"SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night" Season 11: The Weird Year

1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 2 00:00:22,455 --> 00:00:25,759 The imagination is a vast universe 3 00:00:25,859 --> 00:00:28,061 of images and ideas, 4 00:00:28,161 --> 00:00:31,364 a mystical realm of infinite variety. 5 00:00:31,464 --> 00:00:34,234 In this wondrous landscape of the mind, 6 00:00:34,334 --> 00:00:38,071 all things are possible until we reach 7 00:00:38,171 --> 00:00:41,775 the Limits of the Imagination. 8 00:00:41,875 --> 00:00:43,243 Imagination... 9 00:00:43,343 --> 00:00:45,378 Beyond the limits of our imagination 10 00:00:45,478 --> 00:00:47,781 lies a dimension where Saturday Night Live 11 00:00:47,881 --> 00:00:49,683 no longer exists. 12 00:00:49,783 --> 00:00:51,284 It's hard to picture, right? 13 00:00:51,384 --> 00:00:56,056 But that's exactly where this story takes place, 1985. 14 00:00:56,156 --> 00:00:58,258 After a decade on the air, 15 00:00:58,358 --> 00:01:01,528 SNL is on the brink of cancelation. 16 00:01:04,931 --> 00:01:07,467 SNL had floundered a bit. 17 00:01:08,101 --> 00:01:10,070 The head of the network was talking about 18 00:01:10,170 --> 00:01:12,272 canceling the show. 19 00:01:12,372 --> 00:01:15,141 As a last resort, NBC turns to the man 20 00:01:15,241 --> 00:01:18,144 who created the show and then left it behind-- 21 00:01:18,244 --> 00:01:21,348 one Lorne Michaels. 22 00:01:21,448 --> 00:01:25,285 If Lorne had not come back, was the show over? It was? 23 00:01:25,385 --> 00:01:28,288 He came back to save his first love. 24 00:01:28,388 --> 00:01:31,157 And so the fate of Saturday Night Live 25 00:01:31,257 --> 00:01:34,094 rests on the shoulders of season 11. 26 00:01:34,194 --> 00:01:36,096 It's a spin of the wheel to see if the show 27 00:01:36,196 --> 00:01:38,331 is going to live or die. 28 00:01:40,367 --> 00:01:42,836 Our prices are insane! 29 00:01:42,936 --> 00:01:43,937 Yeah, that's the ticket. 30 00:01:44,037 --> 00:01:45,705 -Aah! -Acting! 31 00:01:45,805 --> 00:01:49,309 You may be wondering why you've never heard this story before. 32 00:01:49,409 --> 00:01:52,112 Perhaps it has something to do with this. 33 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,983 NBC has asked me to read the following statement 34 00:01:57,083 --> 00:01:59,686 concerning last year's entire season. 35 00:02:01,588 --> 00:02:02,589 Ready? 36 00:02:04,224 --> 00:02:08,161 "It was all a dream, a horrible, horrible dream." 37 00:02:11,264 --> 00:02:13,133 Some might say a nightmare, 38 00:02:13,233 --> 00:02:15,435 but time and reflection 39 00:02:15,535 --> 00:02:19,739 reveal something else entirely, something strange, 40 00:02:19,839 --> 00:02:22,308 something singular. 41 00:02:23,109 --> 00:02:25,779 Something weird. 42 00:02:26,312 --> 00:02:28,882 Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! 43 00:02:36,890 --> 00:02:39,359 I mean, look. I think you can make a solid case 44 00:02:39,459 --> 00:02:42,762 for season 11 being one of the most 45 00:02:42,862 --> 00:02:45,065 important inflection points 46 00:02:45,165 --> 00:02:46,666 in the entire history of SNL. 47 00:02:46,766 --> 00:02:51,137 It occurred at the proverbial fork in the road, right? 48 00:02:51,237 --> 00:02:53,940 It could have been canceled beforehand. 49 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:55,642 You had Lorne's return. 50 00:02:55,742 --> 00:02:58,878 It was so bad that it could have been canceled 51 00:02:58,978 --> 00:03:00,513 after season 11. 52 00:03:00,613 --> 00:03:03,583 I mean, a lot of things come together in season 11. 53 00:03:06,686 --> 00:03:10,623 In show business they say don't ever quit a hit show 54 00:03:10,724 --> 00:03:13,760 because it's very hard to crank it up again 55 00:03:13,860 --> 00:03:17,063 if you have to go back or if you wanna start it again. 56 00:03:17,163 --> 00:03:18,732 It's one of those things... 57 00:03:20,533 --> 00:03:23,370 ...where you can't get into the same river twice. 58 00:03:24,738 --> 00:03:26,840 When Brandon was trying to get me 59 00:03:26,940 --> 00:03:28,375 to come back in 1985... 60 00:03:28,475 --> 00:03:30,377 Hello. I'm Brandon Tartikoff, 61 00:03:30,477 --> 00:03:32,379 president of NBC Entertainment. 62 00:03:32,479 --> 00:03:34,681 ...someone said 63 00:03:34,781 --> 00:03:36,549 you've already done Saturday Night Live. 64 00:03:36,649 --> 00:03:39,452 Somebody who wants to be you does Saturday Night Live. 65 00:03:39,552 --> 00:03:42,155 And I thought, oh. Right, well... 66 00:03:42,255 --> 00:03:45,325 I kind of enjoyed being me. 67 00:03:46,126 --> 00:03:48,862 Back at the helm of the program is Lorne Michaels 68 00:03:48,962 --> 00:03:52,198 the original producer who left the show five years ago 69 00:03:52,298 --> 00:03:54,401 and told the press how he felt. 70 00:03:54,501 --> 00:03:56,703 When I left, I wanted it to die. 71 00:03:58,438 --> 00:04:00,607 Now, Lorne, you know, it was a big gamble 72 00:04:00,707 --> 00:04:04,377 for him to come back, because if it didn't work... 73 00:04:05,145 --> 00:04:07,881 phone's not gonna ring for Lorne Michaels anymore. 74 00:04:07,981 --> 00:04:09,616 So he took a big risk, but... 75 00:04:09,716 --> 00:04:12,886 because he's so smart, he mitigated that risk well. 76 00:04:12,986 --> 00:04:16,122 He put Al Franken and Jim Downey 77 00:04:16,222 --> 00:04:18,591 as the named producers. 78 00:04:19,492 --> 00:04:23,163 Hi. My apologies for the lack of camera presence. 79 00:04:23,863 --> 00:04:26,533 You know, I was more surprised that he wanted to do it 80 00:04:26,633 --> 00:04:29,135 than I was worried about us being set up 81 00:04:29,235 --> 00:04:32,005 for a critical assault. 82 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,975 He asked me and Al Franken and Tom Davis to come out 83 00:04:36,076 --> 00:04:38,845 to the Hamptons to have a meeting with him. 84 00:04:39,446 --> 00:04:44,751 And I was in Lorne's pool, and he said, 85 00:04:44,851 --> 00:04:47,287 "You like working with Laila Nabulsi, right?" 86 00:04:47,387 --> 00:04:49,923 And I said yeah, you know, I love Laila. 87 00:04:50,523 --> 00:04:53,827 Saturday Night Live had been my first showbiz job. 88 00:04:53,927 --> 00:04:57,764 And then I was the president of the Blues Brothers. 89 00:05:00,734 --> 00:05:04,237 And Lorne asked me if I would come and help him find the cast. 90 00:05:04,337 --> 00:05:08,675 What about the three of you, Franken and Davis and Nabulsi, 91 00:05:08,775 --> 00:05:11,644 produce the show and we'll just start all over again. 92 00:05:11,745 --> 00:05:14,347 Yeah, I was thrilled. I was very happy. 93 00:05:14,447 --> 00:05:16,883 I said all right, I'll do it. 94 00:05:16,983 --> 00:05:20,487 I-I didn't know that it'd be such a difficult year. 95 00:05:25,458 --> 00:05:27,694 When they came around to do it again, 96 00:05:27,794 --> 00:05:31,064 it wasn't easy to talk Lorne into it, by the way. 97 00:05:31,164 --> 00:05:34,100 It just wasn't easy, 98 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,970 but he came up with a great idea 99 00:05:37,470 --> 00:05:39,439 once he decided to do it. 100 00:05:40,106 --> 00:05:42,642 I-I remember Lorne was on the phone 101 00:05:42,742 --> 00:05:47,547 and said, "Bernie and I have got some great ideas for the cast. 102 00:05:47,647 --> 00:05:51,484 We should have a gay guy and a Black woman." 103 00:05:51,584 --> 00:05:53,620 Okay, thank you, thank you. 104 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,856 Sounds great, you know? 105 00:05:57,223 --> 00:05:59,959 It was a good choice, Lorne. 106 00:06:00,060 --> 00:06:01,327 It's me, Terry Sweeney. 107 00:06:01,428 --> 00:06:03,963 Oh, my God, I bet you're so happy I'm back. 108 00:06:04,464 --> 00:06:07,100 Lorne was actually visiting out in California 109 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:08,968 looking for talent. 110 00:06:09,069 --> 00:06:11,838 So I sent flowers to him. 111 00:06:11,938 --> 00:06:15,141 I said, so you're looking for talent. 112 00:06:15,241 --> 00:06:17,610 This is your chance. Don't blow it. 113 00:06:18,311 --> 00:06:19,713 By the way, 114 00:06:19,813 --> 00:06:22,615 I'm gonna be openly gay. I'm not gonna hide it. 115 00:06:22,716 --> 00:06:25,518 I was the first person hired for that season. 116 00:06:25,618 --> 00:06:27,554 Starring Terry Sweeney! 117 00:06:27,654 --> 00:06:30,123 He was taking a big risk. 118 00:06:30,824 --> 00:06:33,460 Lorne had already talked to Randy Quaid. 119 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,230 Randy'd been in the Vacation picture. 120 00:06:37,564 --> 00:06:38,965 He was really funny in that. 121 00:06:39,065 --> 00:06:42,635 Bank's been after me like flies on a rib roast. 122 00:06:42,736 --> 00:06:45,171 Well, I thought he's a serious actor. 123 00:06:45,271 --> 00:06:47,774 Randy Quaid for The Last Detail. 124 00:06:47,874 --> 00:06:50,477 But then he said he could play Ronald Reagan too, 125 00:06:50,577 --> 00:06:52,312 and I was like, oh, okay. 126 00:06:52,412 --> 00:06:53,747 Randy Quaid! 127 00:06:53,847 --> 00:06:55,815 I think I had something to prove, 128 00:06:55,915 --> 00:06:58,818 which was that it had more to do with talent than anything. 129 00:06:58,918 --> 00:07:01,054 I tried to find the people that I thought 130 00:07:01,154 --> 00:07:06,559 were the most talented, and I was starting from scratch. 131 00:07:08,228 --> 00:07:10,497 We went to Chicago. 132 00:07:10,597 --> 00:07:12,766 Joan Cusack was the first person we saw. 133 00:07:14,367 --> 00:07:16,403 Tom was smitten immediately. 134 00:07:16,503 --> 00:07:18,438 I'm flattered. 135 00:07:18,538 --> 00:07:21,107 Ooh, this girl's great! 136 00:07:21,207 --> 00:07:23,009 Joan Cusack! 137 00:07:23,476 --> 00:07:25,011 We saw Nora Dunn. 138 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:28,782 I did Pat Stevens in my audition. 139 00:07:28,882 --> 00:07:30,950 There's bad things happening in the world. 140 00:07:31,051 --> 00:07:33,653 That was a character I created in high school. 141 00:07:33,753 --> 00:07:36,322 Racism and wars and terrorism and that kinda thing, 142 00:07:36,423 --> 00:07:39,826 but I still... I love hats. 143 00:07:39,926 --> 00:07:42,829 - Nora Dunn! - I was in Chicago... 144 00:07:45,031 --> 00:07:46,232 Oh! 145 00:07:46,332 --> 00:07:48,134 ...performing with a comedy group 146 00:07:48,234 --> 00:07:49,703 called All You Can Eat. 147 00:07:49,803 --> 00:07:51,871 We're going to liven up the activity a little bit 148 00:07:51,971 --> 00:07:54,741 by adding defense to figure skating. 149 00:07:55,375 --> 00:07:56,976 Franken was really nice. He said, 150 00:07:57,077 --> 00:08:01,181 "You remind me of a... cross between Albert Brooks 151 00:08:01,281 --> 00:08:02,549 and Eugene Levy." 152 00:08:02,649 --> 00:08:05,318 Like, ah. So a Jew. 153 00:08:05,418 --> 00:08:07,687 That's accurate. 154 00:08:07,787 --> 00:08:09,122 I saw some shows in Canada 155 00:08:09,222 --> 00:08:12,659 and brought Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch down. 156 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:15,595 Ready for a story? 157 00:08:15,695 --> 00:08:18,264 I belonged to a Canadian comedy troupe, Kids in the Hall. 158 00:08:18,365 --> 00:08:20,200 Lorne said, "Are you doing anything in October?" 159 00:08:20,300 --> 00:08:23,803 I took him literally and said, "Well, we have shows booked." 160 00:08:27,474 --> 00:08:29,609 We went to Los Angeles. 161 00:08:29,709 --> 00:08:33,313 We saw Lovitz at a Groundlings show. 162 00:08:33,413 --> 00:08:35,515 Nobody was laughing except for Al. 163 00:08:35,615 --> 00:08:37,550 Heh, heh, heh. 164 00:08:37,650 --> 00:08:40,520 And I remember thinking, "Thank God that guy 165 00:08:40,620 --> 00:08:42,589 from Saturday Night Live is laughing." 