Alabama to everyone there in attendance was just saying, “You were amazing. Why didn’t they let you finish? We want to hear the rest of your show.”

They weren’t happy I was pulled before my time was up.

TC: Was that before or after Charlie Davis made his comment about your material being racially insensitive?

RB: I’m not exactly sure when that happened because I was sieged by the whirlwind press tour and everything… we’ve been on tour, hopping flights, trains, and everything, so I haven’t been able to keep up on all the articles that have been written, and after all my television appearances the other day it was good to see the commentary from a lot of different people that was actually supporting the appearance, and the content, and the material.

TC: What do you think about the way the issue of race is treated politically in this country? Do you think people throw the charge around too quickly, or not enough, or is it about right?

RB: I don’t want to touch that one, no comment. I’m a comedian.

TC: What’s an example of something you might do for a Democratic audience that you wouldn’t do for a Republican audience?

RB: Well, it all depends. I mean, this was the Republicans, and we keep it fair pretty much the whole time, but if it was for a Democratic audience, we may do more self-deprecating jokes about the President, and also include a few more jokes about Republicans. When we do the Republican party, perhaps we include a few more about the Democratic party. But basically we keep everything balanced and that’s why, no matter where you’re at, even this event, there were a few Democrats, Tea Partiers, liberals, libertarians, and all different people in between, so we wanted to make the content relevant and applicable to everyone, and keep them all engaged throughout the show.

It’s not like my Democratic shows will be like, “Oh, Republicans this, Republicans that,” we still play it pretty fair, but most of the times I do corporate comedy which is for associations like the Northwest Indiana Medical Association or something like that to where we tailor our material with medical jokes, or if it’s for an investment group there will be financial jokes, for a law group we’ll do law jokes. So that’s more of what we do, like the tailoring, when it comes down to political groups we pretty much stay in the middle.

TC: I noticed on your website that a lot of your appearances are either sort of neutral or conservative-leaning. What’s the ratio of conservative groups that book you to liberal groups?

RB: Surprisingly, a lot of the business does come from the Republican end. You know, Tim Watters, who did the number one Clinton for years, he said that when he was “in office,” that’s how it goes. If there’s a Democratic president in office, the Republicans will book you more. If there’s a Republican president in office, the Democratic side will book you more. So, yes, from my experience it’s been mostly… from the Republican side.

I mean, since this, with all the media attention, we’ve got a comedy tour that’s started up, we have a DVD deal coming out, we have a reality show in the works that’s finally about to get picked up, and it just drew attention to… I mean, a lot of times what I do for the corporate audiences is, it’s such a kind of big contained market, where people know about you through speakers’ bureaus and in the industry, but this kind of put me on the map as far as wanting the world to see what I do.

TC: What’s the reality show about? Can you talk about who you’re doing that for and what it’s about?

RB: Well, we’re still in the contract stage right now, but it would basically be following myself and the team all over, with our personal lives intertwined with our characters that we represent because it’s such a unique experience for us.

When I am in character the response that I get from people and the reactions that I get and… there’s nothing like it so far. It’ll be the best reality show on television.

TC: Can you say who you’re going to do the show for?

RB: No, that’s all being finished up right now, so once they’ve finalized the contracts I’ll be able to release that.

TC: Fair enough. Speaking of personal, what did you do before you were an Obama impersonator?

RB: I’ve been all over. I was in the hospitality industry for 15 years, I love food and my end goal was to open a restaurant and also have a lifestyle or cooking channel on a network. I won… I was working for NBC 5 Chicago as part of a street team back in 2008, and we won our first Emmy for our coverage of Looptopia. I was also hosting a local show on Akira TV in Chicago, it was kind of fashion TV. I wanted to take my knowledge of food, combine that with my broadcasting talents, and have my show. Then everyone was so compelled to tell me I look like the president. “Oh, you’ve got to give it a shot, you’ve got to try.” My best friend Dan was like, “Reg, you really should think about this.” I did, I put the tape out, and it pretty much changed my life and the course of my career.

