Althouse: "I am Blog."

May 23, 2005

"I am Blog."

The other day the TiVo dragged in a very old episode of Saturday Night Live -- so old Chevy Chase was on it. One segment floored me. Steve Martin plays a diet doctor, interviewing a patient -- played by Jane Curtin -- who'd tried all the diets and was desperate. Martin recommended the "Blog Diet," and we see Curtin ice fishing for her only food, which is grabbed away from her by John Belushi, barely visible inside a furry, hooded parka. As he steals her food he yells "I am Blog!"

Ever seen that one? I hadn't.

10 comments:

price said...: Was it one of the re-broadcasts that NBC plays at 3am after the new SNLs? It is brave of them to play the original seasons so closely after the risible new episodes. Just your description of that bit is better than anything I saw this last Saturday.; 5/23/05, 12:28 PM
Brian O'Connell said...: It was the 3 am broadcast, and my TiVo caught it too. The blog skit was a bit of a "whoah" moment, but they were just going for a meaningless monosyllabic caveman-type name.

The skit itself was unfunny and horribly executed. Rewatching those original SNLs demonstrates how overrated they are. The Jeopardy:1999 skit was interesting though. What was for them decades in the future is now in our past. 20th Century Fox never did change their name.; 5/23/05, 1:10 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Brian: Yeah, it was a pretty bad sketch.

I wonder if it was the first time Steve Martin hosted. He hosted a lot in the early days, and we all considered him the best host, but in that episode he did the thing of putting the arrow on his head and he did it as if it was a new joke.; 5/23/05, 2:37 PM
The Librarian said...: I agree that accounts of early SNL often overrate its quality, but it still seems like they took more -- and more interesting -- risks back then. Is that just because we were younger and it was new?

Just last week a colleague told me of a Web site that uses an animated(?) caveman character named Blog to draw people to its posts. Coincidence?; 5/23/05, 4:35 PM
The Librarian said...: Aha! Look at what Merriam-Webster has to say about our friend Blog (http://www.bobcongdon.net/blog/2004/12/blog-caveman.html) and at a more complete version of the referenced Lois Lane comic (http://blogumentary.typepad.com/chuck/2004/12/blog_the_cavema.html).; 5/23/05, 4:44 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Muckish: Yes, the caveman blog made the rounds a few months ago. I blogged about it here.; 5/23/05, 5:01 PM
The Librarian said...: Thanks! Clearly I'm new here.; 5/23/05, 5:06 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: Dr. Seuss also used the term "blogg" in an obscure book, "The Shape of Me and Other Stuff." I was surprised to see it, especially with the extra "g" when I recently read it to my three-year old. The book was copyrighted in 1973.; 5/23/05, 10:16 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Ruth Anne: That one made the rounds a while back too.

I think "blog" is a silly sounding word. Not surprising that it got chosen as a nonsense syllable.; 5/24/05, 6:04 AM
Edminster said...: Knemon: That was actually done as an inside joke by the people who created Futurama. IIRC, they also showed the 'original' Fox logo after the '30th Century' one.; 5/24/05, 5:13 PM