Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live (37 page)

R
IGHT
: Norm Macdonald. Chevy Chase thought he was the best “Weekend Update” anchor since — well, Chevy Chase — but his stint in the anchor chair provoked the wrath of NBC West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer, who mounted a relentless, obsessive campaign to get Macdonald removed from the post in 1994.©
EDIE BASKIN

Sometimes the envelope got pushed too far. Sinead O’Connor (center), host Tim Robbins, and Lorne Michaels during rehearsals for a 1992 show in which O’Connor shocked the audience — and everybody involved with the show — by tearing up a photo of the Pope at the end of a song. Director Dave Wilson ordered that the “applause” sign not be lit, and the sequence ended in deathly silence.©
EDIE BASKIN

L
EFT
: Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as Wayne and Garth in “Wayne’s World,” a sketch that began life modestly in the “ten to one” spot (the last sketch on the show) and eventually became the basis of the highest-grossing movie ever spun off
SNL
characters. Carvey and Myers got along fine in the TV version; the movie set was another matter.©
EDIE BASKIN

R
IGHT
: “Two guys named Chris, hired on the same day, sharing an office… .One’s a black guy from Bed-Stuy, one’s a white guy from Madison, Wisconsin. Now — which one is going to OD?” — Chris Rock on himself and fellow cast member, officemate, and friend, Chris Farley.©
EDIE BASKIN

Letting it all hang out. Chris Farley romps through an “audition” for male strippers, with host Patrick Swayze. Farley idolized and emulated John Belushi even to the point of wearing Belushi’s pants when he found them in the wardrobe department. But inner demons similar to Belushi’s led to Farley’s death at the same tragically early age, thirty-three.©
EDIE BASKIN

“Good-nights” from one of the great shows of the nineties, with host Tom Hanks, musical guest Bruce Springsteen, and regular Chris Farley in the foreground. Hanks was one of the most frequent and hardworking guest hosts, pulling all-nighters with the writers and never behaving like a prima donna.©
EDIE BASKIN

More stars than there are in the heavens — but too many of them really are in heaven. A rare reunion of cast members, writers, hosts, and producers from several eras of
Saturday Night Live
at the Aspen Comedy Festival. At left,
60 Minutes
correspondent Steve Kroft moderates the discussion. Michaels sits front row, far left, and former executive producer Dick Ebersol is fourth from the right.©
NEAL PRESTON/2002

Comic Andrew Dice Clay with Michaels and a studio technician during rehearsals for what would be one of the most contentious
SNL
shows of the nineties. Cast member Nora Dunn refused to appear on the show because she found Clay’s humor misogynistic. Clay insisted he was only playing a character in the same way members of the
SNL
cast did every week.©
EDIE BASKIN

The Gap Girls in a sketch from the early nineties: David Spade, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley. Network executives were at the gates demanding changes and threatening Michaels. Among other things, they wanted Sandler fired because they didn’t “get” his comedy; he went on to become a major movie star of hugely successful comedy films.© Norman Ng for
EDIE BASKIN

Like Buttah. Barbra Streisand makes a surprise appearance during a special edition of “Coffee Talk,” the Mike Myers sketch in which Myers (left) played talk-show host Linda Richman, a gabby yenta who sometimes told viewers to “talk amongst yourselves.” Madonna and Roseanne look on.© Norman Ng for
EDIE BASKIN

Dana Carvey as George Bush, Phil Hartman as Bill Clinton, and David Spade as Ross Perot greet the audience from “home base” in Studio 8H. For many younger viewers,
SNL
became a primary source of political information.©
EDIE BASKIN