‘Saturday Night Live’ Plans Radio City Extravaganza To Celebrate 50th Birthday – Cannes Lions
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Lorne Michaels and his team are preparing to mark a half-century of Saturday Night Live in 2024 — a celebration that will include a night of nostalgia and SNL folklore at Radio City Music Hall.
Michaels was speaking at Cannes Lions Festival during an event to mark the late-night comedy phenomenon. He said the 50th anniversary celebrations will kick off as part of NBC’s coverage of the Paris Olympics next summer.
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On the approaching milestone, Michaels said: “It will be emotional, but everyone will show up because it’s important. The planning for it, which has taken the last six months and it’s not happening for another year and a half — there are a lot of events happening.”
Speaking in detail about the Radio City event for the first time, he said: “Right now, there’s a Friday event at Radio City — a kind of homecoming night. It will have musical acts and stand-ups. Throughout the show, musical things that the cast have done over 50 years will be live. It will probably be streamed because the language won’t be in control, and it will take as long as it takes.
“You’ll see bands that have left a mark on the show, and stand-ups that were part of it from the beginning or relatively recent,” he added. “There are some documentaries being made. We’re going to be part of the French Olympics, so that will be the official start of our celebration.”
Michaels also spoke about the ongoing WGA strike, saying he hopes it will be resolved in time for the 49th season of his show in the fall.
“I’ve been in the [Writers] Guild since 1968, so I’ve seen a fair amount of this,” he said. “I’m obviously a supporter, and I hope it gets resolved. But that decision will get made, probably, on the West Coast. I’m behind it, and would like it to be over before our [next] season.”
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Reflecting on coming up with the initial idea for Saturday Night Live that would go on to become a half-century of late-night entertainment, Michaels remembered: “It wasn’t the plan. At the end of the first season, we got Emmys. I’d written everything I ever wanted to write at this point, and I said now would be a good time to leave. I didn’t.
“It is that thing you can’t understand at the beginning. You get better and better and keep changing and renewing, and that’s what we’ve been doing,” he added.
Michaels credited the move away from editing on film for the capacity to include more up-to-date references and jokes. Cast member Bowen Yang added that the show’s digital shorts — made by comedians ranging from Adam Sandler to the group Please Don’t Destroy — have been key in keeping the show relevant. “They’re a nice snapshot of what the show is about.”
Cast member Mikey Day described — at comical length — the weekly routine:
“Monday: The pitch meeting for cast, producers in Lorne’s office on the 17th floor. We pitch the host an idea.
“Tuesday: Writing day, and we write through the night. It’s all about time management.
“Wednesday: The table read of around 40 sketches, which takes about 3½ hours. That night, Lorne and others pick the show out of those sketches.
“Thursday: Re-writes, blocking in the studio.
“Friday: Pre-taped digital sketches shoot. That can go to 3 a.m. sometimes.
“Saturday: We arrive at around noon, block everything, in costume, on camera, dress at 8 p.m. and then, 11:30 p.m. do it again on air.”
Michaels added of the race to get everything together in time for Saturday evening: “There are so many things going on,” he said. “You have to trust the process. It’s in every sense collaborative. We don’t go on because we’re ready, we go on because it’s 11:30 p.m. Something about knowing that, that there’s no getting out of it, focuses everybody.”
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