166 00:08:43,123 --> 00:08:45,692 And we're back. What a game it's going to be! 167 00:08:45,792 --> 00:08:47,761 I'm Vinnie Barber, the voice... 168 00:08:47,861 --> 00:08:50,363 He did this thing where he was a baseball announcer, 169 00:08:50,463 --> 00:08:51,698 then he goes... 170 00:08:51,798 --> 00:08:54,601 Oh! I don't believe it! It's over the roof! 171 00:08:54,701 --> 00:08:57,003 Small moments really capture you, 172 00:08:57,103 --> 00:08:59,072 and you realize somebody's really good on television. 173 00:08:59,172 --> 00:09:02,609 And look at this, a mackerel with a ball in his mouth. 174 00:09:02,709 --> 00:09:04,844 Well, who woulda believed it? 175 00:09:04,944 --> 00:09:07,580 That's apparently what got me the show. 176 00:09:07,681 --> 00:09:09,616 Jon Lovitz! 177 00:09:10,717 --> 00:09:13,453 We had a good run at The Comedy Store. 178 00:09:13,553 --> 00:09:15,755 Dennis Miller was that night. 179 00:09:15,855 --> 00:09:17,957 Reagan's our president again. I think Reagan's a nice man. 180 00:09:18,058 --> 00:09:19,759 Good leader. Getting up there, though. 181 00:09:19,859 --> 00:09:21,795 I said to Lorne, "He'll kill on Update." 182 00:09:21,895 --> 00:09:24,297 When a man gets to be 70 we oughta start voting on him 183 00:09:24,397 --> 00:09:25,565 at the end of each week. 184 00:09:25,665 --> 00:09:27,467 Dennis Miller! 185 00:09:27,567 --> 00:09:30,003 And then Damon Wayans. 186 00:09:30,403 --> 00:09:32,439 Yeah. I got fired. 187 00:09:32,539 --> 00:09:34,874 We gonna talk about it. 188 00:09:34,974 --> 00:09:39,946 I felt like I was born to be on Saturday Night Live, 189 00:09:40,046 --> 00:09:44,150 and so I was not nervous at all for the audition. 190 00:09:45,452 --> 00:09:46,953 We have speed. 191 00:09:47,053 --> 00:09:49,656 I was like, bring it. Let's go. 192 00:09:50,190 --> 00:09:52,492 I had been working on characters-- 193 00:09:52,592 --> 00:09:55,095 -Homey D. Clown. -Good evening, Yaku. 194 00:09:55,195 --> 00:09:56,496 Men on Films. 195 00:09:56,596 --> 00:09:57,931 Let's go out. 196 00:09:58,031 --> 00:10:00,667 -Anton. -How you doin', Mrs. Wayans? 197 00:10:00,767 --> 00:10:03,069 It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. 198 00:10:04,771 --> 00:10:07,807 I laughed so hard, I embarrassed myself. 199 00:10:07,907 --> 00:10:10,043 Featuring Damon Wayans! 200 00:10:12,045 --> 00:10:14,748 We found Danitra working at Bloomingdale's. 201 00:10:14,848 --> 00:10:16,249 Welcome to Bloomingdale's. 202 00:10:16,349 --> 00:10:18,918 Won't you try our new liberated fragrance, Feminist? 203 00:10:19,019 --> 00:10:21,054 She was in the lingerie department. 204 00:10:21,154 --> 00:10:23,623 I'm working here at Bloomie's on account of a work exchange program 205 00:10:23,723 --> 00:10:25,125 with Bellevue Hospital. 206 00:10:25,225 --> 00:10:27,594 I'm living in the Intensive Identity Crisis wing 207 00:10:27,694 --> 00:10:29,095 'cause I can't believe that I'm Black. 208 00:10:29,195 --> 00:10:31,564 I said, "Danitra, you're hired for the show. 209 00:10:31,664 --> 00:10:33,533 You can quit your job." She was like, "No. 210 00:10:33,633 --> 00:10:36,269 I'm not quitting my job." 211 00:10:36,369 --> 00:10:38,171 Danitra Vance! 212 00:10:38,805 --> 00:10:42,208 And then Lorne had the genius idea 213 00:10:42,308 --> 00:10:46,980 to take the cast of the Breakfast... Club 214 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:50,250 and try to do sketch comedy with them. 215 00:10:50,650 --> 00:10:52,352 It's the shits, huh? 216 00:10:52,452 --> 00:10:54,287 I got the call. 217 00:10:54,387 --> 00:10:55,722 I remember just being shocked. 218 00:10:55,822 --> 00:10:58,625 I was gonna be live from New York, you know. 219 00:10:58,725 --> 00:11:00,527 On a show that meant so much to me as a kid 220 00:11:00,627 --> 00:11:02,562 growing up in New York, you know? 221 00:11:02,662 --> 00:11:04,864 I wanted to go younger. 222 00:11:04,964 --> 00:11:08,568 I perhaps went too young, but I wanted to go younger. 223 00:11:08,668 --> 00:11:10,704 Anthony Michael Hall! 224 00:11:10,804 --> 00:11:12,739 And his manager said 225 00:11:12,839 --> 00:11:15,175 you would probably want his best friend. 226 00:11:16,176 --> 00:11:19,779 I went, "Who's his best friend? I'll see him." 227 00:11:21,247 --> 00:11:22,916 How are ya? 228 00:11:23,717 --> 00:11:26,186 Michael Hall said to me, 229 00:11:26,286 --> 00:11:27,854 "I'm gonna go do SNL. 230 00:11:27,954 --> 00:11:29,889 I'm gonna get you an audition. 231 00:11:29,989 --> 00:11:31,891 I bet you're gonna get on the show too." 232 00:11:31,991 --> 00:11:35,195 Still waiting for that bastard to repay a favor 40 years later. 233 00:11:35,295 --> 00:11:37,997 - I was just walking by. - The mic is on Joan. 234 00:11:38,098 --> 00:11:40,333 Come on, Iron Man. You got it in ya. 235 00:11:40,433 --> 00:11:42,936 Does the phrase "chowder" mean anything to you? 236 00:11:43,036 --> 00:11:45,338 Oh, yeah. It says to me "fish." 237 00:11:45,438 --> 00:11:48,575 Excuse me. I see that your boyfriend has showed up. 238 00:11:48,675 --> 00:11:50,510 Well, mm-hmm. 239 00:11:50,610 --> 00:11:52,278 Okay. Hire him. 240 00:12:00,387 --> 00:12:03,490 Live from New York, the press conference 241 00:12:03,590 --> 00:12:04,924 to introduce the new cast members 242 00:12:05,025 --> 00:12:06,693 of Saturday Night Live. 243 00:12:06,793 --> 00:12:09,729 Al Franken. Not a cast member. 244 00:12:09,829 --> 00:12:11,898 Randy Quaid, a cast member. 245 00:12:11,998 --> 00:12:13,900 Michael Hall, a cast member. 246 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:15,835 Robert Downey, a cast member. 247 00:12:15,935 --> 00:12:18,038 - Danitra Vance. - We were the cast 248 00:12:18,138 --> 00:12:20,640 that came back with Lorne Michaels, 249 00:12:20,740 --> 00:12:23,176 and a lot was expected of us. 250 00:12:23,743 --> 00:12:26,346 But Lorne's career was on the line, 251 00:12:26,446 --> 00:12:28,214 'cause he came back. 252 00:12:28,882 --> 00:12:32,152 Hi, there. Thank you for coming. 253 00:12:33,953 --> 00:12:36,723 The stakes were high, but... 254 00:12:36,823 --> 00:12:39,759 I think it started to feel weird 255 00:12:39,859 --> 00:12:41,861 near the beginning. 256 00:12:41,961 --> 00:12:45,965 It was not a cohesive kind of cast feel. 257 00:12:46,066 --> 00:12:48,735 NBC is banking on the chemistry 258 00:12:48,835 --> 00:12:51,871 between Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, 259 00:12:51,971 --> 00:12:53,940 - Robert Downey... - One of the problems 260 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:57,110 is that you have a lotta young people, a young cast. 261 00:12:57,210 --> 00:13:00,213 It's just something I really have always wanted to do, 262 00:13:00,313 --> 00:13:01,548 and, uh... 263 00:13:01,648 --> 00:13:05,118 As a teenager, honestly, I was very nervous, very excited. 264 00:13:05,218 --> 00:13:07,420 I-I've really loved the show for a long time. 265 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:10,857 But I don't know if I felt like I knew how to fit in. 266 00:13:10,957 --> 00:13:12,826 Next thing you know, you're at 30 Rock 267 00:13:12,926 --> 00:13:14,828 with the team and Lorne. 268 00:13:14,928 --> 00:13:16,896 Everyone was a newcomer 269 00:13:16,996 --> 00:13:20,266 and everyone was getting acclimated at the same time. 270 00:13:21,501 --> 00:13:23,370 Once you get to 8H 271 00:13:23,470 --> 00:13:26,573 you feel like, "Ooh, I'm walking in these hallowed halls." 272 00:13:26,673 --> 00:13:28,708 This must be a dream. 273 00:13:28,808 --> 00:13:31,344 But we hadn't worked together before. 274 00:13:32,278 --> 00:13:35,315 And there was no clicking in the beginning. 275 00:13:35,415 --> 00:13:37,384 That was hard. 276 00:13:37,751 --> 00:13:39,319 I knew Eddie Murphy. 277 00:13:39,419 --> 00:13:41,788 I need a couple of bananas. How much are they? 278 00:13:41,888 --> 00:13:43,590 The buffet plate is 12.50... 279 00:13:43,690 --> 00:13:47,093 And Eddie's advice to me was, "Write your own sketches. 280 00:13:47,193 --> 00:13:49,996 Otherwise they gonna give you some Black people shit to do, 281 00:13:50,096 --> 00:13:52,132 and you ain't gonna like it." 282 00:13:52,699 --> 00:13:54,534 Go ahead. Take those bananas. 283 00:13:55,969 --> 00:13:57,337 I remember that first show. 284 00:13:57,437 --> 00:14:00,707 There really was a lot of rehearsal. 285 00:14:00,807 --> 00:14:02,942 We had written quite a lot. 286 00:14:03,043 --> 00:14:04,644 Madonna will host 287 00:14:04,744 --> 00:14:06,379 on the November 9th season premiere. 288 00:14:06,479 --> 00:14:09,416 And Madonna, God bless her, agreed to do the first show, 289 00:14:09,516 --> 00:14:13,853 which gave it the right kind of style and, um... 290 00:14:13,953 --> 00:14:16,056 and we took off. 291 00:14:18,725 --> 00:14:21,728 There are helicopters around 30 Rock that week. 292 00:14:21,828 --> 00:14:23,029 Madonna is a movie star, 293 00:14:23,129 --> 00:14:24,898 a rock video sensation. 294 00:14:24,998 --> 00:14:26,766 The world's most public woman. 295 00:14:26,866 --> 00:14:28,401 - She is Madonna. - Oh! 296 00:14:28,501 --> 00:14:30,804 It was a massive story, It was two things coming together. 297 00:14:30,904 --> 00:14:33,807 - Lorne Michaels returning... - -Lorne Michaels is returning 298 00:14:33,907 --> 00:14:35,108 after a five-year absence. 299 00:14:35,208 --> 00:14:36,643 ...and Madonna had just married Sean Penn. 300 00:14:36,743 --> 00:14:39,846 This was the scene at the Malibu, California home. 301 00:14:39,946 --> 00:14:42,115 Everybody was gonna be looking at the show. 302 00:14:42,215 --> 00:14:44,217 Watch this Saturday when I host the season premiere 303 00:14:44,317 --> 00:14:47,187 of Saturday Night Live. It'll be hot. 304 00:14:47,987 --> 00:14:50,724 It was such an eye-grabbing choice 305 00:14:50,824 --> 00:14:52,225 that people had to watch it. 306 00:14:52,325 --> 00:14:54,260 Hi, everybody. My name is Madonna, 307 00:14:54,361 --> 00:14:56,629 and I'll be your comedy love slave for the evening. 308 00:14:59,232 --> 00:15:02,769 And it was exciting for me. Harder than I'd recalled. 309 00:15:02,869 --> 00:15:04,671 It was, um... 310 00:15:04,771 --> 00:15:07,340 Marika! 311 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,378 I had a sketch on. 312 00:15:11,478 --> 00:15:12,512 I was... 313 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:15,882 just... petrified. 314 00:15:18,952 --> 00:15:22,088 * Talking away, ooh * 315 00:15:22,188 --> 00:15:24,257 * I don't know, oh, what to say * 316 00:15:24,357 --> 00:15:27,327 * I say it anyway... * Come on, everybody. 317 00:15:27,427 --> 00:15:30,964 In retrospect, it doesn't make me laugh very much, but... 318 00:15:31,064 --> 00:15:32,565 I mean, it was goofy. 319 00:15:32,665 --> 00:15:35,268 You just had to go for it. I was doing the salsa. 320 00:15:35,368 --> 00:15:37,704 - We're wearing tights. - I was actually 321 00:15:37,804 --> 00:15:40,106 an extra in it as well. 322 00:15:40,206 --> 00:15:42,709 When I watch the show again 323 00:15:42,809 --> 00:15:44,711 what I'm not hearing is laughs. 324 00:15:47,814 --> 00:15:49,683 * Ay, ay, ay, me! * 325 00:15:49,783 --> 00:15:50,884 Que bueno, sí? 326 00:15:53,953 --> 00:15:55,855 It was very exciting, 327 00:15:55,955 --> 00:15:57,323 but then everything kind of-- 328 00:15:57,424 --> 00:15:59,926 I just knew the sense was that it wasn't good 329 00:16:00,026 --> 00:16:01,594 because it was like a funeral. 330 00:16:01,695 --> 00:16:03,863 It was a lot of dark humor. 331 00:16:03,963 --> 00:16:06,499 National Inquirer Theatre 332 00:16:06,599 --> 00:16:08,702 ended with Marilyn Monroe being murdered. 333 00:16:08,802 --> 00:16:12,172 - It just doesn't make sense. - Sweet dreams, Marilyn. 334 00:16:12,272 --> 00:16:15,675 It was mostly strange, conceptual ideas. 335 00:16:16,476 --> 00:16:18,978 A little too much spice and maybe not enough 336 00:16:19,079 --> 00:16:20,480 bread and butter sketches. 