The “Joke Off” was brief, with the eventual winner being a tie between Jimmy Fallon (“Unlike the strippers, the toys must not be damaged) and Tina Fey (“More than just your heart will grow three sizes that day”). The jokes were good, but this sketch would have been great due to the cast reunion alone.

You can see the full clip below via NBC:

THE 5 BEST PANELS OF 2011

1. Who: Richard Just, Jodi Kantor, Ryan Lizza, moderated by Franklin Foer
Where: New America NYC
When: December 8, 2011
What we said: “One issue that hasn’t been addressed this season, the panel noted, is the global economic crisis, which Lizza pointed out is something that can’t be blamed on Obama, so it hasn’t been a part of the GOP talking points.

This event was sold on the weird and wacky characters and events from the past few months, yet the debate centered more on the question of where we go from here. Herman Cain’s name barely showed up, for one. It seems that it’s time to get serious.”

See the full review.

2. Who: Gay Talese, David Carr, Andrew Rossi, moderated by Bill Keller
Where: Times Center
When: June 14, 2011
What we said: “So will The Times live on? Rossi isn’t sure if journalism will remain the same on a new platform. Carr, however, thinks The Timeswill survive, even if only as a status symbol. When you’re on your iPad, he said, it’s impossible to tell if you’re reading The New York Times or not. Echoing this sentiment were two people sitting in front of us at the event who made it difficult to tell if they were tweeting about the panel on their iPhones or just checking their email.”

See the full review.

3. Who: Seth Meyers, John Mulaney, Marika Sawyer, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Bryan Tucker, Chris Kelly, moderated by Steve Gaydos
Where: Paley Center for Media
When: November 13, 2011
What we said: “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.”

See the full review.

4. Who: Michael Lewis, interviewed by Ira Glass
Where: 92nd St. Y
When: February 3, 2011
What we said: “Glass, one of the best interviewers out there, can make a heavy topic like finance come alive. He clearly has an affinity for Lewis, who he declares is one of the few journalists who does fact-based reporting while clearly having a good time doing it. Glass was at the top of his game, engaging with Lewis, reacting to both his answers and his implications, as he sought closure and a villain to blame for the economic downturn. But what Glass said he found in Lewis’ book, The Big Short, were ‘heroes’ in the form of bankers.”

See the full review.

5. Who: Nicholas Lemann, Stephen B. Shepard, moderated by Myron Kandel
Where: JCC of Manhattan
When: October 5, 2011
What we said: “We used to rely on news anchors and editors to determine the biggest news of the day. Now, we each choose for ourselves, and have the abilities to deliver our selections to others. What hasn’t changed is that people still rely on those they trust to help curate the news. And since there are more media options now than ever, everyone can find and design his or her own diet. Although it might be time to begin worrying about fragmentation…”

See the full review.

THE 10 BEST QUOTES OF 2011

1. “The thing to fixate on is not the weirdness of the weird candidates, it’s the weirdness of the normal candidate.”
- Richard Just believes the Republicans are scraping at the bottom of the barrel this time around

2. “That’s not that interesting…if it was that interesting, I would have asked the question.”
– Anderson Cooper jokingly takes issue with Reiss’ decision to begin a response with “Here’s something interesting…”

3. “One of the things the Internet did was pick apart the newspaper bit by bit.”
- Nicholas Lemann says that have more sources to get the information and resources we used to find inside of newspapers pages

4. “You don’t ever change what you know to be truth.”
– Oliver Stone takes issue with directors who don’t document fact correctly

5. “The people who get the joke don’t need an explanation. Those who don’t get it won’t understand the explanation.”
- Gilbert Gottfried explains his lack of explanations

6. “Criticism operates in a business environment that it can’t ignore or deny.”
- David Denby says it’s impossible to separate movies from the studios behind them

7. “It’s never about the character, it’s always about the story…I’ve always likened it to a rock n’ roll band. If the band is good, the bass player is cool.”
- Kiefer Sutherland aspires to be that bass player

8. “One thing we have in this family is the belief in freedom of the press even if it’s all about the press. And that’s a great tradition.”
- Gay Talese praises the Sulzbergers for their commitment to the paper

