Tina Fey has left SNL to work on her new sitcom, 30 Rock (which looks pretty funny from the previews, by the way). So I’m wondering who our new Weekend Update anchor is going to be. Amy Poehler is still around, so I bet they’ll retain her, but will she fly solo or will they hook her up with a co-anchor? And if so, who?
My brother-in-law is putting the smart money on Horatio Sanz, and while I had to physically restrain myself from putting my head through a plate glass window when he first mentioned this, I did have to grudgingly admit that Sanz did a tolerable job of filling in for Tina while she was on maternity leave last year. I think Will Forte could also do a fine job, although I actually think that Finesse Mitchell might be really good.
Please not Fred Armisen. I just can’t see him doing news with a straight face. Ditto Andy Samberg.
I’m thinking Will Forte or Seth Meyers. They’re probably the only two I’d trust. Maybe Kristen Wiig if they’re going for the two women thing again, but since they’re going to need to hire at least one more woman for sketches, I can’t see them doing that - I’m guessing they’re going to be relying on Kristen a LOT in sketches next season.
Dear God, not Horatio. I felt like stabbing my eyes out with hot needles every time he did WU last year - he was hideous. I hate his delivery, I hate his smirking grin where he looks like he’s going to burst into giggles all the time, and I just hate him. He’s among SNL’s most unprofessional actors EVER and I can’t believe he’s lasted this long.
I’d like to see Will Forte as long as it doesn’t take away from his appearance in sketches…I have a massive crush on him :D.
Ugh. I know they had him fill in . . . I have to think that maybe that was a trial run with him. Please, don’t ruin the best segment on the show by putting Horatio in it. Please!
By the way, I think I’m the only person in the entire world who thinks Horatio Sanz is usually really, really funny. And I still thought he sucked when he sat in on “Weekend Update.”
I think Chris Parnell would do a very good job. He’s got a serious side that Samburg lacks, he’s not Sanz (thank Og) or Dennis Miller (again, thank Og), and it’ll leave Hader free for sketches, which he is wonderful in. I think he and Amy would be great!
I forgot about Hader. I could go for him. I think he’s definitely proven himself.
Not Chris Parnell, please. He always makes me feel dirty when he’s on screen. Something about him just makes me want to go take a bath.
And Samburg would be about 2 centimeters above Horatio. I’m probably one of the few out there who finds him incredibly annoying and obnoxious and terrible…he’s got that same, stupid, silly Adam Sandler grin in every damn sketch.
(Of course, he did give us Laser Cats, although I don’t think my cats appreciated that sketch very much, since they’re occasionally aimed and fired now… )
I like his digital shorts - I think he’s talented, it’s just the damn grin that bothers me, so it colors my opinion of him in sketches. There’s a time and a place for the Adam Sandler smirk. I think it mostly bothered me in that Catherine Zeta-Jones sketch with the Fosse dancers. You don’t grin when you’re Fosse-ing! (Okay, yeah, I took that way too seriously, but it’s Broadway-related, and I take my Broadway very seriously;) ).
Glad to know we’re not the only idiots that try this. I wonder how many poor house cats across the country are now being used as guns?
I’m still wondering who will still be on the show, with Lorne cutting back the cast (cite)—which might not be a bad thing; after all, there were only 7 original Not Ready For Prime Time Players.
Agreed. Parnell is creepy and gross. There are times when this works well for him (“Appalachian Emergency Room” comes to mind) but usually I just want to scrub my brain after he’s in a skit.
Hader could be really good; I agree.
And regarding the article that Thudlow Boink linked to, I wouldn’t be too unhappy to see some of the deadwood get pruned from the cast. Horatio Sanz in particular has overstayed his welcome by about… uh, how long has he been on the show, again? I think Parnell could go as well, and, dare I say it, Fred Armisen… I want to like the guy, I really do, but so much of his stuff just leaves me “meh”. Oh, and the new chick that does that horrific Target skit where she plays a cashier who talks funny for no apparent reason: she can go too. Like, yesterday, please.
If they get rid of Samberg, Forte, Hader, or Kenan (say what you want, I love the guy) I am going to be pissed.
Kristin Wiig? She’s great! The Target sketch is godawful in seventeen distinct ways, but she’s excellent the rest of the time, and she does some solid impressions as well.
I’d like to part with Fred and Horatio as well, and I wouldn’t particularly miss Parnell. Or Darryl Hammond, at this point. I’m just tired of him.
I wouldn’t mind seeing them drop Weekend Update entirely, as the Daily Show covers much the same territory much better four times a week. SNL manages to do something funny with Weekend Update perhaps in one show out of four.
And I love Maya and Amy, but I think they may be at that point where they’re ready to go, you know? Maya’s not in much anymore (which probably has a lot to do with being a new mom), and Amy just seems like she needs to branch out to something else (Of course, if that happened to be a new show with Will Arnett, I’d be damn happy). All of the oldies have been on SO long that even their new characters start off kind of stale - they’re all starting to run together.
I think they’re mostly better looking than past casts as well. A lot of comedians are seriously ugly
Maya and Amy are simply incredibly funny. I suppose it’d be cool if they got new projects somewhere, but realistically very few sitcoms succeed and most TV stars don’t end up with movie careers. I’m sad that Tina and Rachel are leaving because of that - what are the chances of Tina’s sitcom succeeding? It just seems likely we’ll never hear from her again.
And the only comedians who develop real movie careers, it seems, do so by being intolerably unfunny. Look at Will Ferrell, who was sort of funny sometimes on SNL but has since dropped humor entirely from his portfolio. Rob Schneider was actually great on SNL, in my opinion, and he’s got a successful movie career but you’d have to be a lobotomy patient to watch them.
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