I am – Hercules!!


The last installment of “Saturday Night Live,” hosted by Hugh Laurie, aired live Dec. 13, just hours before Iraqi broadcast journalist Muntader al-Zaidi winged his wingtips at George W. Bush.

As footwear-utilizing political discourse goes, the incident may eclipse even Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschchev’s 1960 protest of Philippine delegate Lorenzo Sumulong’s rhetoric at the United Nations. But has too much time passed for SNL to weigh in on the flinging?

Tonight’s episode is the first since 2001 to air without Amy Poehler in the opening credits.

Press release:

NBC'S "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" RETURNS WITH THREE LIVE SHOWS IN JANUARY KICKING OFF WITH NEIL PATRICK HARRIS AND MUSICAL GUEST TAYLOR SWIFT ON JANUARY 10.

Three Live Broadcasts Set for January 10th, 17th, 31st

New York, NY – January 5, 2009 – Coming off a highly heated political season and showing no signs of slowing momentum, NBC's "Saturday Night Live" returns in 2009 with three live shows in January.

On January 10, Neil Patrick Harris hosts. The multi-talented Harris can currently be seen on the hit comedy "How I Met Your Mother", which recently garnered him a 2009 Golden Globe nomination and two consecutive Emmy award nominations. Named one of the "2008 Entertainers of the Year" by Entertainment Weekly, Harris gained notice on the small screen as the much-adored title character in "Doogie Howser, M.D.," a role which also garnered him a Golden Globe nomination. A stage veteran, Harris has starred in three Broadway productions, including the Tony Award-winning musical "Assassins," the Pulitzer Prize-winning production of "Proof" opposite Anne Heche and "Cabaret" at Studio 54. Rounding out his accomplishments on stage and television, Harris also has renowned success on the silver screen and in the world of voice-overs. Harris' feature film debut was starring opposite Whoopi Goldberg in "Clara's Heart." He also appeared in the hit comedy "Undercover Brother, "The Next Best Thing" opposite Madonna and Rupert Evert, among others. Harris also recently starred as the aspiring super villain and lovelorn title character of Joss Whedon's web-based musical miniseries sensation, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." He will soon be heard along with Will Arnett in the D3 Productions video game, "Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard."

Joining Harris and making her "SNL" debut is musical star Taylor Swift, the bestselling artist of 2008 in all popular music formats. Taylor currently has singles climbing both the country and pop radio charts. She will perform from her sophomore album "Fearless," which has held firm at #1 on Billboard's Country Albums sales chart each week since its November 11th release. Her album is currently in its 3rd week at #1 atop Billboard's all-genre Top 200 Albums chart, in addition to topping the country chart. Also, she currently holds Billboard's record (in all genres of music) for most Top 10 debuts in a calendar year. Taylor concluded 2008 as Billboard's Top Country Artist and also claimed the #1 spot on the Hot Country Songwriters tally. Taylor leads the Top Country Album Artists recap and is #1 on the Top Country Artists Female list. "Fearless" marked the biggest selling debut week for a female artist in any genre in 2008. It was the year's 4th biggest debut over all and was the best selling debut for a country title in over a year. Taylor was named 2008's Favorite Female Country Artist at the American Music Awards. She also garnered the Top New Female Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music and won 2008 CMT Music Awards for Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year. Swift has appeared on the covers of both Rolling Stone and Blender.

What about next Saturday? Look! Newer press release:

"SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" WELCOMES ROSARIO DAWSON AND MUSICAL GUEST FLEET FOXES ON JANUARY 17.

New York, NY - January 9, 2009 - "Saturday Night Live" launches into 2009 with its second show of the month, featuring one of today's hottest film actresses, Rosario Dawson, along with musical guest Fleet Foxes, making their "SNL" debuts on NBC January 17 at 11:30 p.m. ET.

Dawson has garnered praise for her numerous roles as an actress, making her one of Hollywood's most sought after leading ladies. Dawson can currently be seen in the drama "Seven Pounds", in which she stars with Will Smith. Her moving performance in the film has gained her acclaim and praise from critics and fans alike, including a recent nomination for a NAACP Image Award. Dawson gained recognition in 2005 when she received a Satellite Award for her performance as 'Mimi Marquez' in the film "Rent". She was honored again in 2007 at the esteemed ShoWest where she received the award for "Supporting Actress of the Year." Dawson was recently awarded the "Half-Life" Award at the 2008 Cine Vegas International Film Festival alongside Don Cheadle, Viggo Mortensen and Sam Rockwell. Making her film debut in the highly acclaimed and controversial hit "Kids," Dawson has appeared in numerous feature films, including Quentin Tarantino's horror project "Grindhouse"; the acclaimed Spike Lee film, "The 25th Hour", opposite Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Barry Pepper; "Men In Black 2" alongside Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and Spike Lee's "He Got Game" opposite Denzel Washington. Dawson also made a huge impact in the 2005 Robert Rodriguez/ Frank Miller film noir drama "Sin City" starring with Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro, Clive Owen, and Brittany Murphy. "Sin City" opened number one at the box office and was in dramatic competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

Joining Dawson is the five-piece Seattle based Indie rock band Fleet Foxes, whose self-titled debut album ranked first on Billboard's (Critics' Choice) top albums of 2008. Billboard described it as a "shockingly gorgeous debut ... unlocked a subconscious desire in us for more vocal harmonies." The album also landed among the top five in Spin's year end rankings and finished 11th on Rolling Stones annual list. Spin declared that "on this haunting debut, Seattle's Fleet Foxes distinguish themselves from the vintage-vinyl crowd by infusing their rootsy retro-pop moves with a sense of mystery that no one's really summoned since Oh, Inverted World changed Natalie Portman's life. Like the Shins' James Mercer, frontman Robin Pecknold is more mood man than storyteller. But his eye for detail can devastate." Internationally, Fleet Foxes have beaten off competition from the likes of Radiohead and Elbow to be awarded the first-ever "UNCUT MUSIC AWARD". The band's eponymous debut album was unanimously hailed by a panel of industry judges as the most inspiring and richly rewarding album of the last 12 months. In early 2008, Fleet Foxes released the five-song EP, "Sun Giant" and followed in June with their critically acclaimed, self-titled debut full-length album.

11:30 p.m. Saturday. NBC.

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