CraigEminger

A bit off topic, but really interesting behind the scenes SNL stuff from Norm MacDonald over on his twitter. If you haven't read it there, this article has all the tweets condensed into a long paragraph. http://gawker.com/how-eddie-murphy-almost-played-bill-cosby-on-snl40-by-1686690335/+gabriellebluestone

UGHHHHH I came to the forum to beg for more inside info on the SNL 40 thing, and now I KNOW you guys got the juicy deets but can't spill them!! I like how you found the theme for the episode, nice when it works out pretty organically like that. Lastly, Chaddy you are still rocking the Jon Doe avatar... thought you were working on that! Shrink down that pic with you and Raisin and you have a winner.

Solid episode. Saw "Kingsman" over the weekend, really enjoyed it. The exploding heads thing they mention was a tad too cartoon-y for me, but the movie is somewhere between a parody and tribute to spy films, so in the end its forgivable. Its not meant to be taken too seriously, its just a fun action film, and it succeeds at that. Even has few good emotional beats to it. And Colin Firth is really great in it. Also, "93 to Infinity" is such a good fucking song, I wish he had stuck with that choice. Such a classic beat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VwfYCFYZws

I love M.A.S.H.ups!

I'm gunna make my own Zardoz, with guns and lesbians. In fact, forget the Zardoz!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-MNbupdmPo

This video has 28 views. Do you have an axe that needs grinding?

Zardoz 2: The Zardozening

Engineer Cody for MVP.

In my mind, I imagined they would show: WIZARD OF OZ With a thumb over the WI and OF (I haven't seen the film). I googled to see what it looked like in the film: Seems like the "Of" is completely omitted (or super tiny). Wonder if that was a real book cover or not.

Hey man I got pretty excited for a minute but that news is over a year old.. are we sure its still a thing?! I hope so.

Just relistened, enjoyed it more the second time around without the preconceived notions lol. Favorite part has to be when they all adopted the Asian accents on top of the slightly older age. Loved Matt cracking during that part.

Fantastic episode from start to finish. It's been too long, Leykis.

Ditto on the "bring Gelman back soon" sentiment, he was great on this episode.

Really? Every commercial I saw for the show showed the exact moment when it happens. I'm wondering if Besser was serious or not, but it definitely seems worthy of parody (and you might as well do it now before everyone else jumps on it!)

So was this an example of parody, or satire? [Was really hoping that was going to be the final reveal, that Matt was teaching Armen the difference.] Now that I've finished the episode, it all makes a lot more sense. I do still wish that it was a little harder to tell that they were in a bit the whole time, though I understand its probably difficult for the four of them to play it straight in that sense (Erudite Crudite, you're right, though I think it wasn't just Paul Rust's fault lol). The less I could see coming, the funnier it would've been. I think you could enjoy this without getting the Whiplash reference, you just have to be more patient than I was and hold off judgement until the very end. The final scene was a nice cap though. I think the episode does suffer a little (for me personally, at least) for not having scene that are more self contained (since the story arc bleeds into each scene). The one scene about watching movies with the dad was, to my recollection, the only one that a.) didn't feature Armen b.) could be removed from the context of the episode and still be as funny. I was starting to look for a pattern (based off the previous scene) where they would get to do most of a real scene, only to have Armen step in at the end and kill the scene with his bad improv. I was wrong about that, but if it had gone that route, there may have been more scenes that could be isolated from the episode. I don't fault Matt and friends for trying to shake up the formula, I get unfettered scenes every other week, so I'm not really complaining or anything. In the end it was still really funny, and thats all that matters. This was just a really good crew, so its hard not to be a little disappointed knowing that their hands were tied a bit by the narrative. Maybe they recorded a second ep without Armen, back to back? Fingers crossed. In the meantime, I'm going to have to check out the UCB Master Classes! [Edited post to say "scene" in a few places where I said "skit", because "skit" makes it sound bush league, right?]

On the plus side, right after unpausing, Matt just asked my question from Twitter! A++++ episode hahahah.