337 00:16:20,580 --> 00:16:23,283 Yes, you're going to Hell 338 00:16:23,383 --> 00:16:26,419 for the life of false values, empty ambition, and raw greed. 339 00:16:26,519 --> 00:16:29,055 We had this idea we would have a spot 340 00:16:29,155 --> 00:16:30,757 for different comedians. 341 00:16:30,857 --> 00:16:34,227 Penn & Teller took that spot. 342 00:16:34,327 --> 00:16:36,863 My name is Penn Jillette. This is my partner Teller. 343 00:16:36,963 --> 00:16:38,998 We are Penn & Teller! 344 00:16:39,532 --> 00:16:42,302 The first thing we did was the water tank. 345 00:16:42,402 --> 00:16:44,337 We didn't know how to do that. 346 00:16:44,437 --> 00:16:47,340 And we didn't even get it right for the show. 347 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:49,676 He has sworn that he will not breathe again 348 00:16:49,776 --> 00:16:53,179 until I find a card selected by a member of this audience. 349 00:16:53,279 --> 00:16:54,748 Lorne never knew this, 350 00:16:54,848 --> 00:16:58,718 but we were very close to the trick not working at all. 351 00:16:58,818 --> 00:17:00,420 I was gonna open that valve, 352 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:02,956 and it would have destroyed Studio 8H. 353 00:17:03,056 --> 00:17:04,758 King of Spades? Where's the damn card? 354 00:17:04,858 --> 00:17:07,660 That would have been the end of our career in show business. 355 00:17:07,761 --> 00:17:12,165 Ladies and gentlemen, Teller, and is that your card? 356 00:17:12,632 --> 00:17:15,502 You feel the nervousness with everybody-- 357 00:17:15,602 --> 00:17:19,172 the producers, the writers, the cast. 358 00:17:19,806 --> 00:17:22,475 Because the show wasn't funny. 359 00:17:22,876 --> 00:17:24,978 We knew. We all knew. 360 00:17:25,078 --> 00:17:27,180 Well, we've come to the end of our show. 361 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:28,615 Show... show... 362 00:17:28,715 --> 00:17:32,052 And I don't think the cast was featured much. 363 00:17:32,152 --> 00:17:34,421 It didn't introduce us. 364 00:17:34,521 --> 00:17:37,123 Thank you for coming! 365 00:17:37,223 --> 00:17:38,858 I don't know why it works this way, 366 00:17:38,958 --> 00:17:42,228 but you can more quickly damage the reputation of the show 367 00:17:42,328 --> 00:17:44,297 than you can rehabilitate it. 368 00:17:45,865 --> 00:17:48,201 Like one bad show can sink you, 369 00:17:48,301 --> 00:17:50,603 and then it takes you almost a full season 370 00:17:50,704 --> 00:17:54,274 for people to go, "You know, it has gotten better." 371 00:17:54,374 --> 00:17:57,210 But I think the critics had a lot to do 372 00:17:57,310 --> 00:17:59,212 with coloring the perception of the show. 373 00:18:04,951 --> 00:18:06,353 Okay. 374 00:18:07,220 --> 00:18:10,023 "Saturday Night Live now a theater of cruelty. 375 00:18:10,123 --> 00:18:12,659 Fold up the tent and let the series die." 376 00:18:15,662 --> 00:18:17,430 "The new Saturday Night Live 377 00:18:17,530 --> 00:18:19,666 is for people who get their kicks..." 378 00:18:23,103 --> 00:18:25,605 "...tearing wings off flies." 379 00:18:27,741 --> 00:18:30,610 Flush it, trash it, kiss it goodbye. 380 00:18:31,277 --> 00:18:33,246 It was Lorne Michael's return 381 00:18:33,346 --> 00:18:35,548 so it had more attention than usual. 382 00:18:36,316 --> 00:18:38,752 "Struggles at the new Saturday Night. 383 00:18:38,852 --> 00:18:40,854 Tasteless and witless." 384 00:18:56,302 --> 00:18:58,204 When I think back on it, 385 00:18:58,304 --> 00:19:00,573 I think that the viewers had some questions. 386 00:19:00,674 --> 00:19:04,344 Why did Lorne leave? Why did he come back? 387 00:19:04,444 --> 00:19:06,479 And where were all their 388 00:19:06,579 --> 00:19:09,382 favorite funny people from the previous season 389 00:19:09,482 --> 00:19:11,718 like Martin Short and Julia Louis-Dreyfus 390 00:19:11,818 --> 00:19:12,852 and Billy Crystal? 391 00:19:12,952 --> 00:19:16,723 How did we get here? 392 00:19:16,823 --> 00:19:20,727 To answer that, we must travel back in time. 393 00:19:21,695 --> 00:19:25,498 So there's two paradigms to casting Saturday Night Live. 394 00:19:25,598 --> 00:19:30,770 One is you go out and you hire basic unknowns, 395 00:19:30,870 --> 00:19:32,505 and you develop them. 396 00:19:32,605 --> 00:19:36,209 The second was what Dick did in season 10. 397 00:19:36,309 --> 00:19:38,978 He put together a Murderers' Row 398 00:19:39,079 --> 00:19:42,115 of people that we knew, 399 00:19:42,215 --> 00:19:44,417 Billy Crystal chief among them. 400 00:19:44,517 --> 00:19:47,721 Ooh. Do I still look marvelous? 401 00:19:48,988 --> 00:19:50,290 Season 10. 402 00:19:50,390 --> 00:19:52,692 Just a thrilling year for me. 403 00:19:52,792 --> 00:19:55,929 We weren't coming to it as young, fresh-faced kids 404 00:19:56,029 --> 00:19:57,597 right out of Second City. 405 00:20:00,333 --> 00:20:02,602 We were older. We were seasoned. 406 00:20:02,702 --> 00:20:05,972 The only drug we did was Maalox. 407 00:20:06,072 --> 00:20:10,110 Officially, it's got, you know, like zero acceptance, you know. 408 00:20:10,210 --> 00:20:12,278 I don't swim. 409 00:20:12,679 --> 00:20:15,181 Marty, and Billy Crystal, of course, 410 00:20:15,281 --> 00:20:18,218 Chris Guest, and Harry Shearer-- 411 00:20:18,318 --> 00:20:19,686 they were all people that, I suppose, 412 00:20:19,786 --> 00:20:21,755 could have been in the original cast. 413 00:20:22,389 --> 00:20:25,291 Which I mean in the best sense. 414 00:20:25,392 --> 00:20:27,460 You know, when you laugh, your little things, 415 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:29,896 they go bumpy bumpy bumpy bumpy bumpy. 416 00:20:29,996 --> 00:20:32,932 Oh! You were marvelous! 417 00:20:34,167 --> 00:20:36,803 And at the end of that season... 418 00:20:36,903 --> 00:20:39,406 This wrap party at Rockefeller Center 419 00:20:39,506 --> 00:20:42,108 celebrates not just the end of a season's work. 420 00:20:42,208 --> 00:20:45,245 It also celebrates a ratings upswing. 421 00:20:45,345 --> 00:20:47,280 ...Brandon Tartikoff calls me 422 00:20:47,380 --> 00:20:50,650 and asks if I would become the permanent host, 423 00:20:50,750 --> 00:20:52,752 but it would be only on once a month. 424 00:20:52,852 --> 00:20:56,022 Would you be interested? I said, let me call everybody 425 00:20:56,122 --> 00:20:57,290 and make sure. 426 00:20:57,390 --> 00:20:59,859 And then he never called me back. 427 00:21:00,260 --> 00:21:02,262 And so what happened was in the interim, 428 00:21:02,362 --> 00:21:03,863 Dick left, 429 00:21:04,264 --> 00:21:05,732 and Lorne came back 430 00:21:05,832 --> 00:21:08,902 and wanted to reinvent the show with a whole new cast, 431 00:21:09,002 --> 00:21:13,440 wanted to start from scratch, didn't want anybody back. 432 00:21:13,540 --> 00:21:15,241 Good night, everybody. 433 00:21:15,342 --> 00:21:17,844 My year was done, you know. 434 00:21:17,944 --> 00:21:19,579 That was it. 435 00:21:20,714 --> 00:21:23,149 The show is about people at the beginnings 436 00:21:23,249 --> 00:21:24,517 of their careers. 437 00:21:24,617 --> 00:21:27,253 The Baby Boom Generation had dominated the show 438 00:21:27,354 --> 00:21:30,690 for ten years, so I decided to clean house. 439 00:21:32,592 --> 00:21:35,362 But I don't think that the audience understood 440 00:21:35,462 --> 00:21:37,230 why they were seeing all these new faces, 441 00:21:37,330 --> 00:21:39,866 just a complete wholesale changeover. 442 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:44,104 And so you take this group of people, 443 00:21:44,204 --> 00:21:45,772 the cast and the writers, 444 00:21:45,872 --> 00:21:48,608 who've just been through the dark side 445 00:21:48,708 --> 00:21:51,845 in episode one with Madonna... 446 00:21:51,945 --> 00:21:55,582 they're looking for love, enlightenment, 447 00:21:55,682 --> 00:21:59,619 some great material so they can say, "Okay, we're back." 448 00:21:59,719 --> 00:22:01,788 Ladies and gentlemen, 449 00:22:01,888 --> 00:22:03,890 Chevy Chase! 450 00:22:05,492 --> 00:22:08,995 He will help us. He's the godsend. 451 00:22:09,095 --> 00:22:10,263 Thank you very much. 452 00:22:13,533 --> 00:22:16,536 You know that expression "Never meet your idols"? 453 00:22:16,636 --> 00:22:18,805 So, Mr. Chase, the cast wanted me to ask you 454 00:22:18,905 --> 00:22:21,775 if you could give us any advice, something that would help us. 455 00:22:21,875 --> 00:22:24,044 Chevy was kinda mean to us. 456 00:22:24,144 --> 00:22:25,612 Certainly. Uh... 457 00:22:25,712 --> 00:22:29,949 when you're having a barbecue, never pour the charcoal fluid 458 00:22:30,050 --> 00:22:31,418 right on the charcoals. 459 00:22:31,518 --> 00:22:33,687 Wait till, you know, then light the charcoals. 460 00:22:33,787 --> 00:22:35,355 -'Cause it'll go boom. -Yeah. 461 00:22:35,455 --> 00:22:37,390 And he would say, "Well, 462 00:22:37,490 --> 00:22:39,959 it'll never be what it was in the beginning." 463 00:22:40,060 --> 00:22:42,696 -Can I ask one more question? -I'm afraid I don't have time. 464 00:22:42,796 --> 00:22:45,131 -Thanks, Marge. Use an ointment. -Oh! 465 00:22:45,231 --> 00:22:47,133 And good for you. Yeah. Okay. 466 00:22:47,734 --> 00:22:50,537 After the debacle of the Madonna episode, 467 00:22:50,637 --> 00:22:54,407 it turns out to be just as bad, if not worse. 468 00:22:58,712 --> 00:23:00,714 The old ways failed, 469 00:23:00,814 --> 00:23:04,718 but new signs of hope emerged with a twist of the truth. 470 00:23:04,818 --> 00:23:06,653 The following 471 00:23:06,753 --> 00:23:08,388 is a public service message 472 00:23:08,488 --> 00:23:11,291 from Pathological Liars Anonymous. 473 00:23:11,391 --> 00:23:13,526 Hello. My name is Tommy Flanagan, 474 00:23:13,626 --> 00:23:17,063 and I'm a member of Pathological Liars Anonymous. 475 00:23:17,163 --> 00:23:18,665 In fact, I'm a... 476 00:23:18,765 --> 00:23:20,767 I'm the president of that organization. 477 00:23:20,867 --> 00:23:23,036 I did my liar character the second show. 478 00:23:23,136 --> 00:23:25,772 You'd be surprised how many famous people belong. 479 00:23:25,872 --> 00:23:30,677 In fact, at one of the meetings I met my wife, Morgan Fairchild. 480 00:23:33,313 --> 00:23:34,514 Yeah, that's the ticket! 481 00:23:34,614 --> 00:23:35,915 I didn't know what to do with the character 482 00:23:36,016 --> 00:23:37,951 after the first time, didn't have a clue. 483 00:23:38,051 --> 00:23:41,154 So Lorne said, you should write it with A. Whitney Brown. 484 00:23:41,254 --> 00:23:42,322 What did he say? 485 00:23:42,422 --> 00:23:44,290 Oh, Whitney. Jesus! 486 00:23:44,391 --> 00:23:45,692 He let himself go. 487 00:23:45,792 --> 00:23:49,396 - Gimme a big hug. - -Thank God you showed up. 488 00:23:49,496 --> 00:23:51,164 Now I have to mention you. 489 00:23:51,264 --> 00:23:52,932 I mean, Lovitz, 490 00:23:53,033 --> 00:23:54,768 he is a ham. 491 00:23:54,868 --> 00:23:59,339 And that opens up so many great possibilities for writing. 492 00:23:59,439 --> 00:24:02,008 Yeah, that's the ticket. 493 00:24:03,643 --> 00:24:05,945 Whitney said, why don't we make the lies 494 00:24:06,046 --> 00:24:07,681 just ridiculous? 495 00:24:07,781 --> 00:24:09,049 What are ya in for? 496 00:24:09,149 --> 00:24:11,685 I used to rob five banks a day six days a week. 497 00:24:11,785 --> 00:24:14,754 My day off, I was a pickpocket. Yeah, that's the ticket. 498 00:24:14,854 --> 00:24:16,890 Within that format, you can do almost anything. 499 00:24:16,990 --> 00:24:19,859 Well, I went to Rome, you see, to convert the Pope, 500 00:24:19,959 --> 00:24:23,897 and, uh, I was kidnapped by, uh, by, uh... 501 00:24:23,997 --> 00:24:26,933 -Hare Krishnas! -Yeah, Hare Krishnas. Yeah. 502 00:24:27,033 --> 00:24:30,003 You know, the whole country was imitating my character, 503 00:24:30,103 --> 00:24:31,071 like everybody. 