Will Forte announced last week that he will not be coming back for season 36 of Saturday Night Live.

The New York Times reported that, according to several sources, the parting was amicable and was  at Forte’s request. He told producers he wanted to devote more time to other projects and that was the sole reason he was exiting.

Forte’s publicist said,  “After eight great seasons, Will has made the decision to move on from SNL to pursue new opportunities. He is eternally grateful to Lorne and all of the incredible people he worked with over the years.”

Hopefully those other projects will do better than MacGruber, the adaptation of one of his SNL skits that bombed on the big screen.

Forte was also known for the characters Falconer, Clancy T Bachleratt, ESPN Classic commentator Greg Stink and, most recently, the monotone lothario Hamilton, who was known for his inappropriate speeches.

There is great news today for “Glee” and “Saturday Night Live” fans! SNL’s upcoming 36th season will feature Emmy-nominated “Glee” star Jane Lynch in one of the first episodes.

According to Movieline, Lynch will be taping her SNL debut on October 9th.

It’s great to see Lynch finally get the recognition she deserves, first with an Emmy-nom and now with a hosting gig on SNL. Though we’re sure the writers at SNL will come up with some hilarious skits for Jane, we can’t help but hope there is at least one cameo from Sue Sylvester.

It would be awesome to see Sue go through the line with the Target Lady or star in a digital short with Andy Samberg!

What are your thoughts on SNL’s upcoming season? Who else are you hoping hosts? What skit would you like to see Jane star in?

I grew up with Saturday Night Live, sometimes being allowed to watch the first half of it when I was young.  The comedy show first aired on October 11, 1975 and has since become one of the longest running shows on television.  Lorne Michaels is the brains behind the operation and sometimes gets 10 seconds of air time every now and again.  The show has turned out an impressive resume of actors, and I would even go as far to say the best show to launch an actor’s career.  Those include John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Will Ferrell, and Amy Poehler.  The parodies are priceless and one can endlessly watch YouTube clips of the classics like Cowbell, Schwete Balls, and Jeopardy.  But more recently, the show has been struggling mightily.

While some of the struggles might be attributed to the ordeal of the Comcast purchase, this has been building for a while.  Michaels used to have to fight celebrities off with a stick when it came to selecting hosts, but now it seems like they screen his calls.  This is a total downer because if they asked me, I definitely would go (it’s on my bucket list).  Not to mention the musical performers they’ve been getting are brutal, especially recently (The Ting Tings, Them Crooked Vultures, Vampire Weekend).  Granted I might not be plugged into music mainstream but anyone with Ting, Vultures, or Vampires in their band name can’t be any good.

The show does have at least two solid stars, Kristen Wiig and Kenan Thompson.  Wiig has been in some movies and will probably be in more over the next few years.  Thompson hasn’t been in that many movies but his acting is so diverse on the show.  He has so many different characters and the majority of them are sure to be funny when airing.  The rest of the cast is pretty weak.  Some might say that Will Arnett and Fred Armisen are funny but they seem to be limited in what they can do.  Armisen’s impersonation of Obama isn’t that great, which makes for many a dull cold opening.  I know that Michaels and the other braintrust want to get new, fresh talent onto the show.  But you also need a strong core of reliable comics, which is really lacking.  Wiig and Thompson can’t be in every skit.  Not only do they need the supporting cast to step up, but they also have to be more imaginary.

This past week’s episode with Zach Galfianakis was absolutely painful.  The cold open got about two laughs and was an uncomfortable four minutes to watch.  Galfianakis did his job, he was somewhat funny.  Maybe invite some classic hosts like Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Christopher Walken.  At this point, the musical performances can’t get any worse and are used for extended bathroom breaks and grabbing another cocktail.  Bring back Amy Poehler and Tina Fey for a little bit, maybe some Weekend Update segments.  Go back to what got you to success…maybe even a Sarah Palin skit.  Things have to change drastically for SNL to become popular again.  The dropoff since the election wave they rode is significant.

Tina Fey is scheduled to host Saturday Night Live in April and, yes, she will probably be bringing a little Sarah Palin with her.

When asked if she would be reprising her role as Palin she didn’t deny it. “It’s inevitable that we’ll try it, at least,” Fey said in an AP interview. “We’ll see if it makes it to air.”

Fey’s impersonations of the former Alaska governor (and one time Republican vice presidential candidate) lightened up the 2008 presidential campaign and some say had an influence on the outcome.

“It was the strangest thing that’s ever happened to me,” Fey said. “I’ve never had anything fall in my lap like that. Everything is usually me trying to convince the people of Earth that it’s OK for me to perform.”

Check out these clips of Tina’s skits on SNL, which drew huge ratings, and get ready to see it all again, this time with crib notes.

Saturday night, Dave Grohl set a new record for the number of times a musical guest has appeared on SNL, which is now 10.

Grohl performed with John Paul Jones and Josh Hommeon in their group Them Crooked Vultures but he got in on the laughs too.

He’s never been one to shy away from comedy or costumes in Foo Fighters videos and Saturday, he got his chance to show that side of himself by appearing in a skit in which a father gets his old band back together for his daughter’s wedding.

Fred Armisen sings as frontman; Will Hader plays bass and fourth time host Ashton Kutcher plays guitar while Grohl is on the drums in the skit. The four played a noisy metal “song” that climaxed with the destruction of the ballroom.

The band (“Christ of the Deformity”), was the sixth group Grohl has played with on the show (and the second of the night).

Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin may hold the current record holder for the number of times they’ve hosted the show, but Grohl is the new leader among musical guests. Next is line is Paul Simon who has appeared on the show 9 times.

