Amy Poehler | The New York Observer

The Week in DVR: Remember When Michael Keaton Was a Movie Star? Plus, Albert Brooks, Slumdog, and Bored to Death

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:27:23 -0400

Monday: Bored to Death

Since Sunday nights are so crowded, you’ve probably let Bored to Death slip through the cracks. Good thing then for DVR and Monday night rebroadcasts! The HBO comedy, about a Brooklyn novelist-turned-private eye isn’t necessarily the funniest new show of the fall—that would be Community [Editor's note: Modern Family!]—but it’s certainly one of the most likeable. Blessed with a brilliant cast (Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, and Zack...

Jimmy the Geek

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:54:20 -0400

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon is by far the nerdiest late night show on network television. Our Twittering, video-blogging host has welcomed tech bloggers and Diggnation dudes as headlining guests; he's showcased the latest gadgets—from XBox 360's wireless controller to the Palm Pre—on his show and we (mostly) love him for it. With the help of Fallon's co-producer, G4-TV Attack of the Show! vet Gavin Purcell, Late Night is courting that hyper-connected millenial audience—and...

Single Person's Movie: Baby Mama

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:48:53 -0400

It's 2 a.m. and you awake with a jerk, alone in your fully lit apartment and still on the couch. On TV, the credits of some movie you've already seen a billion times are scrolling by. It feels like rock bottom. And we know, because we're just like you: single.

Need a movie to keep you company until you literally can't keep your eyes open? Join us tonight when we pass out to Baby...

The Year 'Nice' Makes a Comeback

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:18:43 -0400

We’ve been called “nice” by enough members of the opposite sex to know that it isn't necessarily a compliment. However, slowly but surely, it appears that the adjective is making a comeback (and for our social life, not a moment too soon). While the news this year has been dominated by increasingly bleak stories—economic strife, debates about torture, and now, the possible pandemic of swine flu (party like it’s 1918!)—the entertainment industry has taken...

Parks and Recreation: Like The Office but... Well, Just Like The Office

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:56:08 -0400

After NBC spent months telling us that Parks and Recreation was in no way a spin-off of The Office, despite coming from “the people who bring you The Office”, co-starring former Office star Rashida Jones, and being shot in a faux-documentary style with no laugh track, the series premiered last night, and, you know what? It totally is a spin-off! Oh, sure, the two shows aren’t technically “related,” but, based on the pilot episode,...

The Office Starts Off 2009 with a Whimper

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:57:51 -0500

As the Television Critic Association winter press tour rolled on yesterday, NBC made a slew of announcements regarding The Office. Some of it, like the news that B.J. Novak (aka Ryan) will return in the spring following his filming of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, were mundane. Other stuff, like the decision by NBC to pickup the series for another season, was obvious. But then there was this distressing piece of information: while the new...

Amy Poehler, Post-SNL, Just Glad to be Meeting Debbie Harry

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:43:41 -0500

In the new film The Mystery of Claywoman, about a 500-million-year-old woman/prophet everyone seems to be looking for, Amy Poehler appears in a series of sketches for the film with Debbie Harry as her French lesbian lover who writes a book about Claywoman. The film, which was written and performed by Michael Cavadias and directed by Rob Roth, screened Sunday evening at the Wild Project in the East Village to a crowd that included...

Governor Paterson (Rightfully) Hates Saturday Night Live

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:39:08 -0500

We guess after the year that Saturday Night Live had, it couldn't just go quietly into 2009 without some form of controversy. During this past weekend's final episode of the year, hosted gamely by Hugh Laurie and featuring a disastrous performance by Kanye West, one of the skits took dead aim at New York Governor David Paterson, and the governor is not happy. As the New York Post so sensitively put it: "Paterson in...

Rashida Jones Signs on For Confusing Office Non Spin-Off

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:06:38 -0500

We've had a number of problems with the path The Office has taken over the course of the past two seasons. Nearly everything, from making Michael into a clownish cartoon character to the totally stillborn love triangle between Dwight, Angela and Andy (a story arc that just stinks of time filler), has felt wide of the mark that was hit so routinely during the halcyon days of seasons two and three. However if you...

Amy Poehler Premieres Smart Girls Show

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:54:32 -0500

Amy Poehler debuted her Web show, Smart Girls at the Party on On Networks today.

The first episode features "The Writer - Cameron," a young New Yorker who likes to write about "paranormal kind of stuff," as she told Ms. Poehler in the video. "Wow, mysteries and ghost stories. Scary stuff," Ms. Poehler replied.

The former SNL star plays Charlie Rose (with a dash of James Lipton) during the interview, which takes place at...