504 00:24:31,171 --> 00:24:32,772 That's the ticket! 505 00:24:32,872 --> 00:24:35,542 The biggest catchphrase... Yeah, that's the ticket. 506 00:24:35,642 --> 00:24:37,377 ...that came out of the show, I think, ever. 507 00:24:37,477 --> 00:24:39,245 You know, I built this studio. 508 00:24:39,346 --> 00:24:41,348 My name is Tommy Flanagan. 509 00:24:41,448 --> 00:24:42,782 The Tommy Flanagan? 510 00:24:42,882 --> 00:24:44,784 People were starting to come up on the street, 511 00:24:44,884 --> 00:24:46,086 and say, "My wife, Morgan Fairchild." 512 00:24:46,186 --> 00:24:48,521 How do you like that? My wife paid my bail. 513 00:24:48,621 --> 00:24:50,690 Yeah, my wife, Morgan Fairchild. 514 00:24:51,725 --> 00:24:54,361 Yeah, that's the ticket. 515 00:24:54,461 --> 00:24:56,129 He was like the hero. 516 00:24:56,229 --> 00:24:59,499 And like me and Robert Downey'd be like... what the-- 517 00:24:59,599 --> 00:25:02,569 This liar character again. What's going on? 518 00:25:04,304 --> 00:25:07,273 When someone starts to really shine, like Lovitz, 519 00:25:07,374 --> 00:25:09,876 we had to keep using him. 520 00:25:09,976 --> 00:25:12,045 But you're not introducing new actors. 521 00:25:12,145 --> 00:25:14,681 You're not introducing your new players, so... 522 00:25:14,781 --> 00:25:17,584 -What are you doing, Dan? -What does it look like? 523 00:25:17,684 --> 00:25:19,853 I can't take it anymore. 524 00:25:19,953 --> 00:25:22,389 I was always getting on top of the writers-- 525 00:25:22,489 --> 00:25:26,126 you have to get to know these guys and showcase them more. 526 00:25:27,660 --> 00:25:29,763 But the relationship between the writing staff 527 00:25:29,863 --> 00:25:32,065 and the cast was the issue. 528 00:25:33,967 --> 00:25:36,202 I have some memories of it being difficult, I think, 529 00:25:36,302 --> 00:25:39,639 for the writers to figure out how to write for this kid. 530 00:25:39,739 --> 00:25:42,042 I think it was a big challenge. 531 00:25:42,142 --> 00:25:43,209 Really? 532 00:25:43,309 --> 00:25:44,511 Sorry. 533 00:25:44,611 --> 00:25:46,713 I mean, okay. 534 00:25:46,813 --> 00:25:49,115 I could feel something was wrong, 535 00:25:49,215 --> 00:25:52,786 and that's why I was like, hey, give me the ball. 536 00:25:52,886 --> 00:25:55,488 I know what this needs, but... 537 00:25:55,588 --> 00:25:57,123 they would shoot my ideas down. 538 00:25:57,223 --> 00:25:59,092 Could you wrap this present for me, please? 539 00:25:59,192 --> 00:26:03,096 I brought Al Franken a sketch called "The Gifted Wrapper." 540 00:26:03,196 --> 00:26:05,865 * I'm the gifted wrapper and this is what I do * 541 00:26:05,965 --> 00:26:07,901 * I wrap your package while I rhyme to you... * 542 00:26:08,001 --> 00:26:10,637 And he read the sketch and was like, 543 00:26:10,737 --> 00:26:15,075 "Mm. I-- Mm. I just don't get the rap thing." 544 00:26:15,175 --> 00:26:18,445 I was like, yeah, but 50 million other people do. 545 00:26:18,545 --> 00:26:20,513 * Yeah, ha-ha-ha * 546 00:26:20,613 --> 00:26:22,248 -* Ha-ha-ha-ha * -I had a real thing 547 00:26:22,349 --> 00:26:24,951 about the writers, 'cause I didn't go to college. 548 00:26:25,051 --> 00:26:28,221 How's a guy from Harvard gonna write for me? 549 00:26:28,321 --> 00:26:29,723 Mm, ah... 550 00:26:29,823 --> 00:26:32,325 But I never had trouble writing my own material. 551 00:26:33,827 --> 00:26:36,129 You know, Mr. Minster, it's, uh, ironic 552 00:26:36,229 --> 00:26:38,398 that you're here today because Chaka Khan 553 00:26:38,498 --> 00:26:39,933 will be here tomorrow. 554 00:26:42,035 --> 00:26:44,004 Nora did write for herself. 555 00:26:44,104 --> 00:26:46,940 Nora created the Pat Stevens character, which was hilarious. 556 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:48,975 Muslims denounce the names we had 557 00:26:49,075 --> 00:26:51,911 because they were branded on us by the white slavemaster 558 00:26:52,012 --> 00:26:54,547 such as Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, 559 00:26:54,647 --> 00:26:58,351 -Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. -Mr. T? 560 00:26:58,852 --> 00:27:00,353 No, I know exactly what you mean, 561 00:27:00,453 --> 00:27:04,157 because some people call me Patty and it drives me bananas. 562 00:27:04,257 --> 00:27:05,358 Um... 563 00:27:06,693 --> 00:27:08,628 I had written my material, 564 00:27:08,728 --> 00:27:10,864 but we didn't have just comedians on there. 565 00:27:10,964 --> 00:27:13,967 We had actors, people that I recognized from film. 566 00:27:14,067 --> 00:27:18,104 They needed a script. They needed a character. 567 00:27:18,972 --> 00:27:21,875 That's just not what Saturday Night Live is. 568 00:27:23,109 --> 00:27:27,947 My first hosting job for SNL 569 00:27:28,048 --> 00:27:30,750 in only like the fourth episode 570 00:27:30,850 --> 00:27:34,020 of this brand-new company... 571 00:27:34,688 --> 00:27:37,090 I-I remember having the feeling 572 00:27:37,190 --> 00:27:40,060 that everybody was trying out their own material. 573 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:42,362 Basically, it's a career move. 574 00:27:42,462 --> 00:27:43,997 It's finally my chance to prove 575 00:27:44,097 --> 00:27:47,167 that I'm more than just another teen actor, Rat Pat Dougie. 576 00:27:47,267 --> 00:27:50,437 They were trying to make their own identify 577 00:27:50,537 --> 00:27:52,939 rather than the identity of SNL. 578 00:27:53,039 --> 00:27:56,009 I think that was the whole problem. 579 00:27:57,711 --> 00:27:59,746 But I do remember 580 00:27:59,846 --> 00:28:02,148 doing Master Thespian with Jon Lovitz. 581 00:28:02,248 --> 00:28:05,719 I'm awaiting the arrival of my mentor and acting teacher... 582 00:28:05,819 --> 00:28:07,320 We gelled beautifully. 583 00:28:07,420 --> 00:28:10,457 Oh, Your Majesty, I am honored by your presence. 584 00:28:10,557 --> 00:28:11,791 Thank you! 585 00:28:11,891 --> 00:28:14,094 We did the whole "acting" thing. 586 00:28:14,194 --> 00:28:17,497 I mean, people are still yelling that phrase at me. 587 00:28:17,597 --> 00:28:19,632 Acting! 588 00:28:19,733 --> 00:28:21,601 Acting! 589 00:28:21,701 --> 00:28:24,037 There was this feeling-- "Oh, yeah! 590 00:28:24,137 --> 00:28:28,575 Thank God we got a sure thing at last with Lovitz." 591 00:28:29,476 --> 00:28:32,879 Lovitz was the breakout, but Dennis did great. 592 00:28:32,979 --> 00:28:34,814 -Thank you. -These little points of light 593 00:28:34,914 --> 00:28:36,282 started to emerge. 594 00:28:36,383 --> 00:28:38,284 Dennis Miller started to, like, cement... 595 00:28:38,385 --> 00:28:40,820 President Reagan has ordered lie detector tests 596 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:42,188 for all government employees 597 00:28:42,288 --> 00:28:44,724 with access to top secret information. 598 00:28:44,824 --> 00:28:46,659 Pretty much the most tart and cynical 599 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:49,095 of their political commentators ever. 600 00:28:49,195 --> 00:28:51,031 Reagan answered, "I don't know," to all 15, 601 00:28:51,131 --> 00:28:53,566 and a machine said he was telling the truth. 602 00:28:54,567 --> 00:28:57,537 Weekend Update was this little island of success 603 00:28:57,637 --> 00:28:59,139 all the way through. 604 00:28:59,239 --> 00:29:00,907 I'm gonna have to take a look-see. 605 00:29:01,007 --> 00:29:02,842 I remember the John Lithgow show 606 00:29:02,942 --> 00:29:04,377 being very strong. 607 00:29:04,477 --> 00:29:07,013 It puts other problems in perspective when something 608 00:29:07,113 --> 00:29:09,549 like this happens. Makes you kinda wanna... 609 00:29:09,649 --> 00:29:13,653 Partly because John Lithgow was a really great live performer. 610 00:29:13,753 --> 00:29:16,122 - Ooh! - I've got it. 611 00:29:16,222 --> 00:29:19,059 -Oh-- uhh-- -My God, that's the biggest bug 612 00:29:19,159 --> 00:29:22,862 -I've ever seen! -Look at the size of that thing! 613 00:29:22,962 --> 00:29:25,365 But they're digging themselves 614 00:29:25,465 --> 00:29:29,369 out of a really, really big hole from the first two weeks. 615 00:29:35,075 --> 00:29:38,011 The season was approaching a tipping point, 616 00:29:38,111 --> 00:29:40,647 but nothing turns around a bad week quicker 617 00:29:40,747 --> 00:29:42,148 than a good host. 618 00:29:42,248 --> 00:29:44,784 Just ask anyone who was there for the next episode. 619 00:29:47,487 --> 00:29:49,155 Any questions? 620 00:29:49,255 --> 00:29:51,624 I don't know how many times I've done the show, 621 00:29:51,725 --> 00:29:53,026 but it's still-- 622 00:29:53,126 --> 00:29:55,862 How many times? Have I done ten? That's ten hosts? 623 00:29:55,962 --> 00:29:57,897 -Yeah. -Ten hostings, yeah. Okay. 624 00:29:57,997 --> 00:30:00,166 That's a big deal, man. That's a big deal. 625 00:30:00,266 --> 00:30:02,402 Four, three, 626 00:30:02,502 --> 00:30:04,871 two, one... 627 00:30:04,971 --> 00:30:07,741 You don't get to ten unless you have one. 628 00:30:07,841 --> 00:30:09,676 * Joy to the world * 629 00:30:09,776 --> 00:30:11,745 * The Lord is come * 630 00:30:11,845 --> 00:30:14,581 They lit the Rockefeller Center 631 00:30:14,681 --> 00:30:17,817 Christmas tree that Monday. 632 00:30:17,917 --> 00:30:19,719 * Prepare him room... * 633 00:30:19,819 --> 00:30:21,888 And I'm on SNL for the first time. 634 00:30:21,988 --> 00:30:24,324 It is the single most 635 00:30:24,424 --> 00:30:27,527 exciting thing that has happened in my career. 636 00:30:29,029 --> 00:30:31,264 You meet everybody on Monday. 637 00:30:31,364 --> 00:30:35,435 They write all Monday night and all Tuesday night. 638 00:30:35,535 --> 00:30:39,305 And I had never been in a writer's room. 639 00:30:40,173 --> 00:30:42,375 There was no way you were gonna tear me outta there. 640 00:30:42,475 --> 00:30:45,278 It was too-- I had tickets to the inner sanctum. 641 00:30:46,046 --> 00:30:48,782 Tom Hanks sat in to write a little bit. 642 00:30:48,882 --> 00:30:51,551 I'd never had a host before sit in. 643 00:30:52,619 --> 00:30:54,154 Today's my first day. 644 00:30:54,754 --> 00:30:56,156 I know. 645 00:30:57,424 --> 00:31:00,293 Al and I had written this sketch called "Quirky." 646 00:31:00,393 --> 00:31:02,929 -Oh, "Quirky." -We had had it at readthrough 647 00:31:03,029 --> 00:31:05,031 three or four times before Tom Hanks. 648 00:31:05,131 --> 00:31:07,334 To this day, when I see Al Franken, 649 00:31:07,434 --> 00:31:10,937 I always go, "Do you think this week we'll get 'Quirky' on?" 650 00:31:11,037 --> 00:31:14,307 And then Tom Hanks read "Quirky." 651 00:31:15,375 --> 00:31:16,376 Oh. 652 00:31:16,476 --> 00:31:19,579 You could tell right away that he was made for this-- 653 00:31:19,679 --> 00:31:21,014 made for this job. 654 00:31:21,114 --> 00:31:23,316 Ladies and gentlemen, 655 00:31:23,416 --> 00:31:25,618 Tom Hanks! 656 00:31:30,323 --> 00:31:32,759 The cliché of saying it was a dream come true 657 00:31:32,859 --> 00:31:34,160 doesn't do it justice. 658 00:31:34,260 --> 00:31:36,963 It's a fantasy made real. 659 00:31:37,063 --> 00:31:39,065 Every Saturday night, I'd watch the show 660 00:31:39,165 --> 00:31:43,136 and I'd sit there and think, someday. 661 00:31:43,236 --> 00:31:47,374 Someday I'm gonna watch the show on my own TV. 662 00:31:49,376 --> 00:31:52,679 I was amazed because everything got laughs. 663 00:31:52,779 --> 00:31:56,282 On this edition of Entertainment Tonight. 664 00:31:59,486 --> 00:32:02,288 Al and Tom, they said can you do that thing? 665 00:32:02,389 --> 00:32:04,557 Can you make the sound of Entertainment Tonight? 