Geoff Fox: My Permanent Record
Back when I was in school teachers would always scare me with stories of how my exploits would end up in my permanent record. I believe this is it! – Geoff Fox
I think this Live at Five intro best exemplifies who Don Pardo was and why he was so damned cool.
Word has just come down, Don Pardo has passed away. He was the announcer on Saturday Night Live since day one.
I’ve known his voice and face since I was a little kid. He worked on the NBC network and also Channel 4. In the fifties and sixties he was on my TV all the time.
I think this Live at Five intro best exemplifies who Don Pardo was and why he was so damned cool.
End of an era. Last of the staff announcers. Gone.
I cannot say enough up her, about tonight’s SNL, about the Snickers commercial that spawned the Facebook group that brought us this show.
The most anticipated Saturday Night Live in years is in progress. Betty White is hosting. She is amazing! No, she is beyond amazing because she’s funny with expert timing and needs no pass or lowered bar just because she’s 88½.
First of all she’s hysterically filthy. Every sexually oriented joke of the show has been steered her way. She did the lesbian line. She talked about tacos. She mentioned her boyfriend both used and was a Trojan. She dropped the “F bomb” (though it was bleeped). She appeared on a bit about an NPR baking show:
My muffin hasn’t had a cherry since 1939″
Through the first forty five minutes she seemed to be in every bit (maybe I missed something). That’s a lot of work. It wasn’t until Jay-Z’s first appearance that she briefly disappeared.
Though she starred on a sitcom in TV’s early days Betty White really didn’t break out until 1973 and the Mary Tyler Moore Show. She was already in her 50s!
When you look back at Sue Ann Nivens, Rose on the Golden Girls, Catherine Piper on The Practice and Boston Legal or any of her 100% ad lib game show appearances what stands out is both her timing and incredible ability to play against type. That’s evident tonight. They’re her most endearing qualities. She can say anything and get away with it.
Timing is a skill you might expect to dull with age. It has not for Betty White.
I cannot say enough up her, about tonight’s SNL, about the Snickers commercial that spawned the Facebook group that brought us this show.
God bless you Betty White. You are the real deal and it’s been my privilege to watch you put on this clinic.
It’s possibly the finest comedic idea of this century: Have Betty White host SNL!
I usually don’t join up with public causes on Facebook. No need to denigrate them. You cause crazy people know who you are. However I will make an exception this morning because it’s possibly the finest comedic idea of this century: Have Betty White host SNL!
From Entertainment Weekly:
I’m more prone to think of her as Sue Ann Nivens, but the thought’s the same.
I joined her Facebook group a moment ago as number 50,997. It’s picking up steam.
Betty was on TV a week or so ago picking up a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild. Here’s the clip. Don’t you think she’d be the best SNL host ever!
I was very surprised she looked so wooden and uncomfortable in both hits. This was not her comfort zone.
I, like much of America I suspect, made sure I was in front of the TV for Saturday Night Live. Sarah Palin did the “cold open” and Weekend Update.
I was very surprised she looked so wooden and uncomfortable in both hits. This was not her comfort zone.
I was trying to think of an analogy–maybe someone from Hogan’s Heroes who sneaks out of the Stalag and ends up at a party with Gestapo officers. Actually, considering the circumstances that’s a pretty good analogy, isn’t it?
Saturday Night Live aired a repeat, as scheduled. What changed was which repeat. This week was the first Saturday Night, episode one before they added the word “Live.” George Carlin was host.
If I hadn’t read a story about George Carlin’s memorial, I wouldn’t have known what Lorne Michaels did this past Saturday. Saturday Night Live aired a repeat, as scheduled. What changed was which repeat. This week was the first Saturday Night, episode one before they added the word “Live.” George Carlin was host.
It was 1975. Don Pardo mistakenly called them, “The Not For Ready Prime Time Players.” On they went. There they were–Chevy, Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Garrett Morris, Jane, Laraine, Gilda and George Coe. George Coe? Trust me, you’d recognize him in a second. He’s been in everything, especially commercials.
