Saturday Night Live is wrapping up what's certainly been a memorable thirty-fourth season—one that will conclude next weekend with a couple of 90s fixtures returning: Will Ferrell to host and Green Day serving as musical guest. Last night the show brought back a couple of familiar faces we've gotten used to seeing throughout the past year—Justin Timberlake (making his seventeenth appearance of the season) and Fred Armisen once again taking on the role of Governor Paterson. more ›

Though some people may have laughed at Saturday Night Live's depiction of Governor David Paterson—which did include Fred Armisen as Paterson stumbling around due to his blindness and saying "I'm a blind man who loves cocaine who was suddenly appointed governor of New York. My life is an actual plot from a Richard Pryor movie."—Paterson himself was not one of them. more ›

If Fred Armisen plays any black politician, please let it be NY Governor David Paterson! His impression of our "accidental" governor debuted on Weekend Update last night and it absolutely killed. For reference, we've placed a photograph of Paterson above—compare it to the SNL bit below: 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 ›

Weekend Update, the longtime staple of Saturday Night Live that sends up the news stories of the week, began last night with a breaking exclusive of its own: co-anchor Amy Poehler had just given birth to a baby boy. Alongside husband Will Arnett, Poehler delivered her first child "Archie" early Saturday evening. Archie Arnett came in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce and both mother and child are reported to be in good health. Poehler was not expecting to miss last night's show and had been rehearsing up until Friday. Her delivery means in all likelihood that her final episode of SNL was last week, where Poehler got the opportunity to shine with a rap number alongside a dancing Sarah Palin on a night that scored the highest ratings for the show in fourteen years. 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 ›

Rumors of Sarah Palin making an appearance on Saturday Night Live have been quickly put at bay by head writer Seth Meyers, who says, "Of those specific rumors, there's no truth. We do have an open door policy, but there's nothing specific yet, but our window of opportunity is before the election." With such natural comedy skills, this is surprising news! Meyers also added that, regarding the pre-election primetime Weekend Update specials, "We'd love to have her [and] we spoke to her earlier [before] the time Tina did her, and it seemed like something was going to work out." Will Palin surprise everyone with an appearance, or will the McCain campaign keep her far away from Fey & Co.? [via The Observer] more ›

In between campaign stops for March 4th primaries, Hillary Clinton put on a happy face about the recent Saturday Night Live skits that aired during the show's return last week, adding that "it's so nice to be a fashion icon at my age" (video here). Last night the SNL troupe was at it again with an opening skit that mirrored last week's. As Clinton (Amy Poehler) faced off with Obama (Fred Armisen), it became less clear who SNL might be supporting; their Fauxbama is pretty lifeless: more ›

It's weird when a Reuters story seems like something on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update:

Kenyan elders may impose a fine on U.S. presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, payable in livestock, after a photo of her rival Barack Obama in robes dragged their people into the race for the White House.

Saturday Night Live is back! Wasting no time digging into primary season, the opening skit was a debate between Hillary and Barack, immediately answering the big question posed this week: who will be our Fauxbama? The answer: Fred Armisen! The Huffington Post raises the controversial points of this decision, given the previously-noted lack of minority players on the show (Armisen is not black - he's Venezuelan and Japanese - but has played Prince on SNL) and the whole "Is Obama black enough?" debate. As for the sketch itself, it was about the media's infatuation with Obama - and it even included Obama Girl! more ›

Ralph Nader will be making another third-party bid for the Presidency in the 2008 election. The consumer advocate - and bane of many Democrats - made the announcement this morning on Meet the Press.

