Announced via screen shot on Saturday night’s episode of Saturday Night Live, Lindsey Lohan will be returning to the show on March 3. This will be the actress’s fourth time appearing as host, the last time being in 2006.

Lohan, who is completing community service for an attempt to shoplift, tweeted yesterday “SNL! I love @NBC !!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Lohan publicist Steven Honig said “Lindsay is very much looking forward to hosting SNL and working with the incredible cast, crew and writers to put on a memorable show.”

Lohan has referred to SNL’s executive producer, Lorne Michaels, as her mentor.

The musical artist who will be appearing with Lohan is Jack White.

Jason Segel hosted this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live“, with a little help from his recent co-stars, the Muppets.

Segel began the show with a song sung with the puppets, expressing his disbelief about his appearance there. As the night continued, he appeared in a series of sketches, including one mock-advertising a mattress that would allow a user to masturbate without waking a sleeping companion, and another discussing the replacement for Regis Philbin on “Live.”

For “Saturday Night Live” fans who have always wanted a taste of the famous Schweddy Balls, you’re in luck! Ben & Jerry’s announced yesterday that it has launched its newest limited edition flavor, Schweddy Balls, which is Fair Trade vanilla ice cream with a hint of rum, fudge-covered rum balls and milk chocolate malt balls. Mmm, balls!

Available nationwide, the ice cream honors the classic SNL skit starring Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon, who play hosts of the National Public Radio-type show entitled “Delicious Dish,” and their guest Pete Schweddy, played by Alec Baldwin, owner of Season’s Eatings Bakery.

“For a long time, I thought that ‘Here Lies Pete Schweddy’ would end up on my tombstone,” Alec Baldwin said in a press release. “Now, thanks to Ben & Jerry’s, the goodness of the Schweddy family recipe won’t go with me to the great beyond. It is immortalized here, right now, and it’s an ice cream. Ben & Jerry’s and Schweddy. Two great names in American dessert, together at last.”

Former SNL cast member Ana Gasteyer said of the news, “The Schweddy Balls sketch was a personal favorite from my SNL run, so I am pleased as holiday punch that Ben and Jerry’s has taken it upon themselves to share the Schweddy Family recipe with the world. As a person and a performer, I am a sucker for holiday balls. And I have no doubt this ice cream will cause many to scream, ‘Good times.’”

So grab a pint of glistening, creamy Schweddy Balls and watch the premier of SNL’s 37th season on Sept. 24 at 11:30 p.m. We bet your mouth is already watering at the thought of those balls!

Miley Cyrus is going to host “Saturday Night Live” for the first time on March 5. The star has been dealing with so much stuff, including her up-coming films “So Undercover” and “LOL” as well as the bong/salvia-smoking incident.

She will appear at the Grammys as a presenter this Sunday as well.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and met actor Jesse Eisenberg, who portrayed him in “The Social Network.”
Also, Andy Samberg, who got dressed like Zuckerberg, came onstage wearing hoodie and a curly-haired wig.

Nicki Minaj also appeared the show as the musical guest that night. She appeared in the “SNL” digital short with Andy Samberg’s Lonely Island group, “Do The Creep,” and performed “Right Through Me” and “Moment 4 Life.”

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On this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live,” which was hosted by Robert De Niro, the opening skit made fun of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange by comparing him to Harvey Levin, the editor of TMZ.com.

The WikiLeaks founder was attacked by President Obama after his online group released thousands of State Department secret documents.

Loud whispering. Knowing Santa. Incorrect ideas about nutrition. These things have made Buddy the Elf a beloved holiday character since comedian Will Ferrell created him in the 2003 movie “Elf.”

Buddy is on Broadway this season in “Elf the Musical” playing at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre with Sebastian Arcelus in the title role. And in the likely event that Buddy the Elf will fans get their way, Buddy — again played by Will Ferrell — will host the 2010 Saturday Night Live Christmas Special.

Betty White ended up as host of Saturday Night Live last year after a Facebook campaign to put her there reached almost half a million members. Now Buddy’s fans have a politely-named Facebook page, “Dear SNL, Please Let Buddy the Elf Host the 2010 SNL Christmas Special.” It has over 135,000 members.