Alright I need some clarity here, because I'm only 1/3rd through the episode but I'm feeling a little disappointed (was really high on the hype train going into it, so maybe thats part of the problem too). I feel like there is no ground on this episode, and its making it harder for me to enjoy. From the very beginning, we're inside a bit where Armen is being shit on by everyone and he is bombing. But hes not REALLY bombing, everyones going out of their way to shut him down (at least this is my impression). I absolutely loved the episode of Who Charted with Matt and Armen -- that dynamic felt genuine. Sure Matt might've been harder than usual on him for laughs, but it wasn't a bit. This all feels like a planned bit, and that Armen is in on it. Am I wrong about this?? I'm going to weigh back in once I get to the end, but I really want to love this episode! It's not that its not funny, but like they're even joking about how the improv is supposed to reflect some sort of truth and entertain at the same time, and I get the feeling there's no truth to be had today. :/ Maybe its all due to this Whiplash narrative, so I just did myself a favor and looked up the plot on Wikipedia and will keep that in mind going forward. I totally confused Whiplash with that movie about wrestling (Foxcatcher). Anyways its probably not good to post my thoughts mid show, so here's hoping there's a payoff waiting for me at the end.

Ouch that is actually painful to watch, with the people yelling at them. I mean, they are fucking up pretty bad, but they are probably pretty distraught/frustrated. The Youtube comments are especially awful, its all fake neckbeards and fake feminists, trolling. So dumb.

Ritter comes across as a little shy but I think he held his own! I love Gravity Falls, one of my favorite cartoons. Howard was in rare form, as usual. Gotta love how he's not afraid to keep digging those holes!

Episode #4 and #9 have material from where they went to shows and did some live recordings hanging out before the show, on the ride to the show, and at the show itself. Its a really fun show overall, Harris manages to catch the most flak (from Phish fans) and he's the one promoting Phish, whereas Scott is the one bashing them for the most part haha. I'm pretty casual Phish fan, only been to two or three live shows, but some of my friends are pretty diehard. Feel free to skip the two "Analyze Fish" episodes, where different hosts talk about Jaws movies (sort of a spinoff / filler episodes). Really cool that you're being active on the forum, appreciate hearing back from you and giving us the chance to interact. You should get Horatio on here too, but under a troll account.

Brian Huskey with hair is really taking me out of the movie hahah. Otherwise looks interesting, great cast! I was really impressed with Horatio's ability to drive so poorly it took down a plane. Enjoyed the interview stuff at the house, it is nice to hear personal stories like that that offer a little insight into these people and their relationships. Its a shame we can't get more of the after-party, hanging out / letting loose vibe, but I totally understand the concerns about listen-ability (see: Analyze Phish when they go to the concert. You get a glimpse of a fun group of people hanging out, but you also get a lot of background noise and people having to shout to be heard on the recording because of all the other stuff going on... ultimately it was still worth listening to, but you do have to tolerate the quality issues.) But the sound quality was great for the other segments, so you guys should be pretty confident about doing more material on the road going forward. Bummed that you guys couldn't find any takers in the alley hahah. I probably would've done a double take and been a nervous wreck, but how can you say no?? Also OddBombs mom did really die that way, he just has a good sense of humor about it.

Also. the correct answer to "whos a real bad person" was -- Michael Jackson, hee hee, shamone. EDIT: Oh God Horatio is so good. "How often did you bully this girl?" "Well it started when we were in third grade and it ended when she killed herself junior year in high school." "... 'Closure.' What I say is, I'm performing closure right now, I close the door on your face, get out of here." Dying over the whole bathroom segment.

Hahah... I hope this is an original Scottism of your own design, and not something regurgitated from an old episode, because I want to pat you on the back for that one. I'm only partway through the ep, haven't got to the characs yet, but Jack has been an decent guest so far. I liked his grilling of Scott about marriage, and some of the other stuff they have talked about (meeting Reggie, recording at home, etc.). That said, I fucking hate Fun. The band, not the concept. Maybe its the lead singers fault, I just can't stand his voice. They're also played out as all hell, having been overplayed on the radio and then in like every goddamn movie trailer over the last few years. Bleachers, on the other hand, that is far easier to digest. I heard "Rollercoaster" for the first time on the radio last night and I really enjoyed that. They first single was a little too anthem-y for me ("I Want To Get Better"), but I much rather hear that still over any Fun. song. The joke amongst friends is that mentioning their band name should always be wrapped in air quotes because their music is anything but. Anyways, my negativity is based solely against that band and not his other projects or him as a person. I'm enjoying the episode so far, so hopefully I don't get shit on too hard.

Already did it. http://www.earwolf.com/episode/hands-in-the-air/