TC: Do you think you might go back to food?

RB: Oh yeah. I mean, I’m gonna do this for as long as I can. I have the best job in the world right now. I’m able to travel, see the world in ways most people never get the chance. It’s such a unique opportunity, it’s more likely you’re going to get struck by lightning or win the lotto than be able to have this striking physical resemblance to the most powerful man on the planet, and turned that into… I combined that with my talents to create a show and a character that makes people laugh all over the world. So I just hope that, now that we’re out there, people know how to get ahold of us and the bookings, the phones have been ringing off the hook, and we’re going to continue what we’ve been doing over the last couple of years on a bigger level and look forward to it.

TC: I noticed during your USO show you did a musical number. Do you have any musical ambitions?

RB: Oh, yeah, I mean, my family is very talented. My sister, she was in a video I put up on YouTube called JUICY, it was a parody of Notorious BIG… sorry it was EXTRA JUICY, a parody of Notorious BIG. It’s just something I’ve always liked to do. I do karaoke all the time, and I just think that this character has given me the opportunity to showcase a lot of my talents in different ways. The stage show that we’re gonna be launching in DC in a few months, it’s just a block or two away from the White House, it’s gonna include musical numbers, comedy, all these things.

It would be unfortunate for me to not use my talents and just let them go to waste. I don’t think there’s anything worse than somebody who’s full of talent, and just sits around, lets the day to by, and is possibly in a job that they’re not able to use they’re talents, they let them waste away and not use them. But I’m in a position where I can have fun at my job, I can do the things that I normally would do, but do them in character as the President, and people enjoy it, so, you’re going to be seeing a lot more of the variety and the range that I’m capable of just through this.

Hopefully, this character will get me noticed on other levels. The reason I moved out to L.A. was to get more attention as an actor, and I think that now people are starting to realize that the impression is really hard to do, and it took a lot of time and practice, and they’ve started to give me respect and a chance as an actor and performer.

TC: What do you think about Fred Armisen’s impression on SNL?

RB: No comment. (laughs)

TC: Did you ever wonder why they didn’t approach you?

RB: Yeah, of course. Everybody, I mean, the first thing out of people’s mouths is, “Oh my God, why aren’t you on Saturday Night Live?” And I always tell them … if Lorne Michaels and the team heard that as much as I do, I would be on there. It’s just… it’s always been a dream of mine to be on Saturday Night Live, so I’m always available and open to it and I would love to be on the show, but I have not been approached. I sent an audition tape to ‘em last year but I never heard back.

TC: So that’s something you would be open to, then? Maybe like a dance-off with Armisen?

RB: Anything.

TC: A battle royale?

RB: Oh yeah. I mean, I’m a big fan of Fred, and a lot of his other characters. So I’ll just say that.

TC: There’d still be a lot of other things for him to do, right?

RB: Oh, of course. He’s a very talented comedian. I mean, like his Mahmoud Ahmedinejad…(laughs)

TC: Your comments about your job are remarkably apolitical. How political were you before this, and now?

RB: My job requires me to keep my finger on the pulse. We have a team of writers that build up the material, so I think that, beforehand, I think that this last election pulled a lot of the younger audience into politics, and it made a lot of young America, interested in what was going on because it was such a movement towards something different. The young voter registration went up and all that. I think that that just made everyone more aware of politics, and now that my job is very directly related to it, we follow it pretty closely.

TC: When you’re out in public, do people just come up to you and ask you to say stuff?

RB: I’m still on the rise, so it’s great to get the attention from people now. It hasn’t gotten so overwhelming yet to where it’s intruded on my privacy or my enjoyment of anything. Yesterday, I was going through the airport and the TSA guy starts getting passenger ID. He looks down, looks at me, and he’s like, “Oh my God, Reggie Brown? You’re amazing, I’m a huge fan. I’ve got a joke for you,” and he’s telling me all these jokes he has.

TC: How old are you?