9. “Where do they pay kids who don’t know anything lots of money? Wall Street!”
- Michael Lewis says that some young people were drawn to banking after they read Lewis’ Liar’s Poker

10. “So much of this business is bluffing.”
- Josh Radnor responds to Akerman’s revelation that she had to convince Radnor she could take on the lead role

Huntsman was a great sport and his delivery was quite good. I was a little disappointed that his bit on the show was so brief. His best moment was, fittingly, his last when he quizzed Meyers about his parents’ political affiliations (since they still live in New Hampshire). Meyers’s mother is a registered Democrat and his father is an independent. “Say hi to your dad for me,” Huntmsan purred.

You can watch his appearance here via NBC:

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.

Perry also took the opportunity to outline his tax reform plan using a Spanish-speaking Hawaiian girl doll to illustrate his policy reforms. “Governor, it looks like you’re just flat out losing it,” Meyers said. Perry responded “The election? I know.”

You can see the clip here via NBC.

When Seth Meyers asked for a recommendation that was more wholesome, Stefon had an alternative: “SPICY” (picture the word said in Morgan Freeman’s voice), located on the Upper East Side of a dumpster. It’s perfect for Mother’s Day, since it’s “a 24-hour bitchfest” featuring sand worms, rock eaters, and subway sleeping bags — “that thing of when you’re on the train and you sit between two guys in FUBU jackets.”

Also back was Stefon’s raging crush on Meyers. At one point, he even leaned over and stole a kiss, a move that sent both Meyers and Hader into a fit of giggles. Meyers even ended the segment invited Stefon to come home with him and meet his mother, an invitation that understandably thrilled him. Of course, he also had one last recommendation before leaving the set: flying human kites in Central Park. No word on whether or not that’s still a good Mother’s Day activity if you already make a habit of tying a piece of string around a midget wearing a windbreaker, and then running through a field.

Watch via NBC below:

Saturday night, I was a guest of Time Magazine at the star-studded Time-CNN-People-Fortune pre-reception in the Washington Hilton’s Lincoln Room. According to Time (although I can vouch for most of it), the guest list included:

Here is a list of some of the politicians, media, and celebs that stopped by: Chris Colfer; Mila Kunis; Matthew Morrison; Mira Sorvino; Jon Hamm; Colin Powell; Steve Buscemi; Wolf Blitzer; Twitter co-founder Evan Williams; Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Ariel Winter from “Modern Family;” Sen, Scott Brown; Alyssa Milano; Jason Biggs; Bristol Palin; Chace Crawford; Candy Crowley; Tony Romo; Russell Simmons; Michelle Trachtenberg; Tom Hooper; Tara Subkoff; Tory Burch; Timothy Geithner;  David Plouffe; Eliot Spitzer; Anita Dunn; Meghan McCain and TIME Managing Editor Stengel; People Managing Editor Larry Hackett; FORTUNE Managing Editor Andy Serwer.

TIME WHCD guests Jay Roach, director and executive producer of “Game Change” for HBO and Danny Strong, producer of “Game Change” mingled with TIME’s Mark Halperin, co-author of the best selling book that they are adapting.

I didn’t shoot a whole lot of video (although I did get a decent number of still shots), as this was mainly a social occasion, but just enough to get a sense of the atmosphere.

On my way to the hotel, I ran into David Shuster and another old friend of mine, and as we walked into the hotel, I was stunned to see a dense crowd of media covering the entry. In the first section of video, that’s Shuster and a colleague working the velvet rope, while the rest of us continued in to the hotel.

Later, I spotted The Office star Mindy Kaling (who plays Kelly Kapoor on the show), and asked her what made her want to attend our little dinner.

The laugh of the night, for me, came from Fox News anchor Chris Wallace who, when I introduced myself, narrowed his eyes into a suspicious glare, held up his hand, and said, “Wait, who are you with? Media Matters?”

I laughed and said, “No, those guys hate me.”

