Wow... I can't believe I just spent seven minutes watching that. It was mostly boring, but he spent about thirty seconds talking about doing E at the SNL season finale party and peeing in his pants.
These two guys have a public access show that is sometimes pretty hilarious. The dude on the left was on Conan a week or so ago as a guest, and was quite funny.
Yet another talented black comedy writer that SNL has burned through in recent years. Nobody ever asks why SNL has such problems retaining good black and young women writers.
B. Profane---It's been obvious to me forever that SNL doesn't allow people of color the same freedoms/opportunities/RESPECT they give the white male cast members. I noticed that forever with the women too, although I admit I haven't watched it in about 5 years. Maybe things were better for Tina & Kristin? When Eddie Murphy, whichever Wayons brother (Damon?), Nora Dunn, and Ellen Cleghorne complained about SNL & left, people called them ALL 'conceited' and ungrateful. I think it's a very old-fashioned workplace, in the worst way. The WORST way. So bad that I noticed it even as a little kid. Especially the cast with Jan Hooks & Nora Dunn. Then Adam Sandler & David Spade took over, and it became all frat-humor.
Is Lorne himself the problem there, or the network? I admit I only flipped through that SNL 'tell-all' that came out awhile back, and don't remember much except how much everyone hated Chevy.
rothflmao---Dance this shit dry!!!! How you gonna piss your pants then try to dance the pants dry!!!!I spit my drink out and nearly died, laughing at that...smh DAMN
@libby -- It's a long, complicated saga of how SNL deals with race and gender backstage. Fey, Poehler, Maya and Dratch (and Paula Pell) seemed to have finally cemented the place of women on the show. I have read on an SNL forum, though, that Jay Pharoah did an eerily good impression of Heath Ledger as The Joker in a sketch and that Lorne banned it from airing. But he features Armisen doing Obama episode after episode.
I love this guy! My crazy gf showed me a bunch of his videos the other day.. Apparently they hooked up while he was in a town for a show.. There's a reason why he's so funny I hear:) After I saw him on Conan I was like " yea! I'm 3degrees from Conan O'Brian now! "
Didn't wanna watch the vid, even tho I think Hannibal is hilarious and I follow him on twitter. I just wanted to agree with the comments about how SNL sucks with hiring cast members. Diversity folks, its not just an old wooden ship.
rejectedcb---No doubt! It's also about allowing your cast to be funny when and how they're funny, without worrying you'll seem like a 'black show' or 'feminist humor'. I know things have seemingly changed in recent history with the ladies, but that show has always been about promoting whichever white male star they have for the moment, and they don't let anyone else 'get too big'. Those people shoved in the background always seem to be black, brown, and/or female. Remember how great "In Living Color" was, with almost NO budget? I can't believe it took so long to have any comedy show with more than one male and one female who was a minority! It was a revelation!
It seems like the only reason SNL hires black men is because they can't have white men in black face portraying black men.
Has there ever been a black female cast member? I think Maya black is or is of mixed race, but either way she is very light skinned and looks "ethnic" rather than black. I can't think of anyone else, but I don't watch SNL often.
There have been a number of black women in the cast, most famously Ellen Cleghorne. Maya is half black, half-white Jew, thus giving her the most bad-ass Jewfro outside of Ethiopia.
SNL has long had a problem casting good black women. A couple of years ago Kali Hawk was offered a job, but turned them down. Now she's one of the stars of the In Living Color reboot.
They've never cast a Latina or Asian of either gender, but over the years the cast and writers have been 20-25% Jewish. That's not due to overt racism or favoritism, but neither is SNL's talent representative of American society.
B. Profane--there's a lot of Ivy League in those writing rooms; it doesn't surprise me that they are clueless as to how to write for non-Whites, or even to a more working class experience.
Saying that--Conan (Harvard) is one of my all-time favorite writers, and The Simpsons also had/has a lot of IL. That's an animated 7PM show, though, so it's a bit different.
I just can't believe SNL have kept that up for SO long. I mean, that's why I asked---is it Lorne or the network that keep things so 1950's there?