RB: Thirty years old.

TC: Oh, so you’re a lot younger than the President. Do you mind giving us a few personal details? Are you married? Do you have kids?

RB: I’m single, and I like it very well.  I have a very supportive family, we’re a very tight family unit, so I try to use them whenever I can. My sister has an amazing voice. My “Secret Service” are my three brothers, and I have some amazing friends who have been beside me for many years, so I try to use them whenever I can.

TC: Have you had criticism from friends or family about the number of gigs you do for conservatives or Fox News?

RB: You know, I was very surprised that Fox News would invite me. On the first time, I felt like I’m walking into the lion’s den, not knowing what they were gonna do, but nothing I’ve done with them so far has been controversial or over the top. Governor Huckabee and I have a great relationship.

TC: Has anybody ever asked you to do something objectionable in your act that you didn’t want to?

RB: Yes. I’ve turned down tens of thousands of dollars. People think they can have me go out there and do racial slurs, or be involved in overly offensive and vulgar content. They can hire someone else for that. That’s not my objective. One of my career goals is to make it to the White House, meet the President, entertain the First Family, so, you know, someone else can have that job.

TC: Can you say who it was that offered you stuff that you turned down?

RB: No.

TC: What are your thoughts on same-sex marriage? That’s an issue that’s pretty hot today for the President.

RB: Being as an entertainer, and having a lot of gay friends, I think that being in love is such an amazing thing, and I think that if someone wants to marry someone of the same sex, that is their prerogative. That’s not my decision to make, I can’t tell them what to do with their life. As long as someone finds someone who’s going to take them through life’s journey, who’s to say it has to be a man, or has to be a woman? Life is hard enough as it is, so, if you can be happy, why not be happy?

TC: Feel free to answer this last question in character. If you had one message for President Obama, what would it be?

RB: (in character)Uh, first, let me say this… Thank you for the opportunity. (breaks character) I’d really just thank him for all the opportunities he’s given me, because he has directly changed my life. I’d try to tell him all the experiences I’ve had that not too many people get to…It’s been amazing, so I would profusely thank him. People always ask me this question, and he’s the one person…I hang out here with celebrities all the time, I’ve met so many “important people,” but I think he’s the one person I’d get in front of, and try to keep myself in check, but I think I just wouldn’t know what to say.

——–

After our interview, I emailed him because I forgot to ask him who he voted for in 2008. He replied, “Take a guess!”

Minutes later, his manager, Dustin Gold (who had been copied on the email), chimed in, “Reggie is nonpartisan but can be for a fee, he is a hired assassin, and his political affiliation is ‘entertainer.’”

Several hours after our interview, Reggie Brown delivered a knockout performance on Real Time with Bill Maher, and if you thought the material he performed there was several notches edgier than his normal, corporate-friendly act, you weren’t imagining things. After the show, I asked Reggie if the Real Time jokes were actually the ones he intended to finish his RLC set with:

Last night was amazing!  I am one of Bill Maher’s biggest fans and when he invited me on the show, I was beside myself, it has been one of my career goals to make it onto his show.

Great observation by the way, his team did provide me with the material last night. His audience expects a little more pop in the jokes and that’s exactly what they we gave them. The rest of my material from the RLC will be performed in my upcoming comedy tour and performances.

Last night’s material pushed the line a bit further than we go on our normal corporate show but as a comedian it was amazing to perform in front of the best audience in the television world.

THE 5 BEST PANELS OF 2010

1. Who: Billie Joe Armstrong, Michael Mayer, interviewed by Jordan Roth
Where: 92nd Street Y
When: September 19
What we said: “Mayer says that theater has always told the stories of the active and vocal generation of the time; American Idiot follows in that tradition. So what’s Armstrong think of his songs being performed on stage? They’re “two different animals,” he assures. He admits, though, that certain songs have been adapted so well to Broadway that the band now plays them differently on tour. It seems that the art forms have worked in tandem even better than the duo could have imagined.”

