-Live from New York,
it's "Saturday Night"!
-In the '90s,
depending on who you ask,
"Saturday Night Live" is an
unsinkable comedy institution...
-Set a heading for romance!
-...or the Titanic...
-The ship of dreams!
-...crashing into an iceberg
of audience disappointment.
Either way, the captain of the
"SNL" ship is Lorne Michaels.
-Everybody has a healthy
amount of respect for him
and probably
a healthy amount of fear.
[ Laughs ]
-He really does like that sense
of being
the master of this domain.
-But in Lorne's domain,
there's onstage controversy...
-Fight the real enemy!
♪♪
-...and a sometimes toxic
workplace.
-Lorne made the show
competitive...
-No más.
-...where the show's
biggest star
is asked to pay
the highest price.
-There was a lot of
inside talking about
why the hell is Farley
even hosting the show?
-Comedy can get along
without anyone.
-I don't mean to be analyzing
the id of Lorne Michaels,
but I do get the sense
that that show runs
thanks to the machinations
of this guy.
-This is where we leave.
-Okay.
-Good luck.
♪♪
-Live from New York...
♪♪
[ Modem whining ]
♪♪
♪♪
-Live from New York,
it's "Saturday Night"!
-"Saturday Night Live's"
brings together a who's who
of America's comedy stars.
-Steven, what about actors?!
-The impressive gathering
of former hosts
and cast members
is evidence of "SNL's"
enduring power
to launch careers
by creating some
of the most enduring
comedic characters
in TV history.
-Well, isn't that special?
-I'm just a caveman.
-There's you, there's...
-But the real star maker at the
anniversary is not the TV show,
but the man who first created
"SNL," Lorne Michaels.
-What can be said
about Lorne Michaels
that he himself
has not already said?
-Like the Wizard of Oz,
comedy's man behind the curtain
works hard
at remaining a mystery,
even to the people
who work with him.
-Any adjective
in the English language
we can find
applied to Lorne Michaels.
Sadist, genius...
caring, paternal...
you know, mean-spirited...
uh, cold.
-Powerful?
-Even the media struggles
to find the right adjective
to describe him.
-Controlling?
-Controlling, you know,
sort of has a negative context.
I'd say "in charge."
-So I don't know
what is the deal
with Lorne Michaels.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
♪♪
-How do you know what's funny?
-That's what
a live audience tells you.
-In the late '60s,
a former University of Toronto
English major,
begins writing and acting
on Canadian radio and TV...
-I'm speaking with
a Canadian beaver.
-...before moving to Hollywood
to write for "Laugh-In."
-Very interesting...
♪♪
-In the early '70s,
he pitches NBC
a Saturday late-night
comedy variety show
he claims will draw
a new audience
by reflecting the decade's
youth culture.
-Beginning on October 11th,
Saturday night
will open up
a whole new live venture
from New York City
from Studio 8H
here at Rockefeller Center.
And we just happen to have
the producer of the program,
Mr. Lorne Michaels, with us.
What should we look for
on your program?
-Anxiety. Uh...
-That anxiety will mostly
be inflicted on NBC censors.
[ Laughter ]
-Live from New York,
it's "Saturday Night!"
-In the fall of 1975,
I was 16 years old
when I first saw
"Saturday Night Live."
-Thanks for joining us live.
-My name is Robert Thompson.
I'm a professor of television
and popular culture.
Up until that point,
late-night television
was "The Tonight Show
starring Johnny Carson."
-He-r-r-r-re's Johnny!
[ Cheers and applause ]
-In retrospect,
that just seemed so much
the stuff your parents watch.
[ Laughs ]
[ Coneheads imitating laugh ]
-Here, this da-da,
this weird, this trippy
type of programming.
-[ Screaming ]
-It was so different.
John Belushi did
Samurai delicatessen,
and there was nothing like it
on television.
-"Saturday Night Live"
really shifted the way
people saw comedy.
-Our top story tonight...
-Our top story tonight!
-Everybody was kind of shocked
by certain things
that were shown on the shows.
-But you wouldn't know
about that, Dan.
-Jane, you ignorant sl*t.
[ Laughter ]
I'm Mariel Hemingway,
and I am an actress.
And in 1995, I hosted
"Saturday Night Live."
Since it launched in the '70s,
it was such a huge part
of my young adulthood.
-First, we must
stop the bleeding!
-I'll never forget Julia Child.
-Pressure on the apron like so.
-They were really
a part of something
that -- I don't know --
that just means something
to your entire generation.
-The Blues Brothers! Yeah!
