Tag: NBC

SNL Returns Tomorrow Night

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In welcome news, Saturday Night Live will make its return tomorrow night with its first live broadcast from Studio 8H since March 7. The return of SNL will hopefully give at least a small sense of normalcy back to the country tomorrow night, and help lift the spirits of a beleaguered city.

Even before the pandemic and the shutdown, it wasn’t too often that I found myself out past midnight on a Saturday night (though, unlike Red, I refuse to use the term “washed”). Speaking for myself, I need this and am ready for this. Considering that in many parts of the country you still need to order a full meal of food in order to drink in public, there should be lots of people home tomorrow night and this episode should do monster ratings.

While I don’t like to make any comparisons to 9/11, this episode could have a similar vibe to the show’s first episode back after the terrorist attacks in 2001. With all that has happened over the last seven months, over the last week, and in the last 24 hours, I’m sure the cast and writers are still trying to figure out what to lead with and what tone to strike. But I’m certain that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will still be front and center…

It doesn’t hurt to have a former cast member, and one of the best stand-up comics of all time, Chris Rock as host this week. Whatever tone the episode strikes, I’m confident that Chris Rock will hit it out of the park. It also looks like the show will have at least a limited studio audience based on tickets being made available. Free tickets AND a COVID test? If I lived in New York City I would sign up for that deal in a second. Probably still easier than getting a test at CVS.

Based on tickets possibly being made available, it looks like there could be episodes each of the five Saturdays this month, leading up the election the first Tuesday of November. While SNL usually doesn’t do that many new episodes in a row, and the fact that no other hosts or musical guests have been named for this month, it could be a chance to strike while the iron is hot. Maybe they’ll see how things go this week?

The path to reopening the country, getting back to work, and regaining some sense of normalcy is going to be long and challenging. We could all use a few laughs to relieve some anxiety along the way. So practice social distancing, wear a mask, and stay home and tune in Saturday night. That’s what I’ll be doing, and rooting for SNL to help bring back even just a little bit of normalcy to my weekend routine.

Celebrity Jeopardy Is a Must Play on SNL This Week

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I could be totally wrong, but it feel’s like tomorrow night’s episode of Saturday Night Live will be something special. It’s the Thanksgiving show, Will Ferrell will be back, and he’ll be joining the Five-Timers Club. That being said, they have to do Celebrity Jeopardy. Celebrity Jeopardy not appearing on SNL tomorrow night would be an act of comedic malpractice.

If you’re in your thirties Will Ferrell is the best SNL cast member from your prime SNL viewing days and Celebrity Jeopardy was your favorite sketch. I watched every week in high school rooting for Celebrity Jeopardy to make an appearance and it never disappointed.

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In addition to Ferrell being back in Studio 8H, Jeopardy is having a moment right now. As Alex Trebek bravely wages his battle against Pancreatic Cancer, Jeopardy James Holzhauer is doing his part to keep Jeopardy front-page news. Next month’s GOAT tournament will be the most anticipated game show event since Who Wants to Be a Millionaire made its first return in November of 1999. With Darrell Hammond in the house handling announcing duties, and Sean Connery pushing 90, why not trot out Trebek , Connery and the rest for (maybe, hopefully not) one last rodeo.

Come on, Lorne, America needs this.

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Who Should Host SNL?

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As much as college football and pumpkin spice lattes, the Saturday Night Live season premiere is a sure sign that summer is over and fall has arrived. SNL’s 44th season will kick off less than a month from now on September 29. No hosts or musical guests for the upcoming season have been announced yet but since they asked, here are the three guys I’d most like to see host SNL.

  1. Bill Burr A comedian’s comedian and a regular on the late night talk show circuit, Burr would kill on SNL. Burr did some work on Chappelle’s Show back in the day and would bring an edge to Saturday night that SNL hasn’t had in quite a while.
  2. Bob Odenkirk Well before he took on the role of Saul Goodman, Odenkirk wrote for SNL back in the late 80s and early 90s. While he didn’t find the success at SNL that other writers did, he did find sketch comedy success on HBO in the mid-90s with Tobia Funke David Cross on Mr. Show. Currently on one of the best shows on television, Odenkirk going back to 30 Rock to host SNL would be a great story of comedic redemption.
  3. John Krasinski He interned on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in the same building back in 2000 and was a key player on The Office, one of the most important shows on NBC for nearly a decade. It’s hard to believe that this guy has never been invited to host in Studio 8H. With Jack Ryan dropping on Amazon Prime today, now seems like the perfect time for Krasinski to head back to 30 Rock.

And special mention goes to Christopher Walken, who tops my returning hosts list. Walken was a mainstay during my prime SNL viewing years, hosting seven times in the 90s and 2000s. It’s hard to believe he hasn’t appeared on SNL in more than a decade. Definitely need to see him walken through the doors at 8H this fall.

 

Who’d I miss? Let me know on Twitter @The300sBigZ

New and Improved Golf Channel to Feature NHL Playoffs!

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In one of the most absurd sports media moves since the Outdoor Life Network acquired the cable broadcast rights to the National (Indoor) Hockey League in 2005, two NHL playoff games will be broadcast on Golf Channel on April 18. A pair of Game 4’s – Lightning @ Devils and Ducks @ Sharks – will be broadcast on Golf Channel on the evening of Wednesday, April 18.

As ridiculous as it sounds, though, it’s probably not that bad of a move. Golf Channel is available in about 79 million households, compared to about 81 million households for NBCSN. Not a massive difference. Both networks trail well behind in household availability to the two other cable networks that will air some NHL playoff games, CNBC and US Network. CNBC is available in almost 94 million households and USA Network is available in 94.3 million households.

It sounds strange to say this but if you are an LA Kings fan living in Boston, you might be better off if the Kings game airs on USA Network instead of NBC’s main cable sports outlet, NBCSN. My grandmother has been getting USA Network since the first Bush administration in the early ’90s. It is doubtful that she gets NBCSN.

A lot of people like to poke fun at the NHL’s television situation, but that’s not the point of this blog. The move to put two games on Golf Channel is mildly amusing, but is likely more about attracting eyeballs to Golf Channel after the Masters rather than a comment on the NHL’s television ratings. It might appease more hockey fans if these games aired on the NHL Network instead of Golf Channel, but that would be far worse for the product. According to the most recent estimate I could find, the NHL Network was only available in about 37 million homes. Ask yourself how many MLB playoff games you’ve ever watched on MLB Network. I know my answer.  ZERO.

As a Bruins fan, I like seeing the B’s and Leafs on NBC in primetime Saturday night. I just worry about that game going to double overtime. If that game has to be finished on NBCSN to make way for a new episode of Saturday Night Live, then the NHL might have a real beef with its television partner.

NBC Goes All-Madden Mode for Camera Angle in Patriots Falcons Game

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The fog came into Gillette fast last night and after a while you really couldn’t see a damn thing on TV, which must have sucked for the poor sap who dished out $200 bucks to sit in the 300s and couldn’t see shit.

As soon as NBC switched to that Sky Cam angle though I got a sudden rush of dopamine and I had no idea why. This new camera angle they finally switched to after an hour of trying to watch the game through the clouds just seemed right. And then it dawned on me. This is Madden. This is the same angle I’ve been playing football with for 15 years. This is the view I had when I first learned what Spider-2-Y-Banana was, or just how many clickers I could get my roommate to smash by running the perfectly timed HB Screen. Spread em out and go No Huddle for an entire game. This just feels right. NBC, do yourself a favor and get this angle worked into every game as much as you can. Subliminal advertising at its finest because right now I am jones-ing for some Madden.