I also ran into former White House Communications Director (and Fox-fighting heroine to many on the left) Anita Dunn, who immediately volunteered that she “loves Mediaite.com,” which I then made her repeat on-camera (after quizzing her to make sure she was really talking about us, and not Media Matters).

As I was speaking with Dunn, who should wander over but Mediaite Editor-at-Large Rachel Sklar, who contributed her own set of party photos to this post.

After the dinner, (which I spent filming protesters outside the hotel, and watching the President and Seth Meyers in a suite full of Rachel Sklar‘s pals) I went to the buzzed-about Capitol File after-party in the Reagan building. The balance of the video is a brief shot of the Cap File party, and a minute or so of a killjoy Code Pink protester, who, I found out, annoyed even the liberals in the crowd.

People I ran into but didn’t photograph include: Jake Tapper and wife Jennifer (who were leaving the pre-parties as I came in), Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner (who streaked through the party like a fiscal Frank the Tank), Glee star Matthew Morrison (who unwittingly threw a pick-move on me as I tried to track Geithner down), Meghan McCain (who I saw but didn’t really recognize until I saw her name on the post-party email), Joe Klein, CNN‘s Will Cain, Dan Lothian and Suzanne Malveaux, Morning Joe EP Chris Licht, HuffPo‘s Sam Stein and Jon Ward, Will.i.am, AP‘s Ben Feller, The Washington Times‘ Liz Glover, and ABC News Radio‘s Ann Compton (I did photograph Ann, who looked like a million bucks, but the pictures were too dark).

Here’s a gallery of stills that I took Saturday night, along with some further observations, followed by a slew of stills from Rachel Sklar.

[Show as slideshow]

Gallery

The Stuttering Foundation’s president, Jane Fraser, released a statement expressing displeasure over Trump’s choice of insult:

Shame on you, Mr. Trump!

We at the Stuttering Foundation find it discouraging that in 2011, Donald Trump has chosen to use the word ‘stutterer’ in a derogatory fashion, something to be made fun of, to describe Seth Meyers’ speech at the annual White House Correspondents’ dinner.

In light of The King’s Speech and the new awareness it has brought to stuttering, we had hoped that this kind of unfortunate comment was a thing of the past. When in doubt about the eloquence of those who stutter, Trump should take a look at Winston Churchill, King George VI and James Earl Jones.

You’ll recall that, at the dinner, Meyers poked fun at Trump, joking that while Trump was planning to run as a Republican, Meyers thought he was “running as a joke.”

Trump responded that, “I thought Seth Meyers — his delivery frankly was not good. He’s a stutterer.” He then proceeded to steal a lollipop from a small child and announced that Christmas will be canceled indefinitely.

h/t THR

Meyers warmed up by taking some easy shots at CSPAN, the network best known for “wide shots of empty chairs,” and at the organizers of the dinner for booking it in a Hilton. While these jokes went over very well with the room, they felt a bit stale. Things picked up when he thanked the White House Correspondents’ Association for having him, but also noting that Senator John Kyl had warned him that 90% of what they do is abortions.

When Meyers began taking shots at individual networks, the room cooled off. When he said that he heard NPR’s afterparty would be boring, “because how exciting could a party that’s being held in accordance with sharia law be,” there were groans. As Stephen Colbert‘s epic White House Correspondents’ Dinner address showed us, when the keynote speaker bombs, it’s a sign of a successful speech. As though adhering to some secret law that dictates he must be mentioned in all media, Brian Williams came up! Meyers said that Williams decided to show up because the event featured the thing he values the most: cameras. The White House Correspondents’ Association should have panned, Oscars-style, to all the media personalities being name-checked. I felt like I was missing out on a ton of amazing reaction shots.

Myers also addressed Donald Trump‘s candidacy, saying that he was surprised to learn Trump would run as a Republican, “because [he] assumed he was running as a joke.” There was no tight smile from Trump this time. He also took a shot at the mogul’s toupee, which was brave if cringeworthy and not super original. Very funny, however, was Meyers’ line about Trump’s claim that he has a great relationship with “the blacks.” Quoth Meyers: “Unless ‘the Blacks’ are a family of white people, I think he’s mistaken.” By now the cameramen had received my telepathic memo and were on point, cutting to a shot of Obama giggling uncontrollably.

