The marketing team behind Doritos is really going for gold this year, by enlisting generic, vaguely funny Everydude Andy Samberg to help with their annual "Crash the Super Bowl" campaign. The campaign is basically a way for Doritos to get publicity without all the hard work of coming up with their own commercials—instead, they get fame-hungry fans to compete against each other with homemade ads. "America" votes for the winner, who will have their ad broadcast during the big game. Last year's winner involved a chip-crazy pug. This year's winner will have to work with Lonely Island. Is that really...a prize? more ›

Back on December 17, 2005, Saturday Night Live aired a digital short called "Lazy Sunday"—an ode to cupcakes, using online maps, Mr. Pibb, The Chronicles of Narnia and, uh, the chronic—that struck a chord and became a viral sensation on YouTube, especially as NBC kept taking it down. Last night, Jimmy Fallon reunited Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg for a live version, with the Roots backing them, of the ditty: more ›

If Saturday Night Live couldn't find a way to live up to their promise "to have Michael Phelps shirtless in every sketch" earlier this year, it seemed a little more likely that they could get us some Shirts-Off Time with good sport Paul Rudd hosting last night. They went even further than that in the digital short that featured Rudd in the buff being painted by Andy Samberg. more ›

After weeks of speculation and buildup, Sarah Palin finally appeared on Saturday Night Live last night, playing herself in two separate bits on the show. Despite the star power of the cold opening that on top of Palin and Tina Fey featured appearances from Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin, the sketch fell a little flat when compared to the instant classics that Fey has been cranking out all fall. more ›

It's been a long time since one cast member on Saturday Night Live has grabbed almost all the attention focused on the show and Tina Fey technically isn't even a cast member right now. But for the third time in four weeks since the show returned, Fey was front and center in the opening sketch as the doppelganger she seems to refine and heighten a little every week, Sarah Palin. more ›

COMEDY: In November, shortly after the WGA strike sent SNL to reruns, the cast took the UCB Theater stage for an off-air show. If you missed that one, there's a chance to catch some of the cast doing stand-up at Comix tonight. The site says "sold out" but the people at the venue say they just added more tickets! So give a call and enjoy "An Evening with the Writers and Performers from Saturday Night Live." The money raised will go toward the Writers Guild of America. And yes, Andy Samberg (pictured with cat) will be there. Andy Samberg, originally scheduled to be there, has dropped out of the show. more ›

SNL is back! Not sure if the exclamation point is necessary, but their 33rd season kicked off this past weekend with some good stuff. LeBron James was host and Kanye West was the musical guest -- West actually showed up in a good sketch, though oddly enough not this musical one. The below is a ballad to the President of Iran called "Iran So Far" delivered by Andy Samberg and Maroon 5's Adam Levine. "You can't deny there's something between us. I know you say there's no gays in Iran, but you're in New York now, baby!" more ›

(directed by Paul Greengrass) more ›

We sort of slept through this season of Saturday Night Live. Sure it had its moments, but the show still isn't what it used to be (even Rainn Wilson couldn't revive it for a night). The best thing to happen in recent years has been Andy Samberg and the Digital Shorts (what did you think of last nights? Watch it here). These broke out in 2005 with Lazy Sunday, and kept going strong in 2006 (see: Dick in a Box). more ›

THEATER: A revival of Patrick Hamilton’s thriller Gaslight has just begun at Irish Rep; some may remember the award-winning 1944 film version starring Ingrid Bergman and Angela Lansbury. The chilling study in domestic domination to the max concerns a diabolical husband who, not satisfied in exploiting his wife’s savings to buy their house, plots her murder. But while he’s out the police inspector comes in to warn the poor bride that her husband is suspected of another “black-hearted murder” committed fifteen years ago... in the very same house! - John Del Signore more ›

The NY Times is reporting that both hipsters and blipsters like Justin TImberlake. Of course, there's been a long history of indie holding hands with MTV pop stars. We recall numerous covers of Britney Spears "Toxic", Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" (mp3) and more recently Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" (mp3). It's about time we all embraced JT! more ›

With Tina Fey gone from the writers' staff to primetimier pastures and Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz and Finesse Mitchell axed from the staff, people were wondering how this season of Saturday Night Live would stack up. And while articles calling it "Saturday Night Dead" are a mainstay every fall, Gothamist wasn't very confident given that the host would be Dane Cook, who already hosted not even a year ago! Here's our thoughts about the season premiere: more ›

Here's an interesting case for you comedy sleuths: this past weekend SNL ran a short sketch entitled "Peyote", in which Andy Samberg is talked down from a ledge by Will Forte. The joke is that Samberg is on peyote, and he's not actually standing on a ledge-- he's standing on the sidewalk. Compare that skit to ImprovEverywhere's Suicide Jumper sketch, where a police officer tries to talk a man down from a three-foot ledge. The similarities between the pieces are striking-- but are they conclusive? Three possibilities occur to us: more ›

short, to being "above the fold" on the NYTimes.com website is nine days! We doubt The Lonely Island/SNL gang was up at 8AM to see the "Lazy Sunday" article, "Nerds in the Hood, Stars on the Web," take the prime position on the Gray Lady's Less Gray Website, but Gothamist did. And we love the internet. Apparently the Lonely Island guys, Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone, along with Chris Parnell, wrote the sketch together and shot it all over West Village and Chelsea in the week before it aired. Parnell takes the time to tell the NY Times that his raps about crushes on Britney Spears, Kirsten Dunst, and Jennifer Garner have been mostly well-received by the stars, though he hasn't heard from Britney Spears. The article does not, however, mention the short's impact on sales of Magnolia Bakery cupcakes, Mr. Pibb's, Red Vines, or the Chronicle of Narnia movie tickets (or the chronic, for that matter). more ›