You Be the Lorne

Filed Under Sketch Comedy

Saturday Night Live Producer Lorne MichaelsThe New York Post points out this is a big week for SNL with four cast members departing (apparently they already know who they are) and auditions starting for the Weekend Update chair Tina Fey’s vacating.

So, a little game. Here’s last year’s cast, minus Rachel Dratch and Tina Fey who are already gone to 30 Rock:

Main: Fred Armisen, Will Forte, Darrell Hammond, Seth Meyers, Finesse Mitchell, Chris Parnell, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Horatio Sanz, Kenan Thompson
Featured: Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Kirsten Wiig

Pick the four you drop and give your choice to join Amy Poehler at Weekend Update (unless you drop her, in which case you pick two). I imagine it’s possible there’s still a chance they might bring new blood on, so you can drop five if you really want to for a Second City/Groundlings/UCB player to be named later (or name him/her now if you know it).

And as teach says: Show your work. Explain your choices.

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Comments

Posted by Sean Graham on 08/22  at  10:36 AM

I’d get rid of:

Finesse (I mean, really, I don’t know if he’s a good writer, but he’s a shitty player)

Chris Parnell (Was funny, but is just boring and stale now)

Horatio Sanz (Not funny anymore…  And death to “Carol”)

Amy Poehler (Toughest cut for me, but she just needs to do something else)

Weekend Update:
  Bill Hader and Will Forte

Posted by Jesse Thorn on 08/22  at  12:38 PM

They’ve got a lot of talent on the show right now… they could really let go of some of the old guard (Rudolph, Sanz, Hammond) and not suffer.  I think Parnell is leaving, isn’t he?  That’s too bad, he’s a strong performer, but it opens up some room.

All I really care about is them letting go of Finesse Mitchell.  Blech.  JB Smoove and Jerry Minor can’t get past one-line-in-one-sketch status and this guy got made a full castmember?

Posted by Blackberry on 08/22  at  02:01 PM

Jesus Christ this cast is horrendous.  I’m so fatigued with claims of them being “so talented” yet seemingly unable to produce a decent laugh in the last 5 years.  We all know the show is probably as bad now as it’s ever been.  Serious and deep change is in order here.  4 cuts is hardly enough.  I’d say 8 sounds significantly more reasonable.

You know your show is in trouble if its picking up where motherfucking Goodburger left off.  Kenan Thompson?  Is Lorne out of his mind?  The only reason I’d watch him on that show is if they decided to have do a sketch where he takes pies in the face for 15 straight minutes in a clown costume.  He could slip on a banana peel when he exited stage right just to top the whole thing off.

Honestly, why even keep Weekend Update?  The Daily Show beats them, almost literally, on a daily basis.  When the segment turned into the opportunity for the gals to do gossip hour about Paris Hilton and Brangelina, it went to shit.  And when they stop the hilarious one liners to break to a special guest joining them in studio, you can guarantee it’s going to suck gigantic balls, especially if its Kenan Thompson. 

In closing, I’d watch the show if it was the cast members getting roasted by really talented comedians like Patrice O’Neal, Jim Norton, Louis C.K., Demitri Martin and Nick DiPaolo.

Or Kenan getting drilled with pies.  That’d be funny, too.

Posted by Slippers on 08/22  at  02:41 PM

Will Forte, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis: all must go. I don’t think anyone in this cast is less funny than Will Forte.

Posted by Carol on 08/22  at  03:53 PM

More Fred Armisen.  That’s all I ask.  I don’t think they use his talents enough or in the right way.
I would agree with Blackberry that the Daily Show does a better job at poking fun at world events than Weekend Update and would even venture that Best Week Ever does a better job making fun of celebrity foibles than SNL.
I wish SNL contained more original, irreverent sketch comedy, but I guess audiences prefer more “pop culture” and “poltical”-based humor.  I’m assuming that’s why SNL uses that formula for most of their sketches.

Posted by Verbal on 08/22  at  04:59 PM

Main: Fred Armisen, Will Forte, Darrell Hammond, Seth Meyers, Finesse Mitchell, Chris Parnell, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Horatio Sanz, Kenan Thompson

SNL has no originality anymore.  The pop culture celebrity sketches have always been awful and never funny.  The political sketches used to be original and funny but now have become unbearably stale.  I remember when their satires of the 2000 presidential debates actually had a big influence on the election.  Those sketches were great.  They remember those and keep churning out ones, that just have no sense and purpose.  They think just because you impersonate Bush it’s funny.  They need some context.  And I see no one else to blame but the writers.  Obviously Lorne is to blame, but he’s lost touch with what’s funny, and he’s the creator so he’s not going anywhere.  Hence, the focus has to be on the writers, because they could leave.  Tina Fey and Seth Meyers brought in this watered down culture as co-head writers.  Tina Fey leaving is great, but the NYPost article says Seth is staying, so too bad.  Who else should leave?

Well I say first let’s get rid of the whole cast and start anew, but that’s not the case.  Let’s first get rid of the obviously least funny one, Will Forte.  He’s never made me laugh once, and everytime the falconer sketch comes on I want to smash the tv.  I don’t even understand how that idea could be thought of as funny in the writer’s room.

Next I think the old guard should leave: Darrell, Seth, Chris, Maya, Amy, and Horatio.  Now the article said Darrell, Seth, and Amy are staying.  Darrell has got to figure out something else to do with his career, I’m at a loss for words for him.  Seth I’ve already talked about.  Amy is very talented and for that reason I think she should leave.  She should not want her name associated with this sinking ship.  I’m sure she could become a quarter as successful as Will Ferrell, and that’s pretty successful.

