With Saturday Night Live’s highly-anticipated 40th anniversary episode airing on February 15, it’s the perfect time for every fan, critic and general TV viewer under the sun to share their thoughts in retrospectives, lists and, of course, very scientific rankings. However, no one’s opinion matters as much as the man who started it all and continues to pull the strings and call the shots behind-the-scenes of the weekly live TV institution that regularly cultivates the funniest names in comedy. Lorne Michaels has always been a fascinating personality, with his presence on SNL making him seem like an intimidating, powerful figure, always lurking in the shadows of Studio 8H. (And of course there’s the boardroom scene from Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy.)
As he prepares to welcome back an incredible number of former featured players and celebrity hosts, and especially longtime cast member Eddie Murphy, Michaels has opened up about his show’s four decades of greatness, disappointment and everything in between for the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter. In it, he discusses everything from how he picked the cast for the 40th anniversary show to the guests that made him the most nervous.
And then there were the cast members that never were…
Even the best guts in the business can miss. Whom did you overlook that you kicked yourself over later?
Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell auditioned. There were lots of people who you’d see how brilliant they were, but you knew on some level that it wasn’t going to work. Lisa Kudrow gave a brilliant audition, but it was at the time when it was Jan Hooks and Nora [Dunn]. I wasn’t at the Jim Carrey audition, but somebody who was there said, “I don’t think Lorne would like it,” and they were probably wrong, but it doesn’t matter. Or maybe they were right — who knows? No one gets it all right. (Via THR)
What’s interesting is that Carell Tweeted earlier today that he never auditioned for SNL:
https://twitter.com/SteveCarell/status/563380950621372416
Maybe after 40 years, Michaels’ memory isn’t as good as it once was. As for when Michaels will call it quits, your guess is as good as his…
Have you given any more thought to your succession plan? Should the show go on without you?
I don’t know. I’m going to keep doing it as long as I possibly can because I love it and because it’s what I do. But there is more niche stuff [now]. Us doing “Update” and giving it 10 minutes in a 90-minute show was a big deal, but Comedy Central and Jon Stewart, none of that existed then. So things have fragmented. The thing that I always find difficult about criticism of the show is that we’re broadcast, which means there are people who like us in all 50 states. I’m incredibly proud of the show Portlandia that I do, but it’s designed for an audience that just wants that and loves that. So I don’t know how long. (Via THR)
This month also marks the release of a new book, simply-entitled Saturday Night Live: The Book, in which Michaels reflects on specific moments from his show’s incredible history, including the time that Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor played “Word Association.”
Dec. 13, 1975: Chevy Chase and the guest host Richard Pryor perform “Word Association,” a sketch about race and racial slurs.
In the original presentation that I did [for “S.N.L.” to NBC], I mentioned the people that I thought were the most important in contemporary comedy. They said you can’t have [Pryor], and I said, “Well, if I can’t have him then I’m not doing the show.” After a day or two of my not being there anymore, they came back and said, “We’ll allow it, but the show has to be on a seven-second delay.” So much of what we were doing in the ’70s was just what’s in the air, and there was a feeling that racism was just below the surface and always there. You can tell the intensity with which they’re performing it. The network was uncomfortable with my keeping it in when we ran it as a vintage show [this season], and I said, “You can’t not do it now.” They ran it. And nothing collapsed, we’re all still here. (Via The New York Times)
Perhaps if the network relaxed a little, the show could gain a little of that edge back. It might go a long way in helping the show make it to 50.
