Guessing the mindset leading to Donald Trump as SNL host.

Lorne Michaels, at this moment, probably thinks: What's the big deal?  I had Sarah Palin on the show.
Where were all these protesters when Trump appeared on my TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON?

Comcast/NBC/Universal definitely think: Yes, so he said some things about people illegally immigrating to the USA from Mexico.  And you could find those remarks to be racist.  But we were okay with Jorge Ramos from Univision pushing back,  Now, that's done and we've returned to embracing the ratings that Donald Trump brings.  Trump just uses the language of talk radio--like most other GOP candidates.

And, finally, CNN's Don Lemon shows a clip where Trump, in full Trump mode, tells a crowd about going to meet with Lorne and SNL staff to go over sketch ideas.

The only thing left for  people opposed to Donald Trunp hosting SNL: don't watch.

The lower the ratings, the more attention will be paid by the network and Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video.

SNL 2015 vs. NBC'S SATURDAY NIGHT in 1975.

Excerpted from a GUARDIAN article by Brian Moylan:

The most remarkable thing, however, was seeing the show in its infancy, trying to find the patterns we know today. These days, it chugs along like a train on the same track, the rhythms of the show and the style of the humor established both by tradition and by SNL’s influence over future generations of comics. Those trying out for the show today know exactly what an SNL sketch should look and sound like and they fit their act accordingly. When the show was just starting, the sketches were less topical and more absurd and surreal.

The first sketch ever featured [John] Belushi going to a tutor to learn English – except every sentence he has to repeat is something insane that has to do with wolverines. The premiere also showcased Andy Kaufman and his famous performance singing Mighty Mouse, where he stands next to a record player nervously and only lip syncs “Here I come to save the day”.

These are not things that we would see on today’s broadcast, which is much broader and focused more on well-known characters, repeatable franchises, political commentary and gags ripped from the headlines. Some things have become more refined, like the mock commercials, which are much funnier than one in the first episode about an arthritis drug with a child-proof cap.

 ...we see the DNA of the SNL we have today – possibly because it’s almost always been produced by Lorne Michaels. But it’s like a recipe a chef is still trying to master. He’s playing around with the ingredients, changing them and bringing them out in different proportions. Over time, he finds just the perfect combination and once he does, it calcifies for the rest of time, being served exactly the same way.

That’s what watching an old episode [of] Saturday Night Live is like: appreciating the perfection of the present but missing the messiness of the past. And knowing that, no matter what, everything will be a little bit sketchy.

Link to the complete article:

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/feb/15/saturday-night-live-at-40-first-episode

WHAT I THOUGHT OF FIRST HOUR OF SNL SEASON OPENER FOR 2014-15.

Alec Baldwin and the perils of losing your temper on an airplane.

As both celebrities and ordinary people have learned, a commercial airline flight (on the ground or in the air) is no place to lose your temper with flight attendants/crew members.  Retribution is swift and merciless.

Latest case in point, Alec Baldwin--who gets cluck-clucked, tut-tutted by this blogger:
http://peterrodman.blogspot.com/2011/12/dear-alec-baldwin.html

And, given the corporatization of America, I'm assuming that Alec (still a co-star of 30 ROCK) was ordered by Comcast/NBCUniversal to delete his Twitter account (used to vent anger at American Airlines after the Incident took place).

My dream about Tina Fey.

I'm looking forward to reading the upcoming Tina Fey article in THE NEW YORKER that discusses her tenure as writer/Head Writer on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (Tina and Steve Martin are soon to do a two-authors-converse gig at LA LIVE's Nokia Theatre).

It caused me to have this dream:
Tina Fey's in producer Lorne Michaels' office.

Lorne tells Tina: "Tina, SNL's now a show for kids.  You think a fourteen-year-old boy wants intelligent comedy?"

Tina, again aware of the realities of mainstream show business, sadly leaves Lorne's office.

Meanwhile in the writers' room, the Jimmy Fallon-as-Leatherman sketch (where Fallon wears a leather suit for the edification of guest host Brittany Murphy) is being pitched.