I don’t watch SNL much, so I’m curious how the current cast stacks up compared to past line-ups.
I guess no one else watches SNL anymore.
They’re surprisingly good - much better than most of the material they’re given. They have no Horatio Sanz-like weak points, and some of them (Pohler, Sudekis, Wiig and Hader IMHO) have genuine talent.
Andy Samberg has many hit-or-miss moments-- but so did most of the true talents on the show… The Lonely Island Digital Shorts are more often brilliant than not.
I’ll be very curious to see how they do when they come back next month. Amy Poehler is brewing her Poehler-Arnett spawn, and she’s getting a sitcom of her own in the spring. I think she’s an integral member of the cast and I’m not sure the new girl, Casey Wilson, is up to the task. Her IMDB list only goes to 2006, but her paraplegic stripper bit killed last year. Fortunately, Kristen Wiig is a tremendously strong comedienne, and I bet she’s just bustin’ to take Amy’s place. Andy Samburg is the mind behind the Digital Shorts, although he kind of annoys me in skits, but I love Bill Hader and Jason Sudekis is solid. I hope Keenan Thompson stays - he’s pretty good, and the only black cast member. Personally, I’m looking forward to its return.
Well, it is the end of summer. There haven’t been any new episodes for months.
I agree with singular1: Amy Poehler has been the MVP of the cast for awhile now, but we may be seeing less of her.
I agree with singular’s analysis. It seems that the women have been the best thing about SNL for several years now. The men are funny, but I find myself looking forward to what Kristen Wiig and Amy Poehler come up with. I don’t know about Casey Wilson either. I thought she was funny in a sketch they did about cougars last year, but I have the feeling she is a supporting player, not a star like Wiig.
I decided I loved Bill Hader when he did a Vincent Price imitation. Who learns how to imitate Vincent Price in the 21st century? What’s next, a Sal Mineo impersonation? It was so random. I think it was a Vincent Price Thanksgiving special or something.
I’m glad we don’t have to really worry about wholesale new casts anymore. They seem to cycle through 1 or 2 new cast members every year. That is a good way to keep things fresh without a total reboot.
I Tivo it and skim over the bad bits. I watched the rerun with Seth Rogen recently, it was pretty decent.
I like the Weekend Update team, Amy Pohler and Seth Meyers. If I don’t watch anything else I’ll watch that.
Right now I think their star is Kristen Wiig. She has really great comedy instincts and really gives her full effort to each part.
So has Tina Fey completely moved on? I haven’t seen SNL in forever either, not since it was Tina Fey/Chris Kattan/Horatio Sanz/Rachel Dratch/Will Ferrell/etc.
Tiny Fey is busy with 30 Rock nowadays. Though she did come back to guest host last year, IIRC.
I think Seth Myers has weakened the Weekend Update desk, and that nobody current would improve it, but a surprising newcomer might. He’s smart, but not always hilarious.
Fred Armisen remains surprisingly good. Ditto Daryl Hammond (a surprisingly good Bad Guy on Law and Order: CI; I think he has a brilliant post-SNL career ahead of him). Hader, Sudeikis and Samberg have flashes of brilliance. I keep hearing how amazing Kristin Wiig is, but see surprisingly little evidence to support it.
I watch SNL whenever I can, but sometimes more than 24 hours elapse between my check-ins on these boards.