LATE BREAKING NEWS

'SNL' Tidbits for February 14, 1999

By Sean Bradley

Ramano to Host

"Everybody Loves Raymond" star Ray Ramano is reportedly in talks to host the March 13 episode of "Saturday Night Live." The Corrs have been booked for quite some time as the musical guest of the evening.

Myers Not Booked

It was reported here, Friday, that Mike Myers will be hosting the season finale on May 15. Well, I found an e-mail in my box today from someone claiming to be writing to me on behalf of "SNL's" production staff. She says Myers has NOT been booked for any episode.

Fraser on Helium?

It's a slow news day, so here's a little tidbit: Believe it or not, in the "Judge Judy" sketch over the weekend, Brendan Fraser was producing that high-pitched voice without the assistance of helium. He's apparently capable of doing that with his voice... pretty cool.

No Show on April 17

Live episodes of "SNL" were originally scheduled for both April 10 and April 17. As reported here Friday, rumors are circulating that NBC might cut one of those episodes because the show is over-budget. Just found out today: April 17 will apparently be the date NBC airs a rerun and saves itself the $1,000,000 it would have spent to produce a live episode on that date.

'SNL' Still Kickin' Butt in Feb. Sweeps

"Saturday Night Live" continues to pull impressive overnight Nielsen numbers that the network is looking for during the all-important February sweeps.

Host Brendan Fraser and musical guest Busta Rhymes, last night, helped the show earn a 7.0/18, making it the most watched program on NBC all evening (and the third most watched program on any network that evening).

"SNL" built upon the 6.9/12 its primetime lead-in, "Profiler," scored. It also topped a brand new episode of "MAD TV" on FOX, which came in with a 5.1/11.

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