Paul Simon
'SNL' Musical Guests: Best 'Saturday Night Live' Performance Videos

Since its debut in 1975, 'Saturday Night Live' has been synonymous with bringing pop music to the late-night, weekend masses. Now in its 35th season on NBC, 'SNL' has indeed become the holy grail for musicians.
Over the years, many memorable performances have graced the 'SNL' stage. In this list, we select the 7 best. Some were energetic, some were raw and emotive, some were quirky and fun.
But mostly, they were all daring for broadcast television at the time.
Swingtown: Double Exposure
(S01E03) Consider this episode of Swingtown a case of being betwixt and between. The Millers have been in their new home all of two weeks and so much has happened to shake their foundation; Susan especially seems like the song "caught in the middle with you." Does she want to be the good wife going to church and being satisfied with the way they were, her and Bruce, back in the old neighborhood? Or is she ready to embrace swinging? She's at first drawn back to Janet and Roger and the old ways. Because she's still perturbed by the business card she found in Bruce's pants from the Playboy Club, the one from Sylvia suggesting a get together, Susan drags her family to Sunday services for a little God-time. Impulsively, when chatting with Janet, Susan announces that she's having a housewarming and wants Janet's help. It's like she's clinging to a simpler past.
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Some documentaries to check out in June
How are you? That's good. I just wanted to take a moment from your usual reading of sitcom/drama/reality stuff and tell you about some specials and documentaries popping up this month that looked rather interesting to me. I hope you think so, too. Here's what I found:
If you like music, PBS has two specials coming up you might like: Great Performances: We Love Ella! A Tribute to the First Lady of Song, and Paul Simon: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The Ella special, which features contemporary artists performing songs by iconic jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. The Paul Simon tribute will air on June 27, also at 9:00 p.m. Simon is the first songwriter to receive the prize, and will be honored during a ceremony featuring several singers, songwriters, and other people of note, including his former collaborator, Art Garfunkel.
The Five: Funny music videos not featuring Weird Al - VIDEO
I caught the video for Paul Simon's "Call Me Al" on VH1 Classic the other night, the one in which Chevy Chase lip syncs to the song, and it got me thinking about other funny music videos. I thought it would be a great idea for one of these "The Five" lists we bloggers love so much, and as I was racking my brain I realized I could just simply list five Weird Al Yankovic videos.
But no, Adam loves a challenge, so Weird Al is off limits. After the jump, check out the five videos I came up with, along with a little help from my pal Wild Bill. Throw down some of your own suggestions in the comments.
Let's rock:
Eddie Vedder kicks off season two of Iconoclasts
The Sundance Channel will launch season two of Iconoclasts on the 26th with the help of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and surfing legend Laird Hamilton. According to Executive Producer Robert Redford, "Iconoclasts explores the intersection where two great talents meet - and where creativity comes alive." That's a pretty way to say they point a camera at a pair of people we wouldn't normally get to see together and watch what happens. It can go either way, but when it works, it makes for a very interesting show. The rest of the slate for season two has some other intriguing pairings, including Mikhail Baryshnikov & Alice Waters, Quentin Tarentino & Fiona Apple, Isabella Rosselini & Dean Kamen, Paul Simon & Lorne Michaels, and Dave Chapelle & Maya Angelou. I'm really looking forward to the Tarentino & Apple episode. Two interesting careers, and they both have just enough of the crazy in them that it could be fantastic television. The website has bios for everyone and promises video is "coming soon."
Saturday Night Live: Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Paul Simon
(S31E19) This is one of those shows that no matter what I write in the following paragraphs, people are going to disagree with me. I really do think that as this season has progressed, it's gotten stronger. Early episodes in this season weren't as good and as readers have pointed out, I was far more critical of those earlier episodes. Well, there's a reason for that. I think they've steadily gotten better, save for the crappy sketch here and there and or the few horrible episodes we did get this season (Dane Cook was a huge disappointment). Last night's episode with Elaine... er, I mean Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a perfect example of what I'm trying to say here. This was a solid episode with a few huge errors, the biggest in my opinion being a "Weekend Update" that ran in at just over 14 minutes. That's way too long.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus to host SNL next week
Most people don't think of Julia Louis-Dreyfus as an SNL alumnus; sure, it's been mentioned here and there, and she did participate in the various show retrospectives that aired last year. But, unlike Will Ferrel, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, and any number of big names that came from the show, when you hear JLD's name, the first thing you think of is Seinfeld, not SNL.
That might be because Julia wasn't used all that much during her time on the show, which was from 1982 to 1985. That was especially true in the classic "Short - Crystal - Guest - Shearer" season of 1984-1985, as the star power of that year overwhelmed whatever semi-known cast member was left over from previous years. Pre-Seinfeld, JLD was probably on the SNL fame meter somewhere around the Melanie Hutsell level.
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