It's not Ivy League, it's the Harvard Lampoon pipeline that places so many former Lampoon writers on SNL, The Simpsons, etc. Read up on Doug Kenney and the history of how SNL partially evolved out of National Lampoon to understand how the Lampoon pipeline came to be.
Lampoon writers have been notably tone-deaf about race and gender issues, but at least some women writers are starting to come out of the Harvard Lampoon now. You can't really knock an institution that's produced the likes of Conan and Jim Downey.
It's Lorne who's the one who enforces adherence to the SNL System. He invented it and has now honed it to what he thinks is the ideal production model for the institutional comedy that SNL produces. Lorne notoriously does not heed outside criticism of how he runs the show.
He does like working with women though and has always gotten along well with strong women writers like Rosie Schuster (his first wife), Anne Beatts, Tina Fey, Paula Pell, etc. He was happy to have Tina (and, ultimately, the credit has to go to her) establish a strong women's voice in the comedy of SNL.
But Lorne is getting old and he's made some horrendous casting decisions in the last ten years. And he's never really fostered black talent on SNL, so the likes of JB Smoove and Burress get fed up and leave and you're left with horrible tokens like Kenan Thompson.
It's interesting to me that you said there have never been any latino or asian castmembers before. I'm involved in the NYC comedy circuit and their are droves and droves here to pick from. There are some great latino, asian, and black female comedians right here in SNL's backyard--I don't understand how at least one or two haven't made a wave there yet.
Miri, great Asian and Latino stand-ups or sketch performers? SNL still auditions stand-ups, but, barring Jay Pharoah, they haven't cast one in a long time. Nowadays they cast and hire writers mostly out of the established improv theatres, primarily Second City, Upright Citizens Brigade and Groundlings.
Go to their website and check out the ratio of white men to black women in the cast of UCB-New York.
BTW, notice how you almost never hear any contemporary gossip about what goes on backstage at SNL? It's amazing how little leaks out compared to other high-profile TV shows. That's the Power of Lorne.
If Enty ever digs up a juicy BI about SNL, that will impress me. You never read dish about SNL.
@B.- I was reminded of the Jewfro by a kid on my son's basketball team who was sporting one - and a mean fadeaway shot, I might add. Wasn't sure if I was allowed to even think the term 'Jewfro' any more, but his was admirable.
My ex-brother-in-law rocked a Jewfro for years and it was referred to as such within the family. Andy Samberg talks about having a Jewfro, so I figure it's alright. I still consider myself a fifth columnist of the Chosen People by virtue of having daughters who are nominally Jewish.
Even though Rob Schneider and Fred Armisen are hapa, I'm in total denial because I don't want to admit that I have something in common with them. If a show needs some Asian representation I'd take someone like Bobby Lee or Steve Byrne or Margaret Cho any day of the week.
And I loved In Living Color! I remember thinking that it was so cool when it started airing. Every once in a while it'll be on BET and I always have to stop and watch it.
Thanks, B. I'll proceed with caution. I've had many Jewish friends over the years, but no family ties, so I'll tread lightly. But the boy had a nice one.
Somebody else go first and let us know if it's worth 6:43 min of life:)
ReplyDeleteWow... I can't believe I just spent seven minutes watching that. It was mostly boring, but he spent about thirty seconds talking about doing E at the SNL season finale party and peeing in his pants.
ReplyDeleteAnd he said that someone there gave it to him, but he didn't name any names, or even say if it was a cast member.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cathy!
ReplyDeleteHe is one of my favourite comedians. "I flick it on my sandwiches, for flavor!"
ReplyDeleteThank you Cathy!!
ReplyDeleteHahaha, no problem! I'm lucky enough to work from home most days, so I can have this stuff playing in the background.
ReplyDeletePatience is a virtue...thanks Cathy!
ReplyDeleteI like Hannibal Burress, so I enjoyed the video, but Enty's description of this video is just a set up for disappointment.
ReplyDeleteThese two guys have a public access show that is sometimes pretty hilarious. The dude on the left was on Conan a week or so ago as a guest, and was quite funny.