Ferrell was an SNL cast member from 1995 to 2002. But unlike some other characters that SNL alum have portrayed in movies, Buddy the Elf didn’t premier on that show, nor was the “Elf” film made by SNL Studios. This means there might be some copyright agreements to be worked out between New Line Cinema, MSNBC, and their respective corporate octopi. There are no other obvious reasons why Will Ferrell, Lorne Michaels, and every else involved with SNL wouldn’t go for it.

Will Ferrell, as himself, hosted SNL in 2005 and 2009. But Buddy the Elf won’t be the first fictional character to host an SNL episode (if the Christmas Special, a clip show, is considered an episode). That honor probably goes to Pee Wee Herman, played by Paul Reuben, who hosted in 1985.

Image media credit/Christopher Crosby

Kanye West performed “Power” and “Runaway” on NBC “Saturday Night Live” this week. What did you think of his performance? People have been tweeting about that and their opinions are very mixed. Some people have said that West totally killed it and others have said they hated his performance. There would be no right/wrong answer. What would YOU think?

West kicked off the 2-set-performance with “Power” with the 24 backup dancers under a white veil. He wore his signature silk red suit and something like a gold crown around his head. He changed the lyrics a bit. Originally he sang, “Fuck ‘SNL’ and the whole cast, Tell ‘em Yeezy said they can kiss my whole ass.”

But it seemed like West ran into SNL executive producer, Lorne Michaels, at some point before the show and tweeted, “25 Minutes to dress rehearsal … Just saw Lorne Michaels … uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum …. Akwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard LOL!”

And, he sang like this on the show, “The brown hero, live from Ground Zero/Machine gun flow, made her get a Ross Perot,” and he continued, “And this is disestablishmentarianism / With my night goggles on, got military vision And it’s still a very Christian way to think about livin’/ When you prayin’ for freedom ’cause your mind been in prison/’Cause they tryin’ to control every single big decision.”

And then, he performed “Runaway” with Pusha T.

Since the last year’s Video Music Awards incident, he sometimes tweeted something which kind of insulted himself, so when he mentions a “toast for the douchebags” while perfoming “Runaway,” honestly, it is very interesting to assume what he is suggesting. What’s your reaction?

I feel like Justin Bieber scored some points yesterday. I wasn’t exactly sure if he was being put on Saturday Night Life to help himself or to help the show expand its audience to include every girl under age 20 in America.

The 16-year-old singer took the stage and took over some skits. He sand "Baby" and "U Smile.” He sounded good except for the rap part that’s usually done by Ludacris in the radio/studio versions of “Baby.” The choreography was a little overdone, but, hey, he’s a one-boy boy-band.

Tina Fey was her usual self, looking very at home on Saturday Night Live and delivering her comedic timing and some Weekend Update and even a Sarah Palin skit just for good measure.

So what do you say, Justin Bieber fans? Was his SNL performance dreamy? Does it makes you love him more and more? Leave some comments.

It took nearly half a million fans on Facebook and countless more clamoring and begging for it happen, but it WILL happen.

Golden Girl Betty White will appear on “Saturday Night Live.”

The legendary 88-year-old actress confirmed after the Academy Awards at Elton John’s Oscar party that she will appear on the NBC sketch comedy show, but she did not say when.

White’s name surged after her Snickers ad during the Super Bowl:

Betty White has been entertaining for more than seven decades.

He’s a star in the making. Saturday Night Live’s fastest rising featured player since Will Ferrell. I wish I could have called this four years ago. If I had, I would’ve looked like a goddamn Nostradamus. Instead, I’m just one of the many people hopping on the Andy Samberg bandwagon.

A few years back, Tom Hanks was hosting SNL. I hadn’t watched the show in years, mainly since Ferrell and a host of others left, and the sole reason I turned it on was because of Hanks. After all, Hanks is my favorite actor and I miss him in nothing.

Anyway, there was one skit that stood out to me. It sounds stupid, but I remember it making me laugh harder than anything else. It was a song called "Testicles" and it featured Hanks and some other dude, dressed as gay German pop singers called Ariel and Efram.

The bit was kind of stupid, but the way Hanks and the other dude got into it was what made it work. The other dude was of course Andy Samberg.

Here’s the thing about SNL: it’s a show that has to be carried by one or two stalwarts in order for it to be successful. Think back on its history. Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell. These are the people who’ve carried the torch.

In its bad years, it’s been carried by no one. The show needs a leader. What’s the reason it has fallen off in the past few years? The lack of a true stalwart. (The only memorable ratings stretch over the past five years was the Tina Fey as Sarah Palin show — more of a lucky coincidence for creator Lorne Michaels).

