VARIETY COVER: Maya Rudolph on Her Mother Era, Reviving Kamala Harris for ‘SNL’ and Why Her ‘Zero-F—s Hormones Have Kicked In’

Like so many of us, Maya Rudolph is having a “Girly Pop Summer.”

The musically minded “Loot” star, “Saturday Night Live” icon and “Big Mouth” standout says her household has been a Taylor Swift stronghold for the past few years, and now Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan are also on repeat.

“I remember the week I was hosting ‘SNL,’ and Charli’s ‘360’ came out, and I was bumping it so hard in my room to get me ready for the monologue,” Rudolph says. “It gave me all my strength, and that really propelled me into the summer.”

Call it what you want: the Summer of Maya Rudolph or the Season of Maya Rudolph. But limiting it to just right now doesn’t do justice to a career that has spanned decades, from “Bridesmaids” to Beyoncé. So let’s borrow some parlance from Swift and proclaim this latest version of Maya Rudolph her most successful era yet.

In just the past few months, Rudolph became this year’s Emmy MVP, landing four nominations over three shows (the most of any performer in 2024). She launched a production company, Banana Split Projects, and signed a first-look deal at Apple TV+. And, of course, her “SNL” take on Kamala Harris (a role for which she won an Emmy in 2020) has inextricably linked her to the Democratic presidential candidate’s surging White House campaign.

“It does feel like it’s all happening at once, which is weird,” Rudolph says. “If someone was like, ‘Hey, when you turn 52, you’re going to have a moment,’ I’d be like, ‘Sorry, what?’ I did not anticipate this. It does feel like a real convergence of all good things. Everything feels different this year, for sure.”

Read more here.

Variety Cover Story: Kenan Thompson is Ready for Primetime

For the my latest Variety cover story, this week's issue features my chat with "Saturday Night Live" star Kenan Thompson, who's finally hitting primetime with his new NBC comedy "Kenan." But he's not planning on leaving "SNL" just yet -- as he tells me, he'd like to at least make it to 20 seasons. (At 17 seasons, he already holds the record for longest-serving cast member ever.) I also talk to "SNL" executive producer Lorne Michaels, who considers Thompson his lucky charm, and isn't in a rush to see him go. (It helps that Michaels is also an EP on "Kenan.") Read the story here; an excerpt:

Kenan Thompson was working on the Warner Bros. lot one afternoon in the early 2000s when he spotted “Friends” star Matthew Perry zooming out of the studio gates in a BMW convertible.

“The sun was shining, he had his sunglasses on and he looked like he could not have been happier,” Thompson recalls. “It was like 2 o’clock in the afternoon. And he was done for the day. It just looked like the sweetest existence I’ve ever seen. That shit sticks out in my mind. Like, he was fucking beaming.”

Thompson, now 42, was no stranger to TV comedy at that point, having been a part of the late 1990s Nickelodeon ensemble sketch series “All That” and then joining with Kel Mitchell to topline the spinoff “Kenan & Kel.” But as those shows came to an end, the young Thompson’s ambitions only grew larger.

“Especially for anybody that’s been put into the comedy category, a sitcom is kind of like the Holy Grail,” he says. “It was always one of those achievements as far as like, will this ever happen?”

The answer is yes, it’s finally happening. After several attempts at developing his own half-hour network comedy, the “Saturday Night Live” star is ready for primetime. NBC’s “Kenan” is his first fully starring TV vehicle after years of being the seasoned utility player whom everyone else looked to for support — be it on “SNL” or the multitude of projects that have come out of his “SNL” colleagues.

“There’s nothing he can’t do,” says “SNL” supremo and “Kenan” executive producer Lorne Michaels. “He’s one of the greatest of all time. … Kenan may be a genius.”

“Kenan,” which debuts Feb. 16, stars Thompson as a local TV morning host in Atlanta and the widowed father of two young girls. But don’t consider this his “SNL” exit strategy — far from it.

Read the full story at Variety.

License Plate of the Day: Late 80s SNL Edition

Is someone in Chicago a big fan of the Dana Carvey/Dennis Miller/Nora Dunn/Jan Hooks era of "Saturday Night Live"? Is this Nora Dunn's car? Hmm.

