Saturday Night Live Bracket Game: Poehler Vs. Belushi

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http://lebeauleblog.com/2014/11/05/s...er-vs-belushi/

Dan Aykroyd handily defeated the Waterboy in yesterday’s contest. It was the most lopsided match-up in the brackets to date. Aykroyd walked away with more than 93% of the vote. He may not have been able to convince Bill Murray to make Ghostbusters 3, but at least he can take solace in the fact that he advanced to the next round.

In a lot of these contests, I have looked for common ground between the two SNL stars. But today’s subjects have next to nothing in common. John Belushi was an original cast member who helped foster a boys-club atmosphere that stuck with the show for decades. Amy Poehler was one of the funniest women in the show’s history. Along with Tina Fey, Poehler was part of an era of SNL that was arguably dominated by estrogen. Belushi, was likely turning in his grave.

Belushi, of course was part of the original cast. Everyone expected him to be the show’s breakout star. So he was frustrated when Chevy Chase stole the spotlight in the first season. Sure enough, Belushi established himself as the show’s biggest star during his remaining four seasons on the show. When it came time to launch his movie career, he flew between New York and LA to film Animal House.

After hits like Animal House and The Blues Brothers, Belushi’s movie career cooled. He tried to grow into a romantic leading man with the movie, Continental Divide. But audiences only wanted to see the Belushi from Animal House. In 1982, Belushi died of a drug overdose at the age of 33.

Amy Poehler started with SNL in 2001. Her first episode was the one following the 9/11 attacks. In 2004, she became co-anchor of the Weekend Update segment alongside Tina Fey. In 2008, she became the first SNL cast member to be nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress. In 2009, Poehler began starring in Parks and Recreation on NBC. Additional Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe win followed.