See the full review.

2. Who: Jonathan Alter, David Remnick, moderated by Abigail Pogrebin
Where: The JCC in Manhattan
When: October 13
What we said: “Getting the president to open up was a different story. Each of the writers got around an hour total to ask Obama questions for their respective books. Neither of them found him very forthcoming. They each, separately, came to similar conclusions about the president’s childhood and demeanor. He’s deliberate, disciplined, cool, and detached, they said. What perplexes them, though, is how he rose up and became known as a communicator yet struggles in those areas today.”

See the full review.

3. Who: Lorne Michaels and Seth Meyers, interviewed by Ken Auletta
Where: W Hotel – Union Square
When: March 2
What we said: “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.”

See the full review.

4. Who: Jimmy Fallon, interviewed by Brian Williams
Where: Paley Center for Media
When: May 27
What we said: “While not educating the audience, the pair was yukking it up in ways only they can. Fallon danced through the aisles, re-positioned his chair for the sake of a joke, did celebrity voice impressions, among other overall wackiness. Williams aptly played the straight man, picking his spots carefully and making the crowd laugh with his body movements and positioning. At one point, the way Williams simply moved his chin in response to some of Fallon’s antics made us laugh.”

See the full review.

5. Who: Steve Carell, interviewed by Tad Friend at the New Yorker Festival
Where: Acura at SIR Stage37
When: October 3
What we said: “Carell said that his favorite character on The Office is Toby because he does so much with so few lines and minimal amounts of screen time. This isn’t surprising though once you consider that Carell, in his roles, chooses his spots wisely, largely blending in as observers until his much-awaited entry and timely punchline. He said he’s committed to making his comedy “genuine and real” in order to avoid cliches and anything else predictable.”

See the full review.

THE 10 BEST QUOTES OF 2010

1. “He’s the least crazy president we’ve had in a century. He’s probably the least crazy person I know.”
- David Remnick shares his thoughts on the president’s psyche

2. “Is this boring?”
- Steve Martin wonders aloud whether his interest in art speaks to the 92Y audience

3. “When you get to the afternoon, Fox goes from the attractive Munster daughter to the monster under the stairs.”
- Brian Williams looks at how the news competition shapes up

4. “I don’t think my special brand of self confidence comes from anyone outside of me.”
– Gabourey Sidibe is fine with herself

5. “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

6. “I plan to continue covering the media until I write about myself: ‘David Carr got laid off today.’”
- David Carr is going to create another Moses conundrum

7. “The only acting I did in high school, I was the rear end of a horse.”
- James Earl Jones has grown into larger parts since then

8. “Those who shout the loudest don’t necessarily deserve to be heard the most.”
- Tony Blair dealt with this firsthand as he faced down a disruptive protester proclaiming him a “war criminal”

9. “The structure of banking is what brought us to the precipice; it destroyed our economy.”
- Eliot Spitzer wants to rebuild the foundations

10. “The Long Island social scene is hanging out in the parking lot of a mall so [my acting career] was my saving grace.”
- Natalie Portman doesn’t know the joy of drinking slurpees outside a CVS

The strange story of Betty White’s triumphant return to live television ended with with a bang this weekend. When NBC decided to listen to a popular Facebook group and invite White to host the venerable sketch comedy show, it could have just been an odd footnote in the story of the show’s 36th season. However, when the episode gave SNL its best ratings in a year and a half, that all changed. While the ratings can also be attributed to performances by a number of returning fan-favorite female cast members and Jay-Z, you have to imagine that someone at the network is looking to recapture some of that Facebook gold.

As the New York Times noted, the current reigning SNL Facebook petition Burnett, the 77 year old star of Broadway and sketch comedy:

“Already off and running is a Facebook page called “Carol Burnett to Host SNL (PLEASE?)!”, closely modeled on the site that helped Ms. White get the “SNL” gig. Its creator writes that Ms. Burnett, the sketch comedian, Broadway star and author “would be an OUTSTANDING choice to host ‘SNL,’” adding: “Icing on the cake would be a cameo appearance by TIM CONWAY!” As of Tuesday morning, more than 22,000 like-minded fans have signed on in agreement, but there’s not much influence they can exert right now: the “SNL” season finale, hosted by Alec Baldwin, is on Saturday.”

