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Maya Rudolph

Television

The Best and Worst of Last Night’s ‘SNL’ with Kristen Wiig

By Alison Nastasi on

When Kristen Wiig left SNL last year, Mick Jagger hosted her final episode and gave the Bridesmaids star, writer, and producer an emotional send-off. Wiig was exuberant for her return last night and seemed to be having a blast with former castmates Bill Hader and Fred Armisen, holding back the laughter during several sketches. She was given a warm homecoming with open arms, several friends popped by to lend a funny, and musical guest Vampire Weekend performed “Diane Young” and “Unbelievers.” We wondered if the episode would rely on Wiig’s best-of, and for the most part it did – not unlike Zach Galifianakis’ comfortable (as comfy as things get with him), middle-of-the-road moments last week. The frustration with Wiig’s speedy return to the series is twofold. … Read More

Comedy

What Should Maya Rudolph Do Next?

By Alison Herman on

Along with Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Mindy Kaling, Maya Rudolph is part of a very welcome trend of female comedians getting lots of well-deserved attention. Still, Rudolph isn’t quite as ubiquitous in pop culture as her peers: although she was hysterical in Bridesmaids, the 2011 hit was very much Wiig’s movie, and her sitcom, NBC’s Up All Night, was on deathwatch well before the recently announced departure of Christina Applegate. With Deadline reporting a long list of networks looking to give Rudolph her own variety show, we thought we’d offer some of our own ideas for what the hilarious SNL alumna should tackle next. … Read More

Television

TV’s Most Versatile Actresses

By Michelle Rafferty on

As Season 1 of HBO’s Veep nears its all-too-soon finish (don’t worry folks, a second season is on its way), we gotta say it’s been nice to have Julia Louis-Dreyfus back on the small screen — although “back” might not be the proper word choice here. The woman has had no real gap in her resume since she became a cast member on Saturday Night Live at the tender age of 21, making her part of a talented class of television actresses with the incredible ability to reinvent themselves time and time again. In celebration of Sunday’s finale, we’ve rounded up some of our favorites from this category. We hope you’ll agree that they deserve a round of applause — and that you’ll add some of your personal favorites in the comments. … Read More

Film

Video Essay: "Encore — More Famous Faces in their Film Debuts"

By Jason Bailey on

We had no idea everyone was so interested in seeing the first film appearances of your favorite stars when we posted our video essay “And Introducing…” a month ago, but the damn thing up and went viral, so as with anything movie-related that does well, there has to be a sequel. After the jump, you’ll find 30-plus more famous faces in their first feature films, all in just about three minutes. Enjoy! … Read More

Books

10 Great Poems You Can Memorize Today

By Michelle Rafferty on

Shakespeare once wrote, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Centuries later, Dorothy Parker took the bard’s immortal words and applied them to undergarments in Vogue, writing, “Brevity is the soul of lingerie.” As these two esteemed poets once pointed out, less can be more, which is why this National Poetry Month we’ve decided to collect some of our favorite short poems. Death, love, tourism — we’ve still got all the hard-hitting themes, and, we hope, a solid repertoire for you to pull from when the need for a poem arises. And if you have your own “short but great” favorite, we hope you’ll add in the comments, because isn’t poetry more fun when you get to share it with others? … Read More

Television

The Best and Worst of Last Night’s ‘SNL’ with Maya Rudolph

By Emily Temple on

Maya Rudolph returned to Saturday Night Live last night for her first time as host and put on a fantastic, cameo-filled episode that (happily) relied heavily on her many talents. In fact, there really weren’t any skits at all that we thought were terrible, which is almost unheard of for SNL. We even didn’t completely hate last night’s iteration of “What’s Up With That?,” which may be a first for us, and a particular stretch considering it included Bill O’Reilly. The only slight downside was that the forceful presence of Rudolph left almost nothing for any of the other women on the show to do — though that’s a price we were willing to pay for such a strong, consistent show. Click through to watch the best and worst skits from last night’s Saturday Night Live, and let us know if you agree or think we’re crazy in the comments. … Read More

Television

Watch Maya Rudolph’s Delightful ‘SNL’ Promos

By Caroline Stanley on

It’s rare that we’re excited about both the host and the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, but this week’s double bill of Maya Rudolph and Sleigh Bells (whose fantastic new album is streaming here, by the way) feels like it was hand selected by Mr. Lorne Michaels just for us. Rudolph is as charming as always in these promos, especially in the moments where it feels like she and Andy Samberg are improvising things a bit. And is it just us, or do you suddenly want a T-shirt that says “Meatloaf!” too? It’s probably just us. Anyway, click through to watch the clip, and let us know in the comments if there are any Rudolph classics that you’re hoping to see her resurrect. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. The Help was the big winner at last night’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, nabbing Best Cast, Best Actress (Viola Davis), and Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer), but the biggest surprise of the evening was Jean Dujardin’s victory over George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading… Read More

Film

Trailer Park: Coming of Age and Going to War

By Jason Bailey on

Welcome to “Trailer Park,” our regular Friday feature where we collect the week’s new trailers all in one place and do a little “judging a book by its cover,” ranking them from worst to best and taking our best guess at what they may be hiding. We’ve got seven new trailers for you this week; check ‘em all out after the jump. … Read More

Television

Are NBC's 'Up All Night' and 'Free Agents' Worth Watching?

By Romy Oltuski on

NBC premiered two much-anticipated sitcoms last night, Up All Night and Free Agents. While the shows will eventually move to Wednesday nights at 8 and 8:30, respectively, you’ll have a second chance to check out both series tonight between reruns of Community and The Office. But are either of them worth making space in your nightly TV schedule? We had high hopes for both, but found that one was wonderful and the other was awful.

… Read More