ReplyDeleteI thought that was a pretty good video. Actually I found the SNL story to be the least funny bit. I like this guy.
ReplyDeleteYet another talented black comedy writer that SNL has burned through in recent years. Nobody ever asks why SNL has such problems retaining good black and young women writers.
ReplyDeleteB. Profane---It's been obvious to me forever that SNL doesn't allow people of color the same freedoms/opportunities/RESPECT they give the white male cast members. I noticed that forever with the women too, although I admit I haven't watched it in about 5 years. Maybe things were better for Tina & Kristin?
ReplyDeleteWhen Eddie Murphy, whichever Wayons brother (Damon?), Nora Dunn, and Ellen Cleghorne complained about SNL & left, people called them ALL 'conceited' and ungrateful.
I think it's a very old-fashioned workplace, in the worst way. The WORST way. So bad that I noticed it even as a little kid. Especially the cast with Jan Hooks & Nora Dunn. Then Adam Sandler & David Spade took over, and it became all frat-humor.
Is Lorne himself the problem there, or the network? I admit I only flipped through that SNL 'tell-all' that came out awhile back, and don't remember much except how much everyone hated Chevy.
I KNOW I spelled everyone's name wrong ^^^^ up there. I am terrible with the schwa.
ReplyDeleterothflmao---Dance this shit dry!!!! How you gonna piss your pants then try to dance the pants dry!!!!I spit my drink out and nearly died, laughing at that...smh DAMN
ReplyDelete@libby -- It's a long, complicated saga of how SNL deals with race and gender backstage. Fey, Poehler, Maya and Dratch (and Paula Pell) seemed to have finally cemented the place of women on the show. I have read on an SNL forum, though, that Jay Pharoah did an eerily good impression of Heath Ledger as The Joker in a sketch and that Lorne banned it from airing. But he features Armisen doing Obama episode after episode.
ReplyDeleteI love this guy! My crazy gf showed me a bunch of his videos the other day.. Apparently they hooked up while he was in a town for a show.. There's a reason why he's so funny I hear:) After I saw him on Conan I was like " yea! I'm 3degrees from Conan O'Brian now! "
ReplyDelete@majawithaj - pickle juice!
Didn't wanna watch the vid, even tho I think Hannibal is hilarious and I follow him on twitter. I just wanted to agree with the comments about how SNL sucks with hiring cast members. Diversity folks, its not just an old wooden ship.
ReplyDeleterejectedcb---No doubt! It's also about allowing your cast to be funny when and how they're funny, without worrying you'll seem like a 'black show' or 'feminist humor'. I know things have seemingly changed in recent history with the ladies, but that show has always been about promoting whichever white male star they have for the moment, and they don't let anyone else 'get too big'. Those people shoved in the background always seem to be black, brown, and/or female.
ReplyDeleteRemember how great "In Living Color" was, with almost NO budget? I can't believe it took so long to have any comedy show with more than one male and one female who was a minority! It was a revelation!
It seems like the only reason SNL hires black men is because they can't have white men in black face portraying black men.
ReplyDeleteHas there ever been a black female cast member? I think Maya black is or is of mixed race, but either way she is very light skinned and looks "ethnic" rather than black. I can't think of anyone else, but I don't watch SNL often.
Denise: Maya Rudolph is bi-racial; her mother (who passed away when Maya was quite young) was Minnie Ripperton of "Lovin' You" fame back in the '70s.
ReplyDeleteThere have been a number of black women in the cast, most famously Ellen Cleghorne. Maya is half black, half-white Jew, thus giving her the most bad-ass Jewfro outside of Ethiopia.
ReplyDeleteSNL has long had a problem casting good black women. A couple of years ago Kali Hawk was offered a job, but turned them down. Now she's one of the stars of the In Living Color reboot.
They've never cast a Latina or Asian of either gender, but over the years the cast and writers have been 20-25% Jewish. That's not due to overt racism or favoritism, but neither is SNL's talent representative of American society.
@ Denise - I remember Danitra Vance. She died of cancer a few years after she left the show.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danitra_Vance
Correction: Rob Schneider and Fred Armisen both have some Asian heritage.