Left with Chris, Maya, and Horatio.  I’m pretty sure I heard Maya saying that she was leaving at the end of last season, not 100% sure but pretty sure.  So that’s two to leave Maya and Will.  Chris I think is still funny but needs to move on for his own good.  Horatio I thought used to be hilarious, but now has completely lost it. 

That’s four, but people on here don’t seem to like Finesse that much.  I agree but think it’s more important for the others to leave.  Finesse never stalls a sketch to a dead stop like Will does.  But to appease others I’ll agree with two of the three (Chris, Horatio, or Finesse) leaving.  So it’s whichever two and Will and Maya.

The rest of the cast might not be that talented, but they’re young.  Give them one season to carry the show, before writing their obituaries.  I’m not supporting them, I’m just saying give them one chance.

The key here is the writing culture.  The writers need to learn what’s original and funny again.  Stop doing the same sketches over and over again.  You’re paid to be creative.

Posted by Jack on 08/22  at  10:41 PM

I disagree that “SNL has no originality anymore”.  I can’t tell you how many years I’ve heard that. And unless you witnessed the travesty of the non-Lorne years back in the 1980s, it’s a bit hyperbolic.

I do think that SNL has an incredible amount of good premises and great improvisers.  But they have no time to fully flesh out the concepts. So what often comes through are half-baked concepts.

My big suggestion is to shrink the show down from 90 minutes to 60 minutes.  90 minutes back in the 1970s was a great idea for a show that was truly one of its kind.  In 2006?  It’s long in the tooth.  Some of the best skecth shows in recent years have even been 30 minutes per episode; so why 90 minutes?

As far as cast goes, here’s who I think might be cut:

Maya Rudolph: I was a big fan—and still am—but it’s hard to say what she does for the cast nowadays.
Finesse Mitchell:  I can’t even remember a sketch he was in recently.  Funny, but not as prominent as one would expect.
Darrell Hammond:  Seems like he’s calling it in nowadays.  Very lackluster.
Seth Meyers: Funny, but the the featured players really do a lot of what he does nowadays.  And he doesn’t have a long lasting character to speak of as a main character.

As for Weekend Update? Horatio Sanz.  I really like him and like his whole schtick.  And the big think with Tina Fey’s take on Weekend Update, it’s been a bit more preachy than I personally like; less funny and more wit based in political rage if that makes any sense.  Horatio and Amy really work well together from the stuff I’ve seen in UCB, and he’d be a great ‘wacky’ guy to Amy’s more non-wacky delivery.

Posted by Verbal on 08/23  at  04:52 PM

There’s an article in Newsday that apparently has inside sources on some of the shake-ups at SNL.

Horatio, Kenan, and Chris Parnell are gone.  Jason Sudeikis will be taking over and lone-hosting Weekend Update without Amy Poehler.

That leaves one more cast member to leave, if what the NYPost says is correct.  i strongly, strongly, strongly vote for Will Forte.  You can read my prevous comment to find out why.

If this is true, who do you think the last person to leave should be?

I like the idea of Weekend Update going to Jason.  It’s not that I think Jason is great, I haven’t really seen much of him, although I do like that “babe” sketch he does with Kirsten.  I just didn’t like the toned down gossipy girl-talk that Weekend Update turned into during Tina Fey’s reign.  She said she didn’t want to make fun of people and situations and make it more light hearted but it wasn’t funny.  Sarcasm works, as shown by Chevy Chase, Norm Macdonald, and Kevin Nealon.  Also Dennis Miller’s thing worked, too bad as soon as he cut his hair he lost it.

Posted by eldiablo216 on 08/24  at  04:51 AM

Showing my work. ARMISEN: Picks up even so-so sketches with great line readings. Forte : Has openings (Bush) & 10 to One Sketches. Hammond: Who else is going to play the 40+ & political stuff? Myers: Head writer, dimished role, new Update co-anchor. Mitchell: Best job in TV. Soft in sketches, did an update bi-weekly. It ends now. BYE. Parnell: Was fired once, eased out the door with sit-com. BYE. Poehler: Update + head female player. Rudolph: Kid + Hollywood director husband x Ana Gasteyer = BYE. Sanz: Suffering “Kevin-Nealon-I’ve-Been-Here-Too-Long” effect. Bye. Thompson: Couldn’t they have hired Kel instead? Stays. Hader: Best Pacino impression ever, nice Vincent Price (better than a very good Mckeans), got stronger sketch wise. Keep an eye on this guy. Samberg: You fire him, so go’s The Lonely Island writers that came with. Sudeikis: Writer turned player and odds on fave on the update chair. Doesn’t get it, but stays. Wiig: She plays 20 (Two A-Holes), she plays 40 (Target Cashier), she’s got nothing but upside.

Posted by Mike on 08/25  at  06:32 PM

To drop:

Mitchell (never got him)

Hammond (solid, but been around too long)

Sanz (not as funny as he used to be, laughs too much during sketches, and like Hammond, he’s had his run)

Rudolph (tough choice, but SNL could use some more new blood)

For update co-anchor, I’d go with Armisen, just ‘cause I think he’s the most talented of the cast (Meyers a close second) and want to see more screentime with him.

Posted by shawn on 09/09  at  04:59 PM

For sure Drop: horatio sanz this guy absolutely sucks!!! his laughing in every sketch pisses me off so much, Maya Rudolph she is not funny and has never been funny, finesse mitchell never on so i can judge and kenan thompson (this guy is the least verstile castmember ever

For sure Keep: Will forte, i dont know what Verbal is talking about but Forte is one of the funniest castmembers. Watch his zell miller impression and the spelling bee sketch and you’ll get it, Armisen, versatile keep him, all featured players come on these guys brang the funny last year.

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