GREAT SPAMS OF THE INTERNET, PART XVII

No new e-mails to share tonight, but I have to say: I clicked over to SNL awhile ago and the first skit was "The Spammies" — a televised award show for e-mail spam. Not bad, actually. Rachel Dratch being not-funny on purpose as Rita Rudner (emcee) was a wise choice, because the show isn't often funny much itself (don't get me started on Debbie Downer). But I think it worked. In one category, "CLICK HERE FOR A FREE XBOX" lost out to "MEET NEW SINGLES IN YOUR AREA TONIGHT." They went off-topic a bit with their recognition of intra-office forwards, but I suppose that often counts as spam. For that award, "HOW TO TELL IF BILL CLINTON IS YOUR GYNECOLOGIST" beat "PICTURES OF GEORGE BUSH'S FACE NEXT TO A MONKEY'S FACE."

Of course, the next couple skits were also ... based around a fictional TV show. I've said for years that SNL uses the "pretend TV show" setup much too much. It's been a standard trick since the very beginning — indeed, "Weekend Update" is that exactly. But in the past 10 years or so, I'd say it's been used far more frequently than in the previous 20, and it strikes me as evidence of laziness. It's a shortcut, proof that the writers aren't trying very hard. Nor, I'm guessing, is Lorne Michaels. ("The Needlers," the "couple that should be divorced" is one funny recurring skit that doesn't have a TV show as its premise. And what does that tell you? It tells me that no good SNL movies are coming out in the near future.)

Really, how do such talented people produce bad comedy so consistently? Perhaps in part because good television doesn't necessarily have to be good comedy. A study of the complete list of skits from the show's run could prove or disprove the assertion about the number of sketches as fake shows. (What book would I have to buy?)

And, with "Weekend Update" over, I'm going back to Fresno State leading USC by a touchdown.

UPDATE — Well ... that game went the other way fast.

FOURTH QUARTER UPDATE — Four touchdowns later, Fresno State leads by 1.

POSTGAME UPDATE — Of course the Trojans were going to win. Mark that four times they've come back from a halftime deficit. (Boi From Troy must be too drunk to be gloating publicly at this hour).

Good for USC. They're legit.

Their critical and popular success only reflects well on the Ducks having lost this year only to the Leinart-Bush dynasty. If we hadn't had the luck of playing USC this year, we might've been 11-0 and ranked AP #3 by now (maybe). Aside from that pesky fact, we went, ahem, 10-0.

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posted by WWB at 11:42 PM |