SNL stars reunite for parodies

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The shaggy-haired rocker who set up his amplifier in the posh hotel lobby looked a lot like Fred Armisen. And wasn’t that Seth Meyers snapping his picture?

It was indeed a bewigged Armisen getting in a few guitar licks and Meyers recording the moment, part of the promotion for IFC’s new “Documentary Now!”

The series parodying famed documentaries and genres reunites former “Saturday Night Live” colleagues Armisen, Meyers and Bill Hader, with the trio serving as writers and producers (with Rhys Thomas) and Armisen and Hader also starring.

“I love that we figured out a way to keep working together,” said Meyers, who fitted the project in with his duties as an NBC late-night host. His partners in comedy also are busy: Armisen is the creator and star (with Carrie Brownstein) of IFC’s “Portlandia” and the bandleader for Meyers’ show, while Hader stars in the Amy Schumer film “Trainwreck.”

The series, which boasts Helen Mirren as the host, debuts 10 p.m. Aug. 20.

As younger viewers, Meyers and Hader said they were impressed by “The Thin Blue Line,” the 1988 documentary about a wrongly convicted man. Armisen, on the other hand, fondly recalled being influenced by the 1970s pop parody film, “The Rutles.”

“That to me was the turning point for a new kind of entertainment,” Armisen told a Television Critics Association meeting last week.