Billy Preston and Janis Ian performed. So did Valri Bromfield and Andy Kaufman. Michael O’Donaghue, among the strangest people ever, was there too. Franken and Davis, Alan Zweibel and Herb Sargent were writers. Davey Wilson, later with Letterman, directed.
Maybe there’s something to be learned. The bits were shorter. That worked. On the other hand, there was less comedy and more music. The mix is better now.
The audio was awful and very hollow. From what I can hear on my speakers, it’s obvious the house PA was also terrible.
I love Albert Brooks. He had a film. Albert Brooks was a fixture of the early Saturday Night (Live). This was a takeoff of old newsreels. Very funny.
Valri Bromfield. Really? Terrible.
During “Weekend Update” Chevy said, “I’m Chevy Chase,” but not “and you’re not.” He also did a very old one-liner. To paraphrase, “The Post Office has a new stamp commemorating prostitution. It’s 15¢. A quarter if you lick it.”
Jim Henson’s Muppets appeared. They were regulars on the first few shows. The bit was not a success. They were victims of the bad audio. The studio audience was silent as the bit played out.
This was by no means a perfect show. It was uncharted territory–a show unlike any other. The seeds were planted that night, October 11, 1975. Back then, it was amazing to watch.
Blogger’s note – Not that it matters, but I was at the next SNL, the following Saturday. My friend Paul, through his friend Jim, got me the tickets. Art Garfunkel was there and it was pretty terrible. At least I can say I was there.
Over the last 32 years I have moved back and forth as a fan of Saturday Night Live. Over time the show has been both brilliant and horrendous.
We’ve re-entered the horrendous stage.
Last night’s SNL was virtually laugh free. That’s bad, because along with canning some of the on-air staff, there have been changes to the writers as well, including Tina Fey, the head writer, gone to “30 Rock.”
Funny situations were confused with funny dialog. That’s a beginner’s mistake. If the setup is inherently funny by you go nowhere, you’ve failed.
For me, it started with Dane Cook’s monologue. Stef said it was material she hadn’t seen before – laudable. But it wasn’t funny. Mostly it was forced, as if he were saying, “This is where you’re supposed to laugh,” nervously.
I will give the show some more time. I hope it finds its footing, but this is not encouraging in any sense. I didn’t see any spark.
In this day of cost conscious networks, there’s no tolerance for the type of slide that took place during the Jean Doumainon era – not by the public, not by the network.
Here are some of the most recent topics from NBC’s Saturday Night Live discussion board. Talk about being hoisted by one’s own petard:
I love SNL BUT …
People actually get paid to write this stuff???
Why can’t SNL be funny?
Negative…Negative people
Dane Cook was right.
The HORRIBLE SNL Premier
Wow – I like this show a lot.
Here’s the funny part. I never would have seen it had it not been for Helaine, who set the DVR for herself. Last week it was just there. This week too.
I’ve told a few friends this is West Wing II. Maybe that’s unfair, because it’s obviously not a show about the White House, but a TV show.
The sensibilities are the same as West Wing. The edgy look, underlit and high contrast, matches West Wing too. Maybe that’s because, though the show is performed by an ensemble cast, all their words come from Aaron Sorkin, also responsible for West Wing.
You won’t immediately know the name of every significant cast member, but the faces are familiar. The biggest names are Bradley Whitford (West Wing), Matthew Perry (Friends) and Amanda Peet (gorgeous).
The premise is simple: a behind the scenes look at a weekly sketch comedy show, not unlike Saturday Night Live¹. There’s conflict with the network, the public, the cast. Conflict is good for television.
It’s possible I like this show for different reasons than you. I think Studio 60 is showing us a part of television that’s in the midst of disappearing – high budget, mass market, common experience TV.
I like that kind of television. I will mourn its loss.
Can Studio 60, the show within the show, exist when broadcasting has given way to niche-casting? Can a show that hires a symphonic orchestra and chorus get renewed as budgets tighten and audiences shrink?
Even Saturday Night Live, the last of its kind, has been forced to cut back this season. At least four of last year’s cast members were dropped to save cash.
