Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!

It was the 40th anniversary of the sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live, on February 15!  I watched the anniversary show and it disappointed me a bit because it seemed sort of like the Oscars awards show, without the awards being given out.  Awkward speeches and forgettable musical numbers were the order of the day.  What I wanted to see was my favourite characters -- like the guy who ran the lunch counter that John Belushi played, who said, "Coke, no Pepsi!  Chips! Chips! Chips!"  and all the Dan Ackroyd characters.   Another one that I loved were the Czechoslovakian brothers -- "we're two wild and crazy guys".  They did show Roseanne Roseannadanna, at least.  And the land shark!  It was sad because some of the big guns from the past have not held on to their ability to be funny -- Chevy Chase and Eddie Murphy were uncomfortable and unfunny and sort of elderly and embarrassing.  Maybe they take themselves too seriously now.  Steve Martin is still funny and that's gratifying.  He still has that energy and the ability to be ridiculous.

I have always watched the opening sequences of "Saturday Night Live" and wondered what it would be like to be young and funny and creative and living in New York and working these crazy hours on a big tv show and then going out afterwards to some funky New York deli or bar or whatever with all your funny castmates.  The opening sequences show scenes of New York inhabited by the cast members and it all looks so intensely cool and artsy.  I guess that's what they're going for and it sure works.

Forty years is a long time.  Paul McCartney and Paul Simon sang.  Two great songs, but Paul McCartney can't sing "Maybe I'm Amazed" the way he used to.  It is too high for him, now.  Paul Simon sang "Still Crazy After All These Years" -- he was great.  Miley Cyrus was great, too.  She sang another Paul Simon classic, "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and it was very bluesy and edgy.  My favourite part was Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler singing (in terrible wigs and big parkas) "That's When You Break" about how actors corpse in certain stressful or particularly funny moments.  It contained clips of lots of the cast members in funny moments.  That's what I wanted to see.

Tomorrow is our district conference.  I am going to one session called "The Adolescent Brain" which, I have heard, is excellent.  We auditioned people over the last week and today we hashed out a cast.  I hate the process of casting and of course, I wish I could give everyone the part they want, but it doesn't work that way.  We have considered people's auditions, and how dependable they are, and whether they soldiered through a small part in "Fawlty" and what part would suit them.  I hope you all remember that you can do a lot with a little and that we will have fun, no matter what.