In Case You Needed Another Reason to Watch Seth's New LATE NIGHT...

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 2/10/14 at 8:46pm

...then you've got it! Fred is joining Seth's LATE NIGHT show as the house bandleader. How great is that?!




Fred Armisen to Lead Seth Meyers' 'Late Night' Band

[jnb9872]

Posted: 2/10/14 at 9:27pm

I saw this and loved the potential for awesomeness here. Also, in a side-benefit way, this is the best publicity PORTLANDIA could ever get for free so double-win!

[SNAFU]

Posted: 2/10/14 at 9:41pm

Lorne knows exactly what he is doing! He is a force to be reckoned with!

[jasonf]

Posted: 2/11/14 at 5:21pm

I know I've said it elsewhere, but I despise Fred Armisen. He was on SNL forever and in all that time he had only a small handful of skits that actually made me laugh. Most of his stuff was terribly unfunny (Garth and Kat, anyone? - ugh). I've avoided Portlandia and I dread the day he comes back to host SNL. At least this gig might prevent that from happening any time soon.

I get that some people might like him (in the way some like Kristen Wiig) - I just have a different sense of humor, I guess, but I don't find him funny at all.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 2/11/14 at 6:31pm

Although Elisabeth Moss has always been a standout as proto-feminist heroine Peggy Olsen on Mad Men, we didn't get to see much of Moss's real-life personality until her notoriously messy split with Saturday Night Live (now Portlandia) funnyman Fred Armisen. After their marriage of only 8 months, the two divorced amongst rumors that he had been having an affair with his younger SNL co-star Abby Elliot, who he continued to date once he and Moss were officially broken up.

Refreshingly, Moss didn't indulge in the Hollywood fakery of "amicable" breakups and the "we're still friends" rigamarole we're used to. When asked shortly after their divorce about Armisen, she replied: “He’s so great at doing impersonations, but the greatest impersonation he does is that of a normal person.” (A+ response, in my book.)

Elisabeth Moss Talks Lessons Learned From Fred Armisen Divorce, Is Awesome

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/11/14 at 6:59pm

How bad must it be when a Scientologist accuses somebody of impersonating a normal person?

[strummergirl]

Posted: 2/11/14 at 7:12pm

Moss has been raised a Scientologist since a kid but seems at odds with the church involved in anti-gay causes. Check out Armisen's interview on Stern where he somewhat goes into the break-up. He seems like the typical savant-like music nerds I knew. Seems nice enough but he was never my favorite on SNL (really generous to bring him up as a sort of specific taste like Wiig, not even in the same stratosphere for me). Portlandia's good but that is mostly because unlike his other network TV appearances and SNL, he is not resorting to being some ethnic stereotype. I did like his Joy Behar though.

Disclosure: A friend of mine worked with Moss on a film she did in New York and says she one of the most ego-free people he has met.



Updated On: 2/12/14 at 07:12 PM

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 2/11/14 at 10:02pm

Different strokes, I guess. I think Fred fit a very specific niche within the makeup of the SNL cast and did so exceedingly well. I'm a fan and especially enjoy his quirky sense of humor on Portlandia.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 2/11/14 at 10:15pm

If anything, PORTLANDIA feels like an unleashing of Fred's actual, niche sense of humor that SNL never really figured out. He was a game utility player on SNL but rarely deserved more of the spotlight. Plus, without the SNL spotlight, he seems to have branched back out to his musical background which I've really enjoyed more than anything he did on SNL, too.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/11/14 at 10:22pm

Yeah, I'm sticking up for Fred too. I couldn't give a hoot about his personal life--though the gossip is kinda fun--I just always enjoyed his slightly off-center kookiness. I'd agree that "Garth & Kat" the duet duo wore a bit thin, but I loved his Joy Behar (funnier than the real thing by leagues), his Prince, his gay NJ couple with Bill Hader, his Larry King, his Nicholas Fehn, the Weekend Update guest incapable of finishing a single thought. And, while Portlandia quickly becomes a bit too NPR/organic-vegan- knitted-tea-cozy-and-knowing-it for my taste, I'll sit through a full ep just to see those hilarious lesbian bookshop owners sketches.

Also? Seth Meyers? Damn. So would.