Star Wars: The Force Awakens x SNL “Matt the Radar Technician” Bootleg Figure by Scott Tolleson & 2bitHACK

Scott Tolleson and 2bitHACK have teamed up to release a new Star Wars: The Force Awakens bootleg resin figure based on one of the greatest Saturday Night Live skits of all time! In it, Kylo Ren participates in Star Wars Undercover Boss and pretends to be Matt the Radar Technician on the First Order’s Starkiller base. The Blot can’t do this skit starring Adam Driver justice, so go watch below it if you haven’t already.

To commemorate the instantly iconic SNL skit, Tolleson and 2bitHack have crafted this awesome Matt the Radar Technician 3.75” Star Wars: The Force Awakens bootleg resin figure. The full color blister card alone is just hilarious (and perfect)! This awesome figure is limited to just 30 pieces and will go on sale at 11am PST this Thursday, January 28th, at Scott Tolleson’s online store for $70.

SDCC 15 Exclusive Saturday Night Live Weekend Update with Amy Poehler & Tina Fey 3½” Action Figure Set by Bif Bang Pow!

“Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” Bif Bang Pow! has been doing some really cool things with their Saturday Night Live license the past few years, but this has got to be their coolest SNL release to date! They are teaming with Entertainment Earth to release this fantastic San Diego Comic-Con 2015 Exclusive Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Set featuring 3½” action figures of Weekend Update hosts Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. Who hasn’t always wanted action figures of Poehler and Fey? They can also unofficially double as action figures for 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation.

Weekend Update remains the signature segment of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, and is consistently television’s funniest news broadcast! Now two of Weekend Update’s most popular hosts are immortalized as 3½” action figures. Each figure features detailed likenesses of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and both SNL funny ladies are professionally dressed ready to deliver the news. This Comic-Con exclusive set includes a fold out diorama set of the iconic Weekend Update news desk! How cool is that!?!

The San Diego Comic-Con 2015 Exclusive Saturday Night Live Weekend Update with Amy Poehler and Tina Fey 3½” Action Figure Set by Bif Bang Pow! comes individually numbered and is limited to 2,400 pieces. Collectors can purchase this limited edition release exclusively at the Entertainment Earth SDCC booth #2343. For those of us unable to attend Comic-Con this year, you can pre-order a set now from Entertainment Earth for $29.99 here.

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Debuts Tonight

Everyone seems to be having mixed feelings on the new host of NBC’s Late Night, but The Blot can’t wait to see how Saturday Night Live Alum Jimmy Fallon does sitting in the seat once held by two comedy legends: David Letterman and Conan O’Brien. Fallon’s hosting duties begin with tonight’s episode of Late Night and I am sure it will be heavily scrutinized by almost everyone with internet access. It should be extremely interesting to see how Fallon handles all of this newfound pressure as he begins his hosting duties of a show which has been a staple of NBC’s late night programming since 1982.


While all eyes will be on Fallon, I am more interested in seeing what The Roots have in store for us as Late Night’s official house band. I can only imagine what Black Thought and ?uestlove have prepared for their very first night of this new long standing gig on network television.

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon debuts tonight, Monday, March 2, 2009, and then airs from here on out weeknights on NBC at 12:35/11:35c.

The Lonely Island - Incredibad

The second release The Blot has been dying to get his hands on comes from the sketch comedy troupe The Lonely Island. The Blot’s been obsessed with The Lonely Island ever since I first found out about them back in 2005. At that time a relative unknown named Andy Samberg had just joined the cast of Saturday Night Live while his comedy partners, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer, had been added to the show’s writing staff.


I wanted to find out more about these guys and stumbled upon The Lonely Island website. The rest of that afternoon Aly and I watched way too many video clips on their site like Awesometown, a failed FOX pilot, and The ‘Bu, a prime time teen drama spoof that co-starred Scrubs’ Sarah Chalke. I thought Samberg, Jorma and Akiva (also known as The Dudes) were hilarious, but their comedy style isn’t for everyone. I think if Aly never had to see another episode of The ‘Bu she’d die a happy woman.

Since joining SNL, The Dudes have exploded. Their SNL Digital Shorts have become internet sensations and they have even started to appear in movie (Hot Rod, I Love You, Man and Land of the Lost). But it’s their debut album Incredibad that has The Blot really excited. The album collects all of their extremely catchy and popular SNL Digital Short songs, including their first breakout hit “Lazy Sunday” featuring Chris Parnel, the Justin Timberlake assisted “Dick in a Box,” and their newest hit song “Jizz In My Pants.”