♪♪
-"Saturday Night Live" was
this industry by this time,
manufacturing these stars.
But it was also
really, really effective
at manufacturing distress,
anxiety, angst, fear.
-Most of that is a byproduct
of how Lorne Michaels
prefers to work.
-Lorne Michaels has the
biggest heart in show business.
You see, he hired that director
when nobody else
would hire him.
-For Lorne,
creating a successful
live 90-minute show from scratch
every week
requires an insanely competitive
all-night free-for-all.
-Lorne Michaels once told me
that he set the show up
to be late hours
because of his schedule,
and he had us working
off of his sleep schedule.
-You've got 90-hour
work weeks.
They are, on a weekly basis,
making, in six days,
what should take
about three weeks.
That is a hazardous
work environment.
-It's foxhole writing.
It's like -- It's Ernie Pyle
stuff that we do.
-Yeah, we write
all night, sometimes,
you know, and just go
until we drop...or die.
-As Lorne tells Oprah Winfrey
on her podcast,
he sees the exhaustion
as a feature, not a bug.
-Fatigue is your friend.
Through exhaustion and through
people just being so depleted,
the stuff around the
nerve endings gets worn away
and you take way bigger risks.
-Including, for some,
using cocaine
to fuel those all-night
creative-writing binges.
♪♪
-How about
the use of intoxicants
to aid the creative process?
You don't perform your best
on drugs,
and you don't necessarily write
your best on drugs, you know?
-You know what?
-You got to perform
totally straight,
I mean, or else you just -- your
instincts aren't always there.
-Belushi may believe that,
but he doesn't practice
what he preaches.
News of his cocaine abuse
becomes public knowledge.
Lorne Michaels and his writers
see it as something
to laugh about.
-Look. I can't put
this man on television.
I mean, he's barely awake.
-Lorne, if John Belushi
could speak,
he'd tell you
he's got to go on!
-In a 1990 interview,
Lorne reveals
that two years
after this sketch,
a real doctor
tells him backstage
that Belushi is unable to
perform after partying all week
with Ronnie Wood
of the Rolling Stones.
-His lungs were filling up.
-Life is played on a sad stage.
We begin!
-But Lorne says he replied to
the warning with a punch line.
-The doctor said,
"If he goes on...
And I said, probably just
because I was angry --
I said, "Well, I can live
with those odds."
-Belushi beats the odds.
-Thank you all for coming.
Good night and goodbye.
-But at the end
of "SNL's" fifth season,
when NBC refuses
to grant Lorne and his cast
a year off for some R&R,
he and all of
the remaining original,
"not ready for prime time"
players quit in protest.
-When I left it, I was spent,
and at the end of five years,
it was time for an upheaval.
-Michaels and Belushi
stay in touch,
even as Belushi's health
deteriorates.
-I went to Lorne Michaels'
wedding last night.
-On March 5, 1982,
less than a year after
attending Lorne's nuptials,
Belushi is found dead
in the Chateau Marmont Hotel
in West Hollywood.
-John Belushi,
actor and comedian,
is dead at the age of 33,
after taking heroin and cocaine
by injection.
♪♪
-There was no laughter
here today.
The clown was dead.
-His life was very full,
and it was, uh --
and that it's --
it's been, uh, stopped.
That's the tragedy.
Comedy can get along
without anyone.
-"Saturday Night Live'
was a Petri dish,
and it was a perfect
cultured environment
for growing trouble.
-In 1985, with the
post-Lorne Michaels "SNL"
nearing cancelation
for poor ratings,
NBC convinces the show's creator
to return for season 11.
He brings in new cast members,
including actors Randy Quaid,
Anthony Michael Hall,
Joan Cusack,
and Robert Downey Jr.
-My demands are few...
but unintelligible!
-But the belief that Lorne
can immediately right the ship
proves overly optimistic.
The season gets dismal reviews,
and Lorne starts over
in season 12...
-Yes!
-...hiring the man who would
become known as the show's glue,
Phil Hartman.
-Jimmy.
Don't make me have to k*ll you.
-Lorne also brings on board
Dana Carvey...
-♪ Chopping broccoli ♪
-...who teams up with Mike Myers
two seasons later
in a signature "SNL" sketch.
-Extreme close-up!
Wh-o-o-o-o-oa!
-The following year, Michaels
welcomes the new decade...
-Hello. I'm Lorne Michaels.
And as you know, this is
our first show of the 1990s.
-...with another mostly new cast
including many young comedians
who grew up idolizing "SNL"
and the man who invented it.
