dagblog - Comments for "Another Reason to Love Tina Fey (Are Any More Necessary?)"

Oh, I'm not dissing the

MrSmith1 — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:23:59 +0000

Oh, I'm not dissing the original SNL cast at all. They were fantastic performers and all of them knew how to craft a joke. Most of them were veterans of Second City. either in Chicago or Toronto. SNL also had an incredible staff of young writers in those days. I was hired as an NBC page about six months before SNL started, so I worked on the show from the very beginning and I also worked there briefly as an audio assist and cable puller before moving on to another job at NBC. (I left NBC in early 1985, after being diagnosed with a chronic degenerative disease.) One of my proudest moments during that part of my life was when Dan Ackroyd offered to buy a joke that I written. Of course, it was just one joke out of a couple of pages of material that I had given him and that he had graciously agreed to read and give me feedback on, but nevertheless ... Of course, the biggest single regret of my life came about the same time, which was when John Belushi, (who had turned me on to Kurosawa movies and actor Tishiro Mifune by suggesting I go see "The Samarai Saga"). asked me to go out drinking with him one evening, but I was working tech and had a job to do, so I had to turn him down. Yeah, I know, pretty stupid. Although that was a whole lifetime ago, it still makes me wonder about what might have been ... Life is full of twists and turns, isn't it?

I would like to disagree

Where the white women at..... — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 00:34:14 +0000

In reply to I'm with you, Dreamer, I

I would like to disagree MrSmith in my opinion Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner not only how to craft a joke but they excelled at delivering the punch line. One might say that their main goal was to make you the viewer laugh, whether it was making fun of themselves or take the easy potshots, one never got the sense that they were aware of how popular they were or if they were they didn't let show during the skit unlike Tina. It's sad when someone has to toot their own horn during a interview. If she was secure or comfortable with her reputation then she would have said what she said right??

Patterson does have a lazy,

MrSmith1 — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:30:30 +0000

In reply to Well, gosh, Mr. Smith, I

Patterson does have a lazy, crossed eye, Fred Armesan merely exaggerated it ever so slightly for comedic effect.

Well, she makes me laugh,

AmericanDreamer — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:21:25 +0000

In reply to Not kidding a bit. If I were

Well, she makes me laugh, anyway. Like I said, it's all good...

Which comedians and comediennes do you like these days, stardust and others?

Well, gosh, Mr. Smith, I

we are stardust — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:57:34 +0000

In reply to " ... but once they did the

Well, gosh, Mr. Smith, I won't tell you anything about it; taste and humor are very individual. Missed the Ray Charles sketches, but if were there, he approved it.

Not advocating 'pitying' the blind, AA; but the crossed eyes were dickish, IMO, and the segment I saw didn't have him wise-cracking one bit. Lenny Bruce, one of my favorite comics, said that no subject is beyond humor; but you have to do it well.

And Paterson not as offended

artappraiser — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:36:34 +0000

In reply to " ... but once they did the

And Paterson not as offended as some might imagine:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/26/david-patersons-snl-appea_n_739...

will stick up for his visually disabled brethren but not for New Jersey.

I saw most of the parodies of Paterson, and as somone who is sensitive to this kind of thing because I have a disabled adult brother, I didn't find them offensive. Mainly because they depicted him as a real person with bad sides and good sides and also a handicap that is a problem in daily life, not as a ptiiable useless dummy. The Paterson parody character was smart and wisecracking, he'd just get slipped up from looking cool by his handicap. Pity is one of the worst things for the disabled.

" ... but once they did the

MrSmith1 — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:12:26 +0000

In reply to Not kidding a bit. If I were

" ... but once they did the poking-fun-at-blind-David-Patterson crap, I pretty much quit watching."

You mean, as opposed to the early years when then head-writer Michael O'Donoghue (Mr. Mike) did this blind joke with guest host Ray Charles:

“You know, we’ve kidded Ray a lot tonight, but blindness is nothing to kid about. So, we at “Saturday Night,” with the network, set up sort of a matching fund and we were able to purchase this lovely painting in appreciation of Ray Charles and the courageous example he sets for all of us — besides being one heck of a good sport. And, so, in Ray’s name, we’re donating this painting to the Lighthouse of the Blind, in the hope that someday all will be able to see it. Let me just, uh, pull the string here and give you to look at what I’m talking about. ["Mr. Mike" removed the covering to reveal a frame without a painting, just big red block letters that read: PLEASE DON'T TELL HIM!] (Mr Mike continued:) "It was painted in 1909 by the French Impressionist Claude Monet and it’s entitled, as you may have already guessed, “The Old Windmill.” Uh, there’s that shimmering iridescence, the, uh, subtle interplay between light and shadow that Monet was famous for. Hard to describe really, you sort of have to see it.”

So, don't tell me that SNL suddenly went tasteless. They've been doing this kind of stuff from the beginning. I was in the studio for that joke, and it was hilarious.

Not kidding a bit. If I were

we are stardust — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 21:29:20 +0000

In reply to Can't tell if you're kidding

Not kidding a bit. If I were to compare her to say, Gilda Radnor, Fey would get a 'One' or 'Two', and Radnor a 'Ten' on that sort of scale. (Pardon me for comparing her to another woman, it's just that Radnor may be my all-time favorite comic.)

Self-conscious humor is almost always bad, and she is overly self-aware, as though watching herself try to be funny. Misses almost always, including her timing, which is crucial when you are doing someone else's jokes.

If I think of natural comics, they are ones who are funny on a dime, as in able to ad lib. Can't imagine Fey as funny, and in fact, when I've seen her on Letterman, say, she bores the crap outta me, though now shes going for the Sexiest Woman on the Planet image.

I'd go with Brew on this one--the writing started being more toilet/fart jokes, retard jokes, amputee jokes, dysfunctional children disses, etc. Can't say how that reflects the comics they write for, but I've always understood the 'stars' go to the writers with pitches.

I don't watch many, if any sitcoms except a few British ones at bedtime, so I don't know about 30 Rock. First time I saw Palin, I said how much she resembled Fey, and then they were off to the races on that. She was good as Palin, but it didn't change my mind about her being funny. SNL got increasingly low-rent, IMO, but once they did the poking-fun-at-blind-David-Patterson crap, I pretty much quit watching.

I didn't watch her when she

AmericanDreamer — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:13:37 +0000

In reply to I can't tell either,

I didn't watch her when she was a regular on SNL. I enjoy her on 30 Rock, and I enjoyed her Sarah Palin sketches, and that's primarily what I think of when I think of how funny she is.

Yes, likewise, so I couldn't comment on brewman's comments.

I can't tell either,

Atheist — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:10:45 +0000

In reply to Can't tell if you're kidding

I can't tell either, especially after brew's comment below. I've found her funny, but I didn't watch her when she was a regular on SNL. I enjoy her on 30 Rock, and I enjoyed her Sarah Palin sketches, and that's primarily what I think of when I think of how funny she is.