Actresses like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are great. Jimmy Fallon is a funny dude. Horatio Sanz — eh I could go without him. None of them could carry a show ala Ferrell. Until Samberg arrived in 2005, the show really didn’t have anyone in that realm. They didn’t have the go-to guy.

Samberg is that guy. If Michaels and company were smart, they’d make him the star. They’d continue to showcase him in the always funny Lonely Island skits. They’d also continue to let him flex his muscles as a great impressionist (his Mark Wahlberg is dead on). They’d give him meaningful characters like Myers’ Wayne Campbell or Linda Richman.

In an SNL skit from two weeks ago, I watched Samberg perform as "Shy Ronnie" alongside Rihanna. Typically, Samberg’s musical performances are met with high energy. This one was met with dead silence. After all, the guy’s name is Shy Ronnie. It worked beautifully. Even in silence, Samberg brought it.

It’s been said that Phil Hartman was the glue that held the late 1980s, early 1990s cast together. Undoubtedly without Hartman, names like Adam Sandler and Chris Farley would likely have as much meaning to us today as Gary Kroeger. Not that those guys weren’t talented. Obviously they were. However, with thriving SNL behind them (thanks to Hartman and also Mike Myers), they were able to showcase their talents to a wide audience and eventually leverage that into a movie career.

Hell, freaking Rob Schneider launched a successful movie career and I know he’s not talented.

If Lorne Michaels is smart, he’ll give Samberg a chance to carry the show (alongside the immensely talented Bill Hader) and the magic might just happen again.

Wow. Talk about a bad first day on the job. Last night on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, new cast member Jenny Slate dropped the f-bomb during a skit where she was playing a biker chick.

“You know what? You freakin’ just threw an ashtray full of butts at my head,” said Slate. Totally acceptable live-TV statement. Then she crossed the line. “You know what? You stood up for yourself, and I f—– love you for that.”

Slate immediately realized her mistake, bulging her eyes and puffing out her cheeks. Fellow cast member Kristen Wiig, however, didn’t miss a beat.

“You’re in my heart, babe,” said Wiig. “You’re in my heart.”

Watch the video below.

Another big weekend of television-watching is coming up.

Tonight CBS premieres “Ghost Whisperer” at 8, “Medium” at 9 and “Numb3rs” at 10. “Smallville” starts its new season at 8 p.m. on The CW.

FOX has the series premiere of “Brothers” at 8 p.m. and the much-anticipated season 2 premiere of Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse” at 9.

“Law and order” is still around, with another season starting up at 8 p.m. tonight on NBC.

On Saturday, NBC premiere’s “Saturday Night Live” at 11:30, and CBS has “48 Hours Mystery” at 10 p.m.

And then it really gets out of hand on Sunday, with premieres including:

• ABC: “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” at 7p.m., “Desperate Housewives” at 9, and “Brothers & Sisters at 10.”
• CBS: “60 Minutes” at 7, “The Amazing Race” at 8 and “Cold Case” at 10.
• FOX: “The Simpsons” at 8, “The Cleveland Show at 8:30, “Family Guy” at 9 and “American Dad” at 9:30.
• Showtime: “Dexter” at 9 and “Californication” at 10.

Tina Fey won an Emmy Award on Saturday as the best guest actress in a comedy for her hilarious impersonations of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”

Is Tina Fey an Emmy winner? You betcha. Fey received an Emmy Award on Saturday for her impersonation of Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live.”

Accepting the award, Fey thanked producer Lorne Michaels and her parents, “lifelong Republicans, for their patience.”

Fey’s award was the “Creative Arts” for technical and other achievements portion of the Primetime Emmys. Fey is also up for best actress in a comedy for “30 Rock” during next Sunday’s Emmy Awards Ceremony.

According to the Associated Press, Justin Timberlake won best guest actor in a comedy series, also for “SNL.” Michael J. Fox won the guest actor award in a drama for his appearance on “Rescue Me,” and Ellen Burstyn won the drama guest award for “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

The two-hour “pre Emmy” ceremony was hosted by Kathy Griffin. The AP reported a shorter version of the ceremony airs Friday on E! at 1 p.m.

