The Definitive Guide to Comedy
This should have been so much better, shouldn't it? I'm sure more than a few people out there had high hopes for Steve Martin's 15th turn as host of Saturday Night Live, and yet, this morning, the only things I feel like talking about in this episode don't really have …
Any great documentary leaves you feeling a greater knowledge and fulfillment about the subject matter, and wanting to further share your newfound knowledge with even more people. Any good documentary gives you insight into a subject and leaves you wanting more. Judging from the first two hours of the six-hour …
For the 51st annual Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy went with a live, primetime announcement/mini-concert. But you want to know who got nominated, don't you? While putting American Idol's star judge Simon Cowell up for Record of the Year (he produced "Bleeding Love" for Leona Lewis along with Clive Davis …
Speaking of comedy on Sunday mornings, what if I told you the serene CBS Sunday Morning turned out to be the best mainstream TV news source for profiling comedy these days? I know. And yet. Yesterday, the program did an in-depth feature on Rita Rudner. In March, a profile of …
Saturday Night Live answered the Obama question right away in the cold open, which tried to take on this week’s CNN/Univision Democratic debate. Fred Armisen played Barack Obama. So??? Armisen has similar facial features, which helped his cause. Already has that faraway look in the eyes down. Skin tone? Too …
Hooray! The WGA strike is over. Let’s declare a holiday! Wait. We’ve done that already? Great. Let’s schedule some comedic talents for all the late-night TV shows, then, and get on with it… David Letterman: Thursday, Steve Martin; Friday, Al Lubel. Conan O’Brien: Monday, Larry the Cable Guy; Tuesday, Bill …
The "hour" has lots of insight, but the real meat comes about halfway through at the 26-minute mark. This interview is from earlier this month.
I got excited seeing this listing on MSNBC that Tim Russert would interview Steve Martin. So I’m halfway through watching it (the show re-airs at 6 p.m. today, 2 a.m. and noon Sunday on MSNBC) and feel stymied because Russert isn’t even really trying to interview Martin. It’s more like, …
As you can see on my home page, I already highly recommend you buy and read Steve Martin’s new memoir, "Born Standing Up," if you have any inclination at all in learning what it takes and what it means to be a stand-up comedian. The back cover of my copy …