The Dana Carvey Show

By now we're all well aware that the internet is the only place the following can happen in a 10 minute period:
- Read AV Club's interview with Louie CK, where you learn CK wrote for a sketch show you'd long forgotten, The Dana Carvey Show.
-Immediately Google "Dana Carvey Show"
-Confirm via wikipedia that he was, in fact, lead writer for the show, but also discover that entire first and only season exists for free on Hulu now.
-Halt productivity.

The Dana Carvey Show was a sketch comedy on abc that ran for only 7 tenths of a season in 1996, and it was hilarious. How do I know it was hilarious? I was 11 when it aired and I have fond memories of it. That's enough, right? Also, I specifically remember feeling uncomfortable watching it with my mom around which means that I toughed it out through the awkwardness (because it was funny) and she toughed it out through the jokes that were inappropriate for an 11 year old at 9pm on a Tuesday because she understood that I'd one day have an affinity for inconsequential pop culture.

Though Carvey himself left his stamp on the show with his trademark impressions like the Church Lady and Paul McCartney, the real talent resided in the rest of the credits, where people like CK, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and Robert Smigel were creating some of the funniest, subversive sketch comedy that couldn't have been seen anywhere else on tv at the time. Possibly too subversive, though, as sponsors began running away from act 1 scene 1 as Carvey's Bill Clinton breast fed babies and animals (hard to explain).

Every episode, including the unaired, are available in full on Hulu. Definitely worth checking out, if only to see the careers of Carrell and Colbert launch.

Julian on Jimmy

Julian Casablancas recently stopped by the Jimmy Fallon show to sing his version of "I Wish it Was Christmas Today." Also supporting is a much slimmer Horatio Sans.


Julian then stuck around to sing track 1 from Phrazes for the Young called "Out of the Blue." You can see that HERE.

Keenan Thompson

Keenan's had a rough go of trying to be funny on Saturday Night Live. After all, he's been on the show in some capacity since 2003 and I can count very few memorable moments since then. But things seem to be turning around after all this time, right? I for one love his new "What Up With That?" sketch, and now he's getting involved with Digital Shorts? Fantastic.

And let's please all love this (and any) "Scared Straight" sketch from S35E05.

So, Keenan is sort of maybe hitting his stride, right?

Pay for Hulu?

Rumor has it Hulu may soon charge an undetermined type of subscription fees to access it's content.

These days I have little time during the week to catch my favorite shows. Without DVR or Tivo I've come to rely on Hulu to catch up with them all. I've even come to appreciate the convenience of all those short commercials in between segments. However, there are very few business models that Hulu can employ that would ever make me want to pay for it. I'll just as soon go back underground for my content.

How about you?

Norm Macdonald

Because I'm surprised there isn't a website devoted to his appearances on talk shows yet, here's Norm on Conan last Thursday.

You'll agree he's especially funny when he's got nothing to promote.

Too Soon

Now two weeks into his first season as host of the Late Night, I can say with a clearer mind that Jimmy Fallon is not a great host, though I can't quite put my finger on exactly why that is. It may simply be that he's just not funny enough. Sure if you give him a few days and a pen he can probably write a laugh inducing sketch, but he's not good at being ad-hoc funny or even ad-hoc charming, which were two of Conan O'Brien's strengths. He also rushes his lines a lot and speed reads the cue cards. Nothing he does on the show seems natural, but instead horrendously forced. He seems like he wants to succeed, and he's trying really hard, but maybe that's the problem? Maybe he's trying too hard? I think he might be better served as a writer or a "digital shorts" kind of comedic actor. He's too awkard live.

I'm still rooting for him to figure it out. I'm sure peforming live every night has a certain relaxation learning curve, and I'm hoping that Jimmy can find his niche.

Here's a particularly awful bit: The Wheel of Carpet Samples Part 1
and Part 2

and let's contrast that with an example of where Fallon shows potential: The Gadsden Purchase

So Far, So Good

Two shows into his stint as the new host of Late Night, Jimmy Fallon has shown himself to be a decent host. Like Conan O'Brien before him, you have to "get" the brand of humor, but if you liked any of his SNL work, that shouldn't be too hard. He's a little awkward, but it's the kind of awkward you've come to expect from him, except now it comes with a bit more professionalism and quieter hair. You get the feeling that he really wants to succeed, and although I was only 11 when Conan debuted, I get the distinct feeling that Jimmy's first two shows have shown more promise than Conan's first few.

One thing I've enjoyed thoroughly is Fallon's approach to connecting with viewers. He's had countless video blogs leading up to the debut where he's answered questions from fans and taken suggestions. He also utilizes popular social sites like facebook. And most important, his choice of The Roots as house band has proven brilliant so far. They are phenomenal as a backup band, and even helped with a bit on night number 1. Click on that picture above to see Jimmy Fallon and the Roots, "slow jam the news."

MacGruber!

It was nice to see Richard Dean Anderson (AKA MacGyver) helping to poke fun at himself by appearing alongside Will Forte in his SNL "MacGruber" sketches and Pepsi commercial. But I was surprised to see he had either put on a ton of weight or had some awful plastic surgery, or possibly both. I couldn't tell if I was looking MacGyver or Bruce Jenner.

Check it out for yourself here, here, or here.

Super Bowl Commercials

Here at the office the Super Bowl finally marked an end to "Jersey Fridays" where people would wear football jerseys over collars and ties even when their favorite teams had long been eliminated from playoff contention. For me it meant new commercials, all of varying hilarity and success. You can, of course, find each of those commercials on various websites, but I suggest Hulu for its quality and because I want to support them until they provide me with every SNL sketch ever produced. Check out those commercials, here. Log on and vote for your favorite, results will be posted on Tuesday.

My favorites were the Hulu commercial starring Alec Baldwin, the always funny E-Trade baby, MacGruber (Pepsuber) which I'm always a sucker for on SNL, and the GE Scarecrow.

More on this topic later today.

Super Bowl XLIII Ads