-Chris Rock!
Adam Sandler!
David Spade!
Chris Farley!
-They all went on to be stars.
It's incredible.
Just the biggest
assembly of talent
that I've ever seen in one room.
I'm Fred Wolf, and I worked on
"Saturday Night Live"
in the '90s.
I was a writer, eventually
head writer, feature player,
producer, all-around great guy.
I shared an office with
Adam Sandler and David Spade.
And Farley always came in.
And I was just a writer.
And those three guys
were all stars, becoming stars.
-Maybe I don't "look the part."
-Of all of Lorne's new hires,
it's Wisconsin native
Chris Farley who stands out
with his "heart on his sleeve"
personality
and over-the-top
physical antics.
-♪ Sloppy Joe,
sloppy, sloppy Joe ♪
-Farley was amazing at, like --
this driving force
of electricity.
-[ Shouts ] Ow!
-Writing for Chris Farley
was a dream
because he would never
question anything you did.
I'm Hugh Fink, and I was
a writer on "SNL"
in the '90s
into the early 2000s.
Chris Farley's breakout sketch
was with Patrick Swayze,
where they were dancers.
-In the Chippendales
audition sketch,
Farley gets big laughs...
♪♪
...but they come from making fun
of his huge physique.
-Chris Farley so embraces
his own physical body.
-Barney, we all agreed
that your dancing was great.
Adrian's body was just
much, much better than yours.
-Uh-huh.
-But then there's
the other level.
We're simply just making fun
of a corpulent guy
like we've been doing from
Laurel and Hardy and Belushi.
-[ Indistinct shouting ]
-The same way the show
played up Belushi's
hard partying for laughs
back in the '70s...
-They all thought
I'd be the first to go.
I was one of those
"live fast, die young,
leave a good-looking corpse"
types, you know?
-In the '90s, Lorne,
the man who decides
which sketches make it to air,
always seems to pick the ones
that find the funny
in Farley's obesity
and out-of-control behavior.
-[ Screaming ] Ohh!
-Pig!
-Comedy ain't pretty.
It never was.
-It becomes the only way
Farley seems to get laughs
on or off stage.
-Farley would do things.
Like, one time,
he stuck his a*s out the window
and was taking a sh*t
from the 17th floor.
[ Laughter ]
And we were laughing so hard,
and his face
was getting all red.
[ Farting ]
[ Laughter ]
♪♪
That was like five minutes
out of a 24-hour day.
♪♪
Farley and I became pretty
good friends. We hung out.
And sometimes he would sort of
open up to me a little bit.
His father was a little bit
off kilter, and mine was, too,
and so I think, because of that,
we bonded and we talked.
And there was
something about him.
Like, he idolized John Belushi.
[ Laughter ]
-And soon Lorne Michaels
would bear witness
as another one
of his biggest stars
jokes his way over the edge.
-Watch me.
I'll do a cannonball.
[ g*nsh*t ]
-♪ You can do
what you wanna do ♪
♪ In Living Color ♪
-In the early '90s,
comedy on TV
is dramatically different
from when Lorne Michaels
first launched
"Saturday Night Live."
Now cable TV
and new comedy shows
like "In Living Color"
are cutting into
"SNL's" ratings.
-They demonstrate
that others are hungrier,
younger, more diverse...
-Two snaps, a twist, and a kiss!
[ Laughter ]
-But if you thought "Saturday
Night Live" was boring...
you just had to
wait for a minute.
-In October 1992...
-Sinéad O'Connor.
-..."SNL" is thrust back
into the cultural conversation
when Irish singer
Sinéad O'Connor
finally shows up
to be the musical guest.
-Two years before,
she's already canceled
one of her performances
because Andrew Dice Clay
was going to be the host.
-That's too bad.
She was a cute bald chick.
[ Laughter ]
-He, of course, had a reputation
of being a misogynist.
-Hooker.
-[ Laughter ]
-♪ w*r... ♪
-Now a different cause
inspires the singer.
She performs Bob Marley's "w*r,"
changing the lyrics
to highlight what she sees
as a systemic problem
in the Catholic Church.
-♪ Child abuse, yeah ♪
-Afterwards,
she takes out a picture
of Pope John Paul II
and tears it apart.
-Fight the real enemy!
-If Lorne Michaels
created SNL in the '70s
to speak truth to power,
in the '90s, it's not this truth
and not that power.
He orders the crew to
turn off the "applause" sign.
And the audience
falls into a hushed silence.
NBC bans O'Connor for life.