While the group for Burnett is currently the largest, there are hundreds of Facebook pages like it online and, now that the Betty White group got its way, there’s sure to be more in the pipeline. The groups are so prevalent that one is proud to proclaim itself the first Reba McEntire page. There are even parody groups (who wouldn’t want the Great Old One Cthulhu to host the show?) But, will the SNL producers listen and will there be a negative affect if they don’t? The problem with giving power to a show’s online fans is that they begin to feel a proprietary ownership once they think that they have some say in the creative decisions. For example, check out the fury of Chuck fans when, after the spy comedy’s creators credited them with saving the show, they didn’t get what they wanted regarding the main romantic storyline.

We’ll have to wait till next season to see how Michaels and NBC follow up the surprising success of this week’s episode. While they may not be give us Burnett, McEntire, or Liza Minelli episodes, we can hope that, at the very least, the fan-driven success of an 88 year old host will save us future episodes starring tween icons like Taylor Lautner.

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.

To be fair, it’s nothing he hasn’t already admitted to Glenn Beck.

Seinfeld and Meyers to Massa: “Really?!”

The SNL head told USA Today that having White host was something he has always wanted, and while he has always felt the same level of affection for White as the Facebook fans have, it was their public support of her that “validated that.” While White called the opportunity “lovely,” she quipped that she was only hosting because “my agent said he’d divorce me if I didn’t do it, and I love my agent.” White had turned down the show three times previously for being too “New York.”

White has claimed that she is not afraid of the demands of the job. “I’ve got so much energy, it’s ridiculous,” she told the newspaper, although it seems like SNL won’t be taking any chances. While White will be the sole host of the show despite early rumors floating around of her having a co-host or two ease the amount of physical effort required from her, she will have an intense backup team: an SNL mom reunion with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch.

With this kind of host and this level of talent, it sounds like it will be nearly impossible for this show not to be completely amazing– and it’s all thanks to Facebook! Now if only the same could be done for Glenn Beck.

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.

Jimmy Fallon is almost a year into hosting Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and, unlike other NBC late night hosts, he has surpassed a lot of expectations, including- it seems- his own. Fallon told the story of his rise to Saturday Night Live, his self declared failure in movie making, and his return to late night, and he stated it with uncommon humility and honesty. He cast himself as a break-catching kid who happened to be both in love with SNL and incredibly good at impressions.

While it is true that his strength lies in his impersonations, it’s a disservice to himself to belittle that talent. When discussing his Adam Sandler impression, it was clear that he put a lot of thought into how to capture people. Beyond that, Fallon is a natural performer. He treated the interview as his stage and brought out much of his diverse array of impressions, including Bill Cosby, Jerry Seinfeld, Howard Stern, Gilbert Godfried, Barry Gibb, Mick Jagger, Dana Carvey and Michael McDonald, to name a few.

“I’ll do my show at 3 in the morning. I’m just happy to have a show”

But it’s not just Fallon’s natural talents that have led to the success of his show. Fallon has harnessed the power of the internet and social media. More than most celebrities, he seems to understand the role technology plays in people’s lives. Fallon got a lot of practice for his show by hosting webisodes before going live. He also has 2.3 million twitter followers and he understands twitter etiquette (tries to keep it to 3 links a day). “Thank god for the internet,” Fallon said, “it’s made us as successful as we are.” That, and the natural talents he put on display have indeed transformed Fallon from an impressionist to a Late Night Host.

