DLers, anyone have gossip on SNL or Lorne Michaels?

Mike Myers’s based Dr. Evil on Lorne Michaels.

Wow, funny how the two white guys who got all the best gigs worship the white guy boss but the black woman who was sidelined and marginalized was like "nah..." That IS weird, OP!

R2 - it was weird in terms of their praise of Lorne, and her spraying oceans of water all over that fire. It wasn't weird (at least not to me) what actually happened to her - it was predictable.

the cast, writers and crew of kids in the hall... mad tv... in living colour... virtually every skit show (including a couple of kid shows) ever vs Lorne and the SNL cronies.

from younger generations, one might view Lorne/SNL writers as buzzfeed prone to hiring mediocre talents, stealing the content of other creators, make a bastardized version of it and then get raked thru the coals should said creators protest it.

KiTH having more direct ties to Lorne have a more complicated history... they go back and forth on retconning that history. It seems the last year, they've been more apt to be positive or at least indifferent about him. But allegedly, Don Roritor was based off of him

OP, it's not unusual that it is the most successful SNLers that have a generally positive view of Lorne. For the rest, the view of him is mixed. Still, with so many former cast members you would think there would be more of them saying negative stuff about him if he was really that bad.

[quote] Mike Myers’s based Dr. Evil on Lorne Michaels.

Correction: he ripped-off Dana’s impression of Lorne.

90% of SNL has been garbage. Lorne isn’t funny. The show isn’t funny.

Lorne always seemed like a human icebox

[quote]Ellen noted how she made basically no money, was not allowed to meet with Lorne, and was effectively sidelined from the start.

Julia Sweeney has said the same thing, while still thanking Lorne for letting her out of the last year of her contract when she wanted to leave.

Lorne takes a cut from any franchise former SNL alumni create based on their SNL characters.

Mike Myers, who is a miserable sod, loves to mention that.

On the Dana Carvey/David Spade podcast, Mike Myers was sure to mention that there was no relationship between Austin Powers and Saturday night live

Lorne really does favor some cast members over others. I thought Julia Sweeney was successful on SNL but she still didn't make it into Lorne's inner circle like Tina, Amy and Maya.

I think the cast members make more money than they used to.

I find it a little unnerving how little gossip is out there about him. Very odd for such a public figure

The book "Live From New York: An Uncensored History Of Saturday Night Live" contained a lot of complaints from former cast members. But not really from the well known cast members as I remember.

He's been married a few times, but he's an old man. However Macchiavellian and selfish he is, I doubt he is Harvey Weinstein redux. I am not sure if he will have interesting memoirs. He is the kind of person who is self-important enough to write them, but it might just be a lot of name-dropping.

Marc Maron had an episode of his podcast which was called "Lorne Stories" compiling his various guests recounting their interaction with LM.

He had a frosty relationship with Jane Curtin.

After Show: Jane Curtin’s Relationship With Lorne Michaels

I think a lot of gossip will come out after LM’s dies. Unfortunately, he still holds a lot of power and can still affect people’s careers if they were to criticize him. So, I think while he is alive people will continue to kiss his ass.

Paul Simon is his best friend.

I'm shocked most of the actors now only make $8,000 - $15,000 per episode.

R20, why is it shocking? The cast members start off as unknowns. The show costs a lot to produce due to the union, the large cast, crew, writing and production staff as well as the continuous change in costumes and sets.

Why would they spend a lot on unproven talent?

[quote]I'm shocked most of the actors now only make $8,000 - $15,000 per episode.

Whatever Molly Kearney makes, she's overpaid by a long shot.

In the early years they were paid less even though the casts were smaller and advertising revenue was maybe greater because cable, streaming etc hadn't taken away so much of the audience.

R22, exactly. Everyone thinks about the SNLers that break out but not the numerous Luke Nulls and Molly Kearneys who fall flat.

Supposedly they make more money going on stand-up tours when they are SNL famous.

Skit about new cast members. Where are they now?

R26 what season was that…?

R27, Tina has hosted SNL five times. I believe this was from the 4th time she hosted in 2013.

