The author of Saturday Night Live boss Lorne Michaels’ new biography revealed that he made a surprising confession to her about his life amid the heightened attention the show has gotten in the lead up to its 50th anniversary.
In a new episode of SNL alums’ Dana Carvey and David Spade’s Fly On The Wall podcast, biographer Susan Morrison, the author of Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, said Michaels told her that despite celebrating the show’s success of hitting 50 years on air, he’s felt a “loss.”
When Jason Reitman movie Saturday Night came out last fall, Morrison says Michaels told her that was “the beginning of his anonymity being blown in a way.”
“He said, ‘I just feel like I’ve lost control of my life.’” The 2024 film depicts a fictionalized version of the lead-up to the show’s first broadcast in 1975, with Michaels portrayed by The Fabelmans actor Gabriel LaBelle.
SNL has made a splash of its 50-year milestone with deep-dives and reflections on the show through multiple documentaries, concerts, and its star-studded SNL50 telecast Sunday. But a lot of what’s been celebrated —the show’s highs, lows, and impact—had already been known, with the exception of new revelations about Michaels himself. “People really don’t know that much about Lorne,” Morrison said.
The biography offers yet another peek at the previously more mysterious man behind the show. For Michaels, who “likes to be behind the curtain,” Morrison said, it hasn’t been a comfortable change.
“He does feel, I mean, even to some extent with a book, it’s just like he’s kind of stepping out,” Morrison continued. “The Reitman movie put him center stage, this book puts him center stage. It’s a shift for him.”
Carvey offered that Michaels is “only human,” and probably “will be kind of a little bit relieved when this whole hoopla is over.” Morrison agreed, however, she doesn’t think Michaels will be retiring anytime soon, as many have speculated.
“I don’t buy any of the replacement theories,” she explained. “I don’t think Tina or Seth or, I can’t see any of them [taking over the show],” she continued. The “likelier idea” is that he comes in “two days a week,” and “picks the show after that with his deputies’ help.”
“I firmly believe, I don’t think he’s gonna just say ‘over and out,’” she added. “He’s never missed a show. I think they’d have to carry him out of there in a stretcher.”
