Worth Watching: 'SNL' crew makes 'The Line'

"Saturday Night Live" has jumped into the webisode mix with "The Line" -- a comedy on Crackle.com about geeks camping outside a movie theater to see the latest installment of "FutureSpace." The show stars "SNL" cast members Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis along with Joe Lo Truglio from "The State" and "Superbad" -- and was directed by "SNL's" Seth Meyers. 

 

Nerd-waiting-in-line comedy can never be done as well as Triumph did it way back in 2002 for the "Attack of the Clones" premiere, but this show finds its own stride by creating an amusing cast of characters and some clever story elements. Much of the tension in "The Line" is supplied by "the five-minute rule" -- according to a geek decree, you lose your place in line if you take a second more than five. This makes it awkward for Hader's character to be broken up with by his girlfriend or for Lo Truglio to spend a Sunday with his young son (they have to run to the basketball court, shoot one hoop, and then run back). Also, there's a great cameo by comedian Paul Scheer as The Spoiler -- the mean nerd who revels in dropping details he's gathered about the movie these fanboys are waiting to see. 

The show, thought up by Hader and "SNL" writer Simon Rich while they were on the writers strike picket line, was produced by Broadway Video Entertainment, the production company of "SNL" kingpin Lorne Michaels. Michaels and "SNL" brought the world "Lazy Sunday" in late 2005, which students of YouTube lore (and probably everyone else) will remember was one of the first major viral hits (and one NBC didn't know how to deal with so well -- thanks, Xeni).

Though it's gone largely unwatched on its native Crackle page, "The Line" is a solid first Web effort for Hader, Michaels and Broadway.  Let's see how long we have to stand around before the next one....