R17 that clip reminded me that - with all the crap that’s come out on Bill Murray - the women of that cast by all accounts loved him. Which just goes to show - yeah some celebrities are all bad, but most, even the ones with bad stories, are…complicated, with very good and bad sides.

Tina also included the 6 new cast members in her monologue when she hosted.

r14 People really only gossip about him when they hit bottom and have nothing more to lose...

he's that well connected... even legacies don't have the same kind of power he holds. If SNL ever dies, then I expect the dirt will be revealed... although by that time, maybe no one will be alive to remember it.

R31, because he has fostered so many careers I'm not sure that will happen.

Fagela loves big schwanz.

Huge asshole who holds a grudge like you wouldn't believe. It'll be a happy day when he finally dies.

r32 That's possible... but people aren't that loyal. SNL is really where the seat of his power lies. It's a New York institution. . . which is another reason of why it becomes difficult to criticize. It's not just a show or gave rise to several stars. it's a cultural landmark with history representing the pride of NYC. Even if most New Yorkers don't find it funny. It just has that untouchable taboo.

Outside of being an evil overlord, capable of blacklisting the competition and those that fail to live up to his mediocre standards, he's probably just run of the mill boring and standard industry... I know in the broader J community he's not that respected for a variety of reasons. . . but most of the older Jewish comics that would bust his balls are dead. And what they said in the day didn't amount to much more than an eye roll at a man in charge of a comedy show without a sense of humour.

I read Jay Mohr's book Gasping for Airtime several years ago. He owned up about the sketch that he plagiarized and said he had no ill will towards Lorne after being fired at the end of the '94-95 season. Mohr said that he didn't get along with Rob Schneider and Ellen Cleghorne. He said that Ellen was a bigger asshole than Rob. He mentioned fighting with Adam Sandler backstage during a live show. He said it was one time thing. I can't really recall if he dished anything on David Spade or Chris Farley.

Jay didn't like the crazy writing schedule of the show which was similar to Larry David's complaints about the time when he was writer on SNL. In one chapter. Jay talked about how Al Franken was sometimes in charge of producing the pre-filmed sketches and fake commercials. He said that he felt sorry for Al because he sometimes had longer work days than other cast members and writers.

The other dirt that Jay dished in the book was about how hosts had a lot of veto power when it came to which sketches made to dress rehearsal or air time. He also mentioned that hosts were sometimes assholes during the pitch meetings for sketches and during the writing night. He said Marisa Tomei and Shannen Doherty were difficult.

Bob Odenkirk Regrets Being a “Dick” to Lorne Michaels While at “SNL”

Until around 2015, Lorne had sexual access to any female cast member he wanted. It was an unspoken part of the contract. Curtin, Dreyfuss, Fey, Jackson, Wiig, to name a few. Probably many more in the 80s and 90s but these are confirmed.

There has been rumors that LM helped get Jimmy Fallon the hosting job at Late Night then later helped him get the Tonight Show gig.

R39, that's not a rumor. Lorne picked Conan to host Late Night and was the producer of the show. NBC didn't want Jimmy to be Conan's replacement. Lorne told NBC executives if they didn't pick Jimmy he would not continue to be the show's producer. After Jimmy did well as the host, NBC was then fine with him replacing Leno.

R38, Tina and Jane Curtin? Very doubtful. If he was harassing any females it was more likely The Lornettes and not female cast members.

‘SNL’ Creator Lorne Michaels Hired ‘Several Blond Female Assistants’ — Known to Cast Members as the ‘Lornettes’

According to several former cast members, the creator of the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live, executive producer Lorne Michaels, had a series of young, blond women as assistants. They were called the “Lornettes.”

Dana Carvey on the Night He Met Paul McCartney While Living With Lorne Michaels

John Mulaney talking about Lorne starting @ 3:45. And the "lesson" Lorne wanted to impart to him in a story starting @ 5:45.

R41, where did you get harassment from my comment? It was transactional but not coerced. He stopped including it in contracts with new cast members around 2015 because he was getting on and he saw times were changing.

Just nonsense, R45.