ReplyDeleteB. Profane--there's a lot of Ivy League in those writing rooms; it doesn't surprise me that they are clueless as to how to write for non-Whites, or even to a more working class experience.
ReplyDeleteSaying that--Conan (Harvard) is one of my all-time favorite writers, and The Simpsons also had/has a lot of IL. That's an animated 7PM show, though, so it's a bit different.
I just can't believe SNL have kept that up for SO long. I mean, that's why I asked---is it Lorne or the network that keep things so 1950's there?
It's not Ivy League, it's the Harvard
ReplyDeleteLampoon pipeline that places so many former Lampoon writers on SNL, The Simpsons, etc. Read up on Doug Kenney and the history of how SNL partially evolved out of National Lampoon to understand how the Lampoon pipeline came to be.
Lampoon writers have been notably tone-deaf about race and gender issues, but at least some women writers are starting to come out of the Harvard Lampoon now. You can't really knock an institution that's produced the likes of Conan and Jim Downey.
It's Lorne who's the one who enforces adherence to the SNL System. He invented it and has now honed it to what he thinks is the ideal production model for the institutional comedy that SNL produces. Lorne notoriously does not heed outside criticism of how he runs the show.
He does like working with women though and has always gotten along well with strong women writers like Rosie Schuster (his first wife), Anne Beatts, Tina Fey, Paula Pell, etc. He was happy to have Tina (and, ultimately, the credit has to go to her) establish a strong women's voice in the comedy of SNL.
But Lorne is getting old and he's made some horrendous casting decisions in the last ten years. And he's never really fostered black talent on SNL, so the likes of JB Smoove and Burress get fed up and leave and you're left with horrible tokens like Kenan Thompson.
Pardon my long-winded rant....
An In Living Color reboot? What? Where?
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to me that you said there have never been any latino or asian castmembers before. I'm involved in the NYC comedy circuit and their are droves and droves here to pick from. There are some great latino, asian, and black female comedians right here in SNL's backyard--I don't understand how at least one or two haven't made a wave there yet.
ReplyDeleteMiri, great Asian and Latino stand-ups or sketch performers? SNL still auditions stand-ups, but, barring Jay Pharoah, they haven't cast one in a long time. Nowadays they cast and hire writers mostly out of the established improv theatres, primarily Second City, Upright Citizens Brigade and Groundlings.
ReplyDeleteGo to their website and check out the ratio of white men to black women in the cast of UCB-New York.
I really enjoyed the few times I have seen Jay Pharaoh on the show. His impressions are spot on and I'd love to see his take on the Joker.
ReplyDeleteBTW, notice how you almost never hear any contemporary gossip about what goes on backstage at SNL? It's amazing how little leaks out compared to other high-profile TV shows. That's the Power of Lorne.
ReplyDeleteIf Enty ever digs up a juicy BI about SNL, that will impress me. You never read dish about SNL.
@B.- I was reminded of the Jewfro by a kid on my son's basketball team who was sporting one - and a mean fadeaway shot, I might add. Wasn't sure if I was allowed to even think the term 'Jewfro' any more, but his was admirable.
ReplyDeleteMy ex-brother-in-law rocked a Jewfro for years and it was referred to as such within the family. Andy Samberg talks about having a Jewfro, so I figure it's alright. I still consider myself a fifth columnist of the Chosen People by virtue of having daughters who are nominally Jewish.
ReplyDeleteEven though Rob Schneider and Fred Armisen are hapa, I'm in total denial because I don't want to admit that I have something in common with them. If a show needs some Asian representation I'd take someone like Bobby Lee or Steve Byrne or Margaret Cho any day of the week.
ReplyDeleteAnd I loved In Living Color! I remember thinking that it was so cool when it started airing. Every once in a while it'll be on BET and I always have to stop and watch it.
Thanks, B. I'll proceed with caution. I've had many Jewish friends over the years, but no family ties, so I'll tread lightly. But the boy had a nice one.
ReplyDeleteWish I'd read these comments before I wasted four minutes of my life on this
ReplyDelete