SNL adds a new cast member for the forthcoming season

Starting next month, SNL will not only begin it's 34th season two weeks early, but with the addition of a new cast member who's an alumnus of the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe.

SNL Gets Upright With New Cast Member

SNL Gets Upright With New Cast Member
Posted by Frank Meyer - Thursday, August 21, 2008 1:48 PM

Saturday Night Live just announced the addition of a new cast member for the upcoming fall season, the show’s 34th. New York City stand up comic and Upright Citizens Brigade member Bobby Moynihan will join the cast of the long-running sketch comedy show.

SNL insiders are said to have expected a female cast member to be named, since Amy Poehler is bailing (she is preggers and joining the cast of the Office spinoff). It’s possible another new addition will be announced soon.

Some of you might be familiar with Moynihan from the improv show Asssscat, or from The Line, an online video project funded by Lorne Michaels' production company, directed by SNL head-writer Seth Meyers, and starring SNL cast-members Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis. He is also the member of much buzzed-about sketch comedy group called Buffoons.

"We are, of course, incredibly thrilled that Bobby is going to be on Saturday Night Live,” said UCBT Artistic Director Anthony King. “He's been a fixture and favorite at the UCB Theatre in NYC for many, many years now and it's exciting to see him get recognized and rewarded for his ridiculous talent. He also has a great beard and we hope America gets the chance to experience that as well."

And he looks a lot like Howard Stern Show sidekick Artie Lang (right)!

IMO, more like a cross between John Belushi and Chris Farley. Well, Bobby, welcome to the jungle and enjoy your stay. :D

What to do when SNL isn't on the air during the Olympics?

With the Beijing Olympics in full swing, NBC will focusing on it for the next two weeks, which means no SNL whatsoever. :(

But, I have a solution to this dilemma to help you for the duration.

No. 1: Rent videos/dvds

Going to your neighborhood Blockbuster Video, they will have a good selection of SNL videos, from The Best of Will Ferrell to The Best of Steve Martin. You might want to rent movies based on SNL skits such as Wayne's World, Coneheads, or even non-SNL skits-turned-films that Lorne Michaels has produced such as Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, or even Hot Rod.

No. 2: Watch classic SNL episodes on tape/dvd

If you have been recording SNL ever since the 1985-1986 season, here's an idea. If you no longer have a VCR, but know a friend who can transfer the videos onto DVD, then you might want to ask him/her to do that.

With those suggestions in mind, this will be the perfect option to get through the Olympics without going through the SNL blues.

Hindus Ask Myers For A Love Guru Apology

A follow-up to my first post:

America's Hindu leaders are asking Mike Myers to personally apologise for his portrayal of a comical spiritual leader in movie flop The Love Guru.

They want the funnyman to publicly apologise for "lampooning Hinduism" in the film.

In a statement released to WENN on Monday, Hindu leader Rajan Zed said that although the apology may not completely undo the damage done to the community, it might help "heal the wounds somewhat of a disturbed Hindu populace".

Zed, the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, says, "Ksama, or forgiveness, is one of the main virtues of Hindu ethics. If Mike Myers offers a genuine public apology, Hindus would not only absolve him but might also pray for his success in future movies."

Zed launched a protest movement against The Love Guru in March, urging all Hindus and other religious groups to boycott the film.

He claims that the failure of the film is largely down to his protest campaign.

SNL Band members, past and present, featured on YouTube

Chris Parker, drums, Jan. 1987 to May 1991



G.E. Smith, guitar/band leader/music director, Nov. 1985 to May 1995



Shawn Pelton, drums/percussion, Sep. 1992 to present

When it comes to stalkers, not even Lorne Michaels is immune

N.Y. judge upholds charge of stalking 'SNL' producer

NEW YORK (AP) — A criminal court judge has upheld charges against a Long Island, N.Y., man accused of stalking Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels.

A misdemeanor complaint says 31-year-old Oyster Bay resident Evans Pidhajecky claimed Michaels overheard his conversations and singing and used his thoughts on the SNL show without his permission.

The complaint says an "upset" Pidhajecky tried to contact the 63-year-old Michaels several times at NBC's Manhattan studios and at his home to "chat."

Police arrested Pidhajecky in December and charged him with stalking and resisting arrest. He is free on $1,500 bail.

Manhattan Judge Marc Whiten said last week Pidhajecky's intentions were "irrelevant" since his actions had "no legitimate purpose" and alarmed Michaels.

Pidhajecky's lawyer, Peter Brill, says he disagrees with the judge.

Christine Ohlman on the Saturday Night Live Band

Christine Ohlman on the Saturday Night Live Band

There are dream gigs…. and I’ve got one. Sixteen years ago I signed on to do a private gig with G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band, and that many years later I’m still the guest vocalist in studio 8H of Rockefeller Center. It’s a privilege, and a hoot…and did I mention it’s a privilege?

If you could look inside your TV and uncover layers of sound, you’d find, buried underneath the commercial breaks, a treasure: some of the world’s coolest music, played by some of the baddest cats around.

TV’s bands are there for the studio audience—warming them up, pre-show (REALLY a necessity in the Letterman studio, which is kept at a chilly 50 degrees; I’ve told Paul Shaffer I don’t know how he does it, night after night, without a sweater!), keeping them grooving through the commercials, providing incidental music behind skits and spoofs and, for Leno, Letterman, O’Brien and Kimmel, blips and blats during the evening’s opening monologue. We labor largely in obscurity, but there’s a real art to the gig, and the kick is in the camaraderie.

With just 20 shows a year, time together on SNL is precious. So, when a few years ago they flew us out to Vegas for the unveiling of a line of SNL-themed slot machines, the hang time itself was a treat, as was the chance to play an entire set of complete songs unencumbered by the 60-90-120-second commercial time slots. While I can, let me brag on the names of the amazing (Google any of ‘em—they’re all stars in their fields) artists I share the stage with: Lenny Pickett, Leon Pendarvis, Katreese Barnes, Shawn Pelton, Valerie Naranjo, Steve Turre, Earl Gardner, James Genus, Ron Blake, Alex Foster, and Lukasz Gottwald throw down without even a 7-second delay—it’s live, folks, live.

The SNL bandstand (a.k.a. “Home Base”) is never struck. Gardner is known for keeping the sports page on the stand with him at all times; Pelton keeps a collection of juju totems next to his drum kit; there’s a tip jar on Pen’s Hammond B-3 filled with fake twenties; and as the season wears on, it’ll feel more and more like a little island. Co-musical directors Pickett and Pendarvis keep up an easy banter over our earpieces even as the music churns on. The soloing is brilliant, and, as with all the TV bands, the repertoire is eclectic. We’ve got a batch of Southern soul gems in my portion of the SNL “book,” some of them fabulously obscure. Lenny Pickett is a music historian, as was G.E. Smith before him (we’re all well aware of the deep history on that stage), but nobody beats the unstumpable Shaffer, who seemingly knows every tune ever recorded, to the nightly delight of the Letterman audience.

My favorite musical moments: Pavarotti, with a full string section (Christmas ’98); Neil Young with Spooner Oldham on keys (Christmas ’05); and Paul McCartney’s rehearsal, on a long-ago afternoon in 1993, when the late Chris Farley and I waltzed around the studio to “Maybe I’m Amazed.”

Oh…did I mention it’s a privilege?

SNL begins early this year and goes into overdrive

"Saturday Night Live" in overdrive for election

Mon Jul 21, 1:09 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The presidential election will mean extended duty for NBC's "Saturday Night Live."
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The show's 34th season will kick off on September 13, allowing it to have seven live outings before Election Day on November 4. That, in turn, will result in a season order of 22 episodes, two more than usual.

In addition, NBC will schedule three half-hour episodes of "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday" at 9:30 p.m. on October 9, 16 and 23. Also, the night before the election, there will be a 90-minute "Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash 2008" to give the campaign a last-minute satirical spin.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter