Television
Will Arnett and Amy Poehler
He stars on a show (Arrested Development) that’s about to be canceled, and she’s part of a creaky institution (SNL) that’s not exactly at the height of its acclaim. So what are they doing here? How about this: They’re funny. Really funny. (Plus they’re married. To each other.) “We used to have an expression,” says Arnett. “We’d call something L.A. funny”—meaning just barely good enough. TV is reliably L.A. funny. But Arnett (who, as the arrogant, petulant magician Gob Bluth, is an Emmy waiting to happen) and Poehler (who’s not only SNL’s bright beacon but still performs nearly every Sunday at her young-comic-grooming alma mater, the Upright Citizens Brigade—“It’s the closest thing I have to going to church”) gave TV a different flavor this year. Together, they showed the country what New York funny is all about.