In an interview weeks later,
O'Connor defends her appearance
and calls out
the Catholic Church...
long before the truth
of her child-abuse claim
is exposed.
-The church must be
brought down, destroyed.
Their days are numbered.
Ireland has the highest instance
in Europe of child abuse.
I experienced it myself.
-It will take another 18 years
before the Vatican apologizes
to Ireland's
Catholic sex-abuse victims.
But in 1992, Lorne Michaels,
who may be on
the wrong side of history,
is on the side
of his employer...
and most Americans,
who are outraged
by her allegation.
-A pile of Sinéad O'Connor
tapes and CDs
were crushed by a steamroller
in Midtown Manhattan
in front of a lunchtime crowd.
-I will never again watch
"Saturday Night Live."
-The following week,
Lorne tries to appease
anyone offended by O'Connor
by allowing host Joe Pesci
to condemn her actions
in his monologue.
-I thought that was wrong.
So I asked somebody
to paste it back together.
There.
-Three weeks later
on "Charlie Rose,"
Lorne seems confused
why O'Connor
thinks "SNL" is the place
to challenge authority...
-It just seemed, "Why us?"
-...and deflects
his reaction to O'Connor
by making a joke about
the true disaster that night.
-The tragic part was having to
do two comedy acts after that.
♪♪
-Four months later, NBC,
stuck in third place
among the major networks,
makes sports producer
Don Ohlmeyer
president of their
Entertainment division.
Ohlmeyer makes boosting
"SNL's" flagging ratings
a top priority.
-Don Ohlmeyer becomes the Joker
to Lorne Michaels' Batman.
He becomes his nemesis.
For the longest time,
Lorne Michaels
had tremendous power
where he didn't have to listen
to any network notes.
But because of the show
being questioned,
suddenly NBC
was exerting its power.
And I can say, as a comedy
writer, network notes suck!
-Tension with the network
intensifies
when Lorne gives
the "Weekend Update" anchor job
to fellow Canadian
comedian Norm Macdonald.
-m*rder is legal
in the state of California.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Norm Macdonald was doing
a lot of O.J. jokes
with the assumption
of complete guilt.
-It was at that moment
that he realized
he would never be able
to k*ll her again.
[ Audience groans ]
-Norm would share with me
blow-by-blow details
of what was going on.
Don Ohlmeyer resented
all the O.J. Simpson jokes
because Don Ohlmeyer
was a personal friend
of O.J. Simpson's.
-Therefore, Norm Macdonald
did more O.J. jokes on "Update."
-O.J. Simpson demonstrated
how to stab two people
at the same time.
[ Laughter ]
-NBC executives were getting
madder and madder at him.
I know that there was
a big giant sort of push
to get him off the show.
-And it will work,
but not until 1998,
when Norm's fired after four
years of Ohlmeyer's complaints.
In 1994, Lorne is also dealing
with Ohlmeyer's notes
regarding the other
young comics on the show,
including Chris Barley
and David Spade,
who begin working
on the movie "Tommy Boy"
right in the middle
of "SNL's" 20th season.
-Marker.
♪♪
-They were flying
back and forth.
They were sh**ting
"Tommy Boy" up in Toronto.
It was all about them
just making that work,
and, boy, they were tired.
It was really, really
tiring on them.
-Oh! I'm hurt!
-In the meantime,
the show was going on.
Comedy 24 hours a day,
-Camera marker.
-The grueling schedule
is wearing down
the surprisingly fragile
young star.
-You are gonna die!
-While out promoting the movie,
Farley jokes
with David Letterman about
managing the work stress.
-We were doing the show
at the same time,
so we'd, like, break up the
monotony and stuff like that.
And Spade said that he kept
trying to bug me about my weight
and said I kept eating
when I got nervous.
I have a little bit
of weight problem.
I'm not sure if anyone...
But then...
-For Lorne Michaels,
Farley's "little bit
of a weight problem"
is a big and easy opportunity
for "SNL's" comedy writers.
-[ Grunts ]
[ Laughter ]
-But Farley's substance-abuse
problem can't be laughed off
and leads to multiple
"SNL" suspensions
and several visits to rehab.
♪♪
-He wanted to get sober
a lot of times.
You'd want to say, "Chris, man,
I think maybe you need to
cut back a little bit."
We would talk, getting deep
into conversation about it,
because my brother
had a lot of problems.
♪♪
My brother went to jail
for nine years,
and he k*lled himself
the day he was getting out.
Farley knew that,
and we connected over that.
♪♪
He would say
that he wants to stop.
