I'm catching up with some TV shows from this week and I see I'm not the only one who thought Sorkin was influenced by Steve Martin's "Not Gonna Phone It In Tonight" SNL musical number (sorry, can't find video). Indeed, Google tells me many felt it had the same feel as what he was going for at the end of the second episode. And yet no one has found/put video of the Steve Martin bit online. Come on internets.
I was ok with the whole "L.A. Symphony" angle, but he needed a better song than a "I am the Very Model of..." parody. I'm not sure what would have worked better, but then again that's why I'm not getting paid thousands of dollars per episode.
Overall, I think Sorkin will have it easy in the long run because he only has to ever show us snippets of sketches that are supposed to be funny, and it is relatively easy to come up with a good idea and have 15 seconds of funny material vs. actually writing a sketch that keeps bringing the funny.
On the other hand, the Studio60 opening number was the exact level of "eh, marginally clever" that I would expect from most SNL bits these days, so maybe he is just cranking up the realism.
In closing, here are two "I am the Very Model of..." parodies, a classic by Tom Lehrer, and a more recent bit from the Animaniacs:
Welcome, Voxfolk, to yet another edition of Friday Fun. Be the first to solve the puzzle below and a fabulous prize can be yours!
Up this week is a bit of wordplay:
Long ago in the town of Voxerton, a travelling carnival came to visit and entertain. Today for such an event, their amusements would be extensively moblogged and word of their astounding performances would be spread via the [this is good] tag. Back then, they settled for painting advertisements on the side of buildings. Some of the paint has peeled over time and the good citizens of Voxerton have trouble reading some of the words. For example, everyone is having trouble with this word:
C R C I F S C J L
What word is it?
As always, first to answer correctly in comments will win. For non Voxfolk, if you want to answer let me know and I'll send an invitation your way.
This week's prize is one of the last Godzilla hiptop promotional tshirts:
Good luck everyone!
bridge drills
Graffiti, please.
1 handful Annie's Whole Wheat Bunnies Baked Snack Crackers
1 handful chocolate-covered raisins
- Toss all ingredients into a small container.
- Pack for child's school lunch.
- Inform child they have Bunnies & Poop for lunch.
- Let call from principal go to voicemail and play it back at parties.
Show us your to-do list.