The Blot would probably buy a CD of just their Digital Short songs, but they’ve taken it one step further by writing all new material and collaborating with legitimate artists. You’ve gotta love when you a couple of comedians can convince Norah Jones and T-Pain to perform on a silly album like Incredibad. The double disk release includes one CD and one DVD, which features many of their SNL music videos and some all new content. I haven’t heard a lot of the new material, but I’m sure it’s going to be funny.

If you’re interested in finding out more about The Lonely Island and their new album check out this great interview Pitchfork did with the sketch comedy group a few months back. The Lonely Island’s new album Incredibad hit stores today, Tuesday, February 10, 2009.

Incredibad Track List
01. Who Said We're Wack
02. Santana DVX ft E-40
03. Jizz in My Pants
04. I'm on a Boat ft T-Pain
05. Sax Man ft Jack Black
06. Lazy Sunday ft Chris Parnell
07. Normal Guy (interlude)
08. Boombox ft Julian Casablancas
09. Shrooms (interlude)
10. Like a Boss
11. We Like Sportz
12. Dream Girl ft Norah Jones
13. Ras Trent
14. Dick in a Box ft Justin Timberlake
15. The Old Saloon (interlude)
16. Punch You in the Jeans
17. Space Olympics
18. Natalie's Rap ft Natalie Portman
19. Incredibad

Barneyism of the Week - Barney’s Theory On World Peace

So I explained to her, I said Madeleine every single international conflict essentially boils down to sexual tension.

“Every international conflict?” - Ted

Every single one, Dude.

“So the crisis in the Middle East could be solved by…” - Ted

Gaza Strip-pers, next!

“Apartheid?” - Ted

Apart-thighs, what else you got?

“The Cold War?” - Ted

Mrs. Gorbachev, take down those pants.

- Barney Stinson

"Benefits"

How I Met Your Mother

Neil Patrick Harris Hosting Saturday Night Live

I hope everyone caught NPH hosting Saturday Night Live this past weekend. I know I’m a bit biased, but it was by far the best SNL episode of the year. It was definitely one of the funniest episodes in years, and I’d even go so far as to say everything from the opening monologue to Weekend Update was actually laugh out loud funny. But the best part of the show was this week’s Digital Short, an Orchestral Ode to Doogie Howser, M.D. If you missed last night’s episode head over to Hulu.com where you can watch 10 different sketches/clips from Neil Patrick Harris’ episode and check out the aforementioned Digital Short below:



The Cast of How I Met Your Mother Cashes In

Another big announcement I wanted to make sure and mention this week was the news that the entire cast of How I Met Your Mother received salary bumps last Friday! (link) After a long renegotiation, “Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan recently inked new deals with producing studio 20th Century Fox TV that will bring their salaries up to $90,000 - $120,000 per episode.” (link) Why that’s big news is that after three and a half seasons, HIMYM seems to have finally fought its self off the renewal bubble and secured its place in the CBS Monday night comedy lineup.

It also appears like a fifth season on CBS is all but assured with HIMYM’s ratings rising consistently ever since the half-hour comedy returned from its writers strike hiatus. The sky is definitely the limit for How I Met Your Mother now that 20th Century Fox has secured lucrative off-network syndication deals for the show and added an additional year to the five actors’ original seven year contracts. Here's hoping those contracts play out and there are at least four more season of How I Met Your Mother to look forward to!

Neil Patrick Harris To Host Saturday Night Live This Weekend

The January 10th, 2009 episode of Saturday Night Live is shaping up to be the most legen…wait for it…dairy episode in the history of SNL. Why you might ask? Is it because it’s the first episode of 2009? Nope. Is it because this week’s musical guest is Taylor Swift? Not a chance. It’s going to be awesome because it’s being hosted by How I Met Your Mother’s Neil Patrick Harris!


Saturday Night Live has been on a tear this season and I’m pretty confident it’s going to be just as good this Saturday night with Harris hosting. I’m hoping, no wait, expecting a really funny Doogie Howser, M.D. parody, as well as a new musical Digital Short starring NPH. If you can’t wait til Saturday for SNL with NPH then check out this Saturday Night Live promo video feature Neil Patrick Harris and Will Forte:



Saturday Nighty Live airs Saturdays on NBC at 11:30/10:30c.

Michael Phelps To Host Season Premier of Saturday Night Live

14 time gold medal winning United States Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has been tabbed as the host of the season premiere of Saturday Night Live’s 34th season. (link) Phelps, who recently won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, is the latest in a long line of the world’s greatest athletes to host NBC’s legendary sketch comedy show. Previous athletes to have hosted SNL include Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, LeBron James, Tom Brady, Lance Armstrong and best of all, Peyton Manning.


Joining Phelps on Saturday Night Live’s season premier as the show’s musical guest will be hip-hop superstar Lil’ Wayne. (link) This will be the rapper’s first appearance on Saturday Night Live and it could not have come at a better time. This year has seen Lil’ Wayne finally achieve the type of mainstream success many hip-hop fans knew he was destined for. It is nice to see Weezy finally be recognized as one of, if not the, best hip-hop artists of his generation. His latest album, 2008’s Tha Carter III, “sold over 1 million copies in its first week of release, a feat not achieved since 2005.” (link)

Be sure to tune in to see both Phelps and Lil’ Wayne on the 2008 season premiere of Saturday Night Live on September 13, 2008 at 11:30/10:30c, and as always, only on NBC.

2008 Emmy Nominations Announced

The 2008 Primetime Emmy Awards nominations were announced this morning and the 60th edition of the premiere television awards show is shaping up to be a great one. The Blot is extremely happy to see many of The Blot Says…' favorite shows nominated for multiple awards this year including Lost making its long awaited return to the Best Drama Series category. I was also really pleased to see Best Supporting Actor/Actress nominations go to How I Met Your Mothers’ Neil Patrick Harris and Pushing Daisies’ Kristin Chenoweth in the comedy categories and Damages’ Ted Danson and Lost’s Michael Emerson in the drama category. And how can you not be excited to hear that 30 Rock led all comedies with 17 nominations. Plus, can someone tell me when was the last time someone from Saturday Night Live was nominated for an Acting award?


On the surface it appears there is some sick competition in both the Actor in a Comedy Series and Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series races, but the real story is the huge number of nominations in the Drama categories going to original programming from basic cable channels (i.e. not "pay cable channels" like HBO or Showtime). AMC’s Mad Men led all dramas with 16 nominations, while other cable dramas Damages, Breaking Bad, Saving Grace, Rescue Me, Nip/Tuck and The Closer all pulled in nominations in major acting categories.

You can watch the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards live on ABC Sunday, September 21st at 8/7c.

60th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominations
COMEDY SERIES
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
The Office
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men

ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Rainn Wilson, The Office

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
Jean Smart, Samantha Who?
Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty

GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Will Arnett, 30 Rock
Shelley Berman, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Steve Buscemi, 30 Rock
Tim Conway, 30 Rock
Rip Torn, 30 Rock

GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Polly Bergen, Desperate Housewives
Edie Falco, 30 Rock
Carrie Fisher, 30 Rock
Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives
Sarah Silverman, Monk
Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock

DRAMA SERIES
Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men

ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
James Spader, Boston Legal

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Glenn Close, Damages
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Ted Danson, Damages
Michael Emerson, Lost
Zeljko Ivanek, Damages
William Shatner, Boston Legal
John Slattery, Mad Men

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Candice Bergen, Boston Legal
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters
Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy

GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Charles Durning, Rescue Me
Robert Morse, Mad Men
Oliver Platt, Nip/Tuck
Stanley Tucci, ER
Glynn Turman, In Treatment
Robin Williams, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Ellen Burstyn, Big Love
Diahann Carroll, Grey's Anatomy
Sharon Gless, Nip/Tuck
Anjelica Huston, Medium
Cynthia Nixon, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

George Carlin Remembered

I know I should have written about the legendary comic’s passing on Monday, but there was so much media coverage on George Carlin’s death that I wasn’t sure I had anything to add. It’s weird, while I wasn’t the biggest Carlin fan, you can definitely see his influence everywhere. I can still remember as a little boy watching his stand-up comedy specials on HBO. It feels like he’s been around the landscape of pop culture forever.

There are very few comics that have had as big of an impact on our culture as Carlin, and it wasn’t just in the comedy world. While there have definitely been bigger comics, like Richard Pryor or Bob Hope, it is hard to argue with Carlin’s significance and his impact on the nation. Without his comedy shtick the “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” we would have never had the 7 words you really can’t say over the air. Who else has sparked an issue so big that it went to the Supreme Court, where the nation’s high court ruled that the government did have the power to ban broadcast material it deemed indecent. Without Carlin’s comedy who knows what we might have been watching/listening to for the past 30 years.

What I didn’t realize about Carlin was that besides being a comic genius, he was also the very first host of one of my favorite TV shows, Saturday Night Live, back in 1975. To honor the comedian’s passing, NBC and Saturday Night Live have decided to re-air the show’s premiere episode this Saturday, June 28th, at 11:30/10:30C. (link)


I’m pretty excited to watch the hopefully unedited episode to see Carlin work with the also now legendary original cast of SNL, the Not Ready For Prime-Time Players (Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin Garrett Morris, Larraine Newman and Gilda Radner). The first episode of Saturday Night Live “also features musical guests Janis Ian and Billy Preston as well as a landmark performance from comedian Andy Kaufman.” (link) If you, like me, are interested in reliving some classic Carlin, then definitely tune in Saturday night for Saturday Night Live’s inaugural episode.

Jimmy Fallon Returns To NBC As Host Of Late Night

After years of speculation, we now know who will be taking over as host of Late Night when Conan O’Brien leaves in 2009 to take over the Tonight Show. (link) The Hollywood Reporter found out earlier today that Jimmy Fallon has signed a deal to take over hosting duties for NBC’s Late Night upon O'Brien's departure. (link) Conan’s chair became available in 2004 when it was announced he would be Jay Leno’s successor as host of the Tonight Show upon Leno’s retirement in 2009.

It has been a long four years since the initial announcement of Leno’s scheduled retirement as rumors mounted that Leno was unhappy about his already planned exit and was hoping to either extend his Tonight Show run or move to a rival station. Many names have been floated around as the eventual successor to O’Brien on Late Night, with Fallon’s name repeatedly being mentioned as a front runner based upon his popular run on Saturday Night Live and his stint as co-host of SNL’s Weekend Update with Tina Fey.


While Fallon has been The Blot’s favorite Saturday Night Live cast members in recent years, I am worried that his unique style of delivery might be found a little grating when on television 5 nights a week. Hopefully his transition to behind Late Night’s desk will be a smooth one and much more successful than the comedian’s movie career which pretty much died on impact after Taxi and Fever Pitch bombed in theaters.

Jack Johnson’s Sleep Through The Static Keeps On Selling

This new album of Johnson’s really is the little album that could. Even though I talked about Jack Johnson’s new album Sleep Through The Static last February, The Blot had no idea the how big this album could be. After its ninth week on sale, Sleep Through The Static has sold over 1 million copies (1,006,270 to be exact) and show’s no signs of slowing down. (link) After spending 8 weeks ranked in the top 10 of album sales, Johnson’s fifth studio album is now ranked 13th on the Soundscan sales chart with only a 15% drop off of sales from the week before. It doesn’t look like this album is going anywhere, while Johnson’s star continues to rise within the music industry.


Speaking of Johnson, did anyone catch Saturday Night Live this past weekend? Andy Samberg reprised his impersonation of Johnson, this time as the host of “The Mellow Show.” Honestly, the skit was really, really not funny, but I thought the impersonations were pretty spot on. I always love Samberg as Johnson and Bill Hader as Dave Matthews and host Ashton Kutcher as John Mayer were pretty good. Too bad they weren’t given funnier material to work with. The best part of the skit was when Keenan Thompson showed up out of nowhere as Boyd Tinsley, violinist of the Dave Matthews Band. I also loved the reference to J.J. Casuals footwear from a previous SNL commercial. You know, J.J. Casuals are the only shoes that look like feet...for when you have to go somewhere that requires shoes, but you want to keep it casual like Jack Johnson.

Here is the original J.J. Casuals Parody Commercial:

The Last Days of Chris Farley

The Last Days of Chris Farley is a new tell all book written by the late comedian’s brother Tom Farley and Tanner Colby, which focuses on the time before the Saturday Night Live legend’s untimely death due to a drug overdose on December 18th, 1997 at the age of 33. The New York Post’s Page Six is reporting that the book should be pretty juicy and even quotes “several of the actor’s friends, who saw the tragedy coming a mile down the line.” (link) There are already some great quotes coming from the book and I’d imagine many of Chris Farley’s (Tommy Boy, Black Sheep) friends have a lot to say on the passing of such a great talent. You can read the entire Page Six report here or by clicking on the picture below:


Chris Farley was the most popular actor on Saturday Night Live at a time when it had some of the best comedic talent of the 90’s, including rising stars like Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, David Spade and Rob Schneider. The guy’s talent was endless and hopefully this book won’t tarnish the legacy of his work, but instead allow fans a glimpse of the demons Farley faced on a daily basis during his long struggle with drugs. Usually books like this tend to be a money grab by the deceased’s family, but The Blot is actually interested in reading The Last Days of Chris Farley because there just isn’t that much info out there about a great young talent taken from the stage well before his time.