♪♪
That was on his mind a lot,
you know?
And, uh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
♪♪
-By 1995, Chris Farley is just
one of many problems at "SNL"
keeping Lorne Michaels
up at night.
-NBC's "Saturday Night Live"
has been canceled.
-[ Screams ]
-Oh!
[ Laughter ]
[ Applause ]
Lorne.
-I just had --
-Are you okay?
-As ratings drop another 19%,
the media piles on,
condemning "SNL"
for uninspired writing.
-People were saying
the show's not funny.
It's got all these stars
who think they're,
you know,
bigger than they should be.
-Comments about the writing
criticism and so forth?
[ Laughter ]
-Yes. Okay. I'm leaving now.
-And I heard that,
and I got so mad.
And I went to Lorne's office
and I go,
"Did you hear
what they're saying?!"
And Lorne said, "Well, you know,
do you know how many times
I've heard,
'Saturday Night Live'
no, 'Saturday Night Dead'"?
-But even as the man making
all the decisions at "SNL"
believes reports of its death
are greatly exaggerated,
New York Magazine
is preparing to publish
"Saturday Night Live's"
obituary.
-Lorne Michaels
has masterminded one of
the longest-running
comedy shows on television.
He started "Saturday Night Live"
in 1975.
He helms
the feature-film franchise
being developed from the show --
"Wayne's World,"
its sequel, "Wayne's World 2,"
and the Coneheads.
--If you're around people
who make you laugh,
doing the work you like,
it's a great life,
and I have a great life.
-But in March of 1995,
the "SNL"
fame and fortune factory
comes under attack...
in a cover story that details
the behind-the-scenes
dysfunction
that exists under the watch
of its mercurial leader,
Lorne Michaels.
♪♪
-The New York Magazine
piece presented a picture
that was by no means
a comforting one.
We hear stories
from Janeane Garofalo
to Sarah Jessica Parker
about how, you know,
"I'd go into his office,
and he wouldn't
even look at me."
Or you'd have to wait
six hours to get in.
-The article quotes
an ex-cast member
who says, "Loren wants people
to feel insecure.
It's the same techniques
cults use.
They keep you up for hours,
they never let you know
that you're okay,
and they always make you think
that your spot
could be taken at any moment
by someone else."
Michaels is also criticized
for creating a workplace
that is both sexist
and lacking diversity
in allegations
supported by the numbers.
In 1995, the writing staff
has four times more men
than women
and no Black writers.
-It truly was a white-male
dominated show.
-♪ Well, I love it
when you talk nasty to me ♪
♪ With your legs
wrapped around my back ♪
-The sketches really did
ooze of testosterone.
The Clarence Thomas hearings.
-Couldn't have been easy
for you
to sit here and talk about...
p*nis size.
[ Laughter ]
-Lorena Bobbitt jokes.
-[ Screaming ]
-All of that subject matter
that was both headline news
and perfect for a roomful
of snarky, snotty boys
misbehaving
and farting and belching.
[ Man belches ]
[ Laughter ]
-The cast also talk about
being overwhelmed
by the class-clown attitudes.
-The show continued to do stuff
that one could accuse of
being r*cist or misogynistic.
A great example
would be the Gap Girls.
-God, I love these fries.
-[ Giggles ]
If you love 'em so much,
why don't you marry 'em?
[ Giggles ]
-Why are they having
men play these women
when there's three
other female cast members?
-The New York Magazine
article also highlights
Lorne Michaels' several
attractive female assistants,
known as the Lornettes.
In their early 20s,
one of their duties
is apparently to keep him
supplied with popcorn.
♪♪
The author also reports
that when
Janeane Garofalo complains
that a sketch is sexist,
it brings down the wrath of
the man who wrote it, Fred Wolf.
-It was a hit piece.
There was not a hiring practice.
Women were frozen out
or whatever.
And it just wasn't true.
It was really not true at all.
And I was sort of upset
that that was his conclusion.
-True or not, the cover story
puts more pressure
on "SNL's" king
to clean up his castle
and improve the
toxic environment and sexism
inside his realm.
-Lorne was in charge of
managing people's behavior,
and unless it was something
deeply criminal or violent,
no one was going to interfere
with people's behaviors
at the show.
-At the end of the 20th season,
Michaels caves to network
pressure to revamp the show...
...and fires nine cast members,
including Chris Farley
and Adam Sandler.
♪♪
-It felt like a purge.
They want to change the dynamic
overall, the tone of the show.
-For "SNL's" 21st season
in 1995,
Lorne asks the show's
new co-head writer
to find some talented
female performers.