R45 yes I'm sure NBC lawyers allowed an unenforceable sex clause in contracts.

Bill Hader does a funny impersonation of Lorne name-dropping serial killers.

Link please r48

Here, R49.

Why Jim Breuer Quit SNL.

SNL hasn’t been funny since Cheri O’Terri and Will’s heyday. It’s a legacy show now. I hope it gets cancelled. Don’t forget he put Trump on as host in 2016. Fuck Lorne!

Lorne David Lipowitz

Michaels is married to Alice Barry, his former assistant.

Is he related to Meredith Michaels Bierbaum? Eric idle also mentioned the crazy writing schedule. Some say snl was a bad American copy of Monty Python

What a tragic event, R51. SNL hit its Zenith with “Goat Boy”and never quite recovered from the loss

R47, it was discussed and agreed on but not written down, as specified in my first post. Why are you all white knighting Lorne fucking Michaels? This board SUCKS recently. Absolutely bloodless anti-gossip nellies under the impression they’re smart.

Did I hear my name?

I was molested.

No one is "white knighting" Lorne, you just said it was confirmed that it was an unspoken part of the contract that women had to fuck him whenever he wanted, but you didn't provide any proof. If it was confirmed, there was proof. Cough up.

Lorne is mentally abusive and I guess physically too with the mandatory all night writing sessions. He'll build people up then knock them down. His crazily random mass firings of fan favorites and then shoving terrible skits and performers down our throats is so arbitrary. Cast members are discouraged from talking to him and he truly is Lord of the manor. He encourages dysfunction so you'll stay with him and hopefully create a character that will buy him a pool house on St Barts. He loves to split and divide and love bomb and when you look at the myriad of SNL auditoners he rejected, he can clearly and sociopathically suss out who he can safely victimize. He loves damaged people so that he can wreck them more. If he molested Jane Curtin, I'll be so sad for her.

His management style wouldn't fly at a Tuscaloosa Wal-Mart, yet he'll be lauded til the day he dies as some sort of visionary. He was not

An interesting list...

I adored Ellen Cleghorne during her SNL years and wish that it had been a bigger career.

The "contract" thing is ridiculous. If he was inflicting himself on women the Lornettes seem more likely victims. Some of them were nobodies, yet more attractive than all but a few female cast members.

Agree, R64.

R62, I was expecting a longer list of people. It's not that many considering how the long the show has been on the air. Plus, some of the people listed were clearly not right for SNL.

When NBC, Lorne, and Horatio Sanz got sued by a woman saying that Sanz groomed and molested her as a teenager, the Lorenettes were mentioned in her amended complaint. The lawsuit was dismissed. But, the complaint was interesting to read because of claims made about Lorne, Horatio, other cast members, producers, etc. Hard to know what was true, false, or exagerrated.

OP, it's interesting how Ellen Cleghorne wasn't even allowed to meet with Lorne while she was a cast member. But then in comparison at R43 it is mentioned that Dana Carvey was living with Lorne before he even made his first appearance on the show! Such widely different treatment of cast members.

I dislike Lorne. He needs to retire he doesn't have the slightest clue about what is actually funny. Only goes after safe targets.

Julia Louis-Dreyfuss was on SNL after Lorne Michaels left in the early 80s. She never worked under him until she hosted many years later.

Makes me wonder how he abused the frail & easily manipulated Gilda over the years. She could have had a prime time show on a weekday, but declined on Lorne's advice?

Several years ago, when I used to read the Kate McKinnon thread on the original L Chat board there was someone who claimed to have met a SNL crew member and the crew member supposedly told her about the cast members at the time. This is what I remember from the thread.

-Bobby Moynihan and Vanessa Bayer were both friendly with everyone who worked on the show.

-Leslie Jones was a diva type who rarely talked directly with crew members and some of the departments. If she didn't like something on costume, she would have a producer talk to the costume department on her behalf. Kenan Thompson was also an asshole with crew members as well.

-Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong were quiet, but polite when dealing with crew members.

-Beck Bennett was nice, but supposedly drank too much at times.