Two New Saturday Night Live Ladies Look Pretty Funny!

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:57:56 -0500

Amy Poehler was such a titanic presence on Saturday Night Live that it's going to take two women to replace her. Starting with the broadcast this weekend, hosted by Paul Rudd, Michaela Watkins and Abby Elliot will be joining the cast in featuring roles. Both women have sketch comedy experience, having previously worked in Los Angeles--Ms. Watkins with The Groundlings, Ms. Elliot at the UCB Theater. And if their names ring a bell, that...

Boss Jim Downey

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:55:18 -0400

Q: For years now, shows like Meet the Press have been broadcasting clips of an SNL sketch, a spoof of political reality, to have a conversation with their audience about the actual political reality. How are you getting to the core ingredients of what’s going on in a way that people like Tom Brokaw can’t seem to articulate?

A: I think they’d like...

Emmy Picks, Day One: Supporting Actress

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:37:19 -0400

We're less than a week away from the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, which airs Sunday night on ABC. And in preparation for this joyous event, we thought we'd give you a jump on your office pool. Here's our Emmy preview!

First up: the Supporting Actresses.

Supporting Actress, Comedy: Kristen Chenowith, Pushing Daisies; Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live; Jean Smart, Samantha Who?; Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men;...

SNL Nabs High Ratings with Politics, Phelps

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:35:28 -0400

Here's a question that we found ourselves asking during the laborious season premiere of Saturday Night Live: after an entire summer off, this is the best they can come up with?

With the exception of the hilarious cold open, a press conference with Hillary Clinton (Amy Poehler, with clenched jaw perfection) and Sarah Palin (Tina Fey, predictably hilarious), the season premiere felt like a dress rehearsal. There wasn't one skit that followed...

Amy Peohler Not Actually in Office Spin-off

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:17:36 -0400

Lots of entertainment blogs (including us) and respected news sources have been buzzing about Amy Poehler being cast in an Office spin-off. Looks like we goofed. Amy Poehler is ditching SNL to star in a new NBC comedy that will air alongside The Office, and will be produced by Greg Daniels, the creator of America's version of The Office. But, it's not actually the Office spin-off that NBC has been gabbing about since their...

Amy Poehler Joins Office Spin Off

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:44:59 -0400

Variety is reporting that Amy Poehler is in "final negotiations" to join the new Office spin-off show. Ms. Poehler will leave a glaring hole in the SNL line-up, but, after seven years, it's just about time for her to move on.

The mag reports:

"Saturday Night Live" star Amy Poehler is in final negotiations to join the cast of the new post-"Office" laffer from Greg Daniels and Mike Schur.

Series, despite initially being called an "Office"...

Morning Memo: Denver To Be So Hot

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:28:12 -0400

Attendees expected to attend the Democratic Convention in Denver include Kanye West, Wyclef Jean, N.E.R.D., Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johansson, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Ed Norton Jr. [WashingtonPost]

Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon are fighting to keep St. Vincent's hospital from expanding onto West 12th Street, three blocks from their home. [P6]

Brooke Shields says she got very emotionally involved with the Project Runway contestants when she filmed her upcoming guest judge...

Morning Memo: Top Shelf for Christopher Hitchens; Poehler to Be Real-Life Baby Mama

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:18:13 -0400

Christopher Hitchens has some drinking advice for you: order by brand. [P6]

Miley Cyrus fanatics crashed Vanity Fair's Web site trying to view pics of the fifteen year-old wrapped in a satin sheet. Bill O'Reilly blames her father. [NY Daily News, US Weekly]

Gay Talese's memoir of his 50-year marriage to Nan will be the "War and Peace of relationships." [NY Daily News]

Amy Poehler is pregnant! And not as a surrogate like she is...

Amazon Tina Fey Towers Over Tipplers at Baby Mama After-Party

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:01:39 -0400

We caught up with Tina Fey last night at the Museum of Modern Art. The room was littered with teddy bears and letter-blocks in honor of the just-ended premiere of the movie Baby Mama in which she stars. How'd it go, Tina?

“It was a disaster! People ran out!” she exclaimed. “Just kidding! It went great.” Zing!

Her biggest-cheese boss, NBC Universal president Jeff Zucker was riding pretty high, hanging out with his high-school buddy John...

Tina Fey's Gushy Inner Core Explodes All Over Ziegfeld Theater

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:47:09 -0400

Baby Mama opened the 7th annual Tribeca Film Festival last night at the Ziegfeld Theater, and the temple of Hollywood in New York was packed full of celebrities tramping a red carpet that snaked down 54th Street almost to Sixth Avenue.