-Cheri Oteri!
Molly Shannon!
Nancy Walls!
-I was told
to do some outreach,
you know,
see what females are out there.
It was a concerted effort
to get more of a female voice
on the show, and it worked.
-East Lake Spartans!
-What?
-East Lake Spartans!
-What?
-One of the big sketches was,
of course, the cheerleading.
Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri.
-Just because
we didn't make the squad
doesn't mean
we don't have Spartan spirit!
-Stop the presses --
the woman in that sketch
was actually played by a woman!
-The historically
testosterone-fueled
writers room
gets an estrogen injection
when female writers
and producers are hired.
-Everyone was new
when I started,
so it was kind of a good vibe.
Like, everyone was ready
to start over.
I'm Tanya Ryno, and in the '90s,
I was a producer
for "Saturday Night Live."
I produced commercial parodies,
animation...
like "The Ambiguously g*y Duo"
segments.
-Good work, Gary.
That Ice Monster
can't hurt us now.
-You were basically
working around the clock.
-This is where we leave.
-Okay.
-Good luck.
-Thank you, Lorne.
-Tanya soon learns
that Lorne Michaels'
grueling work-all-night
schedule,
the approach
to live-TV production
that led many staffers
to abuse drugs in the past,
is still happening,
even for those making
digital segments.
-Getting there
to 11:30 Eastern Time,
"Saturday Night Live"
can k*ll you.
-I just worked myself to death.
-Tanya also learns
that Lorne Michaels
remains uncomfortable
speaking truth to power
when she produces
a "TV Funhouse" cartoon
called
"Conspiracy Theory Rock!"
-♪ It's a media-opoly ♪
-"The Schoolhouse Rock!" parody,
written by Robert Smigel,
attacks media corporations,
including GE...
-And good old GE?!
-...the parent company of NBC.
-What are PCB's?
-♪ They come from
electric power plants ♪
♪ Built by Westinghouse and GE ♪
-The digital short
airs just once
before Lorne locks it away.
[ Long beep ]
-Lorne's excuse was that
it wasn't funny.
Like, I mean, it was funny,
but it was ironically funny.
I mean, we were told
not to do it again, basically.
-Mariel Hemingway!
-To mark the supposedly more
female-friendly season of "SNL,"
the first episode is hosted
by Mariel Hemingway,
ironically, the granddaughter
of "man's man" author
Ernest Hemingway,
but best known
for playing Woody Allen's
underage girlfriend in the film
"Manhattan."
-Welcome to a brand-new season
of "Saturday Night Live."
There's been a lot of changes
over the summer.
I'd never done anything live.
So I said, "Look.
I'm not a stand-up comic.
So I would love to be able
to introduce this new cast."
There's Dave Koechner.
And Will Ferrell.
-Hi!
-Hi!
-I had played so many lesbians
that I thought
it would be really funny
if I just ignored all the men
and made out with all the women.
I just love her.
[ Chuckles ]
[ Laughter ]
-Mariel's idea is
female empowerment
with just a hint of "SNL's" men
enjoying an adolescent
l*sbian fantasy.
-Hey, Lorne. Oh! Lorne!
Don't forget to introduce me
to your wife
at the party tonight!
[ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
-In her one-week
crash course at "SNL,"
Hemingway experiences
the atmosphere
created by Lorne Michaels.
-Working on "SNL"
really is
survival of the fittest.
You really feel like,
"Okay. I'm gonna make it..."
[ Growls ] You know?
Like I'm a warrior!
♪♪
But it accelerates
at a pace that you're like --
It's just not normal.
And that's why I think
there's burnout
on the people that are there.
They're doing it week after week
after week after week.
That's intense.
That's a lot of pressure.
[ Cheers and applause ]
I want to thank everyone --
the band, the cast.
They're incredible.
I love you all!
-While Mariel Hemingway
proves she's a survivor,
Lorne will soon invite
someone to host
who should be returning
as a conquering hero.
Instead, he'll be thrown
to the lions.
-Okay.
-Alright. Okay.
-I'm the new Chris.
Okay, fellas?
♪♪
-Every vote counts.
-With the release of
the Lorne Michaels-produced
"Black Sheep" in 1996
and "Beverly Hills Ninja"
in '97,
former "SNL" cast member,
Chris Farley
is a box-office movie star,
but watching him
promote his movies...
-Yeah, it's funny.
It's hard to be funny, you know?
When you try to be funny,
you're not,
so you just try to be real.
