SNL Addresses Estrogen Deficit

Three new members join comedy show's cast

(NEWSER) - The election may be over, but SNL still has 14 episodes to fill. Lorne Michaels says the show will be in one of its periodic "rebuilding" periods, but he has much praise for three new faces. Here's the lowdown, from USA Today:

• Abby Elliott: The daughter of former cast member Chris Elliott is only 21, but Michaels says "her sense of humor was clearly there."

But doggone it, people like him

(NEWSER) - Al Franken the comedian is finally becoming Al Franken the senator, and his Senate colleagues were quick to demonstrate yesterday that, doggone it, they like him, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post. The only humor at a welcoming press conference was (apparently) unintentional, as Majority Leader Harry Reid intoned, “When people find out he's a smart guy who's serious about issues and a hard worker, they'll be pleasantly surprised.” As for Franken, Milbanks says, "His brief speech was so boring it was laughable." More»

(NEWSER) - Wallowing in a muddy fourth place among major networks, NBC is betting on Amy Poehler to clean up its ratings with Parks and Recreation, Will Leitch writes in New York magazine. A mockumentary style sitcom “from the people who bring you The Office”—as NBC ads are trumpeting—the show also tanked in test screenings that found it "slow" and "predictable." But, producers say, the show captures the national zeitgeist. debuting this week, More»

A funny thing happened on the way to the election—politics and comedy swapped roles

(NEWSER) - Politics and comedy are trading places, Lee Siegel writes in the Wall Street Journal, as the antics of politicians get more outlandish and comics are increasingly the people speaking truth to power. Fake newsmen like Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert, with their stern commentary, lean more towards the "dark, piercing and wise" humor of Mark Twain than simple belly laughs, Seigel writes. More»

Clinton joins the resurgence

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" confirms not just that the show is back from the writers' strike, writes Matt Roush in TV Guide, but back "smack dab in the center of today’s political dialogue." The sight of Clinton and identically dressed alter ego Amy Poehler onstage was "an image no one will soon forget." More»