Meyers’ speech was crowd-pleasing, and he also thanked the journalists in the room for making his job possible, but he managed to make a few solid digs that were surprising in both their wit and cruelty. The question I was left with was why his jokes can’t be this clever every week on “Weekend Update”? He is the head writer. Overall he managed to work the room without selling out completely, though I would bet $3 million there was no applause from The Donald’s table.

Watch Seth Myers’ speech here via C-SPAN:

According to a source within the WHCA, the demand for tickets to this year’s dinner was at an all-time high, with 360 requests for tables submitted, out of only 262 available tables. The demand was so high that some dues-paying members of the Association weren’t even able to get a single seat, although the source says these were all organizations that only signed up recently. “We can’t have people joining just so they can go to the dinner.”

The WHCA accepts applications, and checks, for whatever the number of seats requested, then divvies them up according to several factors. WHCA board members get first dibs, followed by those organizations which participate most heavily in pool coverage, and those that travel most frequently with the President. This can lead to some unhappy campers, as World Net Daily‘s 2010 lawsuit illustrates. WND requested three tables to fete correspondent Les Kinsolving, but was only granted two tickets. Kinsolving, the second most senior correspondent, will not be attending this year.

Of those members who do get to attend, many have had to scale back their own guest list to accommodate larger outlets, who can lock up as many as seventeen seats, many for non-press interlopers like Justin Bieber, Alec Baldwin, and Bristol Palin. While not the most egalitarian approach, such star wattage helps to make the dinner a buzzworthy affair.

For the workhorses who actually cover the White House, the dinner is something of a mixed bag. CBS radio’s Mark Knoller, a Twitter superstar and leading contender for Press Corps “Dean,” relishes the “chance to see old friends and colleagues,” but in addition to the perpetual nightmare of parking in DC, doesn’t care for “the Golden Globes aspect of the dinner. Unless I get Anne Hathaway to be my guest.”

Mother Jones‘ David Corn isn’t a big fan of the overcrowding, or the strained availability of tickets. Asked why he thinks the dinner is such a hot ticket for celebs, Corn theorizes, “Their lives are empty and meaningless? Or could it be the food?”

Perhaps the toughest cookie in the press corps, AURN’s April Ryan, looks forward to the dinner as a welcome reward for hard work. “It is really like a break after a continual study for what seems like a masters degree that never comes. We have to know every topic daily in a matter of minutes, and then pepper the President and/or administration officials for answers that matter to the public.”

For Ryan, the worst thing about the dinner is the “curse” of a glamorous night. “About 5 thousand people are packed into very small rooms for pre receptions trying to make it down the hall without getting your gown stepped on, or stepping on another fabulous creation.”

She doesn’t see a problem with the megawatt guest list, either. “Since I have been covering the White House for the past 14 years, it has alway been a major deal for politics and Hollywood to meet,” she says. “They follow us and we follow them. It seems like the natural order of things to me.”

Ryan doesn’t agree with critics of the dinner’s glitzier aspects, and notes the positive effects of such luminaries on the coverage of the dinner. “People come me out in large groups and wait in the Hotel lobby to see their favorite celebrity, and all the entertainment cameras are there, and the event is being aired on C-SPAN.  And, has anyone stopped to think some of the celebrities may actually have a connection with some Correspondents?”

Progressive radio host Bill Press, part of the “Professional Left” clique (along with Corn) in the briefing room, sees the dinner as a unique opportunity. “Last year, I met Joy Behar. I’m a huge fan. Since then, I’ve been on her show several times, and she’s been on mine. Great networking!”

Not every celeb sighting is a joy, though. Press’least favorite part of the event is “running into total jerks who don’t belong there and should never have been invited, like Donald Trump. I also don’t like seeing people I otherwise admire make whores out of themselves by inviting jerks like Donald Trump.”

Inevitably, events like these lead to criticisms that the press corps is “too cozy” with the administration it covers. Knoller allows that “In some cases, the criticism is right on target,” but others, like Corn, scoff at the idea.

