Ashley Harrell

I got lucky last night.  No, that in that way.  Brooke and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the dress rehearsal of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update Thursday (longest title ever).  Just arriving at NBC was magical, fueled by the romanticism of Tina Fey’s 30 Rock and my quick glimpse of Jack McBrayer traipsing through the plaza.  No, he was not wearing a page uniform – because he is an actor, not a page.  My first task was, however, to find an NBC page and ask for “Brandon’s Line” – apparently the specific page who would be rounding up the crowd into an organized line.  Pages at NBC are very nice.  I was informed that I was [extremely] early, and should go get a coffee and come back in 3o minutes.  I had been messaging with Bobby Moynihan on facebook to let him know that I was coming to the special, so I sent him another message from my phone to let him know I was excited for the show, break a leg, etc.  Being at NBC Studios puts me under a love-spell of sorts… almost like when you say something you probably should not after eating a bite of an Bleu de Bocage paired with coconut white chocolate fudge.  Yes, this actually happened to me – I yelled out “I LOVE YOU!” to the fromager at Casellula.  Anyhow, I finally met up with Brooke at Dean & Deluca, pounded a second cup of coffee, and headed back over to 30 Rockefeller Plaza.  After a long wait in an uncomfortably warm hallway, we headed up to the ninth floor and into the studio.  Because of the way they file in audience members, we actually ended up in shitty seats in the back corner… so much for arriving early.  I immediately started looking around at everything and imagining what it would be like to hear the band play for the first time at your debut appearance on SNL.  Like I said, NBC Studios just does something to me.  I turned around and noticed some offices behind us, one with the curtains slightly parted.  (I later found out this is the writer’s room.)  I thought to myself, “Hmmm I wonder whose office that is?” when I suddenly caught a glimpse of bright red suspenders.  This fashionisto turned around and…..  Bill. Murray.  I started slapping Brooke so she would turn around to see him, when he looked up and noticed me – in a fit of what must have looked like a seizure.  I quickly gained composure, smiled and waved at him.  He bent forward and stuck out his tongue at me.  What more could you ask from Bill Murray?  Bill Murray Bill Murray Bill Murray.  Have you seen “Coffee and Cigarettes” yet?  I blogged about it a few months back – watch the short with Bill Murray and the Wu Tang Clan.  And by the way, the picture at right is from when he anchored “Weekend Update” on SNL.  Oh Bill Murray.  So we move on to the show… the band got everyone in the mood, then Jason Sudeikis got everyone ready to start.  The show started off a rehearsal of some things that will be in the Presidential Bash 2008 (the Monday before elections) – it included a monologue by Hillary Clinton (as played by Amy), a short glimpse back into a sketch from last year with Hillary Clinton (with Amy interrupting and commented on what she said), and a monologue from John Edwards (Will Forte).  We then got into the actually dress rehearsal, and viewed the opening sketch (hopefully you caught it last night!) – it was a parody of this week’s Town Hall Debate, and it was FANTASTIC!  This is where Bill Murray steps in, he had a short, although brilliant, contribution.  The following segment of the show was an extended Weekend Update “Thursday” with Amy and Seth.  Keenan’s Financial Advisor character had me laughing so hard I almost peed my pants… “FIX.  IT.”  I should probably mention that you can see some of this here.  The show was a lot of fun, although short, and we headed out into the hallway.  Bobby had said we should wait there, so we stood around and chatted with an NBC employee that I recognized from UCB.  While waiting for Bobby, we saw Kristen Wiig and chatted with her briefly.  Bobby came out and we congratulated him on his success in the season so far, then shouted out a quick hello to Will Forte in passing.  Finally, we headed out of the building and back into the drudge of real life.  Got back home and watched the primetime special – so funny.