It was a comedy-loving crowd, judging from the laughs that started even before the film did, during the pre-movie Tribeca Film Festival promo short about a man as a film junkie (it’s actually funnier...

Morning Memo: Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson Make it Legal; Suri Cruise's $100,000 Birthday

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:08:11 -0400

Lou Reed secretly married his long-time girlfriend Laurie Anderson in Colorado on April 12 and then celebrated back here in New York with friends like Julian and Olatz Schnabel and Richard Belzer of Law & Order. [P6]

Barbara Streisand might be bailing out of participating in the celebration of Israel's 60th birthday because in addition to Nicolas Sarkozy, Carla Bruni, Steven Spielberg, Rupert Murdoch and Natalie Portman, George W. Bush will also be attending. [P6]...

Today at the Tribeca Film Festival: Baby Mama at the Ziegfeld

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:10:42 -0400

The Tribeca Film Festival kicks off its seventh year tonight at the Zeigfeld Theater with the big sparkly premiere of Baby Mama. The movie is about a single and successful businesswoman (Tina Fey) who hires a working-class woman (Amy Poehler) to be her surrogate. Can you believe we’ve gotten this far along in life without a wacky surrogate movie? Ms. Fey and Ms. Poehler will be hitting the red carpet on 54th street,...

Morning Memo: Harrison Ford's Piercing Cry; Eli Manning's Mexican Wedding

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:33:02 -0400

If Hillary Clinton doesn't make it this week, SNL's Amy Poehler will begin doing Ralph Nader impersonations instead. She's already been practicing, you see. This sounds funny, like the movie Baby Mama! [NY Daily News]

Harrison Ford pierced his ear after a "semi-drunken" lunch with Ed Bradley and Jimmy Buffett. Oh, Harrison, it could have happened to anyone. [P6]

Shia LeBeouf tried and tried, but couldn't score a date at The Beatrice Inn. [P6]

Ashley...

Clinton on S.N.L.: Do I Really Laugh Like That?

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:04:06 -0500

In case you missed it, here's Hillary Clinton's appearance on Saturday Night Live, complimenting Amy Poehler's impression and asking for her earrings...

The Facebook Holdouts

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:50:37 -0500

It seems that most urban sophisticates these days, from politicians and celebrities to coworkers, have a profile on Facebook, the social networking Web site. The C.I.A., I.R.S., Time Inc., even MySpace, Facebook’s ostensible competition, have job networks there. To the site’s enthusiasts—and there are many; the site has 60 million users so far, with 200 million projected by the end of the year—there is no reason not to partake.

But not all of us...

Chevy Chase Remembers Smooching Leonard Bernstein

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:35:33 -0500

Chevy Chase says he was asked to have a recurring role on Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update,” but that was before the W.G.A. strike. Recalling his recent debut appearance on the sketch show’s mock-news segment, for which he was apparently paid scale, the Caddyshack actor said he was disappointed by the poor writing. He also blames his poor performance on a standing ovation from the audience. “I didn’t want to...

Comedian Couple Move Up in Morton Square for $5.27 M.

Tue, 08 May 2007 20:44:48 -0400

Fresh from their splendorous turns as ice-skaters Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg in Blades of Glory, the funniest couple in Manhattan has made a multimillion-dollar condo upgrade.

Last month, Saturday Night Live star Amy Poehler and Arrested Development alum Will Arnett sold their fifth-floor condo at 1 Morton Square for $2.2 million. Weeks earlier, they had bought a condo higher up in the building—where the Olsen dames are neighbors—for $5,275,000.

Interplanetary Prom

Sun, 27 Feb 2005 19:00:00 -0500

"I am a social debutante, and I'm here looking for a lady caller," said Kenan Thompson of Saturday Night Live, literally on tiptoes as he peered into a crowd of pretty girls. He was cornered next to the bar with some of his co-stars at the Winter Dance, a schmoozy nighttime benefit for the American Museum of Natural History on Feb. 17.

This year's theme was "Celestial Bodies," but it really wasn't any more cosmic...

Paris & Nicky Meet Goldman & Kropotkin

Sun, 03 Feb 2002 19:00:00 -0500

Andrew Kozinn, the owner of Saint Laurie, the men's tailor and clothier at 51st and Park Avenue, sounded worried. "I'm a child of the 60's, and I did my fair share of protesting, and I don't think I deserve to be a target," Mr. Kozinn said the other day. "This time I don't have the patience."

What Mr. Kozinn was referring to, of course, was the upcoming World Economic Forum at the nearby Waldorf-Astoria Hotel...