Last night, NBC aired its 40th Anniversary celebration of Saturday Night Live. My favorite moment of the broadcast came during the “Weekend Update” segment – which, at times during the show’s 40-year run, has offered many of the series most brilliant moments.
But I’m an old-timer. I was just shy of 15 when SNL premiered in October of 1975, and I was glued to the TV every Saturday night for the next few years. Although I loved Chevy Chase’s “Weekend Update” segments, my other favorite anchors were Jane Curtin & Dan Aykroyd (“Jane you ignorant slut” still cracks me up – and could never make it on the air today), and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
So imagine my glee when the Weekend Update set went live with Jane, Tina and Amy sitting at the desk last night! And then, Jane Curtin delivered the line of the night:
Times have changed since I first sat behind this desk. For example, I used to be the only pretty blonde woman reading the fake news. Now there’s a whole network devoted to that.
Ahh, truth is stranger than fiction. And the lines between the two are ever more blurred.
So, I called on my friend, media critic and trainer Joel Silberman to join me on the show this morning to talk about that, the Brian Williams problem, the future of The Daily Show and lots more.
Joel wrote a great must-read piece about the bigger issues surrounding Brian Williams really big fish stories, “How Newscasters Have Sadly Become Bigger Than the News.” Our conversation also reminded me that I need to get Joel back on the show more often!!
In hour two, Julianna Forlano joined in, as she does each Monday morning. She, too, enjoyed the SNL40 celebration, with a few caveats. But we both agree, more cowbell!
Tomorrow, it’s a laffter double-header… GottaLaff in hour 1, John Fugelsang in the second…. See you then, radio or not!