I love television. I love these complex pieces of programming that come together, touched by dozens of hands. There’s an excitement when the control room sits a dozen or more tightly wound souls, concentrating deeply enough to discern each of the 29.97 individual frames that flash by every second.
It’s what I grew up watching. It was attractive enough to sucker me as an employee.
TV is becoming more of an individual effort. TV programs are more narrowly aimed. In some cases TV programs have eliminated he TV station entirely. They are laser like as they look for their specific, targeted audience.
I grew up in an era when each network was a fire hose and everyone got wet!
There are no more Ed Sullivans, no more Walter Cronkites, no more Studio 60s. It’s quite possible there will be no more Geoff Fox’s – air talent who amass as many individual impressions as I have over twenty two years in one market.
This crunch over viewers and costs has been enabled by new technologies. which replace people. I suppose it’s inevitable, even if it’s a shame.
A single TV show as a universal experience will never happen again. That’s why we need to celebrate the glory that is Studio 60, today.
¹ – Though there are parallels, this can’t be Saturday Night Live. In fact, Studio 60 acknowledges SNL as another network show.
I will sit online and watch twenty minutes of a Photoshop tutorial or other narrowcast that interests me. I won’t sit for twenty minutes of a compilation of stories – some of which, by definition, appeal to me less than others.
As I wrote yesterday, with a house full of Helaine’s friends visiting, I spent a lot of looking at online video. It quickly became obvious there’s a lot right and a lot wrong as far as video goes.
I’m not talking about content. There will always be good and bad content. This is about structure, access and indexing.
While mulling over what I would write in this entry, I had breakfast and browsed the Sunday Times.
BEHIND THE NEWS As advertising grows on the Internet, there is a market for content as well. But the content that seems to be working best is created by individual users and takes the form of short videos, shared photos, blogs and other small-scale efforts. The Hollywood approach, epitomized by Yahoo’s hiring of Lloyd Braun, the former chairman of ABC Entertainment, in 2004, is no longer in favor. There had been speculation that the shift in strategy would result in Mr. Braun’s leaving the company, but he vowed last week that he would stay.
Yahoo!’s¹ corporate wisdom seems to be right on. Internet video is not watched the same way as mainstream over-the-air video.
As far as I can tell, that point is lost on the news divisions of the major broadcast networks. NBC and ABC both present ‘conventional’ newscasts online. I’m glad they do, as opposed to posting nothing, but they have extremely limited utility.
Internet video done right is sharply focused – one subject. For news, that means offering stories one-by-one.
I will sit online and watch twenty minutes of a Photoshop tutorial or other narrowcast that interests me. I won’t sit for twenty minutes of a compilation of stories – some of which, by definition, appeal to me less than others.
Technology does exist to make a newscast random access, so I can pick and choose what I want to see. I don’t see that technology widely used.
In the pre-remote era there were ‘specials’ and ‘variety shows’ on TV. They’re gone, victims of cost and easy viewer choice. I think the same fate awaits conventional TV newcasts re-purposed for the Internet (or web only newscasts presented in virtually the same format as their on-the-air siblibgs) .
It’s a new age, and content must adapt.
What seems to be in its infancy is a way to find what you’re looking for and a standardization of format. Why must we fight between Windows Media, Real, Quicktime and Flash. Isn’t there already one or two that are actually superior to the others?
That was painfully obvious when I followed a link for a Simpsons video that went to youtube.com. After I watched, and was on the youtube.com site, I couldn’t do much but randomly traipse around.
Yes, there were categories to click, but it was non-intuitive and a hodge podge. I ended up going to pages that I hadn’t intended to visit.
The same goes for Itunes. It looks organized (and Itunes, after all, is an adjunct to the Ipod, with the world’s best designed user interface), but I had trouble finding what I wanted, or even knowing whether what I was clicking was audio or video! And why is it necessary for Itunes to run in its own application and not my browser?
There is not yet a ‘Google’ for video – and that includes Google’s video search though this ad implies they understand there’s a problem). We desperately need one. We’re early in the game. Someone will figure it out before long.
