MDH257 Posted November 4, 2004 Report Posted November 4, 2004 The winner of a reality tv show. from E! Online "SNL" Gets Real By Kimberly Potts Live, from New York, it's...you?! Comedians who think they are ready to become a Not Ready for Prime-Time Player will have a shot at landing a spot in the Saturday Night Live cast in a new talent-search reality show NBC is developing. Network execs are mum on details of exactly how the search will work, but the contest is being developed to premiere next summer, according to the Hollywood Reporter. A show source does confirm that a June or early July debut would allow the show to choose a winner by the end of the summer and have the new castmember join SNL for its 30th season premiere in fall 2005. Competition to become a part of the SNL scene is intense, especially since being a castmember on the series can be a ticket to big-screen success. From early castmembers Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray and Chevy Chase, and '80s superstar Eddie Murphy to '90s SNL-to-the-big screen breakouts Adam Sandler and Mike Myers to recently minted movie star Will Ferrell, former SNL-ers have been among Hollywood's biggest movie comedy stars since the show's October 1975 debut. The untitled SNL talent search comes on the heels of another pair of successful talent search reality shows for NBC. Another comedy search, the Jay Mohr-hosted Last Comic Standing was a solid performer for its first two seasons, though a quickly cobbled together "all-star" version that debuted in September failed to attract the same viewer interest and NBC canceled the series a month later. And, although viewership is down this season compared to last, the Donald Trump executive search series The Apprentice continues to be a ratings-nabbing part of NBC's Thursday night lineup. The new SNL show is the first positive bit of news for the show in the aftermath of Ashlee Simpson's now infamous lip-synch meltdown on Oct. 23. And speaking of the Donald, it's rumored that the Lorne, aka SNL creator-producer-mastermind Lorne Michaels, will fill Trump's role as the one deciding who gets eliminated from the SNL castmember contest. Michaels got some practice in the role last season, during an SNL riff on The Apprentice in which he played the Trump role and "fired" soon-to-depart castmember Jimmy Fallon.
bob_barron Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 This is complete horseshit for many reasons. I'd go off on it more but I'm off to see Avril Lavigne
DerangedHermit Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 I'd go off on it more but I'm off to see Avril Lavigne
razazteca Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 Has any of these reality shows made any stars outside of the reality tv world? How is going on a scavanger hunt, doing standup in a laundry mat, karoke singing, transfered to being funny on a live skit tv show?
The Amazing Rando Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 That "Miz" guy is running around somewhere... Tim Beggy (RR2) hosts a somewhat known show on the History Channel (Guts & Bolts)... Don't know about anyone else.
razazteca Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 The Miz career is reality tv nothing but Real World reruns.
Mole Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 Or the RW/RR Challenge that is new right now.
starvenger Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 Has any of these reality shows made any stars outside of the reality tv world? The one that stands out is probably Elizabeth Hasselback, who went from Survivor to a Style Network show to The View. How is going on a scavanger hunt, doing standup in a laundry mat, karoke singing, transfered to being funny on a live skit tv show? It's not, really. But they'd have to go the route of Last Comic Standing and get what amounts to "ringers" to find a suitable person, I think.
bob_barron Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 I know hilarious people who have auditioned for SNL and not gotten on for God knows what stupid reason Lorne can come up with and now they're giving it to some winner of a fucking show? This is insulting to any SNL castmember or anyone who has ever tried to make it on the show
NoCalMike Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 Well, Kit Hoover hosts Cold Pizza on ESPN 2. I think she used to host a program on the video game channel to. I know Joe from Miami has some charity setup or something. I notice that a lot of the people that did their show and then walked away from reality tv, actually made something with their lives, opposed to the ones that keep coming back.
kkktookmybabyaway Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 And I was ready to answer the thread's question by saying "someone unfunny..."
starvenger Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 I know hilarious people who have auditioned for SNL and not gotten on for God knows what stupid reason Lorne can come up with and now they're giving it to some winner of a fucking show? This is insulting to any SNL castmember or anyone who has ever tried to make it on the show That's pretty much why they need to have ringers. People like you and I would never make it past the initial screening. But someone who's done years of standup, or has lots of improv experience, could actually do a good job with this. But let's also be honest here - some of SNL's choices have been spectacularly bad. A lot were from the Ebersol years, although Laura Keitlinger stands out as one of Lorne's misfires, and Maya Rudolph has been good for one thing - Forte's Black History Month joke. Anyways, my guess is that the end result of this will be whoever wins this will be stuck in "feature player" hell with Beth Cahill, Jerry Minor, Dean Edwards, Finesse and Keenan unless they really luck out...
bob_barron Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 But I'm thinking: They've auditioned the people who have lots of improv experience and if they didn't want them- why do they want them now? It just seems stupid
razazteca Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 Why are they doing this contest when SNL has nothing to do with the featured players. I have yet to see Rob Riggle do anything on the show. Should I be worried if Jim Norton is featured on the show as a ringer?
bob_barron Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 I never saw Last Comic Standing- what were the ringers?
starvenger Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 Quick recap: The first season finalists were mostly unknowns who were new or were openers on the comedy circuit. Vets were guys like Rich Vos and Dave Mordal. And sadly the unfunny Dat Phan was the winner with equally unfunny Ralphie "I'm fat so I can act black and racist" May as the runnerup. The second season finalists were all people who have been on the comedy circuit for a while, and some have had decent mainstream exposure. I don't think any newer comics made it past the semis. John Heffron, the winner of season 2, was actually in the pilot for LCS. Third season was basically head-to-heads, and thankfully the best four comics (Vos, Mordal, Heffron and winner Alonzo Bolden) actually made it to the finals. Anyways the upshot was that Jay Mohr figured that having wannabes bomb onstage was not the best way to go, so he got the other producers to allow seasoned comics to audition alongside the rookies. There were a lot more seasoned comics in season 2, which is why the performances were in general a lot funnier.
razazteca Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 I never saw Last Comic Standing- what were the ringers? In the early rounds there were several established stars that almost made the house. There were people who were in sitcoms like ANT who was in Happlily Ever After and people who had Comedy Central sitcom specials like Pablo Francisco. Jim Norton almost made it to the house but lost in the early rounds.
Ted the Poster Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 Why are they doing this contest when SNL has nothing to do with the featured players. I have yet to see Rob Riggle do anything on the show. Should I be worried if Jim Norton is featured on the show as a ringer? I don't think Lil' Jimmy Norton would ever lower himself to sketch comedy. Ever. Besides, he's already got a great job on the radio and an awesome stand-up career. Post 1000, bitches~!
starvenger Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 Jim Norton almost made it to the house but lost in the early rounds. Jim was actually dq'ed because he had a couple of projects/pilots that were taking place around the same time as the "house" portion of the show. And yes, his act is great, and I hope to get to see it live sometime.
Ted the Poster Posted November 5, 2004 Report Posted November 5, 2004 That's what pissed me off. Norton was a regular on a radio show syndicated to ten cities, and while he gets kicked off a guy from a TV series, Ant, gets in the house. At least Vos made it the first season.
Guest Banders Kennany Posted November 6, 2004 Report Posted November 6, 2004 Ant wasn't on a series at the time, though. He was just a bit part on Unhappily for like two seasons.
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