What They Said
“Are you sure you don’t want to do this a half hour later?”
– Jimmy Fallon’s first words of the night. Rosanne Cash’s preceding time slot was not moved to bump Fallon

“I love that NBC tried something different. Who knows? Maybe it would have worked.”
– Jimmy Fallon gives NBC credit for trying, which is more than anyone else is giving NBC

“You had this bizarre obsession as a child and ended up succeeding… there are probably a lot of people who have been doing this and not getting on SNL”
– Bill Carter commenting on Jimmy Fallon’s success, as –somewhere- the entire student body of the Upright Citizen’s Brigade nods its head.

“Time doesn’t really matter. We’re in a different age. I don’t even know what time Jersey Shore is on”
- Jimmy Fallon explained that in the DVR and online video age, it doesn’t matter what time his show is on

“Right before we started, Justin Timberlake turned to me and said ‘Don’t screw up the harmonies. I’m serious.’ I felt like Lance Bass.”
- Jimmy Fallon recounts the moments before the first “Barry Gibb Talk Show” sketch

What We Thought

• Bill Carter began the night the only way that made sense – by asking Fallon if they should address the elephant in the room. Fallon claimed ignorance and said “we’re just going to keep doing our show” before saying to Carter “everything you wrote is right.” Carter stole the exchange by telling Fallon “maybe I’ll let you know what happens.”
• Jimmy Fallon is very humble and self-aware, and frank about his limitations. Many times over the night he thanked writers, producers and others by name. And it was not just Lorne Michaels either. Michael Shoemaker, Gavin Purcell, and Amy Ozols were all singled out repeatedly.
• We loved Bill Carter’s suggestion that there is a correlation between musical acumen and the ability to impersonate others. Maybe it’s about finding rhythms?
• Fallon obviously cares about his fans. Not only does he respond to twitter messages, but he found a way to force Bill Carter to let him take every question from waiting fans. He worked the room to keep it interesting and to give them that opportunity.

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… In-turn Interns
Look, a lot of people are waiting to ask Jimmy Fallon a question. It’s probably not the right venue to ask him to be an intern. It’s definitely not the right venue to press him on it when he brushes you off the first time. We get that you’re a fan. Next time, just ask about the cowbell sketch.

Panel Nerds Don’t Like… The Others
There are a lot of things to ask Jimmy Fallon about: SNL, Jay Leno, his show, etc. Why would you ask him something completely other and outside of him. “Are you a huge Lost fan? What’s your favorite Lost moment?” is just about the strangest question we’re yet to hear. And that is saying something.

There were many significant and ongoing narratives in the mediascape this year. The continued explosion of online media dovetailed with the continued collapse of print — Condé Nast ushered in the McKinsey executors while Gawker Media posted huge profits. Meanwhile, Newsweek tried to reinvent itself, the New York Times suffered another round of layoffs and a host of shuttered papers and magazines stopped cold. Online we saw huge acquisitions and gains, but not without growing pains: the net had its fair share of job cuts, too, as advertising slumped across the board. But as media critic David Carr put it, there’s an underlying wave of youth and optimism.

This year we also saw opinion media dominate traditional journalism in ways that no one would ever have expected. Fox News pulled further ahead of the competition with the continued success of Bill O’Reilly and a breakout year from Glenn Beck, not to mention the network’s similar domination of straight news blocks. The Huffington Post kept momentum from the kickstart of the 2008 election, while the right feasted on a first year president.

Pop culture had its moments, too — not all of them pretty, in fact, most pretty ugly — from Balloon Boy and Kanye “Jackass” West to Rihanna and the death of Michael Jackson. As a result, gossip blogs had another stellar year and TMZ led the pack. Then came MTV’s latest gem.

It often seemed like a rough year — maybe a fitting end to a tough decade — but that doesn’t mean there weren’t bright spots. We saw innovation, redemption and reconciliation, and the tactful and savvy rose to the top of the media heap. Those are the names that make up The Mediaite 50.

RELATED: Poll: Who Is The Top Online Editor Of 2009?