Addendum – As I finished writing this, I came across a link for the Natalie Portman video from last night’s Saturday Night Live. Though NBC will surely end up objecting to and stopping this improper use of their content by youtube.com, isn’t this the way SNL should be presented on the Internet – a piece at a time?
¹ – Am I writing that correctly? The corporate name ends with an exclamation point. It just doesn’t look right set in type.
One of the most famous recurring bits on the early Saturday Night Live was a Point-Counterpoint confrontation between Jane Curtain and Dan Akroyd. It was based on the end-of-show feature on 60 Minutes with Shana Alexander and Jack Kilpatrick¹.
Curtain would make a point in their argument, only to have Akroyd respond, “Jane, you ignorant slut.”
I loved 60 Minutes back then. The show was different than today – less self conscious. The look was different too, as 60 Minutes was the last of the news shows to be shot on film. It even started with one of the correspondents reading the day’s news headlines live.
In the pre-Andy Rooney era, Point-Counterpoint was a pretty big deal.
I’m sure you know where this is going. It’s another death announcement.
By LAURA WIDES
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LOS ANGELES — Trailblazing journalist Shana Alexander, whose verbal skirmishes with conservative James J. Kilpatrick on CBS’ “60 Minutes” were spoofed in a “Saturday Night Live” skit, has died of cancer. She was 79.
This will probably go unnoticed by most. That’s a shame. Shana Alexander was responsible for some very thought provoking TV.
¹ The feature actually began with Kilpatrick and Nicholas von Hoffman. Shana Alexander replaced von Hoffman in 1972, producing the iconic relationship best remembered.
This is not a major news story. The Associated Press reported it and it was picked in a few places, including MSNBC. Howard Reig, one of the last remaining staff announcers¹ has retired from NBC.
These are the guys who used to do the “NI” or network identification at the end of programs, intro’ed shows and were always there to say, “Please stand by,” or “NBC Radio news on the hour. Now from Cleveland, Virgil Dominic.²”
Reig was best known as the voice of NBC Nightly News.
As I remember, about 25 years ago the networks eliminated staff announcers, opening the way for the freelance promotional voices you hear now. Part of the deal was an agreement for lifetime employment for the staffers.
When I was a kid these guys did everything. They sat in the booth for live voiceovers, but they also appeared on shows – even hosted some. I remember names like Wayne Howell, Pat Hernon, Ed Herlihy, Gene Hamilton, Bill Wendell, Fred Facey, Don Pardo and Reig on NBC. Sometimes you’d hear these guys on NBC Radio Monitor late Saturday and Sunday nights. They were the utility infielders of broadcasting.
When I was a kid, I thought what they did was cool and actually thought I might enjoy being a booth announcer. My voice never deepened enough to make that happen. Actually, I still think what they did was cool, though unfortunately, of another era.
¹ – All the citations I can find say Reig is the last of the breed, but isn’t Don Pardo still on staff doing Saturday Night Live? Is Joel Goddard, on Conan, a staffer?
² – Every day, one NBC Radio “News On The Hour” (either 4 or 5 PM, I can’t remember) originiated at WKYC, the owned and operated station in Cleveland.
Steffie and I were just sitting, watching Saturday Night Live. Though Stef was tired, she wanted to stay up and see Ashlee Simpson. Steffie is a fan.
Jude Law, the host, introduced her. The camera cut to a shot of Ashlee in front of the band. The track began and Ashlee started singing… except her lips weren’t moving.
I asked Steffie, “Isn’t that the song she sang earlier?” It was.
Ashlee stopped singing and the band began filling in what had been the shell of the song’s intro. Ashlee started nervously dancing. The scene faded to black and they went to commercial.
At the end of the show Ashlee came back and said something about the band playing the wrong song. I’m not buying it.
It seemed to me as if the wrong track was played – big difference. It looked like Ashlee was caught in a lip sync malfunction!
We usually tape SNL in case we can’t watch it live. When the show ended we looked back. It was painful to see this time.
This is a story with legs. It will be in the newspapers and on TV – maybe not Sunday, but certainly Monday. The tabloid shows will go nuts with this.
