To wrap this up, I will present a list of wonderful performers that SNL had the good taste to originally hire, and the bad taste to not have a clue what to do with.
Thus, they slipped through its fingers.
In alphabetical order.
1- Joan Cusack.
A truly gifted comedienne and actress.
A one season waste of her time.
2- Robert Downey Jr.
One season. Do I really need to comment?
3- Janeane Garofalo.
One season. A major talent, completely wasted.
4- Gilbert Gottfried.
A true force of nature.
SNL completely smothered that force.
5- David Koechner.
One of the funniest people ever.
I didn't know that from SNL.
One season.
6- Michael McKean.
We all know how good he is.
You couldn't tell from SNL.
7- Laurie Metlcalf.
Didn't even know who she was for the one season she did SNL.
What she is, is one of the great actresses and comediennes.
8- Colin Quinn.
A giant talent.
Relegated to Weekend Update, and seemed totally uncomfortable doing it.
9- Chris Rock.
Groomed to be a diminutive less funny Eddie Murphy.
He went on to run rings around Eddie Murphy.
10- Sarah Silverman.
One season. Didn't even know she was there.
11- Ben Stiller.
See Sarah Silverman.
I'm done, and I think the case has been made, at least to my satisfaction.
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My books, "Show Runner" and it's sequel, "Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays", and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.
******
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
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About Me
- mark rothman
- Hi. I am, according to my Wikipedia entry,(which I did not create) a noted television writer, playwright, screenwriter, and occasional actor. You can Google me or go to the IMDB to get my credits, and you can come here to get my opinions on things, which I'll try to express eloquently. Hopefully I'll succeed. You can also e-mail me at macchus999@aol.com. Perhaps my biggest claim to fame is being responsible, for about six months in 1975, while Head Writer for the "Happy Days" TV series, for Americans saying to each other "Sit on it."
Colin Quinn beats Eddie Murphy? Janeane Garofalo beats Kristen Wiig? Who's doing these rankings, Jon Lovitz's pathological liar character?
ReplyDeleteChoosing to remain anonymous, are we? Colin Quinn beats out most people. Eddie Murphy is beaten out by most people. Same with Janeane Garofalo and Kristen Wiig.
ReplyDeleteI've tried to emphasize that this is all subjective.
I may be a slut, but I don't think I am an ignorant one.
It's a reference from the original cast era of Saturday Night Live, and the Point/Counterpoint segment when Dan Aykroyd would "debate" Jane Curtin on the news, always beginning with "Jane, you ignorant slut."
ReplyDeleteAnd you think I didn't know that?
ReplyDeleteTo the best of my recollection, Laurie Metcalf has NEVER ben a regular on "Saturday Night Live".
ReplyDeleteEVER.
Perhaps you can help me with this, by naming the season on which she appeared.
Or which characters she may have done.
Or what sketch she might have appeared in.
Then, maybe, I could figure out which other actress you have her mixed up with.
(See under: "Carmine Caridi/Vic Tayback" or "Heatter-Quigley/Hatos-Hall")
We in Chicago have always been somewhat proprietary about local talents who've gone national, such as Laurie Metcalf (as well as any number of SNL cast members past and present whom you've prsised or dissed in this series of comments).
Frankly, since I read this comment last week, it's making me a bit distracted, since Laurie Metcalf is a distinct talent, and if she had appeared on SNL in any capacity, I damn well believe I'd remember it.
Awaiting your reply (and hoping it might be more substantial than "Oh YEAH!?!?!?".)
Wikipedia says 1981.
ReplyDeleteFirst I've heard
of it.
It appears I owe you an apology and an explanation.
ReplyDeleteSince i can't get Wikipedia to work on my machine today, I went to IMDb.
Laurie Metcalf was in one segment of "Saturday Night Live" in 1981.
But this was the Lost Episode - the last show of the infamous sixth season.
Jean Doumanian had just been shown the door, and after about a month's hiatus, Dick Ebersol put together a quick patch job.
Several of JD's cast members were kept to fill spaces, and Ebersol put out feelers to Second City for fast replacements.
Laurie Metcalf was one; another was Tim Kazurinsky. The idea was that they would finish out the year (which had about two or three shows left), and then start fresh the following September.
But the Writer's Guild called a strike right after the one show aired, and there went that plan.
When the next season rolled around, Laurie Metcalf was unable to return (due to theatrical commitments in Chicago); as I read the story, Ebersol engaged Mary Gross in her place (mainly for the "news" segment, which she shared with Brian Doyle-Murray; that would have been Metcalf's job).
So anyway, I was at least partially wrong, and yield the floor to you as such.
Graceful in retreat ...
Oh, by the way, this Thursday night's "Perry Mason" repeat on MeTV is "The Case of the Cowardly Lion" from 1961; you might want to take a look at it - you'll spot the reason why almost immediately ...