“It’s very difficult to be cozy in a room full of 3000 people,” Corn begins. “In other words, I don’t think the media swallowed the Bush administration’s bogus case for war in Iraq because once a year reporters shared an evening in a cavernous ballroom with a handful of government officials who misrepresented intelligence to push a phony argument for the invasion.”

Huffington Post’s Jon Ward, late of The Daily Caller and The Daily, thinks the criticism is just overblown. “I like parties,” he says. “Parties are good. People who get all tense about parties maybe need to go to more of them.”

Press sees the criticism as sour grapes. “Those who criticize dinner as administration getting too cozy with media are those who couldn’t score a ticket,” Press says, adding, “Frankly, I’d rather see more people from administration and fewer from soap operas.”

If anything, the dinner is a demonstration of how much each White House needs the press corps, not the other way around.

The ever-increasing celebrity glare is both a blessing and a curse, raising the dinner’s profile, and with it, that of the work done by the press corps, but also diluting the journo-centric vibe of the event. Hopefully, a beneficial balance will be struck, but at the very least, we hope that folks remember this event the next time someone tries to suggest that we ain’t got no reason to live. No ticket for you!

Not content to continue stubbornly governing his own country, Gaddafi had some charitable advice for us, the country currently bombing his. He reminded us that we’re still in the midst of a financial crisis, and that if he were in Barack Obama’s position he’d be spending the money on teachers, but “that’s just [him].” He also made the salient point that there are authoritarian governments in other nations like the Ivory Coast, but the U.S. has only elected to bomb Libya so far.

Like all good arguments, Gaddafi’s ended with his bank account number on the bottom of the screen to solicit donations, and a CSI joke. Looks like someone’s sense of political propriety is dead. On. Arrival.

Watch from NBC below:

Stefon’s crush on Seth Meyers was also more apparent in this segment. When Meyers commented that his girlfriend probably wouldn’t want to go to any of these clubs, Stefon snapped “You should probably break up with her and do like a total 180 or something!”

Unfortunately, explaining “human suitcases” to Seth was too much for Hader, and he lost it completely, much to Meyers’s delight. Watch it here from NBC:

Mubarak had some upsetting parting thoughts: in his grateful farewell message to America he noted “I could never have done it without your money, your support and your tear gas.” Goooood work, everybody!

Watch the video from NBC below:

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

As Politico notes, Meyers is no stranger to ceremonies. He’s hosted the Webby Awards twice, and his performance as the host of this year’s ESPY Awards was so good that critics urged producers of the Academy Awards to take note.

And while the comedian probably won’t be as caustic as Stephen Colbert was during his infamous turn at the mic, he’ll likely still hold the media’s feet to the fire. “The secret, it seems,” writes Poltico’s Patrick Gavin, “is to fall somewhere in between the two extremes in order to please the picky crowd.” One can only hope he brings Amy Poehler onstage for a surprise installment of “Really!?! With Seth and Amy.”

Watch the full video below:

Events:
The Case for Gay Marriage
New Yorker Night with the Moth
“That’s What She Said”: A Conversation with Steve Carrell
Neil Gaiman, Author, Comic Book Writer, Sci-Fi-Fantasy Legend
Live from New York: The Cast of SNL

The Case for Gay Marriage
David Boies, Brian Brown, R. Clarke Cooper, Cynthia Nixon and Bishop Gene Robinson. Moderated by Jeffrey Toobin

This being the New Yorker Festival, the panel was heavily attended by folks Sarah Palin might call “east coast liberal elites.” A poll by a show of hands proved the audience to be filled with those who are for marriage equality. The panel attendees were also for marriage equality in equal proportions. In attendance were: David Boies who, with Ted Olson, challenged California’s Prop 8; Clarke Cooper, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans; Cynthia Nixon, the actress, a lesbian, who has been lobbying politicians on GLBT matters; Bishop Gene Robinson,the first openly gay Episcopal bishop; and representing the lonely anti-marriage equality stance, Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM).

Brown, clearly outnumbered, was blustery. He repeated several times that the relationship between a man and a woman was “special,” for both reproductive purposes and to create unity. When confronted with the idea of couples who were infertile, he seemed to say that having the right body parts was what counted which seems a bit like giving them an A for effort. He mentioned the standard issue defense that allowing marriage equality would redefine marriage. Nixon, personally affronted, tugged heartstrings throughout the discussion, “I want to say to the gentleman to my left, that gay people who want to marry have no desire to redefine marriage in any way. When women got the right to vote, they did not redefine voting. When African Americans got the right to sit at a lunch counter alongside white people, they did not redefine eating out,” she said to great applause. Later, she came very close to asking Brown whether his family was somehow better than the one she has with her partner and their children. “We are asking for responsibilities, that is what marriage is,” she said.

“People who believe marriage is between a man and a woman are portrayed as bigots,” Brown said, and went on to claim that if marriage equality were allowed, churches would lose their tax exempt status, as organizations do who discriminate on the basis of gender or race. In short, Brown was being victimized. Bishop Robinson was incredulous, “That you’re portraying yourself as a victim is mind-boggling to me,” and went on to point out that Brown, a straight white male, is the last person who can honestly be claiming discrimination. “That you’re reaching so far as to talk about tax status shows me that you have very little to rest on here,” Boies said. Boies stressed the generational divide on this issue, how the youth don’t see homosexuality as those of the 50-and-over set do, “My grandson, who sometimes came to the court during oral arguments, couldn’t understand what this was about! Why anyone would try to keep a gay couple from getting married!” Brown and Boies sparred a bit as Brown made several attempts to prove knew more about the Prop 8 case and Judge Walker’s opinion than Boies did himself. Needless to say, they didn’t fly.

Brown’s last argument was based on the referendums barring marriage equality that have passed all over the country. “Fundamental rights aren’t up to a majority vote,” Boies responded. Cooper, addressing the Republican agenda, said, “Republicans wouldn’t respond well to someone outside the party telling them how they need to change. I consider it my job to try to force acceptance of this issue from the inside.” He said, interestingly, that the main view from within the confines of the U.S. Senate is that being gay isn’t a choice and that he sees easy passage for bills such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

The heart of the conflict is based on the parts of Church and State that aren’t completely separated. That the marriage process involves clergy that are agents of the state means that separation needs to occur more clearly from the outset. Bishop Robinson highlighted the difference between entering and exiting a marriage, “Couples don’t go back to the little church where they got married to get a divorce.”

However, Bishop Robinson sees the tides turning, “What’s happening in the Anglican church is like what happens in a family. A son says, ‘Mom, dad, I’m gay.’ The family is thrown into chaos, asking how expansive can its love be? This is a live issue in every corner of the Church. I think the greatest mistake is walking away from the table.”

When asked in the Q&A afterwards whether the Prop 8 case would have the votes if before the Supreme Court, Boies said there’s a good chance it won’t end up there at all, which prompted a, “But I need another book subject!” from Toobin. Boies joked that he would get his justices from Bush v. Gore (where he argued for Gore), and Olson (who argued the case for Bush) would get his justices and that they would secure a unanimous decision. This elite liberal audience seemed pleased at the thought of such an outcome.

>>>NEXT: New Yorker Night with the Moth – Susan Orlean, David Grann, Jane Mayer, Jeffrey Toobin, Calvin Trillin and Andy Borowitz

“Weekend Update” host Seth Meyers only got as scathing as this:

CNN fired newsman Rick Sanchez Friday, one day after he called Jon Stewart a bigot and suggested that CNN is controlled by Jews. In the end, Sanchez was done in by his Achilles’ Heel: his mouth.

Really, Seth? That’s all? Well, guess that’ll do. Watch his relatively light skewering of Sanchez for yourself:

Said Paterson: “Working in Albany is just like watching ‘Saturday Night Live. There are a lot of characters. It’s funny for 10 minutes, and then you just want it to go away.”

The Governor also regaled Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers and Armisen with a list of his accomplishments and elicited an apology from them for their mocking. Responded Paterson: “You should be sorry, you poked so much fun at me for being governor that I’d forgotten that I was black.”

After which the Patersons left the desk and wandered in front of the camera just in time to ‘interrupt’ Amy Poehler‘s report on Jeff Zucker‘s departure. Watch below.

This year it’s live with SNL‘s Seth Meyers as host – we talked to him today in a conference call about LeBron, the best sports SNL host and more.

We asked Meyers if, as host, he had any inside information about what LeBron will say tomorrow night at 9pmET on the network. “I cannot tell you how depressed I am over the lack of inside information they’re giving me,” he said. “I would have thought I’m part of the family and can be trusted. I get the sense some people around here know and they’re not saying.”

Meyers says he’ll be watching tomorrow, joking, “I really like the idea of an entire hour of TV being dedicated to a person naming one team.” He said he’s “hoping he’ll be there,” at the ESPYs, and LeBron was “a really good host,” when he was on SNL.

The best sports host though? Peyton Manning, according to Meyers, who he revealed would help out with a pre-taped ESPYs segment. Other than that, he wouldn’t give too much away about the actual show. “We had written a huge opening musical number called ‘Everybody’s Playing for the Chicago Bulls’ and it’s already obsolete,” he said.

The ESPYs are live at 9pmET on July 14.

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Descriptions thus far have basically fallen into three categories: Nazis, Fascists, and the Apartheid. With that in mind, here is a short history of Arizona Immigration Law rhetoric.

Arizona’s new immigration law is like Nazi Germany:

Google search results for “arizona immigration nazis”: 1,330,000

Money quote: “It is absolutely reminiscent of second class status of Jews in Germany prior to World War II when they had to have their papers with them at all times and were subject to routine inspections at the suspicion of being Jewish.” [Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo)]

Video highlights: Joy Behar says the new law makes the U.S. comparable to WWII Germany.





Glenn Beck rages against anyone who dares compare anything the AZ law to Nazi Germany.

NEXT >>> Arizona’s new immigration law is like South Africa during the Apartheid.

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.

Preempting the criticism that many of these individuals – most notably Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who holds the top spot – are not journalists, Varadarajan presents his own definition of “journalist”: “anyone whose primary vocation is to supply, edit, host, or curate information, news reporting, criticism, or opinion.” A healthy base-covering word salad, but does this mean that anyone whose job it is to “host” “information” (Alex Trebek) or “supply” “opinion” (SNL‘s Seth Meyers) is eligible? Perhaps they were simply not influential enough, since the list is replete with print journalists and bloggers, from Markos Moulitsas to Arianna Huffington, leaving many TV personalities by the wayside.

Unlike the conservative list, there are two glaring omissions on this list: MSNBC stars Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann. While they are most definitely not journalists in the conventional sense, they certainly host and edit information and opinion, and no one dishes out more criticism than Olbermann. Their equally partisan colleague Rachel Maddow makes an appearance on the list at number 11 (an incredibly low ranking if it’s true she is feeding the DNC talking points), so why not them? Perhaps they are intentionally excluded to make a statement about how much respect they have lost as commentators for their outlandish behavior. Matthews (but not Olbermann) was included in a 2008 list Varadarajan compiled for Forbes, although that list is mostly discredited by the inclusion of Atlantic blogger Andrew Sullivan as a liberal (!).

For the right-wing list, I noted that “whether the list is accurate in its depiction of journalist depends more on the reader’s personal definition of the word than anything inherent in the list’s structure.” Now that we have a definition to work with, it’s not the inclusions that are perplexing, but the exclusions. How Jon Stewart is any more of a journalist than Keith Olbermann is anyone’s guess, and the implication that Stewart is vying for journalistic supremacy with the right-wing #1, Wall Street Journal editor Paul Gigot even more far-fetched. But working with what we’ve got, let’s see how the top five on the Daily Beast’s list fare on the Mediaite Power Grid:

Washington Post editor Fred Hiatt ranks at number 5 on the Beast list, but all the way down at #92 on the Power Grid. Even ignoring the fact that many consider him to be a neo-conservative, ranking him as more influential over Maddow among liberals, or even less opinionated but more influential journalists like Christiane Amanpour, when his job is to maintain the page that regularly publishes Charles Krauthammer is confusing, to say the least. His much more liberal New York Times counterpart David Shipley comes in at #4, but is absent from the Power Grid. He meets both the political requirement and the influence one, though how much influence print journalism has anymore is also a question. Huffington comes in at #3, a spot behind her Power Grid #2 rank. No controversy on the ranking here, though the Huffington Post is unfairly described as “the first unquestionably successful online aggregator” (Drudge Report, anyone?).

Proving that the New York Times editorial page is only as powerful as its writers, Paul Krugman takes the #2 spot for being the “leading liberal political economist.” The Power Grid agrees, ranking him at #1 among columnists (and with the runner-up being Michelle Malkin, he has little competition to worry about). And, finally, Jon Stewart, inexplicably at #1, ranks among TV hosts only at #34 (behind Rachel Maddow!) on the Power Grid.

While the list is fair to the field and The Daily Beast does take special care to keep it fair and balanced compared to the right-wing list, they choose to redefine journalism so they get the pick of the litter in ranking, rather than just narrowing the field or not using the word journalist at all. Or maybe it’s best if they keep their rankings to the right.

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/megan-foxs-snl-promos/ http://www.mediaite.com/tv/megan-foxs-snl-promos/#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:43:39 +0000 Rachel Sklar http://www.mediaite.com/?p=27828 Oh, leave me alone. SNL’s 34th season kicks off this Saturday night, and Megan Fox is hosting. Even Obama is talking about her. This is news.

She also teased the appearance on tonight’s episode of SNL Weekend Update Thursday (best name ever!), appearing in a funny little soap opera send-up to commemorate the ending of Guiding Light, coming on set with a gun to challenge Amy Poehler for the Update chair (scandal!). It was a small bit but she did well, which bodes well for Saturday night (although oddly the audience seemed taken aback by her presence and only started applauding when Amy exclaimed “Megan Fox!”). See stills from the appearance below; always great to see Darrell Hammond back on set and in the mix. Lorne Michaels would be silly to get rid of him, he’s always going to be useful. But then again, that’s never stopped Lorne Michaels before.

We’ll have that video for you when it’s online, but in the meantime here she is in a series of NBC promos for Saturday’s premiere, with Andy Samberg — who, lest we not forget, she has said she’d enjoy being sandwiched with, along with Jonah Hill. I’m sure they’d both hate that.

p.s. Don’t believe me that Megan Fox SNL Promos are news? Check out Google, which returns 302,000 results for “Saturday Night Live Megan Fox Promo.” Really.

SNL Promos with Megan Fox and Andy Samberg:


Stills from Megan Fox’s cameo on SNL Weekend Update Thursday:

Update: Video here.

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?

But, come September, none will have as much face time as Amy Poehler.

Besides her show Parks and Recreation, which debuted at the end of last season, airing at 8:30pm, Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello reports Poehler will head back to the anchor desk for Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday.

She’s currently booked for the first two weeks, beginning September 17, in which she’ll co-host with the current solo anchor of Weekend Update, her former co-host Seth Meyers. The third and final edition of the Thursday show does not have a co-host booked.

It doesn’t solve the long-term SNL dilemma – whether to add a co-host to the Weekend Update desk. Meyers ably handled the duty at the end of last season, but by also serving as head writer, it may be too much for a solo task. No one in the current SNL cast has any experience with anchoring.

With her Weekend Update Thursday gig, it means Poehler will be highlighted during the entire 8pm hour for the first two weeks of NBC’s season. This is prime real estate – and an indication the Peacock Network has high hopes for the former SNL star. Parks and Recreation had decent, but not spectacular, ratings in its short-run debut last spring. But like The Office, it is a character-driven show that audiences may take a little while to warm up to.

Whether there’s a new person added who can serve in the anchor role – Darrell Hammond‘s return is still up in the air – or if Meyers sticks it out alone remains to be seen. Or they could just slot Kristen Wiig in there – she does everything else.

But for the Thursday offering, Poehler’s presence is sure to boost viewership, and help all parties.

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