-...one can't help but wonder
if Farley's
to drug-treatment centers
and ongoing struggle
with obesity
is too high a price
to pay for fame.
-I don't know what's happening.
-[Laughing]
You're drawing a blank.
-He was not in great shape.
You know?
Not in great shape at all.
He had pushed the partying
really hard,
and it just felt like
he was giving up for something.
There was -- Something just
had changed about him.
I told Norm Macdonald,
"I think he'll be dead
in three months."
-[ Laughs ]
-Farley is relapsing at 33,
the same age
his hero, John Belushi,
overdosed and died.
-He wasn't gonna
k*ll himself on purpose,
I don't think,
but I think subconsciously,
it was on his mind
that he wanted to leave
at the same age
that John Belushi was
when he died.
♪♪
-It's against this backdrop
that Lorne Michaels decides
to bring Farley back to "SNL"
to guest host.
[ Laughter ]
[ Indistinct shouting ]
-People were
more than concerned
about Farley that week.
There was a lot of
inside talking about
why the hell is Farley
even hosting the show?
-In what's become
the show style
when confronting an
out-of-control performer,
be it John Belushi
or Sinéad O'Connor,
Lorne and the writers
mine those concerns for a joke.
With Farley,
it's leaning into the anxieties
everyone has about
Chris' ability to host
in the show's cold open.
-But how do I know
he's not gonna screw up?
-Well --
-Because I won't.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-When I saw him,
you know, hosting.
he was very, very heavy,
very, very -- very, very loud.
-But this time, I am not
gonna let you down, boss!
-You've said that before,
Chris.
-Chris' behavior in the scene,
like a troublesome kid
seeking his dad's approval,
offers insights
into the relationship
Lorne Michaels has
with many of his performers.
-He birthed their careers.
He midwived their fame.
He is, metaphorically,
very much a father figure
who everybody
really wanted to please.
And I think
that doesn't go away.
There still is this,
"I want to please Dad.
I want Dad to love me."
-Can you still
fall through a table?
-Can I?! Ga-gaa, goo, gee!
[ Grunting ]
See?!
-Laughing off
its stars' addiction issues
is one of the rituals
of the show Lorne created.
-You know what I've learned?
I've learned lessons
about responsib--
-Responsibility?
-Responsibility.
-The monologue and sketches
in the rest of the show
that Mine Farley's weight
for laughs
are also right out of "SNL's"
how-to manual.
-The uniquely pathetic quality
of Todd's condition
convinced us
to enlist some help.
-No! Our producer, Ted Gurrigan!
-What? What'd you just say, Ted?
-I said I love Italian food!
Can you tell?!
[ Laughter ]
-On a podcast in 2021,
Farley's fellow cast member
Jim Breuer reflects on that week
and remembers Chris calling him
to his hotel room
to confess
all the fears and anxiety
returning to "SNL" has provoked.
-He goes,
"Jimmy, am I funny?"
He goes, "Or am I just
a fat stupid guy?
Girls don't like me.
Have to get hookers.
And I'm just fat and stupid."
I went, "No, you're not.
No, you're not."
The next day, we went
and did a read-through.
Every sketch
was a fat, stupid guy.
-I don't have much
in the brain department,
but when fatty falls down,
everyone goes home happy.
♪♪
-Even though that became
his big thing,
falling into the furniture,
there was always
that sense of vulnerability.
-I am in dire need
of a dance partner, s-so...
-This was the guy
that needed a hug.
-Oh!
-Whatever motivates
Lorne Michaels
to bring Chris back to host...
-Get your fat a*s in gear!
It's 1997!
-I wear special pants.
-...the sketches that night
fuel all the personal doubts
Chris shared with Jim Breuer.
[ Gas hissing ]
Farley is pushed so far
physically during the show
that he needs a nurse offstage
to give him oxygen.
Jim Breuer believes
that something more
should have been done.
-He clearly needed help.
He had a serious,
high-alert drug issue going on.
Is anyone gonna step forward
and say,
"What are we doing this for?
Our ratings?
The man is gonna be dead soon.
Does anyone care
about his soul or his health?
No? We're products
and money? Oh."
♪♪
-Despite the backstage nurse
and other signs
that Farley is struggling...
-El Niño is Spanish for...
The Niño!
-...Chris perseveres through
the show's final sketch,
which has him playing a wrestler
named after a weather front.
-...a submission
fight to the finish!
-Pushed to the breaking point,
it appears the exhausted
comedian really has had enough.
-No más. No más.
-You heard it, folks!
It's unbelievable.
Ric Flair has subdued the
powerful weather phenomenon
known as El Niño!