You can’t think about Chris Farley and not have an opinion of him. I got the assignment to review “The Chris Farley Show” by his brother Tom and Tanner Colby, author of “Wired” a story of John Belushi’s own meteoric rise and fall, and thought, “Jesus. Chris Farley? Beverly Hills Ninja? Really?”

Yes, really.

The story of Farley, as he’s affectionately called by his friends in narratives compiled almost a decade after the “Saturday Night Live” star’s death by cocaine overdose, is on the one hand a group of friends remembering a person frequently described as a force of nature, and something of a book of regrets: looking back on their friend’s all-consuming drug problems, alcoholism and inexorable self-destruction, the closest friends and colleagues of Chris Farley are sorry they didn’t do anything to save their friend.

You’ve heard it before, the story of The Great Artist brought down by drugs; Edie Sedgwick comes to mind; Jimi Hendrix; and of course, John Belushi.

And so the book takes two directions, and is pulled between them constantly. Was Chris Farley a comic genius, a force of charisma unlike anything his friends “" teammates at Second City and “Saturday Night Live” “" had ever seen? Or was he, as his brother describes him, a deeply religious kid, ashamed of his weight and scared of the devil, hungry for love?

I suppose the question is: why can’t we think of him as both? The book, a series of interlocking, transcribed oral narratives, constantly toes the same line between self-important exoneration and apology with which most celebrity postmortems wrestle, to no clear answer.

Is that the core of the narrative? It has to be. The book might be an oral history, but given that it was co-authored by the man who, essentially, taught Chris Farley how to live, it has to have been delicately constructed to toe the line.

When the book’s authors made the decision to get away from straight-forward narrative biography and let the voices of Farley’s friends simply take over, the reader is thrust into a complicated narrative less about the actor himself and more about the difficult feelings everybody had for Farley.

Should they save him, or should they laugh? Nobody outside of Farley’s family admits to guilt by complicity; only Farley’s own siblings recognized in the book that Farley, and their entire family, had serious issues.

And in a way, co-author Tanner Colby is to blame. Early in “The Chris Farley Show” Farley’s brothers discuss how Chris read Colby’s book about John Belushi’s drug problems, “Wired” and describe how he took all the wrong lessons away from the narrative. According to “The Chris Farley Show” what Farley learned form Colby’s book about his on-screen idol was, essentially, that if Farley drank to excess and was a wild and crazy man, people would love him.

The worst part of the whole sordid thing is that everybody did love Chris Farley despite, or in spite of, his incredible self-immolation. I got the feeling from the book that the people around Farley thought of him as a beautiful train wreck: a huge, powerful force, completely destroyed. They wanted to slow down and watch, but couldn’t bear to pull bodies from the wreckage.

The troubling thing is, reading the book and watching clips of Farley’s performances, I couldn’t help but read into them deeply. When Farley’s most famous character, motivational speaker Matt Foley (named after a childhood friend) scolds David Spade and warns him that he will end up thrice divorced and in a van by the river, I couldn’t help but wonder if Farley was yelling at himself: an alter-ego character that came out and talked to everybody but the actor responsible for bringing him to life.

The book, like Farley as he’s described, will draw you in, and you won’t want to look away. I found myself captivated as much by the better days Farley had, the honest-to-god funny stunts he pulled growing up, as I was by his absolutely stupid binge-drinking once he found fame at Second City and “SNL.” I couldn’t decide which was more powerful, the good or the bad, and I get the impression that this is what the authors wanted.

After all: if they’re wrestling with their own guilt, shouldn’t the reader? If everybody who ever knew Chris Farley beyond his shitty, fratboy movie was so conflicted about him, shouldn’t people who are drawn to his story also wrestle with it?

So that’s what you get when you pick up “The Chris Farley Story”: conflict, indecision and guilt. Thinking back on it, I can’t help but think about Macbeth’s soliloquy: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.”

What have we got to remember Chris Farley? YouTube, Hulu, DVDs, and “Tommy Boy.”

NEW YORK — Comic-Con is a place for geeks and nerds nationwide to gather and spend a whole weekend thriving in an environment created especially for them. There are booths set up with special edition collectibles, comic book authors and artists signing their works galore and plenty of panels set up to keep the appetites of television and movie lovers whet until their next opportunity for the ultimate geekdom in San Diego.

But what happens when those geeks just happen to be celebrities as well? The large majority of the actors, directors and producers who are being featured at NYCC are huge nerds themselves and undoubtedly would rather be watching through the exhibit hall than sitting up on a panel listening to people ask for autographs and spoilers.