666 00:32:04,657 --> 00:32:07,727 "You mean like boo-boo-boo?" "Yeah, do that, do that." 667 00:32:07,827 --> 00:32:11,331 ...died today at the old washed up actors' home in Van Nuys. 668 00:32:11,431 --> 00:32:12,999 Boo-boo. 669 00:32:13,500 --> 00:32:15,402 Tom Hanks's first time hosting, 670 00:32:15,502 --> 00:32:17,437 I'd written a piece about two fishermen 671 00:32:17,537 --> 00:32:19,973 talking about how they love and hate the sea. 672 00:32:20,740 --> 00:32:23,410 I hope that today our catch will be good. 673 00:32:23,510 --> 00:32:26,112 At some point, Randy's mustache gets wet... 674 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,182 Oh, you... 675 00:32:29,282 --> 00:32:32,218 And for the first time, my sketch gets laughs. 676 00:32:32,318 --> 00:32:37,190 ...when I hear the sea laughing at us! 677 00:32:41,928 --> 00:32:43,797 So, "Quirky." 678 00:32:43,897 --> 00:32:46,299 A married couple go out to dinner 679 00:32:46,399 --> 00:32:48,501 and they talk about how close they are. 680 00:32:48,601 --> 00:32:51,204 I don't think that there is anything 681 00:32:51,304 --> 00:32:53,606 in your innermost thoughts that could surprise me 682 00:32:53,707 --> 00:32:56,876 or shock me because we know each other so well. 683 00:32:56,976 --> 00:32:59,312 Well, here's something. 684 00:33:00,113 --> 00:33:02,082 "You know, sometimes I have this fantasy..." 685 00:33:02,182 --> 00:33:04,284 ...that you die. 686 00:33:05,218 --> 00:33:10,090 Just has it very... detailed, worked out. 687 00:33:10,190 --> 00:33:12,525 The only solution, of course, is one of those 688 00:33:12,625 --> 00:33:16,629 18 or 19-year-old au pair girls from Sweden or Germany. 689 00:33:19,299 --> 00:33:21,935 -Does she cook? -Oh, sure, great cook. 690 00:33:22,035 --> 00:33:23,436 Oh. What does she cook? 691 00:33:23,536 --> 00:33:26,072 Uh, it's spaetzle, this noodle dumpling kind of thing. 692 00:33:26,172 --> 00:33:28,041 The kids love it. You should see 'em-- 693 00:33:28,141 --> 00:33:30,043 "More spaetzle, more spaetzle." 694 00:33:30,143 --> 00:33:31,711 "More spaetzle, more spaetzle." 695 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,082 - My sister? - That's the magic elixir 696 00:33:36,182 --> 00:33:38,985 everybody hopes for. 697 00:33:39,085 --> 00:33:41,187 Here's your steak knife, sir. 698 00:33:41,287 --> 00:33:43,556 -Aah! -Aah! I stabbed her! 699 00:33:43,656 --> 00:33:46,493 Lorne Michaels said, "Pretty good show Saturday. 700 00:33:46,593 --> 00:33:49,295 Pretty good show. Good efforts, everybody. 701 00:33:49,396 --> 00:33:51,898 Any ideas for this week? Anybody? Anybody?" 702 00:33:51,998 --> 00:33:53,199 Good night, everybody! 703 00:33:53,299 --> 00:33:55,335 Thanks! 704 00:33:55,435 --> 00:33:57,404 The fact that they just put their head down 705 00:33:57,504 --> 00:34:00,273 and plowed through it was actually a life lesson for me. 706 00:34:00,373 --> 00:34:02,409 Don't read the bad reviews, 707 00:34:02,509 --> 00:34:05,712 'cause someone out there is just gonna hate your guts. 708 00:34:09,916 --> 00:34:11,584 We needed time to gel, 709 00:34:11,685 --> 00:34:15,321 find our strengths and find our voice. 710 00:34:16,156 --> 00:34:19,192 But I'll tell you something about 8H. 711 00:34:19,292 --> 00:34:21,528 Lorne always protected us 712 00:34:21,628 --> 00:34:24,831 and really supported the performers. 713 00:34:25,498 --> 00:34:29,069 It was such a big deal that Terry Sweeney was cast 714 00:34:29,169 --> 00:34:32,038 as the first openly gay cast member 715 00:34:32,138 --> 00:34:34,074 I would say, not only of SNL 716 00:34:34,174 --> 00:34:36,409 but, like, in TV. 717 00:34:36,509 --> 00:34:39,779 And I feel like he doesn't get the credit that he deserves 718 00:34:39,879 --> 00:34:43,817 for really being the first and breaking that mold. 719 00:34:43,917 --> 00:34:45,251 That was a big deal 720 00:34:45,352 --> 00:34:49,022 in a very closeted Reagan-era world. 721 00:34:49,122 --> 00:34:50,824 -Now gimme a baby! -Miss, I'm gay! 722 00:34:50,924 --> 00:34:55,662 A homosexual, a screaming nance, a screaming queen, a mince. 723 00:34:55,762 --> 00:34:56,696 Oh, lady, please! 724 00:34:56,796 --> 00:34:59,966 -What are you trying to say? -I'm a fag, lady. 725 00:35:00,066 --> 00:35:01,501 Fag with a capital F! 726 00:35:01,601 --> 00:35:03,470 I remember telling a friend of mine 727 00:35:03,570 --> 00:35:06,439 I got SNL and I'm gonna be openly gay about it 728 00:35:06,539 --> 00:35:08,475 and he goes, "Wow, you're so brave. 729 00:35:08,575 --> 00:35:12,012 I could never throw my career away like that." 730 00:35:14,581 --> 00:35:19,352 In 1985, there were thousands of people dying of AIDS. 731 00:35:19,452 --> 00:35:22,222 If you were gay, you were in your own horror movie. 732 00:35:22,322 --> 00:35:24,457 And now, in 1985, Hollywood again 733 00:35:24,557 --> 00:35:26,960 is gripped by paranoia, this time provoked 734 00:35:27,060 --> 00:35:29,095 by the tragic AIDS outbreak. 735 00:35:29,195 --> 00:35:30,764 So pinklisting, we took it on. 736 00:35:33,266 --> 00:35:36,136 -Okay, rolling. Speed. -Sound. 737 00:35:36,236 --> 00:35:38,405 Angel, I want you to know, 738 00:35:38,505 --> 00:35:40,340 I'm not just doing this for the money. 739 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,743 Oh! Oh, oh! 740 00:35:43,843 --> 00:35:45,578 Wait a minute. 741 00:35:45,679 --> 00:35:47,380 You're gay! 742 00:35:48,581 --> 00:35:51,317 Yes, I'm gay. And now you all know. 743 00:35:51,418 --> 00:35:53,586 The bravest thing we could do 744 00:35:53,687 --> 00:35:57,057 was to go straight in to go, "There's AIDS. 745 00:35:57,157 --> 00:35:59,726 People are hiding about being gay. 746 00:35:59,826 --> 00:36:01,327 People are dying. 747 00:36:01,428 --> 00:36:04,631 -This exists." -I admire your guts. 748 00:36:04,731 --> 00:36:07,734 And I think you should know that I'm gay too. 749 00:36:07,834 --> 00:36:09,169 -So am I. -Me too. 750 00:36:13,106 --> 00:36:16,409 Living out this little charade, you know, was not our choice. 751 00:36:16,509 --> 00:36:18,244 It was a matter of survival. 752 00:36:18,345 --> 00:36:20,213 I suppose you wouldn't know about that. 753 00:36:20,313 --> 00:36:21,948 I got letters from people who said, 754 00:36:22,048 --> 00:36:26,086 "I'm here with my parents who are laughing at the show 755 00:36:26,186 --> 00:36:28,788 and they don't know I'm gay." 756 00:36:29,622 --> 00:36:34,527 And, um, "I saw another gay person on television. 757 00:36:34,894 --> 00:36:36,663 That changed my life." 758 00:36:47,774 --> 00:36:49,909 "The weird year" is the polite way to put it. 759 00:36:50,010 --> 00:36:52,812 Most people say to me it was "the bad year" 760 00:36:52,912 --> 00:36:54,280 that we were on. 761 00:36:55,048 --> 00:36:57,684 It was a whole new thing. Lorne was coming back in 762 00:36:57,784 --> 00:37:00,653 after the dark years of someone else. 763 00:37:00,754 --> 00:37:02,822 He was just exploding with ideas. 764 00:37:02,922 --> 00:37:06,259 I remember we didn't think we belonged there. 765 00:37:06,359 --> 00:37:09,129 We were just weird, weird guys 766 00:37:09,229 --> 00:37:11,598 who did this weird little show 767 00:37:11,698 --> 00:37:14,000 that we really, really liked. 768 00:37:15,769 --> 00:37:18,438 And then, because of Lorne Michaels, 769 00:37:18,538 --> 00:37:21,007 Saturday Night Live changed everything. 770 00:37:21,107 --> 00:37:24,210 One card, no threads, no wires. 771 00:37:24,310 --> 00:37:27,013 It rises right out of the frame. 772 00:37:28,114 --> 00:37:30,617 The upside down bit is probably 773 00:37:30,717 --> 00:37:32,352 the best TV bit we ever did. 774 00:37:32,452 --> 00:37:34,721 - Are we live? - Yeah! 775 00:37:34,821 --> 00:37:37,190 First of all, it completely fucked us up. 776 00:37:37,290 --> 00:37:39,259 We were upside down in the rehearsal 777 00:37:39,359 --> 00:37:41,027 for an hour and a half. 778 00:37:41,127 --> 00:37:42,829 All the veins in our face broke. 779 00:37:42,929 --> 00:37:46,132 We had a ton of makeup on to make us look okay. 780 00:37:46,232 --> 00:37:47,534 I think we've shown that 781 00:37:47,634 --> 00:37:49,402 Penn & Teller don't need gimmicks. 782 00:37:49,502 --> 00:37:51,471 We don't need punchlines. 783 00:37:51,571 --> 00:37:54,474 We are, indeed, the best magicians working today. 784 00:37:54,574 --> 00:37:56,543 We are Penn & Teller, 785 00:37:56,643 --> 00:37:58,545 no longer comedy magicians, 786 00:37:58,645 --> 00:38:01,147 but, rather, real magicians. 787 00:38:04,951 --> 00:38:08,288 I remember Lorne Michaels saying to us, 788 00:38:08,388 --> 00:38:10,790 "You can write a seven. 789 00:38:10,890 --> 00:38:14,994 You can push your way through to an eight or nine. 790 00:38:15,095 --> 00:38:19,699 But you don't get a ten unless there's a lot of luck involved." 791 00:38:21,668 --> 00:38:25,638 That's the only ten we've ever had on the show. 792 00:38:30,710 --> 00:38:33,013 That 11th year was probably the biggest risk 793 00:38:33,113 --> 00:38:37,350 where the division between what worked and what did not work-- 794 00:38:37,450 --> 00:38:39,052 ooh, that was painfully obvious. 795 00:38:41,421 --> 00:38:45,692 We learned that stuff, even if it looks promising, doesn't always fly. 796 00:38:45,792 --> 00:38:48,995 It's a little bit like those old films of airplanes 797 00:38:49,095 --> 00:38:51,664 before the Wright Brothers trying to take off and you go, 798 00:38:51,765 --> 00:38:53,333 "Hey, that one looks pretty good." 799 00:38:53,433 --> 00:38:54,968 It's flapping along, then, 800 00:38:55,068 --> 00:38:56,736 oh, the wings broke off. 801 00:38:57,704 --> 00:39:01,141 If it didn't pop, that was running a risk 802 00:39:01,241 --> 00:39:03,410 that the critics would say 803 00:39:03,510 --> 00:39:06,312 this whole format doesn't work anymore. 804 00:39:11,151 --> 00:39:15,622 Anytime it seems easy and flowing and inevitable, 805 00:39:15,722 --> 00:39:18,158 there's danger at the door. 806 00:39:18,925 --> 00:39:21,761 Enter! I'll tell you what happened. 807 00:39:21,861 --> 00:39:24,864 I don't know what you heard, but this is what happened. 808 00:39:24,964 --> 00:39:29,703 What happened was everything Eddie said came true. 809 00:39:29,803 --> 00:39:32,572 They start writing me in their sketches, 810 00:39:32,672 --> 00:39:35,275 and there was one sketch in particular... 811 00:39:35,375 --> 00:39:38,345 I'll raise you $2,000. 812 00:39:38,445 --> 00:39:40,647 Milk Dud, you know my ranch, don't ya? 813 00:39:40,747 --> 00:39:43,149 Yessir, Bat. Used to work there. 814 00:39:43,249 --> 00:39:44,651 It a good ranch. 815 00:39:44,751 --> 00:39:47,587 Would you ride out there and look under my mattress? 816 00:39:47,687 --> 00:39:49,689 I think I got some money stashed there. 817 00:39:49,789 --> 00:39:53,593 -Yessir. -No, wait. I spent that. 818 00:39:53,693 --> 00:39:55,695 And I'm like, hell, no. I said, listen, 819 00:39:55,795 --> 00:39:59,099 my mother gonna watch this show. I can't do this. 820 00:39:59,199 --> 00:40:00,867 I won't do this. 821 00:40:02,869 --> 00:40:05,338 He was mad because he felt like he couldn't be funny 822 00:40:05,438 --> 00:40:06,906 the way he's funny. 823 00:40:07,007 --> 00:40:09,542 But we were very young, and there's a lot at stake. 824 00:40:09,642 --> 00:40:12,379 - Is this on? - No. 825 00:40:12,479 --> 00:40:14,347 We get this sketch 826 00:40:14,447 --> 00:40:17,617 where Jon Lovitz is playing Mr. Monopoly. 827 00:40:17,717 --> 00:40:20,887 Yes, I wrote the "Mr. Monopoly" sketch. 828 00:40:20,987 --> 00:40:23,323 I think you left out the word classic. 829 00:40:23,423 --> 00:40:25,625 The classic "Mr. Monopoly" sketch. 830 00:40:25,725 --> 00:40:27,761 * Who's that fella in the big top hat * 831 00:40:27,861 --> 00:40:30,230 * Buyin' up the real estate just like that? * 832 00:40:30,330 --> 00:40:32,966 * Mr. Monopoly * 833 00:40:33,066 --> 00:40:35,068 Griffin Dunne was hosting. 834 00:40:35,168 --> 00:40:37,737 Griffin Dunne is arrested by two sheriffs. 835 00:40:37,837 --> 00:40:39,639 Hey, man, watch the suit. 836 00:40:39,739 --> 00:40:42,542 Shut up before I kick you in your puny behind. 