Saturday Night Toxic?
Giving Dick (Ebersol) his due
In the news today was an announcement that Devon Walker is leaving SNL after three seasons. It isn’t clear whether he chose to leave or has not been asked back, but in his own words “this is a good thing.” He also said that SNL is often “toxic as hell.”
I know a thing or two about lasting on the show for three years and also how challenging it can be. There are contributing factors to toxicity. When I was there in ‘82 to ‘85 women struggled unfairly to get material in the show. The show by nature is competitive and egos are equal parts fragile and inflated and every week can feel like your career was just made or just sank to a depth no rescue vehicle can reach. That can create a toxic-ripe environment.
I have few regrets but I’d be lying if I said I’m okay with the fact that producer/creator Lorne Michaels treats the Dick Ebersol years (when I was with the show) as if they didn’t exist. I believe that cold shoulder is rooted in the same toxicity Walker refers to. It is an imbalance of perception that starts at the top.
Not because of any public or industry reverence for the Ebersol years, but because of a shortcoming in Michaels who ignores the fact that others have contributed to his show.
I have no relationship with Lorne Michaels and I’ve never met him. I’ve passed him in the hall at SNL reunions and I called him in 2016 looking for a contribution to my campaign for Congress, but there is no personal history or exchange of any kind from which I can create a 3-dimensional portrait.
He was very kind on the phone (I was surprised that he even took my call) when I wanted his political action committee to consider my progressive campaign , but the call went nowhere. I wasn’t good at getting to the “ask” and he didn’t see much value in supporting a long shot from Iowa and so he forwarded me to head writer Steve Higgins because “Higgins is from Iowa.” The forwarding led to getting disconnected and I wasn’t about to call him back. “Hey, me again…”
And that’s my criticism of Lorne Michaels, whether real or just a projection, he doesn’t appear to care about what isn’t in his control.
No one, not even Michaels, can overlook the fact that Eddie Murphy emerged from a show called “Saturday Night Live” when he wasn’t at the helm, and the same can be said about megawatt stars like Billy Crystal and Martin Short.
They werent SNL progeny, but they were on the show. So was Julia Louis-Dreyfus and no one can remove those huge stars from SNL history. They’ve each been back to host, but 5 years (100 shows) are not part of Michaels’ SNL package. Very rarely (or ever) does anything from that era show up in a reunion retrospective, but those undeniable stars are asked to participate in the live portions.
I’m always a little surprised, in fact, that I get a ticket to the gala reunions every 5 or 10 years, but I do. I do, I think, because other people involved with the show and with NBC care about the complete history. The staff always treats me and other second (or are we third?) tier cast members very well. The casts, past and present, are always very generous. Fred Armisen reminded me at the 40th reunion that the years I was on the show were the years he was a kid dreaming of being on SNL. “You were my cast,” he said. Jimmy Fallon recognized me on a recent trip to The Tonight Show.
Fans of SNL and podcasts revolving around the show (there are great ones like the Saturday Night Network and SNL Super Fans) regard the Ebersol years as simply that particular era, but not a different show. They love Joe Piscopo, Tim Kazurinsky, Robin Duke, Mary Gross, Brad Hall, Christine Ebersol and the rest. So, why no respect from Lorne Michaels?
It isn’t revisionist history to say that Dick Ebersol saved the show after a challenging year when Michaels left in 1980. And for the record, fans of the show include that Jean Doumanian year as a chronological part of the show. Denny Dillon and Gail Mathias come to the reunions and likely feel a bit of a cold shoulder from Michaels’ historical account.
Which creates toxicity. Not from the ignored players from SNL’s timeline, but from a culture that divides and measures value according to who is in his favor. “His” being Michaels.’
Make no mistake (and this is a big “make no mistake”) - Lorne Michaels deserves all the credit in the world for his visionary genius, for creating and maintaining the most enduring satirical “live” show in history. He is the kingmaker. But kingdoms breed toxicity because they revolve around the affections and attention from their unique royalty.
I understand Devon Walker’s assessment. Saturday Night Live is the most exciting thing that can happen to a young actor and it can also peel back your skin and rain lemon juice.
I’d like to see the man who set SNL in motion and still carries its torch, put his personal legacy aside to include everyone who has done time in Studio 8H from 1975 on, as part of one continuing history.
I think a little more generosity of perspective, from the history to the creation of every show could make the whole environment a little less toxic. And that always starts at the top.