(Note – the rankings of these individuals are purely opposed to the rankings in the Mediaite Power Grid)

>>>NEXT: The first 5 in the Mediaite 50 include a crew from Seaside Heights and a young man you might just Digg…

]]> http://www.mediaite.com/online/the-mediaite-50-innovators-and-influencers-who-shook-up-2009/feed/ 11 http://www.mediaite.com/tv/barneys-snl-windows-simon-doonan/ http://www.mediaite.com/tv/barneys-snl-windows-simon-doonan/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:53:58 +0000 Philip Bump http://www.mediaite.com/?p=47929 Saturday Night Live. 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. 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 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. I’ve done my best, below, to identify the references in each of the four windows.  I have done poorly. Therefore, I appeal to you, Internet, to help fill in the blanks as much as these somewhat dark and small photos will allow. Hop to!

Window 1

Let me demonstrate my immense SNL knowledge right off the bat: this is primarily about the Coneheads. (Don’t be intimidated by my powerful intellect folks. Just do your best.)

In the close-up, at right, you can see how I pieced this one together. The mouth full of cigarettes, the six-pack of beer, the capes – all hints toward which long-running gag this pays testament to.  Also, the shape of the heads.

(You may not have known, though, that the Coneheads were also big fans of Vanity Fair. Is it possible that a similar cranial structure is what’s buried beneath all that hair?)

Window 2

This one is a bit more complicated. Will Ferrell as Janet Reno, while an odd choice, is easy to spot, as is Dana Carvey‘s Church Lady and Brian Fellow, whose name is helpfully written (and misspelled) on his glasses. Father Guido Sarducci is between these two, in the center back.

There are five other floating heads here that are near incomprehensible. For example, the one behind Brian Fellow appears to be Matt Foley, though I only guessed that because, underneath him, it says, “In a van down by the river.” It also says, “Suck it, Trebek,” though, so who knows.

Oh, I just realized that the two in the upper left of the small photo are Wayne and Garth. Good luck on the two remaining.

>>>NEXT: Paper-mache Tina Fey, Sarah Palin, Gilly and Pat

Tapper was quick to show public solidarity with his fellow network, asking Gibbs pointedly, “I’m not talking about their opinion programming or issues you have with certain reports. I’m talking about saying thousands of individuals who work for a media organization, do not work for a ‘news organization’ – why is that appropriate for the White House to say?” His news-making gall was enough to take the #1 spot among TV Reporters while Mitchell fell four spots to #5.

With buzz for The September Issue finally dying down, and layoffs sweeping Condé Nast, Anna Wintour was unseated this week at #1 among Magazine Editors by Jon Meacham, whose Newsweek is enjoying a burst of rejuvenation after it took a different editorial direction this summer.

Elsewhere, eternal Power Grid mover and shaker, ESPN’s Erin Andrews, made another power play, moving from the #21 slot all the way up to #4 among TV Reporters. Andrews has been in and out of the news with her nude video scandal and subsequent lawsuit and that has done well for her Power Grid standings, with her blog and news buzz holding steady. Her stalker’s first date in court is this week.

Ann Coulter went from #8 right to #3 among TV Pundits this week, on the heels of her always controversial television appearances (this week on Fox News) including this stop by Joy Behar‘s show. Elsewhere among pundits, Andrew Sullivan continued his climb, moving from #7 to #5, and aided by some noticeable blog buzz doubtlessly aided by his day job as a blogger for the Atlantic. Sullivan also sits at #16 among Online Editors.

NBC’s Jim Bell moved from #3 to #1 among TV Executives, while a re-run for Saturday Night Live and a lag in momentum since the beginning of the season sent Lorne Michaels falling from #2 to #5. We’ll see how he bounces back when the show returns with Taylor Swift as host on November 7th.

Check out the rest of the rankings here.

In another case, the sickness was a financial malady responsible for the moving and the shaking, as New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin skyrocketed from the #37 Print/Online Reporter to #5 thanks to the forthcoming release of his verbosely titled book Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves. The latest issue of Vanity Fair includes an excerpt from the work, as well as a Q&A, in addition to the buzz Sorkin has received from his other recent financial coverage in the Times of shamed businessman Guy Hands, a salacious take entitled “A Financier Peels Back the Curtain.” As a result, he’s setting Google ablaze.

