Pete Schweddy's Forgotten Return to The Delicious Dish

Last week, we enjoyed watching the SNL Christmas special on NBC, a 2 hour collection of the best holiday-themed sketches over the show's 38 year history (though it was quite heavily skewed towards the more current seasons).  Naturally, we have seen these classic sketches many times before, but it's always fun to watch them again nonetheless.  

The special included one of the greatest and most classic SNL sketches of all time- the infamous "Schweddy Balls" sketch, which featured Alec Baldwin as Pete Schweddy appearing on the NPR program "The Delicious Dish" to promote his ball-shaped holiday treats.  The sketch was ranked as the #3 greatest SNL sketch ever on the "E! 101 Most Unforgettable  SNL Moments" list and even spawned its own Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor! (Yes, I've had it.)  While the Delicious Dish sketch with Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon  has recurred 15 times throughout the show's history, it will forever be remembered for that one magical time that Alec Baldwin appeared as Pete Schweddy.

BUT, did you know that Pete Schweddy actually returned to the Delicious Dish a second time?  It's true!  After the enormous success of Schweddy Balls, Alec Baldwin reprised his character of Pete Schweddy to return to the Delicious Dish to introduce his latest culinary treat!  It's also interesting to note that this sketch aired shortly after Molly Shannon had left the show, so Rachel Dratch was introduced as as Ana Gasteryer's new co-host!  Check it out!

And in case you're one of the only people in the world who's never seen it (or you just want to watch it again), here's the classic "Schweddy Balls" sketch:

TV Star Spotlight: Alec Baldwin

Everyone knows that Alec Baldwin is amazing as Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock. He's won 3 Golden Globes and 2 Emmy's for the role. You may even know that Alec Baldwin has appeared in may films over the years, from older films like Beetlejuice and Glengarry Glen Ross to more recent films such as My Best Friend's Girl and It's Complicated. But, did you know that before 30 Rock he guest starred on many popular TV shows? Here's a few of our favorites:

Will & Grace

On Will & Grace, Alec Baldwin appeared as the character of Malcolm. Malcolm hires Will to work for his charity, but Will soon finds out that Malcolm is actually a secret government agent protecting the identity of Karen's dead husband Stanley, who is actually alive. Malcolm appeared in the last few episodes of Season 7 and the first few of Season 8. Here is a clip from the Season 8 live premier episode:

Friends

Alec Baldwin appears in two back-to-back episodes of Friends as Parker, Phoebe's overly positive and very enthusiastic boyfriend. In his first episode, he appears very briefly at the end of the episode, when he first meets Phoebe. But it is in the next episode, The One with Massapequa, where he truly shines. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find a clip from Friends on the internet (unless you want one that is either not in English or very bad quality) so this brief clip of the episode is the best I could find. I encourage you to go out and watch the whole episode, because he's really quite funny throughout the episode.

Saturday Night Live

Alec Baldwin has hosted SNL a total of 14 times, second only to Steve Martin who hosted 15 times (be sure to watch the Academy Awards next Sunday, March 7 when the two of them co-host together). It's hard to pick just one clip from all of Alec's SNL appearances, but I chose "The Tony Bennett Show" because Baldwin's Tony Bennett impression is just amazing. And in this particular clip, the real Tony Bennett pops in and the two Tony Bennetts sing together. Enjoy!