The poster could have been bullshitting, but I have always gotten a phony baloney vibe from Leslie Jones. There was also that incident where Jones bitched on twitter about a restaurant in Atlanta giving her poor service. The restaurant shot back at her with the claim that Jones made fun of a waiter's foreign accent. Years ago, Jones stayed at the Ritz Carlton in LA and claimed it was a racist hotel. Wendy Williams said on social media that she had an event for employees scheduled at the Ritz Carlton and wanted to speak to Jones about the racism she experienced because Williams was considering cancelling the event. Also, the twitter account for a Black centric blog or website was also wanting additional details on Jones' experience at the Ritz, but it seemed she never replied to them.

I also recall some story that went around on gossip sites that Beck Bennett was very drunk one night at 30 Rock and took shit out a window.

I was very puzzled by the quick exit of Leslie Jones. She went from unknown to well known and then back to unknown. Maybe, as someone posted above, it has helped her standup career to have SNL on her resume.

The vicious online harassment campaign against Jones by racist trolls back in 2016 seemed oddly random. Out of all the assertive black women to harass, why her, a relative nobody? Just because she was in the Ghistbuster’s reboot? Now I wonder if disgruntled SNL crew or personnel were initially behind it, and a bunch of 4chan trolls jumped on board. That would make much more sense.

^^Ghostbusters, I mean.

Taran Killam On His Critical Comments About "SNL" & Trump

Jane Curtin said her relationship with him was just employee / employer.

She said in the third year when John Belushi was really "getting out of control," she went to Lorne and said, "You have to do something. If you don't help him he's going to die." And then Michaels said, "Not my problem."

Then said after that, the two of them didn't speak, he'd tell Gilda and she'd tell Jane and all their communication went through her.

Jane being gracious as always, said, she thanked him because without him, she would have no career

Tommy Davidson auditioned in 1987 but was passed over when Lorne Michaels told him they were "not looking for a black comedian".

CANCEL THIS MOTHERFUCKER TODAY!!!

R78, that was 36 years ago. Today, SNL has several black cast members.

R74 I doubt SNL members had anything to do with it. Incel trolls were hissing and raging about Ghostbusters being female and having a POC cast member. Everyone loves to talk about the left having a cancel culture but the far alt right is 10000x worse.

R79 who cares. Time for Lorne to go!

[quote] I was very puzzled by the quick exit of Leslie Jones. She went from unknown to well known and then back to unknown. Maybe, as someone posted above, it has helped her standup career to have SNL on her resume.

Her acting just sucks and that's why her career post SNL hasn't been that great. Years ago, when she got nominated for an Emmy, I listened to an LA Times podcast and one of the panelists on the podcast said that he was puzzled by some the SNL cast members who were nominated. He didn't name names, but you could tell he was referring to Jones.

I was friendly with Vanessa Baer through her brother (The one who she based "Jacob" on). I really like her, although I haven't spoken to her in quite a few years.

^ Vanessa BAYER

[quote]Her acting just sucks and that's why her career post SNL hasn't been that great.

True. And she played only one character: Angry Black Woman of a Certain Age. She had poor timing and constantly flubbed her lines. How Jones got hired in the first place is one of the great mysteries of SNL.

R85 Leslie Jones said in an article that she asked Chris Rock to speak to Lorne on her behalf which her helped initially get hired as a writer.

It irked me how Jones constantly flubbed her lines and was kept around for several seasons, yet the talented Michaela Watkins was fired after one season on SNL.

I also thought Cecily Strong who is a better performer than McKinnon and Jones was shoved off to the sidelines quite a bit.

Jenny slate should have been forgiven her f bomb. She was more talented than a lot of the one note actors and actresses who stayed at SNL for ages. Lorne is an uptight little bitch.

^^R86 here, I meant to type "which helped her initially"

The gossip I heard was him and Kristen Wiig were in a very long term relationship.

R89, that might explain why she got such a big send-off when she left SNL. I can't think of anyone who got similar treatment.

Leslie Jones got lucky with the SNL gig. She's extremely unfunny. Not just average--she sucks. She also doesn't have looks to fall back on. Her non-career is a correction to norm, not the result of any campaign.