♪♪
[ Siren wails ]
-Six weeks later in Chicago,
Chris' brother John
discovers the comedy legend
in the hallway
of his 60th-floor condo
not breathing.
-My manager called
early in the morning
and said, "Fred,
I have some bad news."
And I'm thinking,
"Okay. I got fired off 'SNL.'"
And he said,
"Chris Farley died."
♪♪
I was not super-surprised
to get that phone call,
but I was shocked,
and, uh, it wasn't fun.
It wasn't fun at all.
So...
-Friends and fans
of Chris Farley
have gathered outside
the Hancock building,
waiting for just any information
police and investigators
may give.
-I couldn't believe it.
-It's really sad.
-Chris was a puppy.
He was funny.
He made everyone laugh.
[ Indistinct shouting ]
♪♪
-He was 33.
The target age, you know?
Hm.
-Farley idolized John Belushi.
They died with virtually
the same poisons in their veins.
♪♪
-After a four-day
drug-fueled binge,
Chris Farley overdoses
from a speed ball
of cocaine and morphine.
♪♪
-Lorne Michaels
has now witnessed
two of the talented men
he helped make famous
die at the same young age
and under
eerily similar circumstances.
-Anytime that anyone
has a drug-abuse problem,
you can go back and probably
see that someone knew
and probably someone
could have stepped in.
It's a tragedy that
could have been prevented.
♪♪
[ Bells tolling ]
-Chris' death is mourned
by the "SNL" community.
-I feel relief for Chris
that he's not in pain.
I'm thinking he can hear
everything I'm saying,
and I try to -- I'm still
trying to make him laugh,
and I miss him.
-Five months after absorbing
the loss of Chris Farley...
[ Siren wails ]
-...the "SNL" family is
once again rocked by tragedy.
[ Line ringing ]
-911 line...
-In the early morning
of May 28, 1998,
police are called to the home
of former "SNL" cast member
Phil Hartman
and discover him m*rder*d
by his wife.
♪♪
-Mr. Hartman had been dead
for a while.
He did not die at the same time
that Mrs. Hartman
apparently k*lled herself.
-Police believe
the couple's 9-year-old son
and 6-year-old daughter
slept through
the m*rder of their father
and the suicide of their mother.
-Like, what happened here?
What the...happened?
'Cause that's insane, obviously.
And no one knows really
what happened still.
The "SNL" family
was ruined by that
because it came out of
the clear blue sky.
-As I said during the campaign,
I'm just a caveman.
-Phil Hartman's ability to do
a seemingly endless number
of impersonations...
-You damn dirty ape!
What have you done?!
-...puts him on
the Mount Rushmore
of "SNL" cast members.
-Did somebody say sassy?
-His nickname was "Glue."
-We go for the gold. Yay, team!
-Because he was the guy
that held the sketch together.
Everyone thought that.
He could play anything.
And he was solid as a rock.
Brutal. Just brutal, really.
So...
-Hartman left "SNL" in 1994
in a touching final scene
with Chris Farley.
-♪ Goodbye ♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-The man of a thousand voices
says goodbye
in voice number one --
his own.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-The "SNL" family,
when they lose a member,
even as admired as Phil Hartman,
there's sort of a sense
of "the show must go on,"
that even Phil Hartman
wouldn't want people
to simply grieve and fall apart
and not be able to be funny.
-Despite the show's tragedies
in the outside world,
at 30 Rock, Lorne Michaels
has always made sure
that "Saturday Night Live"
does go on.
-It's a very clear thing,
and we have a job to do,
and we have to get it done.
-With "SNL's" 40th celebration
now in its rear-view,
it's approaching
its incredible 50th season.
And, after surviving
threats of cancelation,
controversy, and tragedy,
the weekly live show performed
in the iconic Studio 8H
remains a late-night
institution.
-I think the show's legacy
is the fact that number one,
it's survived,
but also "SNL" has roots
in many different generations.
It has some of the greatest
comedians of all time.
They've come. They've gone.
And the legacy is that
they planted a statement
of who we were
in each generation.
-Live from New York...
-Live from New York...
-Live from New York,
it's "Saturday Night"!
[ Cheers and applause ]
-"Saturday Night Live,"
however it does it,
has been incredibly efficient.
The fact it's been run
by the same cultural warlord
is something of a legend...
and still going.
-Can you see a day, Lorne,
where you're not
sitting in that office?
-My plan is to be here
for the 50th.
And by that point,
I really deserve to wander off.
[ Cheers and applause ]
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