Reality Contest for 'Saturday Night Live' Berth
 

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/va/20041104/109956126700.html

The always fierce competition among comics to land a gig on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" is set to become the basis of a reality series for the network.

Sources said NBC is working on a reality-competition series fronted by "SNL" creator/executive producer Lorne Michaels. The project would chronicle a group of comedians vying for a grand prize that is believed to be a role on the long-running sketch comedy series.

Michaels is expected to play a Donald Trump-like role, winnowing the pool of contestants until a victor is selected. Sources indicated that the project is eyed for a possible summer launch. NBC declined comment.


Michaels got his taste of getting tough on reality series contestants in a "SNL" parody skit of NBC's reality hit "The Apprentice" last season, in which he took over Trump's role and "fired" cast member Jimmy Fallon . NBC already has a track record in turning talent searches into a successful reality series with "Last Comic Standing."

Re: Reality Contest for 'Saturday Night Live' Berth
 

Yeah, NBC sure did right by LCS. -rolleyes-

Now this is a reality show I might watch. I hope Jeff Richards tries out. ;)

with as bad as snl has been latley who would even want to try out for that show?

The winner can't be any worse than half of the current cast members and writers.

:up: I think this is actually an interesting idea for a show. There are several tasks they could probably do involving improv, performance, etc. to find a decent performer. I could see this being something of a mashup of Last Comic Standing and Whose Line is It Anyway. They could also set up skits where they intentionally have things go wrong to test how the person reacts. I'll be keeping an eye out for this.

Lorne Michaels and NBC are denying this.

its not the cast i have a problem with, they try to do the best what they have. if they are giving crap. they cant make it gold. writers need to be replaced 1st

Fixed.

The current cast of SNL is excellent, for the most part. Except for the Fat Albert Nitwit and Fellatio Sanz.

Oh, don't forget Finesse Mitchell... He, and Rob Riggle anyways.

lol good one!

Yeah, Horatio Sanz is just plain awful. Out of 35 to 45 sketches on their board, I have no clue how his moronic "I can be the next Chris Farley" crap gets on air.

I do love Tina Fey on Weekend Update, and Darrell Hammond is simply a genius. I'm totally convinced NBC could do a 30-minute sitcom, or just a sketch every single week with DH as Bill Clinton.

you don't like Sanz as Rex Reed :)?

I would a DH as Bill Clinton sitcom....maybe I just think Bill Clinton is funny, because I can't get enough of Conan's Clutch Cargo Clinton either.

Other than the DH cameo each week, the show is essentially one good straight-man (Chris Parnell), and no performer who can make something funny. I know there's some love for Tina Fey, but I don't feel it. WU has not been remotely funny since Norm MacDonald.

The only time I've laughed this season was for the bin Laden tape opening. And that had nothing to do with performance, only writing.

I'm reminded of the early 80's seasons, when eventually they fired everyone but John Lovitz and resurrected the show for a nice 16 year run before the tailspin of the last 2 seasons. There's nothing sadder than a show that thinks it is still funny when it clearly is not.

whatever happened to this show?

They didnt fire everyone...they all died in the fire that a drunk Billy Martin started

I wondered the same thing. Maybe the cast / writers revolted against the idea.

To me it seemed like a solid summer show idea. The lesser cast members could be part of the show each week, giving them something to do. And cast members from the past could be special guests each week.

Making this a reality show seems like a bad idea to me. I don't need 5000 jackasses with no comedy background trying to get on the show and 20 of them living in Lorne's basement.

I think it would be pretty awesome for them to recruit for auditions in the normal way, tape them, and let us see them with a vote at the end. The top votegetter makes it on the cast for the season, in addition to anybody else they decide to hire.