A Hillary Clinton campaign stop in Cincinnati became an opportunity for her to blast Barack Obama over what she called "blatantly false" campaign literature. Clinton said, "Shame on you, Barack Obama," as she held the literature in question. “It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public. That’s what I expect from you. Meet me in Ohio. Let’s have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign.” more ›

Rudy Rudy Rudy. Giuliani is getting it from all angles. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.com's John Fund wrote an article, "Rude Giuliani." Fund referenced Giuliani's cellphone call with wife Judith during a very important speech in front of the NRA as just one example of all the times Giuliani is stopping for his wife's calls. He once left a room full of donors, who each paid $2,300 to hear him speak, to take a call from Judi Giuliani - and never returned. That's a classy move! more ›

In February rumors started to fly about Jimmy Fallon becoming the next Late Night host when Conan O'Brien leaves his current spot to take Jay Leno's spot. It's an after-hours game of musical chairs! (Though no one knows where Leno will end up, it is said he'll likely stay in the late night game.) NBC chief Rick Ludwin says that Fallon is now at the top of the short list for possible Late Night hosts. 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 ›

With just two new episodes so far this season, the NY Post wonders if Saturday Night Live is really dead. It's a good, if evergreen question. Horatio Sanz is certainly no Tina Fey during Weekend Update, though Gothamist has been impressed he's been able to hold it together this long. With Maya Rudoph's pregnancy, it seems like most sketches with a female character involve Amy Poehler (who rules, but maybe she needs a break). There are always dark periods of SNL (the years after the original cast left and before Eddie Murphy arrived; after Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, and David Spade left), but it's still TiVo worthy, if not stay-at-home on a Saturday night. There's always a chance there's a watercooler moment in a broadcast, and that's what keeps people watching. Gothamist hopes there will be a sketch with this week's host, Catherine Zeta-Jones, that either involves overeating or being married to a jowly old man. more ›

- What's up with the emergency brakes in the subways? more ›

Hello, nurse: It's the Age of Fey and Poehler, as they are the first all-female Weekend Update team on Saturday Night Live. Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon had a nice chemistry - you know, sharp, caustic and riffing on how Jimmy was stupid and pretty and Tina was slutty and angry - but we were feeling Fallon Fatigue, as he couldn't really keep his shizzle together during skits, especially ones with Horatio Sanz. So Gothamist was terrifically excited to see Amy Poehler's blond, twinkling yet semi-maniacal eyed. face next to Tina behind the desk. And, for the boys (and girls), there is the promise of lots of lesbian flirting this season. more ›

Jane Seymour was Henry VIII's third wife. more ›

See Fred on SNL this weekend, with host Christina Aguilera (expect a lot of singing, possible Britney and Kelly Osbourne spoofs) and musical guests Maroon 5, whose lead singer sounds like Jay Kay from Jamiroquai.
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In an interview with Time, Dennis Miller gives this take on the current Weekend Update team: more ›

Aside from Paris Hilton's appearance on Saturday Night Live this past weeknd, Weekend Update was notable for the mention of Shuan Shuan, the panda from Mexico, who was sent to Japan to mate with Ling Ling. Tina Fey said they were set up by their friend, Pimp Pimp, and then when she saw the image of Pimp Pimp, Tina said, "Aw...Pimp Pimp." Pandas make a great punchline AND they are super cute. more ›

Rumors didn't let America down: Paris Hilton did make an appearance on Saturday Night Live last night. Dressed in a sharp, slightly sexy (but, let's face it, extremely demure for her), Paris Hilton appeared polite, a little nervous, but overall funny in a classic double entendre exchange with Jimmy Fallon during Weekend Update. Kudos, SNL writers and talent bookers, job well done. Here is the unofficial Gothamist transcript: more ›

Gothamist is restraining itself from cracking a joke about how these rats are more expensive than the hookers Bay probably... oh, that's not restraint.
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I did see J. Lo perform on the Today Show, I missed Mariah's interview with Matt Lauer. . I didn't watch the Diane Sawyer interview with Whitney Houston, but I did glean from Saturday Night Live (Robert DeNiro sucked, by the way, or at least the skits did) Weekend Update when Maya Rudolph and Tracey Morgan spoofed Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, that Whitney: 1) called Diane Sawyer, "Diane Swyer"; 2)Bobby Brown was profusely sweating; and 3) Whtiney doesn't smoke crack because it's cheap. more ›