837 00:40:42,642 --> 00:40:44,678 Oddly enough, that was the sketch 838 00:40:44,778 --> 00:40:47,247 I thought went the best during dress. 839 00:40:47,347 --> 00:40:49,282 I'm playing a, um... 840 00:40:49,382 --> 00:40:51,084 a sort of Scarfacey kinda guy. 841 00:40:51,184 --> 00:40:53,853 We got the whole transaction on videotape, Corosco. 842 00:40:53,953 --> 00:40:57,190 Three eyewitnesses saw you kill that undercover cop. 843 00:40:57,290 --> 00:40:58,925 Afternoon, gentlemen. 844 00:40:59,025 --> 00:41:01,661 I believe you're detaining an Angel Corosco. 845 00:41:01,761 --> 00:41:04,397 I am representing him in this matter. 846 00:41:04,497 --> 00:41:07,500 "Get outta jail free"? 847 00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:09,969 You're that guy from the game. 848 00:41:10,070 --> 00:41:12,605 So we did the sketch, then after dress rehearsals, 849 00:41:12,706 --> 00:41:13,873 from 8 to 10, 850 00:41:13,973 --> 00:41:16,543 Lorne and the writers go over the show. 851 00:41:16,643 --> 00:41:19,679 They'll maybe do 14 sketches, they cut six, 852 00:41:19,779 --> 00:41:21,715 -and that leaves eight. -Yes, come. 853 00:41:21,815 --> 00:41:24,451 - Come to Haiti. - Damon was unhappy, 854 00:41:24,551 --> 00:41:26,786 and he had a history with sketches getting cut. 855 00:41:26,886 --> 00:41:30,056 Come on. What are you, chicken? 856 00:41:30,156 --> 00:41:32,192 * Mr. Monopoly * 857 00:41:32,292 --> 00:41:33,960 And I snapped. 858 00:41:34,060 --> 00:41:36,730 I just did not care. 859 00:41:36,830 --> 00:41:39,666 -Hey, easy on the suit. -Oh, shut up and sit down. 860 00:41:39,766 --> 00:41:41,668 Damon starts doing his lines 861 00:41:41,768 --> 00:41:44,004 like a very effeminate gay guy. 862 00:41:44,104 --> 00:41:46,706 Yeah, you going to jail for a long, long time. 863 00:41:46,806 --> 00:41:47,974 I wouldn't be so sure about that. 864 00:41:48,074 --> 00:41:49,743 My lawyer's gonna be here any minute. 865 00:41:49,843 --> 00:41:52,178 I don't think you get the message, Corosco. 866 00:41:52,278 --> 00:41:53,146 We got ya cold. 867 00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:55,849 I purposely did that, 868 00:41:55,949 --> 00:41:58,084 'cause I wanted him to fire me. 869 00:41:58,184 --> 00:42:01,054 Yes, we got the whole transaction on videotape. 870 00:42:01,154 --> 00:42:04,824 We got three people that saw you kill that undercover cop. 871 00:42:04,924 --> 00:42:07,260 I thought it was weird, 872 00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:09,062 but people still laughed. 873 00:42:09,162 --> 00:42:12,999 And then Lorne fired him pretty much as he walked off the stage. 874 00:42:14,634 --> 00:42:16,403 Having not fired anybody 875 00:42:16,503 --> 00:42:17,904 for the first five years, 876 00:42:18,004 --> 00:42:22,275 it was really, really hard, but it had to be done. 877 00:42:22,375 --> 00:42:24,144 * Mr. Monopoly * 878 00:42:25,211 --> 00:42:29,416 Damon broke the ultimate golden rule, 879 00:42:29,516 --> 00:42:32,419 which is no surprises. 880 00:42:32,519 --> 00:42:34,587 You cannot go rogue. 881 00:42:34,688 --> 00:42:36,956 You cannot try to steal a sketch. 882 00:42:37,057 --> 00:42:39,826 A lot of people don't know this about Saturday Night Live, 883 00:42:39,926 --> 00:42:43,063 but the actual amount of improvisation on that show 884 00:42:43,163 --> 00:42:44,698 is minuscule. 885 00:42:44,798 --> 00:42:47,033 Maybe one line a year. 886 00:42:47,133 --> 00:42:49,769 I would bet one line every five years. 887 00:42:49,869 --> 00:42:51,271 Good night, everybody! 888 00:42:51,371 --> 00:42:55,241 After the show, I said that was career suicide. 889 00:42:55,342 --> 00:42:57,677 Tom Davis said, 890 00:42:57,777 --> 00:42:59,112 "No, no, no. 891 00:42:59,212 --> 00:43:01,948 We are all going to be standing in line 892 00:43:02,048 --> 00:43:05,652 within three years to see a Damon Wayans movie." 893 00:43:05,752 --> 00:43:08,088 You know, "That was not career suicide." 894 00:43:09,622 --> 00:43:11,558 That was a career move. 895 00:43:11,658 --> 00:43:13,727 See, now what we have here 896 00:43:13,827 --> 00:43:17,430 is a failure to communicate. 897 00:43:18,531 --> 00:43:22,068 I think when Damon got fired, I think that shook people up. 898 00:43:22,168 --> 00:43:25,271 'Cause it just was like a schism, you know? 899 00:43:25,372 --> 00:43:26,706 Um... 900 00:43:26,806 --> 00:43:28,875 Yeah, at some point there was kind of a chill 901 00:43:28,975 --> 00:43:30,910 like, "We might not finish the season." 902 00:43:31,011 --> 00:43:33,947 I mean, that definitely happened. 903 00:43:35,915 --> 00:43:39,786 Doing Saturday Night Live is a difficult task. 904 00:43:39,886 --> 00:43:41,955 You guys had better quit doing this. 905 00:43:42,055 --> 00:43:44,624 You're gonna hurt yourself one of these days. 906 00:43:44,724 --> 00:43:46,559 And if it's not clicking... 907 00:43:46,659 --> 00:43:47,994 Whoa! 908 00:43:48,094 --> 00:43:50,363 ...it's an impossible task. 909 00:43:51,898 --> 00:43:55,535 Stay with me. 910 00:43:55,635 --> 00:43:57,771 I need you now more than ever. 911 00:43:57,871 --> 00:44:00,874 There was another dip for a while. 912 00:44:00,974 --> 00:44:03,343 - Thank you, Dennis. - Successive shows 913 00:44:03,443 --> 00:44:06,212 that just, um... 914 00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:09,215 Because the show was a little in disrepair, 915 00:44:09,315 --> 00:44:11,851 it was hard to get hosts to want to be on the show. 916 00:44:11,951 --> 00:44:13,887 I don't mind making a fool out of myself. 917 00:44:13,987 --> 00:44:16,423 I don't think I'd be here tonight otherwise. 918 00:44:19,059 --> 00:44:21,027 I asked a few of my friends to do the show. 919 00:44:21,127 --> 00:44:23,797 -Can you give me a light? -No. I don't smoke. 920 00:44:23,897 --> 00:44:25,632 No, I mean a Bud Lite. 921 00:44:27,801 --> 00:44:29,969 Uh... 922 00:44:30,070 --> 00:44:32,105 It was just enormously frustrating, 923 00:44:32,205 --> 00:44:34,774 and I remember George Meyer going, 924 00:44:34,874 --> 00:44:37,744 "Show dying! 925 00:44:37,844 --> 00:44:41,514 Show... dying!" 926 00:44:41,614 --> 00:44:43,950 And I'd go, "Okay, George." 927 00:44:44,050 --> 00:44:46,353 Let's go. 928 00:44:46,453 --> 00:44:50,924 Hard to believe, but I think the boys wrote that themselves. 929 00:44:51,024 --> 00:44:53,393 At the time, it almost seemed shameful. 930 00:44:53,493 --> 00:44:55,595 -Oh, no! -Oh, wow. 931 00:44:55,695 --> 00:44:58,231 It's some sort of malfunction here. 932 00:44:58,331 --> 00:45:01,401 Shameful for the show to have to find its way again. 933 00:45:01,501 --> 00:45:03,036 You know, um... 934 00:45:04,504 --> 00:45:06,006 Yeah. 935 00:45:07,173 --> 00:45:10,243 Then there's the reviews. Why, they've all been, uh... 936 00:45:10,343 --> 00:45:13,480 and we have a new cast, yeah! Yeah. 937 00:45:13,580 --> 00:45:15,949 Are you gonna talk to Lorne about season 11? 938 00:45:16,049 --> 00:45:19,185 -Gee. -Ask him if he ever got scared. 939 00:45:19,285 --> 00:45:21,888 Lorne, were you ever really scared? I can't-- 940 00:45:21,988 --> 00:45:24,090 He's such a master at this stuff, 941 00:45:24,190 --> 00:45:26,693 but I cannot imagine he knew how it was gonna play out. 942 00:45:29,896 --> 00:45:32,799 Yeah, um, I think the '85 season 943 00:45:32,899 --> 00:45:35,201 was two steps forward, one step back. 944 00:45:35,301 --> 00:45:37,704 Somebody would be brilliant and then... 945 00:45:37,804 --> 00:45:39,673 but I realized that it was... 946 00:45:39,773 --> 00:45:41,675 it was not meshing. 947 00:45:44,310 --> 00:45:46,346 You gotta feel for everybody, right? 948 00:45:46,446 --> 00:45:48,515 Because Al and Tom-- 949 00:45:48,615 --> 00:45:50,383 "Are we really in charge?" 950 00:45:50,483 --> 00:45:54,554 I mean, who's really in charge? There was a lot of gray. 951 00:45:57,924 --> 00:45:59,993 Lorne asked me and Tom to produce, 952 00:46:00,093 --> 00:46:03,763 and Lorne was the executive producer, I guess. 953 00:46:03,863 --> 00:46:05,565 And he was the boss. 954 00:46:06,733 --> 00:46:10,070 We were trying to get things done in the morning. 955 00:46:11,371 --> 00:46:16,076 But when our executive producer Lorne came in at 4 or 5:00, 956 00:46:16,176 --> 00:46:18,978 he would change our decisions. 957 00:46:20,547 --> 00:46:21,881 And so... 958 00:46:22,615 --> 00:46:25,618 eventually, nobody did anything until Lorne came in. 959 00:46:26,353 --> 00:46:28,154 One of the legacies of season 11 960 00:46:28,254 --> 00:46:31,424 is that Brandon calls Lorne... 961 00:46:32,092 --> 00:46:34,994 ...well into the season and says, 962 00:46:35,095 --> 00:46:37,931 "You gotta run this show like you're the boss." 963 00:46:38,031 --> 00:46:41,868 And so, uh, that constantly came back. 964 00:46:41,968 --> 00:46:45,171 And I knew the direction I wanted to go. 965 00:46:45,271 --> 00:46:46,639 Here we go. Stand by. 966 00:46:46,740 --> 00:46:50,677 I started to go back to, "Well, I might as well do a show 967 00:46:50,777 --> 00:46:51,778 that I'd like to see." 968 00:46:54,047 --> 00:46:57,717 We began taking bigger chances, I think. 969 00:46:57,817 --> 00:46:59,886 He's putting up a brave front. 970 00:46:59,986 --> 00:47:01,921 Hi, everybody. Uh, can I get your attention 971 00:47:02,022 --> 00:47:03,423 just for a second? 972 00:47:03,523 --> 00:47:06,192 As you all know, uh, the network has decided 973 00:47:06,292 --> 00:47:09,329 to bring in Francis Ford Coppola to direct tonight's show. 974 00:47:09,429 --> 00:47:13,400 This means that he has complete creative control. 975 00:47:13,500 --> 00:47:16,102 The conceit was that Coppola was directing the show. 976 00:47:16,202 --> 00:47:20,440 It created a nice kind of surreal meta effect. 977 00:47:20,540 --> 00:47:23,043 I want you all to go out there and do the best show you can tonight. 978 00:47:23,143 --> 00:47:25,912 We've got George Wendt as host from Cheers. 979 00:47:26,012 --> 00:47:27,247 It could be a great show. 980 00:47:27,347 --> 00:47:29,582 "Hey, you wanna host Saturday Night Live? 981 00:47:29,683 --> 00:47:32,852 Francis Ford Coppola's gonna direct," and I was like, 982 00:47:32,952 --> 00:47:33,987 yeah! 983 00:47:34,087 --> 00:47:38,024 I'm a huge fan. Huge. 984 00:47:38,124 --> 00:47:41,795 I wasn't expecting him to really direct, but... 985 00:47:47,233 --> 00:47:49,402 This was the only time ever 986 00:47:49,502 --> 00:47:52,605 they didn't play the theme song from Saturday Night Live. 987 00:47:54,307 --> 00:47:57,477 But they had musical guest Philip Glass. 988 00:47:57,577 --> 00:48:00,013 Francis. Francis. 989 00:48:00,113 --> 00:48:01,681 Excuse me for asking, but is it true 990 00:48:01,781 --> 00:48:05,318 -you're, uh, the boss now? -Well, I'm directing the show. 991 00:48:05,418 --> 00:48:09,522 Thank God! Finally someone who knows what they're doing. 992 00:48:09,622 --> 00:48:12,325 You're the only one that can save this sinking ship. 993 00:48:12,425 --> 00:48:15,128 Thank you, Terry, but I've really got to go along. 994 00:48:15,228 --> 00:48:18,631 This show tonight's gonna be my ode to live television. 995 00:48:18,732 --> 00:48:21,768 Brilliant! Lorne never would have thought of that. 996 00:48:26,239 --> 00:48:28,675 To walk out to home base... 997 00:48:28,775 --> 00:48:30,877 Place, New York City. 998 00:48:30,977 --> 00:48:32,712 Time, now. 999 00:48:32,812 --> 00:48:34,647 Eerie Philip Glass music. 1000 00:48:39,919 --> 00:48:41,855 It was daunting. 1001 00:48:41,955 --> 00:48:43,423 Boy! 1002 00:48:44,124 --> 00:48:45,558 Thanks very much. 1003 00:48:45,658 --> 00:48:48,528 I have to say this has really been a hectic week for me 1004 00:48:48,628 --> 00:48:50,864 and quite a contrast from the past few months 1005 00:48:50,964 --> 00:48:54,067 when I've basically just been sitting around on a bar stool 1006 00:48:54,167 --> 00:48:56,236 drinking beer all day. 1007 00:48:56,336 --> 00:48:59,139 And, of course, before that I was working hard on Cheers. 