Jay Pharoah to Take Over Obama Impression from Fred Armisen on SNL

About 3 hours ago, we reported that Jason Sudeikis will be returning to SNL through the election season, which presumably was largely due to wanting to keep consistency in the presidential election impressions and not have someone else step in to play Mitt Romney after Jason Sudeikis has become so identified with the part.  And while it seems that Romney will still be played by Jason Sudeikis this season, it was just reported that despite still being on the show, Fred Armisen will NOT reprise his trademark impression of President Barack Obama, as the part will now be played by Jay Pharoah.  

While it is rare for political impressions to change cast members while the original cast member is on the show, it is not unheard of.  In fact, after Will Forte took over the impression of President George W. Bush from departed cast member Will Ferrell, Jason Sudeikis did Bush a few times while Forte was still on the show.  While it is certainly unexpected that Fred Armisen will no longer be playing Obama, it does make some sense. Many have criticized the quality of Armisen's impression, and Fred himself even admitted in a recent interview about how his Obama impression has evolved that he's "tried to do it more as [himself]"  (in other words, his Obama talks more like Fred Armisen than the real Obama). Many have also pointed out that Armisen is not actually black (he is of Venezuelan, German, and Japanese decent) so some even considered it racist that Armisen was essentially going under black face to do the impression, especially with black cast member Jay Pharoah sitting in the sidelines. 

Here's a clip of Jay Pharoah doing his Obama impression at a comedy club, before getting cast on SNL:

And in case you've forgotten, here's Fred Armisen's Obama impression:

And in other SNL political impression news, it seems that Taran Killam will have the honor of playing Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan.  This is also a bit surprising, as in my opinion Paul Ryan more closely resembles Bill Hader, but Taran certainly does do great impressions, and I suppose that if Bill Hader played Paul Ryan, then he couldn't play Shephard Smith as the VP Debate moderator, and that would just be a shame.

One thing's for sure, Lorne certainly seems to giving the younger cast members more prominent roles this season.  Should be a very interesting year!  SNL's 38th season premier is this Saturday night in just 3 days!  

Taran Killam and Cobie Smulders Get Married!

While last week we brought you the sad news that SNL alum Amy Poehler and Will Arnett had ended their  marriage, we have some much happier SNL marriage-related news today!  Current SNL cast member Taran Killam has married How I Met Your Mother star Cobie Smulders!  The couple got engaged in 2009 and have a 3 year old daughter together.  So congrats to Taran and Cobie! The new comedy couple.  Hopefully their marriage will last longer than that of Amy and Will. 

Here's a clip of Taran Killam from SNL as Jonathan Cavanaugh-san, star of J-Pop America Fun Time Now! 

And here's Cobie Smulders on How I Met Your Mother where she reveals that before moving to New York to be a journalist, she used to be a Canadian pop star.

Colbert on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon next week!

While watching last night's great episode of Late Night of Jimmy Fallon [featuring SNL's Taran Killam and Parks and Rec's Retta (Donna)] we noticed a little preview of next week's guests.  Lots of great guests are lined up for next week, including Will Ferrell, Cameron Diaz, Howard Stern, and the Beach Boys, but one name stuck out at us - STEPHEN COLBERT!  We previously documented how the two became best friends and then eternal enemies, but the two stopped appearing on each other's shows, and we were beginning to fear that their special relationship may have been forgotten.  We have speculated about a few potential showdowns, but nothing came of it.  Well, there is no longer a need to speculate.  According to TV Guide, Stephen Colbert will be a guest on Late Night next Friday, May 11 (well, technically it's on Saturday, since the show airs after midnight).  While Stephen is likely there primarily to promote his new children's book "I Am a Pole (And So Can You)" (which comes out on Tuesday!), something will surely go down when the two are together.  Don't forget to watch Friday night!  And in case you do forget, we'll be sure to post whatever happens right here!  Check out the short clip below to see the preview of next week's guests on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon:

SNL TV Show Parody: Watch What Happens Live!

A few months ago, we posted about the Featured Ladies of SNL on Andy Cohen's talk show Watch What Happens Live.  It was our first (and so far only) time really watching the show, and the show was certainly not your average talk show.  From Andy Cohen's flamboyant hosting, to his constant plugs for the Real Housewives shows that he produces, to the crazy sound effects that introduce each random little segment, WWHL is certainly very unique.  And that is why when Saturday Night Live did a Watch What Happens Live sketch last night, I thought it was hysterical.  Taran Killam did another amazing impression as host Andy Cohen, perfectly capturing all of his crazy quirks.  Nasim Pedrad and host Sofia Vergara were great as the Persian stars of the Bravo show Shahs of Sunset (although Vergara was quite underused as host, and Nasim's Persian accent was a little too similar to her Kim Kardashian impression) and Kenan also had lots of laughs as Desmond Tutu (although to be honest I have no idea who that is).  Check out the great sketch below!  Hope this one becomes recurring!

Community Set to Return!

As reported earlier this week, Community is set to return to NBC on Thursday March 15 at 8:00!  While the low rated show was temporarily shelved to make room for the return of 30 Rock, the outrage that followed it's hiatus, which resulted in petitions, campaigns, and even flash mobs, seems to have really brought a buzz back to the show.

Unfortunately, the return of Community Thursdays at 8:00, which will push 30 Rock back to 8:30, means that Parks & Recreation will go on a short hiatus until April 19, when it takes over the 9:30 spot from Up All Night, which will have ended it's first season order.

While we are sad to see Parks & Rec off the schedule for a few weeks, we are very excited for the return of Community!  The fun thing about Community is that you really have no idea what to expect with each episode. There is no set formula of the show, but rather each episode often mocks or honors a particular film or television genre, all while staying true to the characters of show and the plot of the story.  Here's a few examples of the various film types that have been spoofed on Community.

Musicals/Glee

In the last episode to air before its long winter hiatus, the show mocks the TV show Glee, by using musical performances to bring Christmas cheer to the gang.  The episode also features Saturday Night Live featured cast member Taran Killam as the hilariously psychotic Glee Club Instructor.

Anime

An intense game of foosball soon turns into an anime battle.

Horror/Vampires
For this season's Halloween episode, Community featured the study group competing to tell the scariest story, which allowed for some great horror movie spoofs, particularly of Twilight and the vampire movie craze.

Dungeons and Dragons

An entire episode revolved around the gang sitting around the table and playing the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons.

Claymation

As a parody of the classic animated Christmas specials, Community got clay-mated for last season's Christmas episode.

Paintball 

Lastly, we can't leave out Community's trademark paintball season finales.  Both the first and second seasons have had an epic paintball themed finale, and it's likely the third season will too (and hopefully it won't be the end of the show).  In a combined spoof of action movies, conspiracy movies, western movies, and Star Wars, here's a clip from Part 1 of last season's two part paintball season finale.

Community returns to NBC Thursday March 15 at 8:00pm.  We can't wait to see what crazy things they'll do next!  Six seasons and a movie!