News + Notes

EW Presents...

Pop Culture News

SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALL RIGHT...

FOR FIGHTIN' NEW COMEDY CHALLENGERS

More

By A.J. Jacobs

Unless you've been hanging out on Planet Remulak, you probably noticed that last season was not berry, berry good to Saturday Night Live. The stars flamed out, the skits were lame, the ratings dipped, and the critics showed no mercy. Well, the other networks noticed too, and come this fall, blood-smelling programmers will be giving SNL some rare comedic competition:

Getting a head start at 11 p.m., Fox offers MAD TV, a one-hour sketch show (premiering Oct. 14) inspired by Alfred E. Neuman's pimply magazine. Look for ''Gump Fiction,'' ''Republican Gladiators,'' and a cartoon version of ''Spy vs. Spy.'' ''For the pilot, I think we had 19 pieces packed into an hour,'' says executive producer Fax Bahr. ''On SNL, you probably get half of that.'' Yes, but maybe MAD TV should concentrate on quality instead of quantity. The pilot's opener sets the juvenile tone with a wince-inducing bathroom scene. Reportedly, though, Rose anne is developing a sketch show that might get the time slot if MAD TV fails.

More promising is Night Stand, a syndicated hour-long show that debuts this week and will overlap with SNL in most of its markets. A savvy satire of trashy Geraldo-style talk shows, Night Stand stars comedian Tim Stack as slimy host Dick Dietrick, who plans to explore such faux topics as a black man in the KKK, a gossip columnist to dead stars, and celebrities who stalk their fans. ''My biggest complaint about [SNL] is that they have gotten completely away from their character- generated pieces,'' says Stack. ''I think that's what we're bringing in.''

Rumors notwithstanding, one program that will not be challenging SNL, at least not this year, is the anarchic sketch show The State, which appeared on MTV. In stead, CBS is planning to air two or three State spe cials in prime time, and, if all goes well, may launch it as a Saturday-night series in 1997.

But don't say ''buh-bye'' to SNL just yet. The once-groundbreaking show, which starts Sept. 30, is getting a face-lift of Michael Jacksonian proportions. Executive producer Lorne Michaels promises a new set, new writers, a new band leader, and five new play ers. Aside from Norm McDonald, David Spade, and Mark McKinney, the biggest names have moved on. El len Cleghorne, for one, will star in her own sitcom, Cleghorne!, on the WB network. (''You'll get to see me every week for more than a minute,'' she deadpans.) Michaels has collected a smaller cast made up mostly of unknown comics from the classic comedy groups the Ground lings and Second City.

Expect a shift in content, as well. There will be a snarky new monologue from SNL wise guy Spade at 12:30, lots of political humor, more commercial parodies, and possibly a few Albert Brooks-style short films.

''There's an enormous amount at risk,'' Michaels says. ''If it doesn't work, well, we were on for 20 seasons, and there's a lot I'm proud of. If it does, it'll prove this institution can revitalize itself.'' Indeed, SNL has almost been in the grave before. Do the names Gary Kroeger, Robin Duke, and Gail Matthius ring a bell? Didn't think so.