Fall On Boy

With Conan O'Brien scheduled to take over Jay Leno's post at the tonight show next year, NBC has begun in earnest its search for the heir to Conan's desk and swivel chair. The odds on favorite at the moment is SNL alum Jimmy Fallon, who enjoyed a stint of popularity culminating in performances as host of the MTV Video Music Awards in the late '90s (see below). Since then it's been more laid back for Fallon whose music and film career quickly fizzled after signing off for the last time behind the Weekend Update desk.

Though seemingly arbitrary, NBC's decision to put Fallon on the Late Night short list actually stems from the comic's apparent proficiency in the field. During David Letterman's health related leave of absence following invasive heart surgery, Fallon assumed hosting duties and demonstrated a talk show savvy intuition and sense of timing.

NBC's consideration of Fallon as the follow-up to Conan the Contrarian didn't initially excite Late Night fans. Support has been mounting, however, since the media has floated Dane Cook and Carson Daley as other possible candidates. No word yet as to whether Fallon will bring along as his rotund and amicable sidekick fellow SNL graduate, Horatio Sanz, who with Fallon perfected the smug on-air crackup that became the duo's signature hook and probably more notorious than any of their other recurring SNL characters, such as Hampshire College students Jarret and Gobi, Nick Burns, your company computer guy, and the Leather Man. The opportunity may be hard to pass up, though, considering the already established similarities between Paul Schaffer and Sanz's impression of Sir Elton John.

Saturday Night Re-Lived

Yeah, I stayed home again on a Saturday night, but new episodes of Saturday Night Live are so rare to come by that it's almost always worth forgoing unnecessary Kamikazee shots and group circle dancing to Mark Morrison b-sides for the opportunity to catch a Digital Short before the dude at work with too much hair gel forwards it to you and begins to quote it in your ear before your browser can even load. So sit back on a Sunday and get caught up on what some annoying motherfucker's going to be stuffing your inbox with tomorrow.

1) Body Fusion - the team behind SNL's Digital Shorts prove once again their uncanny eye for visual satire for impeccably lampooning '80s fitness videos that you awkwardly had to watch your mom work out to when you faked sick during pre-school.


2) Jo-Jo the Valet - Amy Poehler proves once again she is a comic genius and deserves to usurp from Sarah Silverman the title of Girl the Geeky Guys Want to Awkwardly Fondle in Their Dorm Room.


3) The Dakota Fanning Show - unfortunately this version of the clip doesn't show the mise en scene that took us from Drew Barrymore's monologue, across the audience and right up to the sketch's set, but I'm sure Robert Altman's estate is collecting some secret royalties. Again, Amy Poehler kills it while Keenan continues to hone his craft as a peripheral cast member consistently delivering as the ubiquitous minority sidekick in celebrity talk show sketches.


4) Drew Barrymore's opening monologue - Andy Samberg once again underscores his preternatural role as a contemporary sex symbol. Video not available right now, unfortunately, probably because it contained songs that NBC couldn't license for online use. But either way, I'm pretty sure you'll see it some time this week when Hair Gel tracks it down and shoves it in your inbox.

Celebrity Dopplegangers: Jandy Charmberg

With another Sunday my Samberg complex continues to grow despite last night's mediocre Saturday Night Live with Jeremy Piven. A few strong sketches did air, however. First there was the serial sketch "Macgruber" with SNL sleeper Will Forte and second, another installment of Samberg's "Blizzard Man." Was it really that funny? Probably not, but credit is definitely warranted to the SNL wig department for successfully making Samberg look like that other hero of my heart, Sports Night's Dan Rydell, whom you may better know as Agent Barker in Muppets From Space.