Posted February 7, 2010 – 8:11 a.m.
BY MARK W. SMITHFREE PRESS WEB EDITOR
Those who were listening closely to last night’s episode of “Saturday Night Live” may have heard a reference to the Detroit Free Press during a quiz show sketch.
The skit showed a “Jeopardy”-esque game show where contestants were asked “What is Burn Notice?” — which is a show on the USA Network.
Contestants were at a loss to come up with any correct information on the show, seemingly a comment on the show’s low profile and similarities to other hour-long law enforcement dramas.
The host, played by Jason Sudeikis, prods the contestants for any correct answers.
“I’m still looking for any tidbit about ‘Burn Notice’ — the show the Detroit Free Press called ‘charmingly irreverent,’” Sudeikis says near the end of the clip below.
A look back in our archives turns up the source material: In 2007, then-Free Press television reviewer Mike Duffy wrote that the show “makes a smart, charmingly irreverent first impression.”
Our pop culture writer Julie Hinds also referenced the show once during her Thanksgiving column.
“Thank you, USA Network, for being a safe haven for dramas like ‘White Collar’ and ‘Burn Notice’ that emphasize style, not gross-out storylines. anything that’s more like ‘The Rockford Files’ than ‘Saw V’ is OK by me,” Hinds wrote at the time.
The USA Network is owned by NBC Universal.
Contact MARK W. SMITH: msmith@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @markdubya or follow a feed of blog updates at @browserblog.
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