Elsewhere, Lorne Michaels benefitted from SNL‘s return (enjoy the classics here!), jumping from #4 to #2 among TV Executives, while TV reporter Ann Curry leaped nine spots, from #20 to #11 after a highly publicized interview with disputed Iranian President Ahmadinejad as well as likely gaining some followers after a public report about an emergency landing on her Twitter account. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg crept up the media mogul top 5, to the fourth slot, after announcing that the social networked topped 300 million users and is now profitable. Meanwhile, madness in Washington took the Washington Post‘s Dana Milbank to #1 from #3 in the Print/Online Reporters category.

A handful of huge jumps included Armen Keteyian, from #50 to #12 among TV Reporters after an Emmy win for investigative journalism. Similarly, the start of the NFL season meanted a #43 to #13 jump for TV reporter Michael Smith, while the ever pleasant Ann Coulter elbowed her way to the top’s outer edges — from #20 to #8 when it comes to TV Pundits.

Check out the entire set of rankings here.

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.

Actually, I’m not really joking. SNL’s bread and butter is in buzz — picking great hosts and bands to encourage people to tune in. See above re: appointment television. In the Internet Age, they now also have to worry about next-day pickup. So who better to kick off the season than the Internet’s favorite pin-up girl? She’s already making the video rounds with her appearance on Jimmy Fallon, her SNL promos and Thursday Update cameo, and her recent headline-grabbing comments about her vagina. (This girl is a media superstar for a reason.)

She already showed herself to be game and a good sport on Thursday, and it made next-day news — whatever happens with the ratings tonight, SNL only needs one or two knockout skits to burn up the internet the next day.

But it does need them. It needs them because in its 35th year, SNL has never had more competition horning in on their beat. There’s Jon Stewart (who just beat them for an Emmy!) and Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel (“F**ing Matt Damon,” anyone?) and Jimmy Fallon (darling of the Internerds) and even Leno (he’s got five days a week to come up with something). So SNL needs to be memorable and fresh and funny (think: the Ahmedinejad “Iran So Far” spoof or Amy Poehler‘s pregnant Palin Rap).

Note that neither of these skits mentioned featured a guest host — the blockbusters often don’t, and that’s as it should be. The SNL regulars and writers are there because they’re damned talented, and it’s their job to create memorable, hilarious moments to make the whole show good (or at least until Update). Jason Sudeikis‘ send-up of Glenn Beck is already a hit, and strong supporting characters like Bill Hader‘s impression of James Carville or really anything by Kristen Wiig will keep the chattering online classes buzzing the next day (we all need something to post, right? Thanks for the traffic, SNL!).

But the guest hosts are there to create that spark of excitement, that unique OMG moment that will instantly set Twitter ablaze. SNL needs that. It’s the catalyst for everything else. Because fundamentally SNL is not just about comedy, it’s about Zeitgeist. So they’d damn well better tap into it.

Megan Fox, you’re on.

Related in SNL:
35 Years of SNL News Spoofs
“Glenn Beck” Makes SNL Debut
‘I Can See Russia From My House’: A Year of Sarah Palin, The Video Highlights
SNL@ UCB: Live From New York, A Show By Family, For Family

Related in Megan Fox:
What Megan Fox Has In Common With Barack Obama
A Day Without Megan Fox
About 800 Pairs of Megan Fox’s Boobs

Some hints:

• He was one of Salon’s “Sexiest Men Living” in 2008.
• He’s been on 60 Minutes and Charlie Rose
• He’s from New Hampshire.
• He looks like someone who used to date Jennifer Garner who is not Ben Affleck — though he has worked with both of those people for his day job, which is actually a night job.
• That job requires him to wear a suit.
• It’s not Glenn Beck.

Who is it?