1008 00:48:59,239 --> 00:49:01,207 All right, cut. Great. Great. 1009 00:49:01,307 --> 00:49:02,876 Why are we stopping now? 1010 00:49:02,976 --> 00:49:04,244 Don't worry, George, you were great. 1011 00:49:04,344 --> 00:49:06,413 But I wanna get one more take just to be sure. 1012 00:49:06,513 --> 00:49:10,016 Well... that was, uh, kind of a joke, Francis. 1013 00:49:10,116 --> 00:49:11,951 I don't know if they're gonna laugh again. 1014 00:49:12,052 --> 00:49:14,454 Don't worry about it. You stand by. 1015 00:49:14,554 --> 00:49:17,323 I would say a lot of times, I go, "We're live 1016 00:49:17,424 --> 00:49:20,560 but we're not taking advantage of it," you know? 1017 00:49:20,660 --> 00:49:23,730 And Francis Ford Coppola, he used the show. 1018 00:49:23,830 --> 00:49:27,967 So when he says that, I want you to react by laughing. 1019 00:49:28,068 --> 00:49:29,602 But if you don't feel like laughing, 1020 00:49:29,703 --> 00:49:33,707 go back and remember something from your childhood. 1021 00:49:34,974 --> 00:49:36,443 Francis was one of those shows 1022 00:49:36,543 --> 00:49:38,611 you knew right away that it was gonna work. 1023 00:49:40,280 --> 00:49:42,349 Quite a contrast from the past few months 1024 00:49:42,449 --> 00:49:44,784 where basically I've been sitting on a bar stool 1025 00:49:44,884 --> 00:49:46,119 drinking beer all day. 1026 00:49:48,888 --> 00:49:52,892 And then before that, I was working on Cheers. 1027 00:50:01,801 --> 00:50:03,436 Okay. You know... 1028 00:50:08,208 --> 00:50:09,776 When Francis came, 1029 00:50:09,876 --> 00:50:12,412 he brought the whole cast together. 1030 00:50:13,413 --> 00:50:15,815 It was the first time that that happened. 1031 00:50:15,915 --> 00:50:18,351 -Aah! -You're not shot, go out there and get those batteries. 1032 00:50:18,451 --> 00:50:20,653 - No, I'm shot! - What's the problem? 1033 00:50:20,754 --> 00:50:23,456 -Michael-- he's been shot. -Wait. You're not using 1034 00:50:23,556 --> 00:50:25,592 live ammunition are you, Mr. Coppola? 1035 00:50:25,692 --> 00:50:28,495 Of course I'm using live ammo. It's a live show, isn't it? 1036 00:50:28,595 --> 00:50:30,296 -Oh, my God! -Well, that's what this show 1037 00:50:30,397 --> 00:50:31,898 has been lacking, a sense of danger. 1038 00:50:31,998 --> 00:50:35,969 We wanted to do the whole show as a single piece. 1039 00:50:36,069 --> 00:50:39,172 Francis has found himself on this failing show 1040 00:50:39,272 --> 00:50:42,342 going through this crisis of confidence. 1041 00:50:42,442 --> 00:50:46,246 Maybe I have lost it. Maybe I never had it. 1042 00:50:46,346 --> 00:50:48,815 Maybe I just got lucky with The Godfather 1043 00:50:48,915 --> 00:50:51,418 and Godfather II, The Conversation, 1044 00:50:51,518 --> 00:50:53,920 - and Apocalypse Now... - Which was exactly 1045 00:50:54,020 --> 00:50:56,423 the same as the cast. 1046 00:50:56,523 --> 00:50:58,725 See what I'm up against? I've been here five months. 1047 00:50:58,825 --> 00:51:01,661 All I play is supporting roles, and now I have six shows left 1048 00:51:01,761 --> 00:51:03,663 -in which to emerge, I mean... -Absolutely. 1049 00:51:03,763 --> 00:51:06,066 -I just feel lost. -I hear you, I hear you. 1050 00:51:06,166 --> 00:51:10,437 He just gave everybody renewed energy 1051 00:51:10,537 --> 00:51:12,238 to go out and try and do the show. 1052 00:51:12,339 --> 00:51:13,807 That was the theme of that show. 1053 00:51:13,907 --> 00:51:18,445 Well, you know, improvise. Do something really unusual. 1054 00:51:18,545 --> 00:51:20,847 Let them see you. Shake them up a little bit. 1055 00:51:20,947 --> 00:51:23,383 You're so on the money. I've been playing it too safe. 1056 00:51:23,483 --> 00:51:25,285 -Thank you. -Yeah, all right. 1057 00:51:25,385 --> 00:51:27,721 -Who was that? -Everybody was in the show 1058 00:51:27,821 --> 00:51:30,824 and everybody had more to do than they ever did. 1059 00:51:30,924 --> 00:51:32,959 Okay. Cue to art card. 1060 00:51:33,059 --> 00:51:34,728 How did he do that? 1061 00:51:34,828 --> 00:51:37,430 Guess who's going to be the new Sparkledent girl! 1062 00:51:37,530 --> 00:51:39,699 Danitra really loved that episode. 1063 00:51:39,799 --> 00:51:42,268 Francis Ford Coppola comes in and goes... 1064 00:51:42,369 --> 00:51:43,703 The scene doesn't seem to have anything to do 1065 00:51:43,803 --> 00:51:45,705 with the Black experience. Don't you agree? 1066 00:51:45,805 --> 00:51:48,942 -Um, I-I guess so. -Could I see the writers? 1067 00:51:49,042 --> 00:51:50,677 Writers, get in here! 1068 00:51:50,777 --> 00:51:52,645 She loved it. 1069 00:51:56,316 --> 00:51:58,918 Why aren't any Black women writers on the show? 1070 00:51:59,019 --> 00:52:02,322 She was letting go all that that was underneath. 1071 00:52:02,422 --> 00:52:05,191 They don't know me. 1072 00:52:05,291 --> 00:52:09,329 They don't know the real me. This isn't me. 1073 00:52:09,929 --> 00:52:12,665 I am... somebody! 1074 00:52:12,766 --> 00:52:16,202 Never seen an episode of SNL that looked like that. Never. 1075 00:52:16,302 --> 00:52:18,772 It was-- it was groundbreaking, I thought. 1076 00:52:19,706 --> 00:52:23,209 Were the ratings good? I mean, did it-- no? 1077 00:52:23,309 --> 00:52:26,546 For that episode, it didn't move the needle? 1078 00:52:26,646 --> 00:52:29,949 You know, unfortunately the show was not popular at the time, 1079 00:52:30,050 --> 00:52:32,886 so it didn't get the positive attention 1080 00:52:32,986 --> 00:52:34,654 that I think it would have 1081 00:52:34,754 --> 00:52:37,957 if, you know, the show had the wind at its back. 1082 00:52:42,629 --> 00:52:45,498 The Coppola episode was great, 1083 00:52:45,598 --> 00:52:49,302 but there was so much toothpaste out of the tube on the season 1084 00:52:49,402 --> 00:52:51,604 that you just couldn't shove it back in. 1085 00:52:51,705 --> 00:52:56,076 * I see a new horizon * 1086 00:52:56,176 --> 00:52:58,411 * My life has only begun... * 1087 00:52:58,511 --> 00:53:02,349 I mean, that was so experimental and so re-imagined, 1088 00:53:02,449 --> 00:53:04,317 you can't do that every week. 1089 00:53:04,417 --> 00:53:06,720 So how'd you like doing the show? 1090 00:53:06,820 --> 00:53:09,556 The horror... the horror. 1091 00:53:09,656 --> 00:53:13,526 How do you think we feel? We're-- we're the producers. 1092 00:53:23,169 --> 00:53:27,540 So it had always been part of the Lorne mystique 1093 00:53:27,640 --> 00:53:29,476 that he didn't like to fire people. 1094 00:53:29,576 --> 00:53:31,778 It was difficult for him to do that. 1095 00:53:32,345 --> 00:53:34,748 So the last show of the season... 1096 00:53:35,615 --> 00:53:39,753 Lorne had Damon come back and do stand-up. 1097 00:53:39,853 --> 00:53:42,822 Ladies and gentlemen, Damon Wayans. 1098 00:53:44,791 --> 00:53:47,527 Lorne is a very forgiving man. 1099 00:53:49,596 --> 00:53:52,132 And I think he just wanted to let me know 1100 00:53:52,232 --> 00:53:53,700 that he believed in me. 1101 00:53:53,800 --> 00:53:56,403 Your sister so black, every time she go to night school, 1102 00:53:56,503 --> 00:53:58,471 the teachers mark her absent. 1103 00:54:03,410 --> 00:54:06,479 But so much was going on, 1104 00:54:06,579 --> 00:54:09,916 SNL was on the verge of being canceled. 1105 00:54:13,953 --> 00:54:16,556 I think everybody was just waiting 1106 00:54:16,656 --> 00:54:18,892 for what the verdict was gonna be. 1107 00:54:19,492 --> 00:54:21,628 You wanted to know what was happening, 1108 00:54:21,728 --> 00:54:24,264 but Lorne was usually playing it close to the vest. 1109 00:54:25,065 --> 00:54:28,968 There was so much pressure that it wasn't working. 1110 00:54:29,069 --> 00:54:33,039 They needed to see some sort of radical bloodbath, you know. 1111 00:54:33,807 --> 00:54:37,310 No. I didn't think we were gonna be fired. 1112 00:54:37,410 --> 00:54:40,780 We'll get a chance to work this out. 1113 00:54:41,781 --> 00:54:45,185 I just didn't think that we were that bad. 1114 00:54:45,285 --> 00:54:46,653 Imagination... 1115 00:54:46,753 --> 00:54:49,489 I mean, look, there was such doom and gloom 1116 00:54:49,589 --> 00:54:51,691 heading into the last episode 1117 00:54:51,791 --> 00:54:54,861 they decided to do what they're paid to do, 1118 00:54:54,961 --> 00:54:58,865 which is make fun of it, see if we get a laugh out of it. 1119 00:55:02,602 --> 00:55:05,305 Angelica Houston was hosting the show. 1120 00:55:06,039 --> 00:55:08,408 And Billy Martin, the manager of the Yankees, 1121 00:55:08,508 --> 00:55:10,877 - was hosting too. - She the host? 1122 00:55:10,977 --> 00:55:14,914 -I thought you were, Billy. -We kinda both are, I guess. 1123 00:55:15,015 --> 00:55:17,317 Billy Martin was like this loose cannon 1124 00:55:17,417 --> 00:55:19,786 famous baseball manager. 1125 00:55:19,886 --> 00:55:21,821 That's it. You can't do live television. 1126 00:55:21,921 --> 00:55:24,457 You've been blowing cues all night, you're fired. 1127 00:55:24,557 --> 00:55:25,959 -Outta here. -Good! Good! 1128 00:55:26,059 --> 00:55:29,562 So I tied that in with this idea of a cliffhanger, 1129 00:55:29,662 --> 00:55:32,332 that Billy Martin's bitter at Lorne Michaels. 1130 00:55:32,432 --> 00:55:33,967 The hell with you! 1131 00:55:34,067 --> 00:55:38,038 And he ends up setting the studio on fire. 1132 00:55:39,606 --> 00:55:41,508 Hey, hey, hey. 1133 00:55:41,608 --> 00:55:43,476 -Good show, everybody. -Yeah! 1134 00:55:43,576 --> 00:55:45,945 Nobody knew how bad it was 1135 00:55:46,046 --> 00:55:47,547 until the table read 1136 00:55:47,647 --> 00:55:51,084 where there was a fire. 1137 00:55:51,184 --> 00:55:54,387 It's hard to believe we're not gonna be back till next October. 1138 00:55:54,487 --> 00:55:56,823 But in a table read, 1139 00:55:56,923 --> 00:56:00,760 like nobody has the balls to say, "Fuck." 1140 00:56:00,860 --> 00:56:04,064 I don't know about you guys, but I am pumped for next year. 1141 00:56:04,164 --> 00:56:05,231 -Yes! -Yeah! 1142 00:56:07,000 --> 00:56:10,503 Danitra and I went into a huddle and we both-- she went, 1143 00:56:11,004 --> 00:56:13,673 "We're not gonna get out of that fire alive." 1144 00:56:13,773 --> 00:56:16,743 Hey, does anybody smell gasoline? 1145 00:56:19,112 --> 00:56:21,948 Nobody was happy with that fire. 1146 00:56:22,048 --> 00:56:24,718 -Billy, what are you doing? -I'm setting the room on fire. 1147 00:56:24,818 --> 00:56:26,820 -That's what I'm doing. -What do you mean? 1148 00:56:26,920 --> 00:56:30,657 Lorne played it so perfectly, too. 1149 00:56:30,757 --> 00:56:34,227 Billy, are you crazy? If you set the cast on fire... 1150 00:56:34,327 --> 00:56:39,032 "They won't be able to come back to do the show next year." 1151 00:56:41,501 --> 00:56:43,169 I've gotta go in there. 1152 00:56:48,875 --> 00:56:50,677 What are you doing? I've gotta wave goodbye. 1153 00:56:50,777 --> 00:56:53,279 Don't ask questions. Go downstairs to my limousine 1154 00:56:53,380 --> 00:56:54,881 and wait for me there. 1155 00:56:54,981 --> 00:56:58,551 -Writers, writers. -Yes, Mr. Michaels. 1156 00:56:58,651 --> 00:57:00,487 There's some candy and chocolates 1157 00:57:00,587 --> 00:57:02,455 in the dressing room. Go help yourself. 1158 00:57:02,555 --> 00:57:03,857 God, it was misery. 1159 00:57:03,957 --> 00:57:06,926 I remember watching it on a monitor up on 17. 1160 00:57:07,027 --> 00:57:10,263 I was just kind of, you know, in a blanket shivering 1161 00:57:10,363 --> 00:57:12,265 like a rescue dog. 1162 00:57:12,365 --> 00:57:14,000 Help yourself. 