Grohl appeared with Nirvana twice, and then five times with the Foo Fighters.He also sat in with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Tenacious D before Saturday night’s set with Them Crooked Vultures on Saturday.

In light of the recent death of actress Brittany Murphy, “Saturday Night Live” has has pulled a sketch that made fun of the actress from their own website and Hulu.com. The site replaced the clip with a message that reads “Unfortunately, this video is no longer available”.

Just two weeks ago, “SNL” regular Abby Elliott impersonated Murphy on the show’s “Weekend Update”. The skit mocked Murphy’s sudden exit from movie “The Caller”. Seth Meyers introduced the segment saying, “It was reported this week that actress Brittany Murphy was fired from her upcoming film, ‘The Caller’, for being a detriment to production.”

Elliott appeared as Murphy beside Meyers moments later saying, “I’m really honored to be here hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’,” said the fake Murphy. Meyers responded, “No, Brittany, you’re not hosting.” When the subject shifted to her being fired, a defensive ‘Murphy’ said, “I got a plan. When the movie comes out, I’m going to go to the theater and say, ‘Booooo’. And then the audience will join in and say, ‘Boo’. Best plan ever.”

Brittany Murphy died of cardiac arrest on Sunday, December 20. She had hosted the “SNL” in 2002, while promoting “8 Mile”.

NBC’s long-running sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live, posted its best rating for adults aged 18-49 last weekend. Its prime time Christmas special last Thursday also provided the struggling network with solid numbers as well.

Saturday Night Live Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas posted a solid 3.1 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, NBC’s highest rating in the 8 to 10 p.m. time slot since Oct. 8.

The show averaged 7.8 million total viewers, a new season high in the slot, and it won the two-hour period among adults 18-34, though it finished second among 18-49s.

The special was a compilation of skits from past Christmas episodes and was hosted by Gilly (Kristen Wiig), a mischievous (and deadly!) re-occurring SNL character.

CBS led the night among 18-49s with a 3.6 average overnight rating and a 10 share. Boosted by SNL, NBC was second at 2.6/8, Fox third at 1.5/4, Univision fourth at 1.3/4, ABC fifth at 1.0/3 and CW sixth at 0.8/2.

All ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Thirty-three percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. CBS was first with a 3.9 for Survivor, the night’s top-rated show, followed by NBC with a 3.0 for the first hour of Saturday Night Live Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas. Fox was third with a 1.8 for a repeat of Bones, Univision fourth with a 1.3 for El Nombre del Amor. ABC was fifth with a 0.9 for a Grey’s Anatomy rerun and the CW sixth with a 0.8 for a repeat of The Vampire Diaries.

CBS was first again at 9 p.m. with a 3.5 for CSI, while NBC remained second with a 3.2 for more SNL. Univision was third with a 1.7 for Sortilegio, ABC and Fox tied for fourth at 1.2, ABC for more Grey’s Anatomy and Fox for a repeat of their sci-fi hit Fringe, and the CW was sixth with a 0.8 for another Vampire Diaries rerun.

At 10 p.m. CBS led with a 3.5 for The Mentalist, with NBC second with a 1.7 for The Jay Leno Show. ABC was third with a 1.0 for a repeat of Private Practice and Univision fourth with a 0.9 for Nuestra Navidad.

Among households, CBS was first for the night with an 8.9 average overnight rating and a 15 share. NBC was second at 4.3/7, Fox third at 3.5/6, ABC fourth at 2.7/4, Univision fifth at 1.8/3 and CW sixth at 1.2/2.

After last week’s lackluster episode with January Jones, SNL is stepping it up in December with a Werewolf, a Gossip Girl and a hospital heartthrob.

Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively will take over hosting duty on Dec. 5 with musical guest Rihanna. The actress is promoting her latest movie, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee in which she covers 10 turbulent years of the title character’s younger incarnation. The film is based on the novel by Rebecca Miller (who also directs) and navigates the turmoil beneath an apparently ideal suburban wife’s placid surface. The older Pippa is played by Robin Wright.

“Pippa’s mother is a drug addict,” the 22-year-old Lively recently told L.A. Times. “You see your mother as your mother; that’s all they are. But this realization that she’s a human being who makes mistakes, that is flawed, that is selfish, is really hard for her. And you’d think the last thing she would do would be to [make those same mistakes], but it’s really interesting to see how people repeat the cycle of abuse.”

Then, on Dec. 12, New Moon hottie Taylor Lautner hosts with musical guest Bon Jovi. The 17-year-old stars as Jacob in the Twilight Saga and, like Lively, is hosting SNL for the first time. New Moon remains the #1 movie in the country, making more than $258 million in its first three days.

Rounding out the month, James Franco is slated to guest on Dec. 19 with Muse as musical guest. Franco, who also has several movies in the pipeline, is  no stranger to TV either. He’s currently making a special appearance on the soap General Hospital and just taped an appearance on 30 Rock.

Saturday night, Justin Timberlake returned to SNL and reprised two roles that have become fan favorites.

First, Timberlake and SNL cast member Andy Samberg collaborated in another digital short, Motherlover, the sequel to the internet sensation/Emmy Award winning short, Dick In A Box.

In Motherlover, JT and Samberg’s characters, two early ’90s R&B singers, haven’t gotten anything for their moms for Mother’s Day. Their solution? They decide they should f*ck each other’s moms making them “so cool and thoughtful.”

The best part of the squeal has to be that they got Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson to play the about-to-get-lucky moms.

Timberlake and a special guest, SNL alum Jimmy Fallon, also brought back The Barry Gibb Talk Show in which Justin plays brother Robin Gibb. The two were “talking about issues” with guest like Nancy Pelosi (played by Kristen Wiig).