SNL Returns

Saturday Night Live returns tonight with Matt Damon hosting and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band as musical guests. I expect to see battling reviews from our Blogcritics up tonight or tomorrow. A little play by play action might be nice.

Here's what they have to say about themselves:

"Saturday Night Live," NBC's Emmy Award-winning late-night comedy showcase, begins its 28th season on October 5, 2002 (11:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. ET) for another year of laughs, surprises and great performances.

Over the last twenty-seven years, "SNL" has launched the careers of many of the brightest comedy performers of a generation and as "The New York Times" noted on the occasion of the show's Emmy winning 25th Anniversary special in 1999: "In defiance of both time and show business convention, "SNL" [is] still the most pervasive influence on the art of comedy in contemporary culture." At the close of the century, "Saturday Night Live" placed seventh on Entertainment Weekly's list of the Top 100 Entertainers of the past fifty years.

Currently nominated for four Emmys, the program has won 17 Emmy Awards and has been nominated for 85 since its debut. "SNL" has been honored with the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award and cited as "truly a national institution." Most recently, "Saturday Night Live" was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame by the National Association of Broadcasters. The show continues to garner the highest ratings of any late-night television program, entertaining millions each week.

"SNL's" impressive lineup of guest hosts last season featured some of the biggest stars from all corners of pop culture including: Reese Witherspoon, Seann William Scott, Drew Barrymore, John Goodman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Billy Bob Thornton, New York Yankee Derek Jeter, Hugh Jackman, Ellen DeGeneres, Josh Hartnett, Jack Black, Britney Spears, Olympic skier Jonny Moseley, Jon Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin, The Rock, Kirsten Dunst and Winona Ryder.

Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2

Article Author: Eric Olsen

Career media professional Eric Olsen is honored to be the founder and former publisher of Blogcritics.org, and former publisher of Technorati.com, which both rule. He is now editor, co-founder, and CEO of The Morton Report.

Visit Eric Olsen's author page — Eric Olsen's Blog