There’s nothing more obvious than a pack of security guards wrapped around someone who is trying to be seen, so these two tried a different approach to roaming unnoticed through the artist gallery.

Meet Tony Stark, exhibitor for Marvel Entertainment, otherwise known to we lesser mortals as Seth Meyers, writer and star of Saturday Night Live. Alongside him is Bill Hader, also as an “exhibitor” with Marvel Entertainment.

Drink that milkshake!

Credits: Conceived and Written (six weeks later than he shoulda) by-Marc Shaiman Directed and Staged by: Adam Shankman Produced by Adam Shankman, Marc Shaiman and Mike Farah Edited by Bradly Schulz and Drew Antzis Cast (in order of appearance) California Gays and The People That Love Them Jordan Ballard, Margaret Cho, Barrett Foa, J.B. Ghuman, John Hill, Andy Richter, Maya Rudolph, Rashad Naylor, Nicole Parker Proposition 8′ers and The People That Follow Them Prop 8 Leader- John C. Reilly Prop 8 Leader’s #1 Wife- Allison Janney Prop 8 Leader’s #2 Wife- Kathy Najimy Riffing Prop 8′er-Jenifer Lewis A Preacher- Craig Robinson Scary Catholic School Girls From Hell-Rashida Jones, Lake Bell, Sarah Chalke The Frightened Villagers Katharine “Kooks” Leonard, Seth Morris, Denise “Esi!” Piane, Lucian Piane, Richard Read, Seth Redford, Quinton Strack, Tate Taylor, Brunson Green Jesus Christ Jack Black A Very Smart Fellow Neil Patrick Harris Piano Player Marc “Marc” Shaiman —- Co-Choreographer: Anne “Mama” Fletcher Recorded and Mixed by Frank Wolfe & Greg Hayes Director of Photography: Michael Barrett Camera Operators: Jake Szymanski, Bradly Schulz and Drew Antzis Production designer: Nelson Coates Costume designer: Shanna Knecht Costume assistants: Leslie Schilling, Annalisa Adams, Elizabeth Abate Hair: Laura Sanchez Make-up: Shauna O’Toole, Atticuss Sharp Production sound: Bradford Craig Music editor: Lisa Jaime Music assistant: Brian Naguit Snacky: “Snacky” Special Thanks to Adam McKay for the nudge

Proposition 8 opposition in Boston

Tina Fey just sticks to your mind, doesn’t she? Talented, beautiful, and politically motivating?

A recent survey shows, not necessarily surprisingly, that 10 percent of voters went to the polls Tuesday with the recent political parodies from Saturday Night Live on their minds.

A national survey released today by Roll Call, Strat@comm and Fleishman-Hillard Public Affairs also shows that two-thirds of voters viewed the SNL’s political parodies this election season.

“The ‘SNL effect’ absolutely impacted the election,” said Mike Dabadie, a FirstView researcher. “We saw that 10 percent of voters said they were influenced by the skits. At the same time, the data shows that 59 percent of those who saw the skits voted for Obama and 39 percent voted for McCain.”

The survey also found that 6 percent of respondents indicated the skits made them more likely to vote for Obama/Biden and 4 percent said the SNL skits made them more likely to vote for McCain/Palin.

The survey also shows that while voters listed the economy as a top concern, the biggest motivating factor — what drove them to vote — was the desire to restore trust in the government for future generations.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent

Funnyman Will Ferrell returned to Saturday Night Live during the intro of one of SNL’s special Thursday updates.

We stood beside Tina Fey’s Gov. Sarah Palin, making it the only time the two most highly-rated SNL parodies of all time appeared together. SNL regular Darrell Hammond’s reluctant John McCain later appeared in skit, where Farrell’s GW endorses McCain/Palin.

SNL has generated some of its highest ratings of all time during the 2008 presidential election.

There was also a hilarious Fred Armisen impersonation of CNN’s John King and his super-touchscreen-computerized-election-map

One word: accurate.

Two words: comedic timing.

Tina Fey did another spot-on impression of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live. We watched it, live, and loved it, live.

SNL also parodied Friday night’s presidential debate, but it didn’t get very good reviews.

But for putting this together (they even got the flag lapel pins or lack their of correct) in less than a day, I give props.