Friday 23 September 2022 08:41 PM SNL creator Lorne Michaels, 77, insists he has no plans to retire as show nears ... trends now
SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels has assured fans of the long-running late-night television comedy and variety program that despite the show approaching its 50th birthday, and him his 78th, he has no plans to call it quits.
In an interview with the New York Times, Michaels, who has overseen many decades of the live sketch show, discussed the turns it has taken over the last several years.
He said the pandemic and the Trump presidency were a time when viewers were 'truly frightened' and that the show reflected that spirit.
Michaels said he is 'proud' of the work the show did during the Trump-era, which included the infamous post-2016 election 'sketch' of Kate McKinnon dressed as Hilary Clinton somberly serenading the audience with a rendition of Hallelujah.
Former SNL cast member Rob Schneider said the mournful performance was the final nail in the coffin of the show.
'It's over. It's over. It's not gonna come back,' Schneider said about the cold open that addressed Clinton's shocking 2016 loss.
The all-powerful NBC exec did admit, however, that things are easier for the show when national politics are less fraught and there is no once-in-a-century pandemic making the rounds.
SNL's creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels (center) at the 2022 Emmys with SNL's Bowen Yang (left) and former SNL star Kate McKinnon (right)
Alec Baldwin pictured as Donald Trump. SNL has received praise and criticism for the hyper anti-Trump stance it assumed during the last presidency. Michaels said it was reflective of a time when people were 'truly frightened'
'It’s much easier when everything is normal in politics and it’s just the two parties hate each other. We went through really scary times, the last four years. Hopefully we’re coming out of it and it’s just the old scary things like a depression or war,' he said.
Michaels is also losing four of the show's key players this year, in addition to four less