R89, I don't know. It seems like it's kind of put out there that he is always particularly close with one female cast member. Nora Dunn, Wiig and Cecily Strong. But I don't believe it. Like the Lornettes, it seems like it is done to promote a certain image.

Has Nora Dunn ever said she was in a relationship with Lorne? He wasn't married at the time so why not? It just seems like something she never bothered to contradict.

I can't prove it but he seems to have gotten a Rose Kennedy grade deal with Satan.

The women were genreally treated poorly, esp. in the early years. Curtin was married and had a relatively normal life during her SNL years; she was far more conservative than the rest of the cast. I doubt that she would have been casting couch material for Michaels.

Taran Killam was an arbitrary firing

Exactly, R95. He seems to have actively disliked her.

He is a very controlling individual and a woman like Curtin who was married, not a druggie and not desperately insecure and deferential would annoy him. To the extent she was an annoyance by asking him to rein in the totally out of control Belushi, whom she once caught going through her purse- that says a lot about him.

R96, I think he got fired because he wanted to do a movie and at the time (pre-pandemic) Lorne didn't like SNLers focusing on outside projects during the season. Especially if Lorne had nothing to do with the outside project.

And that's nuts

There was some hypocrisy on Lorne's part when it came to firing Taran. In the spring of 2016, he was letting Kate McKinnon and Vanessa Bayer off part of the work weeks to Atlanta so they could film scenes for Office Christmas Party. Yet, months later he didn't want to give the Taran time off to film a movie. Years later, he was letting Pete Davidson take off to film movies and allowed Kate time off to film that Joe vs. Carole series.

I thought Slate was actually fired for dating another cast member. Armisen? Maybe I’m misremembering though. Mandela Effect.

Can't remember where I read it, but apparently the afterparty isn't everyone having fun, but a caste system.

Lorne, the guest host, the favored players, and his assistant are in the middle, and the tables around them diminish by "importance" by how far they are from Lorne.

Maybe it was Julia Sweeney who said it.

Michaela Watkins described the after party caste system on a podcast years ago. I think it was Marc Maron's podcast. I can't remember all the details, but she also said something about NBC sending town cars to pick up the cast members and take them to the after party locations. After her first show, she rode in a town car with Jason Sudeikis and later found that featured players had to ride the same car together and repertory players each rode in a town car.

R102 I think it was Abby Elliott who was dating Armisen.

Hasn't there been rumors alleging that Lorne has helped cover up Jimmy Fallon's alleged alcohol issues.

R106, no. Plus, everyone knows about it.

[quote][R102] I think it was Abby Elliott who was dating Armisen.

Thanks R105… that’s who I was thinking of.

Fallon was a choirboy compared to the original Not Ready for Primetime Players.

R106, there was a picture of Lorne and Jimmy at a brewery holding beer but it looks like it is no longer around. Some pictures of the visit here.

Agree with R109. The whole cast in Fallon's era were mostly goody two shoes.

R109 yeah agreed. Wow he drinks whoaaaa stop the presses. Everyone is a choirboy compared to even the “recreational” people back then.

He's the most powerful man in television and has the power to blacklist anyone he want. This doesn't need to be communicated for everyone whose worked for him to know this, my dear autists of DL.

All I know about him is that he produces the most juvenile and consistently poor-quality entertainment on network television, and it offends me that he is as revered and powerful as he is.

Ninety percent (at least) of SNL skits are terrible.

In recent years—particularly as Kate McKinnon was made the star—a huge share of skits relied on 12-year-old humor with the punchlines being farts, diarrhea, menstrual blood, etc. Why not just pay middle schoolers minimum wage to write the scripts?

I tried that

Kate McKinnon is an overrated hack and a lot of impersonations of famous like Dr. Fauci, Rudy Giuliani ,etc came off creepy and annoying instead of funny.

