Six Degrees of Separation: Yo La Tengo, Upright Citizens Brigade, Arrested Development

It's no surprise that Range Life loves Yo La Tengo. We're already planning our mid-January romp to Springfield to catch the band live (thanks for tix, SonicRyan and GF!). What did surprise me was watching the newly released Second Season of Upright Citizens Brigade, and seeing YLT references pop up all over the place. In two separate episodes, cast members are seen wearing band shirts. In the season finale, "Moby Octopad" is featured in a trippy club scene. After viewing these homages, suddenly Yo La Tengo's recent performance during the untelevised 11/17 Saturday Night Live made sense.

You've all heard about that writer's strike, right? Apparently SNL cast member/UCB co-founder Amy Poehler wanted to raise money for staff the network had laid off. Thus a special SNL was filmed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NY (which Poehler also co-founded). Silly me turned on the television that night expecting to see the most amazing SNL in recent years. Venue: Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. Musical guest: Yo La Tengo. Host: Michael Cera (George Michael from Arrested Development). Alas, not only was the guest list for the event epically short (oxymoron anyone?), apparently attendees were told if anyone was caught photographing or taping the show, they would be ejected (thus only these NY Times photos have surfaced, and no video as of yet).

Reports state that Yo La Tengo performed "Mr. Tough" and "Little Honda," and according to attendee Brian Palmer, Will Arnett (Gob from Arrested Development and Poehler's husband) was reportedly "bouncing up and down and totally rocking out during their performances." So the question remains: Did Poehler, who appears in the UCB episode "Spaghetti Jesus" wearing a YLT shirt, turn Arnett onto the band, or the other way around? (P.S. To add another layer of intrigue, note that Poehler plays Gob's wife on the First Season of AD. Sadly, she'll be forever most recognizeable as a SNL cast member.)

Perhaps the more crucial question is this: If Range Life loves Upright Citizens Brigade and Arrested Development and Yo La Tengo, and UCB and AD and YLT all love each other, does that mean that UCB and AD and YLT love Range Life, too? I think so.