Friday Funhouse: Dec. 16, 2011

Here we go again!

Another seven days have passed. At this point, you've ever successfully made it all the way through the work week or you're close to being there.

Hooray for the weekend!

Here's what happened this week:

Jimmy Fallon is Hosting SNL Tomorrow Night (Dec. 17)

When Jimmy Fallon was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live (SNL), I gotta be honest...I didn't really love his work. Since he left, he's done movies. Almost all of which have been miserable failures.

In short, I was never a Fallon fan.

When I found out he'd be taking over for Conan on the "after-Jay-Leno" shift, I thought it was weird. I watched his first few shows. He seemed stiff, nervous and uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable too. So I changed the channel and never watched again.

That is until recently. 

About three months ago, Kim and I watched one of his shows. I can't even remember why I opted to give him another chance. What I can tell you is that I'm glad I did.

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon has quickly become my favorite late night show. I'm becoming an old man, so I'm rarely able to stay up for it, but we do DVR it. (Sidenote: How awesome is it that "DVR" is now a verb?)

Anyway. 

I strongly recommend that you give it a chance. I feel like Fallon has finally found his groove. His show offers a unique blend of quirky sketches, good music and a very laid-back, overall feel. We dig it.

Jimmy will be hosting SNL tomorrow night. Michael Buble is the musical guest. One out of two ain't bad.

Here's what else went down this week:

All Tim Tebow Does Is Win

Full disclosure: I'm an Oakland Raiders fan. Always have been. I couldn't be less of a Denver Broncos fan if I tried. The two things are incompatible.

I've never really liked Florida football either.

I wasn't a Tebow fan in college. He was a little over-the-top for me. I thought he was kind of a dork. I didn't think he'd be a good NFL quarterback.

I watched his first few games like everyone else. I figured it was a fluke. 

I, like many so-called "experts" were wrong. You can say that jury is still out. Maybe, but I don't think so. I'm the last person in the world who would want to admit this, but I have to be honest:

Tim Tebow is a stud NFL quarterback.

You can say he has a low completion percentage or passer rating. You can say he takes the first two or three quarters off. You can say he still is not capable of running a pro-style offense.

At the end of the day, none of that matters if you win. You play the game to win. There's no such thing as an ugly win. There isn't. 

I was never on the bandwagon, but listen, I'm driving it now. Tebow-mania is here to stay.

Lakers fail to land either big star

Last week, a report was circulating that the Lakers were close to landing superstars Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. In particular, the deal for Paul looked to be all but completed.

That is, until NBA President David stern stepped in and squashed the whole thing.

"CP3" ended up going to the Clippers (every Laker fan's worst nightmare). This means he'll be playing in the same building...for a different team. Nice.

As of today, it appears Howard will either be staying put in Orlando or getting traded to New Jersey.

It's not all L.A.'s fault. The league (Stern in particular) handled this whole ordeal egregiously. 

Regardless, there is now a possibility that the Lakers will end up with no Chris Paul, no Dwight Howard, no Lamar Odom (who requested to be traded to Dallas after being insulted at the prospect of being shipped to New Orleans for Paul) and a disgruntled Pau Gasol who knows he was very nearly traded to Houston.

Cool.

That's about as badly as you can possibly botch things.

Add to that these key facts: Greatest coach of all time, Phil Jackson, retired after last season. Mike Brown (most famous for his "give Lebron the ball and get the heck out of the way" offense) is now the coach. Brutal.

Ron Artest is bat-guano crazier than ever and has offically changed his name to "Metta World Peace." It's even on his jersey.

I'm not sure what's going on at Lakers headquarters, but they need to get on top of this situation and do it quickly.

Alec Baldwin kicked off plane for playing 'Words With Friends'

Last week, star of "30 Rock," Alec Baldwin, was kicked off an American Airlines flight for refusing to turn off his cell phone.

According to the report, while the plane was idling at the gate, Baldwin was engaged in a rousing game of "Words With Friends" on his cell phone and was asked to turn off his device.

He refused, allegedly became belligerent and was forced off the plane.

According to Baldwin, he was singled out and was far from the only passenger using a mobile device to kill the time.

As a response, Baldwin went on SNL last Saturday night and made this "apology:"

How very "Jack Donaghy" of you.

What else happened this past week? Did I miss anything important?

Comments are welcomed!