Even the first iteration of SNL back in the 70s was frequently juvenile and stupid, which was fine for stoners or kids and teens whose parents let them stay up late. Gerald Ford falls down a lot. The stupid Samurai shit. Gilda playing an eight-year old. A store that only sells Scotch Tape? SCTV was far superior but it didn’t have the “live” factor that made SNL exciting and unpredictable (especially the musical acts.)

Also, SCTV had no fear of viciously mocking the showbiz community. SNL once had fangs as well. Now when SNL takes on a celebrity, it comes off as an homage. Lorne and company have become kiss-ass capitalists.

R117, I don't think SNL ever had fangs. I believe I remember one time Norm MacDonald saying he expressed the idea saying that SNL was counter-culture and Lorne telling him SNL was a variety show.

I think the rebel image came from individual SNLers. That's wasn't Lorne's vision of the show.

Jane Curtin has said, when the show originally began Lorne made it clear to all of the cast that their primary job was to make the guest host look good

Somehow that got lost along the way

[quote] I believe I remember one time Norm MacDonald saying he expressed the idea saying that SNL was counter-culture and Lorne telling him SNL was a variety show.

That’s ironic, since Lorne described skits he deemed too broad and corny as being “Burnett” (as in Carol) — something to avoid at all costs. Yet the Keenan era is peak Burnett, Kate McKinnon being the Burnettiest of the cast.

Do you remember that odd night after the election when McKinnon opened the show with Hallelujah?

A bit much. Talk about Burnetty.

And fuck Lorne Michaels for looking down his nose at Carol Burnett. She's almost Dolly Parton territory. He's... trying too hard and not hard enough all at once.

The Carol Burnett thing was said over 40 years ago. I'm sure Lorne's thoughts evolved over time. Plus, the early cast members are now senior citizens. Many in the cast today probably have no idea about Carol Burnett.

100% true he holds a grudge and he's cruel about it. Artie Lange once said on the Stern show that Lorne once purposefully fucked with him years after he rejected SNL for Mad TV. During a low point in his career, Lorne called him to his NY office and then made him wait in the lobby for hours. When he finally met with Artie it was for Lorne to tell him it was a shame he'd gone with Mad TV and then tell him he wouldn't make the SNL cast.

I can't stand that Lorne will fire someone for looking at him wrong, but Jost and Che get to keep their jobs after years of being the most unfunny and uninspired head writers ever. (Actually the longest serving Weekend Update hosts!)

You can legit find the same quality jokes in any comments section or social media feed.

[quote] Has Nora Dunn ever said she was in a relationship with Lorne? He wasn't married at the time so why not? It just seems like something she never bothered to contradict.

I don't think she ever admitted to have a past relationship with Lorne. I remember reading some gossip that the reason some cast members didn't side with her during the Andrew Dice Clay host controversy was because they were already annoyed with her relationship with Lorne.

I can understand people admiring him as a businessperson who has made a lot of money selling least-common denominator product.

I suppose I can understand improv actors admiring him for putting improv-type skits on TV and keeping them there for decades and incubating talent.

But SNL is just so, so poorly written and so low-class (in the sense of potty humor and just braindead, childish humor, not economics) that I resent him for that.

And I really don't understand what's behind it other than selling trash product to an American audience that has an appetite for trash, because during election seasons, the political cold-open skits are usually pretty funny to very funny, regardless of who writes them, but then after the opening monologue it's 70 minutes of farting and pooping and snot.

R127, you have to remember that SNL employs newbie writers. It mostly functions as a training ground for the young. So there is going to be a lot of dreck.

Here is an example of how one monologue came together. There are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that don't happen with non-live shows that use experienced staff and that don't bring on random people to host.

