Calling Ann Risley!

Since I realized that, unlike my blogs on other sites, these ones are here for all the world to see, I wanted to transmit a message that hopefully will reach its recipient someday...

Ann Risley, where are you?

I wanted to write this for a while, because in the many years I've spent researching SNL, I've come to the conclusion that if any major castmember has been horribly overlooked, it's Ann Risley.


Hired as part of the unfortunate 1980 cast, Ann's time on "Saturday Night Live" was cut short after only twelve episodes when, during the transition to Dick Ebersol's reign as executive producer, she was replaced by then-current "SCTV" cast member Robin Duke. Sadly, as all twelve of her episodes fell under NBC's lame idea to limit the rerun exposure of episodes that fell below SNL's ever-changing quality standards, Ann's work went unnoticed by most fans who didn't see the shows when they aired live. Even her lone photo in the "SNL: The First Twenty Years" book got cropped off the page... respectful network they are, huh?

The truth is, like several other cast members from that era, Ann showed a lot of potential on the show. Not only was she easily one the best looking women in SNL's history, but she showed split-second comedic timing in the very few sketches were she was given a chance to shine. A good example is "The Toni Tennille Show," from the episode hosted by Ellen Burstyn. This was probably the only sketch were Ann herself had the floor, without being weighed down by other cast members; and her performance is like clockwork. At every cue to do or say something funny, she is right on the mark. It's unfortunate that executive producer Jean Doumanian somehow failed to notice this, often wedging Ann into miscast characters or background roles.

Well, I certainly did notice, and I hope that others reading this will be inspired to track down her episodes and appreciate her work as well. Unfortunately, after SNL, she doesn't seem to have appeared on screen many more times. She currently runs an acting school in Tucson, now going under the name of Anna Risley; and apparently, she doesn't look too fondly upon her brief stint in the late night limelight. I think it's time to change that, and finally give her the credit she deserves.

So, wherever you are, Miss Risley... thank you for brightening those twelve dreary episodes with your talent. You deserved more than what you got from that show, and I hope that fan appreciation will allow you to have a better outlook on the time you spent there.

Rest in peace, "Late Night"

It's 1:58 AM, and eighteen minutes ago, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" ended its sixteen season run. As a constant staple of my 'past my bedtime' viewing for the past decade, I can honestly say that it will be missed. Yes, Conan is just moving to "The Tonight Show" in June, but it just won't be the same as seeing Conan and the Max Weinberg Seven in that tiny New York studio each night after Jay Leno.

"The Tonight Show" is the big time - the one that people who don't want to stay up *too* late watch. So what will Conan have to leave behind? He already announced that the Masturbating Bear is being retired, which isn't a loss... but I somehow feel that the charm and spontaneity of "Late Night" is not going to make the trip to Burbank. "The Tonight Show" is too classy for its host to take a random audience member on a tour of the building, and steal snacks from the cafeteria for the rest of the audience. You won't see the host, during a writer's strike, take a cameraman through a crawlspace in the studio just to see what's in there, then let the audience dare him into eating a five year old sandwich. At least, I truly don't think you will.

I believe that, despite Conan being its second host, "Late Night" died tonight. Tuning in on March 2nd to see "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" is going to be like a longtime "Saturday Night Live" viewer watching the season premiere in November 1980. It's supposedly the same show that we know and love, but the familiar faces are gone, and the new ones are paltry replacements. Mark my words; everything that made "Late Night with Conan" a classic will be giggled and mugged away by Jimmy Fallon.

So until June, I'll be waiting anxiously for Conan to return to my TV screen, with hopes that he'll transplant everything that endeared his audience to him into "The Tonight Show"; but I can also assure that from now on, my TV will no longer be tuned to NBC at 12:35 AM. Without seeing a single episode of the new "Late Night," I already know it just won't be worth it.