Blogger’s note – Instead of adding a new entry, let me update an interesting twist to the story.
Matt Drudge picked this story up before I saw it anywhere else (except here). He first wrote, just before 2:00 AM EDT: “SATURDAY NIGHT TAPED: Ashlee Simpson in SNL Milli Vanilli lip synch nightmare… Performer runs off stage, blames band for gaffe… Developing…”.
At 2:06 AM EDT the headline changed to: “SATURDAY NIGHT TAPED: Ashlee Simpson in SNL lip synch nightmare… Performer runs off stage, blames band for gaffe… Developing…” I have no idea why Drudge removed the Milli Vanilli reference, which definitely fit.
This gets more interesting.
About 3:48 AM Drudge removes the story entirely. Then at 3:51 AM it’s back: “Poptart Ashlee Simpson Walks Off Stage After Lip-sync Flub During NBC’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE… Developing…”
Saturday Night Live indeed
Helaine, Steffie and I went to see Anchorman – The Legend of Ron Burgundy tonight in North Haven. It was enjoyable – though this is certainly no Oscar contender.
I thought I already knew the story, yet it was different. I was unhappy with Christina Applegate’s character, who falls into bed with Ron much too easily. Actually, I was unhappy with the story in general, which is the weakest link here.
Before I go on, let me answer the most asked question. Do I know any anchor like Ron Burgundy? Superficial anchors? Sure. Superficial and dumb? No. I’m not saying Ron Burgundy types don’t exist. I just haven’t run into them yet.
There were loads of Saturday Night Live cast members in this movie, and by and large they were under used. I’m a big Fred Armisen fan, but his part (similar to a character he plays on SNL) was pretty weak. Same goes for Chris Parnell, playing Fred Willard’s constant companion/lackey.
No one plays Fred Willard better than Fred does.
If you’ve seen Will Ferrell on any of the commercials or interviews, you know what he’s all about. This character is one dimensional.
The biggest standout was Steve Carrel, from the Daily Show, as the imbecilic weatherman. He actually didn’t do anything remotely connected with the weather, so I’m still safe from comparisons. His dead pan characterization of a guy who just doesn’t get anything is priceless. Very impressive.
Also excellent was Jack Black, in a cameo as a biker who drop kicks Ron’s dog off a highway bridge! The dog, Baxter, wasn’t too shabby either, and since he saves the day in the end, Helaine and Steffie were thrilled.
Interestingly, one of the most previewed scenes, where Ron slaps the tush of a woman who then exclaims, “Mr. Burgundy,” wasn’t in the movie.
We sat near the back of the theater, but not far enough back. A group of teens behind us kept up a running commentary, while keeping time with their feet on our seat backs.
There were two enticing coming attractions. One “Mr. 3000” with Bernie Mac looks very funny. The other, “Wimbledon,” credited to the Bridget Jones production team, looks like a fun date movie/chick flick.
I sat and watched Saturday Night Live tonight with Steffie. It’s a fairly regular ritual for us. She wanted to watch this week because of the appearance of the Olsen Twins (it’s good to be the Olsen Twins).
This was the last episode of the season. Jimmy Fallon said goodbye. I’m not sure anyone else is leaving.
Saturday Night Live has had its share of break out stars… and flops. I think this cast has at least two huge stars and one guy who will work constantly, making more money than nearly everyone else.
First the stars:
Horatio Sanz – Laughs all the time, especially at his own stuff. There is some non-quantifiable attribute that certain people have, which makes them likable on TV. He has that something, and has a lot of it. I know nothing about him but fear he might have a self destructive side.
Fred Armisen – I was not impressed when I first watched him last season. I sense that writers need to find the performer’s sweet spot on Saturday Night Live. This year they found Fred’s. He is very funny playing hapless geeks. He is funniest when he’s totally over-the-top.
Now, the guy who will always work:
Chris Parnell – He is Phil Hartman, Fred Willard, Harry Shearer, Dan Akroyd funny. There will always be a need for him, though probably not as the lead.
These guys are great. It was a pretty good (though not the best) year.