THE SPIN-OFF: Interview with Rick Ludwin, the Dean of Late Night (Listen Now!)

If you're at all a student of TV -- especially the world of late night -- I hope you'll check out the latest edition of our monthly TV podcast on KCRW, The Spin-Off! In this episode, Joe and I are sit down with Rick Ludwin, who ran NBC late night from 1980 to 2012, and was there for all the big moments -- Carson, Letterman, Leno, Conan, Fallon, Meyers. With the late night world undergoing another big transition, there's a lot to talk about:

We pick his brain about Saturday Night Live, famous late night transitions and reflect on the one-year anniversary of Jimmy Fallon as the host of The Tonight Show. We also look ahead in late night, and ask who could possibly replace Jon Stewart and why there's such a severe shortage of women late night hosts. And we talk about the way late night has evolved as television viewing habits has changed. Fortunately, Ludwin thinks late night still has a long future ahead of it, even if it doesn't look the same as it does now.

Listen by clicking below!

TV GUIDE FLASHBACK: From 1976, An Early Profile of "Saturday Night Live"

Tired of all the "Saturday Night Live" nostalgia? Sorry, but I've got another interesting piece for you: The first-ever TV Guide magazine profile of the show, published in the May 29, 1976 issue. (By the way, what a weird photo -- Lorne Michaels' eyes are closed, and his face is partially cut off!) Of course, Chase would be gone by season two, but here's a snapshot of how SNL was already a force by the end of its first season.

MIKE ON KCRW: 50 Shades of Grey, SNL40, Brian Williams and More

On this Monday's edition of The Business, Kim Masters and I bantered about several topics including:

- Jon Stewart announced his departure from The Daily Show, and he’s leaving Comedy Central with some very big shoes to fill.
- NBC has suspended Brian Williams for six months. A return after that kind of break doesn’t look promising.
- Sony’s Spider-Man will be swinging over to the Marvel universe in a new partnership that’s pushing back the release dates of other superhero movies. Former Sony chairwoman Amy Pascal will be a producer on the new Spider-Man project.
- Fifty Shades of Grey will have a huge opening over Valentine’s Day Weekend. The stars of the film are signed on for two more movies, but it’s unlikely that director Sam Taylor-Johnson will stick around after fighting with author EL James, who was given an unprecedented level of control on set.

Listen by clicking below:


Or here:





On last Thursday's Hollywood Breakdown, Kim Masters and I talked all about the "Fifty Shades of Grey" phenomenon:

Fifty Shades of Grey has already broken records, and it hasn't even opened yet. The film based on EL James' book of the same title has sold the most advance tickets ever for a Valentine's Day Weekend release. James' story originally started as Twilight fan fiction, and after her books became international bestsellers, studios went into an all-out bidding war for the film rights. Universal walked away from that war the winner, and they've given James unprecedented control for an author on a movie set. James and director Sam Taylor-Johnson had frequent clashes creating the film, stemming from James getting the final say on everything from wardrobe to dialogue to the final word of the film's last scene. While stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan have signed on to be in all three Fifty Shades movies, it doesn't look like Taylor-Johnson will be back for the next one.

Listen below:





On Monday's Press Play with Madeleine Brand, NPR's Eric Deggans and I discussed the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary special and more:

"Saturday Night Live" celebrated 40 years on the air over the weekend with an elaborate and lengthy special. Wayne and Garth were just two of the characters brought back for the reunion, which featured cast members from every generation of the show. In true SNL fashion, the broadcast was hit-and-miss. We talk about the highlights and the lowlights in our weekly television news roundup.

Listen below:

MIKE ON TV: Talking "Saturday Night Live" with France's Canal+ (Dubbed in French!)

Coincidentally, my hair here looks like Ed Grimley -- one of the characters Martin Short brought to "Saturday Night Live" during his brief tenure here. But hey, here's something different: Me talking about "SNL," but dubbed in French for a Canal+ segment. (I also love that apparently "Twitter" in French is "Tweeter." See above.)

Watch it below! I come in at about 3:45.

Le Saturday Night Live fête ses 40 ans - Le Tube du 04/10

MIKE ON KCRW: Discussing "Saturday Night Live" and "Transparent" on Press Play

On Monday's edition of KCRW's Press Play with Madeleine Brand, Sarah Mesle from the Los Angeles Review of Books and I had a lively discussion about all of the "Saturday Night Live" changes, plus how Amazon's "Transparent" is a must-watch. Listen by clicking below!

