After Lorne
February 18, 2025 at 05:30PMSusan Morrison’s biography of Lorne Michaels, which just hit bookstore shelves, is incredibly well reported and written. It’s also an authorized biography—which is even more apparent after you read Reeves Wiedeman’s penetrating New York feature about the future of Saturday Night Live. Wiedeman circumnavigates Michaels’ infamous power and reach by utilizing various source-protection methods, none of which lessen the impact of the jaw-dropping anecdotes and candor from NBC executives and cast members. I’ve read a lot about this show and Lorne Michaels, but I don’t think I’ve ever read something that cuts past the mythmaking quite so keenly.
A clear hierarchy has always existed at SNL. Last fall, during a series of photo shoots for this magazine with cast members from all 50 years of SNL, Seth Meyers surveyed the assembled group during one shoot — which included Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Kenan Thompson, and Steve Martin — and exclaimed, “Lorne’s ten favorites!” Another shoot later on included a different group: Rachel Dratch, Chris Kattan, Joe Piscopo. When Tim Meadows walked in, unaware of Meyers’s earlier comment, he said, “What is this — Lorne’s least favorites?”
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2025/02/18/after-lorne/
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