1163 00:57:17,003 --> 00:57:19,806 They had a cannon fired at them. 1164 00:57:36,956 --> 00:57:39,759 Just the very fact that they could do that... 1165 00:57:41,027 --> 00:57:42,962 ...that's a pretty powerful statement 1166 00:57:43,063 --> 00:57:46,266 about their insecurity, the instability of the show. 1167 00:57:47,233 --> 00:57:51,471 And they might as well have put a question mark 1168 00:57:51,571 --> 00:57:54,007 next to the three initials "SNL." 1169 00:57:55,342 --> 00:57:58,278 What have we done that's so horrible? 1170 00:57:58,378 --> 00:58:02,048 You can fire me. Do you have to actually set fire to me? 1171 00:58:05,085 --> 00:58:07,854 Who was the audience for that sketch? 1172 00:58:08,588 --> 00:58:10,623 It meant nothing to the audience at home. 1173 00:58:10,724 --> 00:58:13,093 It was to the network. 1174 00:58:14,094 --> 00:58:16,096 It was a declaration. 1175 00:58:16,196 --> 00:58:19,833 We had to clean house. 1176 00:58:23,236 --> 00:58:25,305 It was a hard year, you know, 1177 00:58:25,405 --> 00:58:27,173 and I... 1178 00:58:27,273 --> 00:58:31,177 nobody knew if the show was gonna get picked up, you know? 1179 00:58:31,277 --> 00:58:33,146 It was up to Brandon Tartikoff. 1180 00:58:33,246 --> 00:58:36,049 ...Brandon Tartikoff, president of NBC Entertainment. 1181 00:58:39,352 --> 00:58:42,655 At the end of that season, around April, 1182 00:58:42,756 --> 00:58:45,358 Brandon Tartikoff, who was head of NBC, 1183 00:58:45,458 --> 00:58:46,726 called me. 1184 00:58:46,826 --> 00:58:49,429 They never call the manager with good news. 1185 00:58:49,529 --> 00:58:50,930 Yeah, Brandon. 1186 00:58:51,031 --> 00:58:54,768 Brandon told me that, after 11 years, 1187 00:58:54,868 --> 00:58:57,871 Saturday Night Live was over. 1188 00:58:58,972 --> 00:59:00,607 There's gonna be no next year. 1189 00:59:01,307 --> 00:59:04,444 And I didn't argue with him at that time. 1190 00:59:04,544 --> 00:59:06,713 Honest. I'd like to say I did, 1191 00:59:06,813 --> 00:59:09,115 but Lorne knew everything that was going on. 1192 00:59:12,085 --> 00:59:15,855 I had a kind of existential moment. 1193 00:59:19,492 --> 00:59:20,927 Should it exist? 1194 00:59:22,028 --> 00:59:24,230 Was it worthwhile that it existed? 1195 00:59:26,099 --> 00:59:27,901 Was it just habit? 1196 00:59:30,870 --> 00:59:32,839 Maybe it was time. 1197 00:59:35,141 --> 00:59:36,209 And I told my wife, 1198 00:59:36,309 --> 00:59:39,913 and she said, "How dare you let this happen?" 1199 00:59:42,749 --> 00:59:45,919 I go, "What do you mean?" "You can't let them do that 1200 00:59:46,019 --> 00:59:48,121 after 11 years and what Lorne's done." 1201 00:59:51,858 --> 00:59:53,793 No, I'm not married to her anymore, 1202 00:59:53,893 --> 00:59:56,129 but that's the best thing she ever did. 1203 00:59:57,163 --> 01:00:00,934 So I called Brandon back and I said we have to talk. 1204 01:00:01,034 --> 01:00:04,871 You can't cancel it. Give Lorne another year. 1205 01:00:06,339 --> 01:00:10,910 When push came to shove, Brandon Tartikoff 1206 01:00:11,011 --> 01:00:14,547 decided to give Lorne Michaels another chance. 1207 01:00:14,647 --> 01:00:16,383 He believed in Lorne. 1208 01:00:16,483 --> 01:00:18,218 Ladies and gentlemen, 1209 01:00:18,318 --> 01:00:21,755 our boss, Brandon Tartikoff. 1210 01:00:21,855 --> 01:00:23,857 To put a finer point on it, 1211 01:00:23,957 --> 01:00:26,659 season 11 may have been the gut check 1212 01:00:26,760 --> 01:00:29,829 that NBC needed to realize 1213 01:00:29,929 --> 01:00:33,466 this thing is bigger than just a bad episode 1214 01:00:33,566 --> 01:00:34,768 or a bad season. 1215 01:00:34,868 --> 01:00:36,036 We can ride it out. 1216 01:00:36,136 --> 01:00:38,371 Thank you, and we'll be right back. 1217 01:00:39,906 --> 01:00:42,709 I knew, after having been 1218 01:00:42,809 --> 01:00:45,145 beaten up for a year, 1219 01:00:45,979 --> 01:00:47,847 I was completely determined. 1220 01:00:47,947 --> 01:00:50,016 Now I had something to prove again. 1221 01:00:50,116 --> 01:00:53,086 The only thing that was wrong, we had no cast. 1222 01:00:53,186 --> 01:00:54,721 Except for Lovitz. 1223 01:00:57,223 --> 01:01:00,326 They asked me, "Who do you work well with?" 1224 01:01:00,827 --> 01:01:02,629 And Lovitz said Hartman. 1225 01:01:02,729 --> 01:01:04,998 Level with me. If you're unhappy with my work, 1226 01:01:05,098 --> 01:01:06,900 -tell me now! -All right. Everyone says 1227 01:01:07,000 --> 01:01:08,368 you're the worst doctor in town! 1228 01:01:08,468 --> 01:01:10,437 Don't leave me hanging by a thread. If you're unhappy, 1229 01:01:10,537 --> 01:01:13,073 -give it to me straight! -All right. You're through! 1230 01:01:13,173 --> 01:01:14,808 You'll never work in this town again! 1231 01:01:14,908 --> 01:01:17,177 I kept Jon and Nora, 1232 01:01:17,277 --> 01:01:19,279 Dennis and Whitney. 1233 01:01:19,379 --> 01:01:22,615 Oh, no, no. No need to overreact, please. 1234 01:01:22,716 --> 01:01:23,817 I vouched for Dana. 1235 01:01:23,917 --> 01:01:25,785 This is my impression 1236 01:01:25,885 --> 01:01:28,088 of a very pretentious rock star. 1237 01:01:28,188 --> 01:01:30,123 I think all of us 1238 01:01:30,223 --> 01:01:33,093 at one time in our lives wanted to be a rock star. 1239 01:01:33,193 --> 01:01:36,763 The next season was experienced writers 1240 01:01:36,863 --> 01:01:39,933 writing for experienced sketch performers. 1241 01:01:40,033 --> 01:01:41,634 Dana Carvey and Jan Hooks. 1242 01:01:41,735 --> 01:01:43,236 Jan Hooks. Hello. Hi. 1243 01:01:43,336 --> 01:01:46,673 These are all-time sketch performers. 1244 01:01:46,773 --> 01:01:50,710 * She's cold as ice * 1245 01:01:51,311 --> 01:01:53,813 We started to get people in again 1246 01:01:53,913 --> 01:01:56,683 whose one focus was to be funny. 1247 01:01:56,783 --> 01:01:58,785 * Paradise * 1248 01:01:58,885 --> 01:02:02,989 * And the feelin' * 1249 01:02:03,556 --> 01:02:04,891 Look, it's me. 1250 01:02:04,991 --> 01:02:07,761 Can you imagine that? Oh, who woulda thought? 1251 01:02:07,861 --> 01:02:10,864 * Was so nice * 1252 01:02:10,964 --> 01:02:13,867 Lorne pulled it out of the fire again. 1253 01:02:15,735 --> 01:02:19,339 People were doing bits they had brought to the show. 1254 01:02:19,439 --> 01:02:21,875 Well, isn't that special? 1255 01:02:24,077 --> 01:02:27,147 The performers were completely in the zone. 1256 01:02:27,247 --> 01:02:29,349 * Sha! Uhh! * 1257 01:02:30,183 --> 01:02:34,554 I remember Jim Downey saying the audience feels safe. 1258 01:02:35,922 --> 01:02:37,791 And... 1259 01:02:38,992 --> 01:02:42,062 The cast had arrived that second season. 1260 01:02:42,162 --> 01:02:44,731 Geez, now there's something I don't hear often. 1261 01:02:45,265 --> 01:02:47,367 There'd been a codification 1262 01:02:47,467 --> 01:02:50,203 of a right way and a wrong way to do Saturday Night Live, 1263 01:02:50,303 --> 01:02:52,339 and I think it had to be blown up... 1264 01:02:52,439 --> 01:02:54,808 and the '85 season allowed it to be blown up. 1265 01:02:54,908 --> 01:02:56,409 Judges? 1266 01:02:56,910 --> 01:02:58,645 And it worked. 1267 01:02:58,745 --> 01:03:00,914 We had one of the best casts we ever had 1268 01:03:01,014 --> 01:03:02,582 for the next five years. 1269 01:03:06,186 --> 01:03:09,522 * Hee * 1270 01:03:09,989 --> 01:03:11,991 Wow. 1271 01:03:12,092 --> 01:03:15,595 But I like to think that the seeds of that 1272 01:03:15,695 --> 01:03:18,598 were sown that year of going, like, 1273 01:03:18,698 --> 01:03:22,102 "What are we doing wrong here?" and figuring that out. 1274 01:03:22,802 --> 01:03:24,070 And going back, really, probably, 1275 01:03:24,170 --> 01:03:27,407 to what the old show was. 1276 01:03:29,075 --> 01:03:31,344 The imagination. 1277 01:03:31,444 --> 01:03:34,614 In this wondrous landscape of the mind, 1278 01:03:34,714 --> 01:03:36,716 all things are possible 1279 01:03:36,816 --> 01:03:38,718 until we reach 1280 01:03:38,818 --> 01:03:41,955 the Limits of the Imagination. 1281 01:03:42,055 --> 01:03:44,557 Imagination... 1282 01:03:46,960 --> 01:03:48,228 Now you've seen how close we came 1283 01:03:48,328 --> 01:03:50,397 to a world without Saturday Night Live. 1284 01:03:51,197 --> 01:03:53,833 What we learned on season 11 opened the door 1285 01:03:53,933 --> 01:03:56,102 to a whole new dimension, 1286 01:03:56,202 --> 01:03:59,172 the one you know today where SNL endures. 1287 01:03:59,506 --> 01:04:02,242 But it wouldn't have been possible without 1288 01:04:02,342 --> 01:04:03,810 the weird year. 1289 01:04:03,910 --> 01:04:05,779 The weird year... 1290 01:04:06,680 --> 01:04:10,617 Okay. Just suspend your imagination for a second, 1291 01:04:10,717 --> 01:04:11,951 as I say... 1292 01:04:12,052 --> 01:04:14,254 Hi. I'm Madonna. 1293 01:04:14,354 --> 01:04:16,289 I said Madonna. 1294 01:04:16,389 --> 01:04:18,358 I said Madonna! 1295 01:04:18,458 --> 01:04:21,695 I guess she didn't get the applause she wanted. 1296 01:04:21,795 --> 01:04:23,329 Thank you. 1297 01:04:23,430 --> 01:04:25,331 That's more like it. 1298 01:04:25,432 --> 01:04:27,200 As you may recall... 1299 01:04:27,300 --> 01:04:29,769 "...one year ago tonight, I hosted the premiere episode 1300 01:04:29,869 --> 01:04:30,970 of Saturday Night Live." 1301 01:04:31,071 --> 01:04:32,339 "Therefore, NBC has asked me 1302 01:04:32,439 --> 01:04:34,040 to read the following statement..." 1303 01:04:34,140 --> 01:04:37,544 "...concerning last year's entire season." 1304 01:04:39,846 --> 01:04:41,614 -Are you ready? -Ready? 1305 01:04:41,715 --> 01:04:43,650 -Ready? -Ready? 1306 01:04:44,718 --> 01:04:46,519 "It was all a dream..." 1307 01:04:46,619 --> 01:04:49,556 "...a horrible, horrible dream." 1308 01:04:49,656 --> 01:04:51,758 Wow. 1309 01:04:51,858 --> 01:04:52,959 Ha! 1310 01:04:53,059 --> 01:04:54,894 Well, it sounds like us. 1311 01:05:01,568 --> 01:05:05,805 It was a great experience for all the wrong reasons. 1312 01:05:05,905 --> 01:05:07,307 Remember, don't hold a grudge. 1313 01:05:07,407 --> 01:05:10,710 A grudge is very heavy. It doesn't have a handle. Um... 1314 01:05:10,810 --> 01:05:12,712 What is life without lessons? 1315 01:05:12,812 --> 01:05:15,448 And the lessons bring the blessings. 1316 01:05:18,051 --> 01:05:20,954 I learned so much in that year about what I wasn't. 1317 01:05:21,054 --> 01:05:22,989 I'm afraid you're guilty of 1318 01:05:23,089 --> 01:05:25,959 -over-acting! -Oh, I'm ruined! 1319 01:05:28,361 --> 01:05:31,831 But there's not a more exciting 90 minutes you can have, 1320 01:05:31,931 --> 01:05:33,933 whether you are any good or not. 1321 01:05:34,034 --> 01:05:36,603 Take it away, boys. 1322 01:05:36,970 --> 01:05:38,371 To the head! To the head! 1323 01:05:38,471 --> 01:05:40,273 I'm proud to be a part of it. 1324 01:05:40,373 --> 01:05:41,941 It was like an out-of-body experience. 1325 01:05:43,443 --> 01:05:46,813 It was the year that allowed Lorne to keep going. 1326 01:05:46,913 --> 01:05:49,249 Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! 1327 01:05:49,349 --> 01:05:52,952 Season 11 was like the fuck-up year you needed 1328 01:05:53,053 --> 01:05:54,587 to get back on track. 1329 01:05:55,288 --> 01:05:57,323 They reached too far 1330 01:05:57,424 --> 01:05:59,926 for a star that was too far away 1331 01:06:00,026 --> 01:06:01,561 and got their arms lobbed off, 1332 01:06:01,661 --> 01:06:05,498 but then the arm grew back, and then they seized the star. 1333 01:06:05,598 --> 01:06:06,232 The end. 1334 01:06:09,202 --> 01:06:11,705 And now, to confuse you even further... 1335 01:06:11,805 --> 01:06:13,006 Live, from New York... 1336 01:06:13,106 --> 01:06:14,908 -Live, from New York... -Live, from New York... 1337 01:06:15,008 --> 01:06:16,242 Live, from New York... 1338 01:06:16,343 --> 01:06:18,111 ...it's Saturday Night! 1339 01:06:18,211 --> 01:06:20,280 Saturday Night... 1340 01:06:23,516 --> 01:06:25,752 Does this mean the horrible dream is over? 1341 01:06:27,921 --> 01:06:29,422 I hope so! 1341 01:06:30,305 --> 01:07:30,180 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm