a call to the bullpen

Mr. Samberg, You're Going To Be Detained

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sad clowns

Chris Rock Explains How 'Chippendales' Killed Chris Farley

As we learned recently, SNL's Chris Farley was far from coddled or loved during his final years by fellow cast members. And now, a new biography on Chris Farley titled The Chris Farley Show will divulge more depressing tales from friends of Farley and how exactly they went about attempting to help the struggling addict get better (hint: they didn't). From former co-stars dishing on his desperate attempts to be loved using prostitutes to anecdotes involving his habit of licking everything from his shoelaces to his wallet, one revelation made by Chris Rock stands out:

"'Chippendales' was a weird sketch. I always hated it...The joke of it is, basically, 'We can't hire you because you're fat.' There's no comic twist to it. It's just [bleep]ing mean. Chris wanted so much to be liked. As funny as that sketch was...it's one of the things that killed him."

More dismal details regarding Farley's last days after the jump. More »

snl

Kristen Wiig, MVP of SNL

If you're wondering why you're not seeing as much of popular SNL featured players like Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader and Andy Samberg these days, there's one simple reason why: Kristen Wiig. Since she made her debut on the show back in late 2005, Wiig has quickly established herself as one of the most gifted and versatile performers to ever grace the stage at Studio 8H, not to mention one of the funniest. In this short time, she's quickly become Lorne Michaels' MVP of the show, often appearing in 4-5 sketches per episode. While it's debatable as to whether or not she'll ever reach breakout superstar status of SNL alums like Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy or Mike Myers, she is, for our money, the single most talented sketch comedian the show has seen since fellow Groundlings alum Will Ferrell retired. After the jump, we feature two sketches that she knocked out of the park this weekend. The first features a spot-on impression of Jamie Lee Curtis filming a commercial for Activia yogurt; the latter, a virtuoso turn as a haggard and worn down travel writer named Judy Grimes who, for the life of her, can't stop kidding around. More »

brothers gotta tell all

The Last Days of Chris Farley

As much as we'd like to believe that Chris Farley's time on earth was a shouting, dancing laugh fest until its too-soon end, his brother Tom's new book, The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts, shatters our (admittedly quite flimsy) illusions about his life. Excerpts from the book will run in May's Playboy — finally, you can say "I bought it for the articles!" and truly mean it — but Page Six has two distressing quotes this morning from his fellow Not Ready For Prime Time Players. Particularly sad — Farley BFF David Spade recalls a time when his pal's heckling went well beyond "fat guy in a little coat:"

"I got a lot of s - - - at the end about 'Why weren't you there for him?' But being that close, I dealt with it all the time. And in that situation, before the guy's dead, he's just kind of an a - -hole. Truth is, you get a junkie who's wasted all the time and moody and angry and trying to knock you around, you say, 'OK, you go do that, and I'll be over here.' "

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dick in a box

Justin Timberlake Is Only Funny When He Puts His Dick In A Box

We have some troubling news to report: contrary to popular belief, Justin Timberlake is (spoiler alert) not funny. According to Radar Online, that masterful introductory speech JT recited at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame on Monday night was more than just a fun series of anecdotes about Madonna's B12 shots and Britney putdowns. For those on the scene, it was a painful series of awkward silences and lame attempts at humor, made even more painful by Justin's Norton-like tries at improvising some jokes of his own:

"Timberlake's attempts at humor flopped, and breaking into a falsetto sing-songy funnyvoice after botching a scripted line didn't help...When he finished, the NSYNCsman was asked by one of the producers if he 'felt good about the speech.' 'Yeah. I mean, how is everyone else's [speech]?' Timberlake replied nervously."

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short ends

Virgania Horsen's Hot Air Balloon Rides

· I can't speak for the other Defamers, but the thing that I missed most during the strike was the absence of SNL. This weekend's episode was a fine return to form (especially in the ratings department), but this faux commercial starring Kristen Wiig stood out to this observer as the evening's best moment. See ya later, suckers! [NBC]
· The proprietor of this Tumblr describes it best: "Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?" Certainly not us! But lo and behold, tis true. [Garfield Minus Garfield]
· Our amigos over at CC2K got their hands on the Iron Man script. [CC2K]
· In Contention takes a look at the Top Ten Shots of 2007 in this fantastic, two-part post. Click here for Part One and here for Part Two. [In Contention]
· Not even Paul Haggis, screenwriter of the 22nd James Bond film, has any clue what Quantum Of Solace is supposed to mean. [MTV Movies Blog]

saturday night live

Exclusive Interview: Casey Wilson, Newest 'SNL' Cast Member

This weekend's episode of Saturday Night Live will not only be its first since the WGA Strike shut down production of the show back in November, but it also marks the debut of the show's newest cast member, Casey Wilson. If that name sounds familiar, that means you're probably a regular at LA's outpost of the Upright Citizen's Brigade. Wilson has been a regular on the comedy scene for some time now, writing and directing several UCB shows, including Rode Hard and Put Away Wet and Worst Laid Plans, as well as her work with Harold teams "Sentimental Lady" and "Hey, Uncle Gary!".

Despite the notoriously hectic SNL schedule, Wilson was gracious enough to steal five minutes from her show prep yesterday for a quick phone interview with Defamer's own Molly McAleer. The two briefly chatted about how Wilson came to join the The Not Ready For Primetime Players, as well as what we can expect from tomorrow night's Tina Fey hosted episode:

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saturday night live

Lorne Michaels Ready To Bring 'SNL' Back After Lengthy Writer's Strike

Lorne Michaels is going to do something he hasn't done since 1976. No, not snort coke off of Chevy Chase's shiner. Starting with SNL's triumphant post-strike return to the air this Saturday, he's going to put on four new episodes back-to-back. But if everyone is "so happy to be back at work" according to the NY Times, why is Lorne so blue about the prospect? Being the perfectionist producer that he is, he's rife with regret about the pop culture events they didn't get a chance to cover. "We missed Mike Huckabee. We never got to do our Mitt Romney." As if that weren't bad enough, the show "still needs to find it's Obama." So what can devotees expect when the season returns? Well, after Tina Fey slam dunks her performance this week, Ellen Page will be hosting the next week. After that, the picture is a bit murkier.

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