PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: INSIDE MEDIA: 2011 NEW YORK COMEDY FESTIVAL: LIVE FROM NEW YORK ... A DISCUSSION WITH THE SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE WRITERS {LONG VERSION ANAMORPHIC}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented as part of The Paley Center for Media's Inside Media events. Held at the Paley Center in New York as part of the 2011 New York Comedy Festival, this evening features a discussion with the writers of "Saturday Night Live," the live, late-night comedy/variety series featuring topical satire which has run since 1975.
Host David Bushman (curator, The Paley Center for Media) offers opening remarks and introduces moderator Steve Gaydos (executive editor, Variety), who briefly discusses his recent experience attending a dress rehearsal of "SNL" before introducing a clip package of the show. Sketches and scenes shown include "Weekend Update," political satire, celebrity parodies, sketches involving hosts and musical guests such as Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga, a commercial for "Red Flag" perfume and a visit from Bill Hader's eccentric club kid Stefon.
Gaydos is then joined onstage by the panelists: writers Seth Meyers; Colin Jost; Marika Sawyer; John Mulaney; Erik Kenward; Bryan Tucker; and Chris Kelly.
The conversation touches on such topics as: how long each writer has been employed on the show; why so many of the writers started in stand-up comedy; "teams" within the group of writers that focus on specific SNL characters; the process of getting a skit past table reads; keeping up with rapidly-changing news stories; the trusting, "hands-off" style of series creator Lorne Michaels; the need for "self-censorship" and the writers' instinct to go "too far" with material; writing a sketch around a specific performer's talents; the challenge of changing a skit's details at the last minute; sketches featuring live animals; the specific weekly schedule and need to "predict" the week's news; the studio audience's lack of awareness of Saturday's stories; the use of music guests in sketches; how the writers "lose arrogance" over time; the desire to avoid overdoing recurring sketches because of their availability online; the origins of memorable characters; and a recent sketch parodying Kim Kardashian and her family.
Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics: frequent hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, who often appear on one another's episodes; how experienced hosts are often more aware of the show's quality over the course of the week; the use of celebrity cameos; the frequency of disappointing or difficult hosts; "rules" about the need to write at least one good sketch per week; if the show could survive without Michaels; the amount of time spent on a sketch before it is discarded as unworkable; the hosts' lack of ad-libbed material; the versatility and willingness of cast members like Fred Armisen; if rejected sketches get a second chance; the potential awkwardness of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's 2008 guest appearance; the writers' lack of concern with ratings; and the import of what sketch will follow a certain piece.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 13, 2011 4:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:30:01
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 106632
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Bushman … Host
- Steve Gaydos … Moderator
- Seth Meyers … Panelist
- Erik Kenward … Panelist
- John Mulaney … Panelist
- Colin Jost … Panelist
- Marika Sawyer … Panelist
- Bryan Tucker … Panelist
- Chris Kelly … Panelist
- Fred Armisen
- Alec Baldwin
- Lady Gaga
- Bill Hader
- Kim Kardashian
- Steve Martin
- Lorne Michaels
- Sarah Palin
- Justin Timberlake