Norm MacDonald is one of those comedians that you either love or hate. Personally I think he’s hillarious and he was by far my favorite WU anchor. when he was on the show I would tune in around 12 just to see the update and skip the rest of the show.
Yeesh, MARY GROSS did Weekend update? Excuse me while i retch!!! (was this during the time Tim Kazubury was on, and they did I Married a Chimp or whatever?)
Brad Hall was pretty terrible as well. If i had a torch and a pitchfork, i’d chase him through the village.
i heard sometime in this last week that bill maher is trying to make a comeback. i think that this is an old trick: get a big piece of crap (in this case quinn’s show) and make everyone sick of it. threaten to leave it on for a while: after that, even arsenio would start to look good!!!
oops! so my point would be, after all of that, maher walks in and all is forgiven.
Tina Fey doesn’t write the whole show - she’s the ‘head writer’, which just means she is the one responsible for the writing. Saturday Night Live has always been a true writing ensemble. All the cast members write to some degree, and some shows have as many as 20 or 30 credited writers.
I’m guessing Jimmy Fallon writes a good portion of his gags on Weekend Update. Most comedians have a style that you can spot when hearing the jokes, and many of Jimmy’s have his style.
On the other hand, a really good writer can write for a comedian’s style. So who knows? Tina is certainly a great writer.
I’m pretty sure it’s already happened.
The show sucked. Oh, it’s a chance for an incoherent jackass to stumble over mumblings about how blacks are criminals, Italians are idiots, Irish are stupid no good drunks, ‘lezzies’ are hoes. With an unfunny group of guests (except for Judy Dench, who’s good at standup) to match. That Jo Paolo guy just pissed me off. This was also schedule right afterthe episode of The Daily Show wherein Jon Stewart spends much of the episode on Trent Lot.
That was Judy Gold, Blackeyes. Though I hear Dame Judy kills when she does a set at the Comedy Store! 
[Dante Hicks]I can’t believe Judy Dench played me![/Dante Hicks]
Tonight’s show sucked just as badly as the others. Let’s just end the pain now and cancel this. Please.
-brianjedi
Well, I meant Judy Gold! It’s your fault for not reading my mind and understanding what I really meant. 
Yeah, that’s the joke, you just don’t get it. Like when Leary was on The Daily Show and he and Jon Stewart were ripping on each other.
Quinn’s new show is like Politically Correct in form only. It ain’t about politics & the news, it is a format to get comedians to trade slurs and insults. Watch them laugh. They’re not enjoying the jokes because the substance of them are funny, they’re enjoying the jokes themselves. Like when that big guy Patrice was on and somebody remarked about him climbing down from the Empire State building to be on the show. The line itself wasn’t that funny; the enjoyment lies in the appreciation of the crafting of the joke itself. That’s why even when their jokes on the show bomb, they’re still laughing–they get the humor of trying something and having it bomb, whereas the audience just doesn’t get the joke itself.
I think that’s why Quinn has been called the comic’s comic. He does meta-comedy. He’s playing to the comedians. Personally, I think he’s hilarious. But some people just don’t get it…::sigh::
My take on this “show” is that they’re laughing because if they don’t, the other comedians won’t laugh at their unfunny jokes. It just a show about mutual masturbation.
Well, I’ve never considered myself a judge of acting, but their laughter looks fairly sincere.
I love the show especially when someone tells a joke and it totally bombs. There’s that uncomfortable awkward silence. I love that! js_africanus is right. It’s not about the opinions and politics. It’s about comedians sitting around trying to make each other laugh. Whether you think it’s funny is incidental. They are just amusing themselves, js_africanus, and me. Of course with that small a demographic it probably won’t last long.
Plus it has L’il Jimmy Norton. Tussle tussle.
Is this thing still on? Lord.
I agree with js_africanus on the nature of the show. I like it. The only problem with Colin Quinn is that he has a hard time putting his words in the right order when talking. That can really kill a punchline.
Agreed. I heard that it’s been cancelled already. No suprise, but I’m dissapointed.
That, and even when he does get the order correctly, he has as much of a sense of timing as a potted plant.
And he’s not as charismatic as said plant, either.
Quinn was obviously a funny guy? What drugs are YOU on? I’m constantly awestruck by how incredibly UNfunny the man is. How he ever got a career in the entertainment industry is beyond me.
And Fallon is redeemed by being totally hot 
I’d watch him clip his toenails.
THEY DID WHAT?!?!?!?!
I didn’t hear about this… say it isn’t so!