Saturday Night Live Returns With Highest Ratings In Two Years

Congratulations to SNL, who debuted this past Saturday night with its best ratings since February 4th, 2006 with a 6.1 rating/15 share. (link) With former cast member Tina Fey (30 Rock)as host and Carrie Underwood as the musical guest the Saturday night staple officially announced the return of scripted television. This is a major coup for writers everywhere as the episode was actually funny! I don’t know what caused the change, but it seems like the layoff for SNL writers was a good thing. Gone were the usual cast of not funny characters and instead we had some fresh skits with actual endings. I think it also helps that Fey was the first host back because she already has instant chemistry with most of the cast. Plus, who doesn’t love great cameos by Steve Martin, Mike Huckabee and Obama Girl.


My lone hope is that SNL and Executive Producer Lorne Michaels can work out a new contract for Maya Rudolph who was notably missing from last weekend’s episode. This show needs more female comics badly! It was nice to see SNL finally took my advice and brought in a new feature player though. I know the Upright Citizens Brigade’s Casey Wilson was only brought in to fill the gap left by Maya Rudolph’s absence, but the new blood was refreshing…even if she was only given a few minor parts. SNL has been sorely missing fresh faces for the past three years. Hopefully next week’s episode featuring Juno’s Ellen Page and musical guest Wilco will continue bringing the funny.

Live From New York, It’s Saturday Night!

NBC has announced that Saturday Night Live, its live groundbreaking comedy sketch show that has been criminally un-funny the past two years, will return with all new episodes February 23rd. (link) The Blot’s been a huge fan of SNL ever since I was 9 or 10 and I still DVR the show even today, even though for the life of me I don’t know why. The show has been in a downward spiral ever since Executive Producer Lorne Michaels decided a few years ago to slim down the cast and refuses to bring on new blood to the show, something SNL has been known to do every few seasons.

The New York Times is reporting that SNL will most likely be the first show back on the air since the strike, which I am assuming is because the show airs live and requires no recording or editing. Saturday Night Live is planning to air new shows for four straight weeks starting February 23rd. This “is highly unusual for the series which rarely runs for more than three weeks without a break.” (link)

The first two hosts have already been set for SNL’s initial return to the airwaves. February 23rd will be hosted by SNL alum and the star of Emmy Award winning 30 Rock, Tina Fey. The March 1st episode of Saturday Night Live will be hosted by Academy Award nominee Ellen Page (Juno). No musical guests have been announced for either of SNL’s first two episodes.



NBC is hoping to have 6-8 new episodes to finish off the show's 33rd season. I would imagine they would want to produce as many episodes as possible to capitalize on the nation’s current political climate and this year’s Presidential primary races since SNL has always been known for their political commentary and spot-on impressions. At least now the writers should have some great things to write about (the Writers strike, Presidential Primaries) and will hopefully be rejuvenated after having the past few months off. I’m not hoping for a great turnaround here, just a few funny sketches is all I’m asking for…is that too much to ask? At least we know the first two hosts should be good. It will be especially great to see Tina Fey back on the show that made her famous. Hopefully she will appear during the show's Weekend Update segment, which she hosted while a member of the show's cast, first with Jimmy Fallon and then later with Amy Poehler.

The Blot On Strike With The WGA

This is one of the cooler news items I’ve seen about the recent Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. Both TV Squad and the New York Post are reporting that the casts of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock are each putting on separate stage versions of their shows at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York as a fundraiser for the WGA strike fund on November 17th and 19th. (SNL or 30 Rock) Since many members of both shows’ casts are both actors and writers, production on both shows has stopped for the foreseeable future.

This is probably a good thing for SNL considering how bad its writing has been lately but is horrible for 30 Rock, which was riding high off their Emmy win for best comedy. Reportedly most of the casts for the two shows will be on hand for the stage version and SNL, as is tradition, will even have a host: Michael Cera from Arrested Development and Superbad. The titles of the show are creatively Saturday Night Live – On Strike! and 30 Rock – On Strike! and tickets are a pretty cheap $20 each.

This sounds like a pretty cool, once in a lifetime experience for TV fans and I’d recommend any readers in NYC to check it out…if tickets were still available. It sounds like the SNL show is already sold out, but according to the Upright Citizens Brigade website, limited tickets to the 30 Rock show will be available the day of the show. I’m interested in seeing how they pull this off and whether or not clips of the shows make it to YouTube. If so I’ll post them on here for everyone to check out.