MIKE ON KCRW's PRESS PLAY: Discussing the New Season and the New York Times' Offensive Shonda Rhimes Piece

On this Monday's edition of Press Play with Madeleine Brand, NPR's Linda Holmes and I discussed the fall TV season -- what to watch and what to skip. But we also tackled that controversial and offensive New York Times piece that called Shonda Rhimes an "angry black woman." Here's the logline from our segment:

This week on the small screen: a superhero show without its superhero, a virgin birth story and a bunch of college students trying to solve a murder. It’s officially the start of the fall television season, and we take a look at the must-sees and the must-avoids.

Listen below!



Also, I forgot to blog about last week's segment, which featured me and Grantland's Andy Greenwald talking about "SNL" and other stuff. A logline:

Saturday Night Live fans will see a new face behind the "Weekend Update" desk next season, and for the first time in the show’s long history, it won’t be a white face. NBC announced that comedian Michael Che will replace Cecily Strong as co-anchor of the fake newscasts. We discuss the switch, and we talk about some of the best new shows wrapping up their first Summer seasons.

Listen here:

Upfronts 2013: Kanye Rants, "Psych" Dances, Robin Williams Quips and Much, Much More

Every year the TV networks fly to New York and present their new fare wares to the nation's media buyers. It's called the upfronts, and although everyone grumbles that it's an outdated and expensive practice, there are still reasons to do it (as Joe Adalian explains here). This year the networks announced nearly 60 new shows -- and by Friday, it's hard to remember everyone and everything we've seen. But it will be hard to forget some of the other highlights of the week -- including Adult Swim's upfront party. Kanye West was the featured performer, and he definitely brought the crazy, in the form of a mid-concert tirade about... well, I'm still not sure. The media? The world? Celebrity culture? Whatever it was, it was fun. (Not so fun: Kanye's painful new track "Awesome," about you-know-who.) Kanye performed his entire show inside a mesh-covered pyramid (the Kanyeramid -- trademark pending), but briefly ran out to say hi to the crowd -- which is when I snapped this blurry pic. Meanwhile, other highlights included Passion Pit performing a few hits at the USA Network upfront; Icona Pop performing "I Love It" at the CW upfront; and attending the "Saturday Night Live" dress rehearsal featuring guest host Kristin Wiig. Some pics from my week in NYC:


Kanye performs inside his Kanyeramid (trademark pending).


Icona Pop at CW upfront.


Passion Pit at the USA upfront.


More of Passion Pit at the USA upfront.


Cousins Robbie and Stephen Amell, now stars of their own respective CW series. The CW breeding program is a success!


The pretty people of the CW.


The cast of "Psych" performs "Psych: The Musical" at the USA Network upfront.


"New Girl's" Max Greenfield cracks wise and shows off his guns on the Fox upfront stage (at the Beacon Theatre).


Rising star Rebel Wilson gives a deadpan speech on stage at the ABC upfront (at Lincoln Center).


The cast of hot ABC drama "Scandal" on stage at the network's upfronts.


"Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." on the ABC stage.


Robin Williams at the CBS upfront.


Congrats to Paul Hewitt for getting this "#dropthemic" reference all the way through and on screen at the CBS upfront (at Carnegie Hall). Sadly, Leslie Moonves is not really on Twitter.


When David Letterman walked on stage for his first upfront in several years, we all started to brace for a potential retirement announcement. He hugged Moonves and started talking fondly about CBS. "This could be it," I thought to myself. And then it wasn't. Thank goodness. That would have turned our afternoon upside down.

License Plate of the Day: Motherlover Edition

You may have seen the Saturday Night Live digital short "Motherlover" -- a sequel to the infamous "Dick in a Box" -- a few weeks ago. In the video, Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg (once again decked out as an early 1990s New Jack Swing duo) croon about knockin a few boots with each other's old ladies.

Perhaps the owner of this California license plate shares that sentiment.

(Thanks to reader Gary for sending this to us. If you spot a goofy vanity plate on the road, snap a pic and send it to us!)