Conan O’Brien Got Yelled at by George Steinbrenner at “Saturday Night Live” (2019)

Bob Odenkirk Got Yelled at by Jeremy Irons at “SNL”

Mick Jagger Told John Mulaney He’s Not Funny

When I watch former SNL cast members on other shows, like Seth Meyers, for instance, they are painfully unfunny and yet Seth treats them like royalty. Fred Armisen is a creepy, humorless little homunculus who Seth treats like a god. Chris Kattan was then, and remains today, a fucked up coke addict. Che looks as though he's had it with the show. Aidy Bryant is a good example of someone who was kept on because of her physical dimensions, like Molly currently. I don't know what Kyle Mooney had on Lorne, but he overstayed his welcome by several years. I cringed every time he showed up in a sketch. There was no fucking excuse for someone as loathsome as Pete Davidson. Heidi Gardner is frightenly painful to watch. Every character is the same. The good cast members were exceptional, but in recent years, all have been let down and devalued by the shit writing. And yet, during every commercial break, when they show a glimpse of the next sketch, there's King Lorne, lording over his kingdom. It's ok, his 50 year reign is coming to a close.

I find that the fewer women in a SNL skit, the less funny it is, with some exceptions. Men writing for men has been boring to me on SNL, but the predominantly male writers still don’t always know how to write funny skits with women so there have been fewer skits with women historically (although it has gotten way better since the 70s-early 90s in that regard).

Also, really tired of Che and Jost on Weekend Update. Tina Fey was a lot funnier in this role. When will we see another woman in the Weekend Update role?

No matter what, Lorne loves men best and thinks they should always be at the forefront (and always wants more men in the cast). It shows in the writing and casting.

[quote]]Mick Jagger Told John Mulaney He’s Not Funny

And John Mulaney threated to give him a fat lip and Mick said "too late"

R125 Lorne keeps Jost and Che around because they, like him, have closet Republican tendencies. Just look how he begged Elon Musk to host.

[quote]The stupid Samurai shit.

If John Belushi were around today, those Samurai sketches would have him cancelled in two seconds.

If the show was cut back to an hour would it be better? They wouldn't need to run as many weak sketches and maybe could could cut loose some of the less talented cast members.

I only see clips these days and only when people make a big deal out of it and the writing does seem very weak.

R132, I think Lorne changed his opinions on women after Tina Fey was hired. That brought about a real shift. Tina, Amy, Maya, Rachel. Kristin Wiig and Kate McKinnon were heavily featured as cast members.

"I'm shocked most of the actors now only make $8,000 - $15,000 per episode."

So $176,000 minimum to $330,000 maximum (based on 22 episodes per season) Could carve out a decent life in NYC if not "live large." They're generally young actors able to live an NYC creative life and enjoy the city somewhat beyond work. Plus a chance for exposure via SNL. It really doesn't sound that bad. Plus there's an "off season" when they can make additional money.

Pete Davidson to Host 'SNL' For First Time Since Departure

Davidson returns to 30 Rock on May 6.

Why have so many SNL alums turned into such freaks?

R140, like who?

R139, that's like the kid who just graduated returning to school the next year. Not enough time has gone by. At all.

R142, your post reminds me of this SNL skit:

If you are over 30 and still tuning into SNL on Saturday nights, hoping against hope that it will be as funny as it once was, you need to erase SNL from your radar. Over 30 is not their demographic. You need to pass the torch and pass it fondly. Pass it to that group of kids sitting outside the Quad saying 'Did you see tha---fucking HILARIOUS--I know! And what about Harry Styles Flight Attendant School? lol! lol! lol!" etc.

In the book Live from New York, Terry Sweeney said that Lorne Michaels wasn't homophobic at all, but Chevy Chase said in the writer's room when he hosted in front of everyone, "You're gay, right? Why don't you lick my balls"

And he had an idea for a recurring sketch to weigh Terry on-air every week to see if he had Aids

R145 I don’t even know if he’s necessarily homophobic; he just has absolutely no idea how to read a room. And zero “sensitivity chip” so to speak.

Agree with r146. You think Chase gave enough of a shit about other people’s behavior to be homophobic? Unlikely. He was just telling jokes.

The Sweeney Sisters is the best SNL will ever be

Julia Sweeney is really smart, as you can tell if you've seen any of her one-woman shows.

She was working as an accountant when she was hired at SNL.

Aside from Pat, her humor is far more NPR than SNL. When NPR was pushing Sarah Vowell on us (remember that era? we had sufficient very quickly) I thought it was a shame they didn't have Julia instead.

Some people on this thread have an odd idea of what "homophobic" means.