Saturday Night Live: “We go on because it’s 11:30”

Wednesday, 03 March 2010 | by Pat's Picks

Saturday Night Live is never “ready” for air. That was one of the great insights I heard from Lorne Michaels last night at a Q and A session about the show he created 35 years ago.

Let me explain. Michaels was asked about the importance of the “live” part of the production. He said it’s vital. “We don’t go on because we’re ready, we go on because it’s 11:30.” Michaels and his head writer Seth Meyers were interviewed by Ken Auletta at an event organized by the New Yorker and the Newhouse School.

I was tweeting a few quotes from the room last night, and the “11:30” quote hit home with a lot of the people in the room.  It hit half a dozen twitter feeds at the same instant. (@laureltouby and @jonfine were sitting in front of me and both started thumb-typing furiously after hearing the quote.) I feel the same way about “In the Papers” every morning as I work at NY1. It’s not like I ever finish reading the papers. But at some point 7:40 rolls around and it’s time to deliver the daily summary whether I’m ready or not.

Four other notable moments from the event:

1)  Michaels was surprisingly uncomfortable when asked about the Conan O’Brien fiasco. After Michaels’ first attempt at a response that included long pauses and little information, panel host Ken Auletta told him: “I didn’t understand a word you just said.”

2)  From Seth Meyers: “The show clips well. It was a show for the Internet before the Internet.”

3)  My NY1 colleague Budd Mishkin asked how SNL has changed because of the success of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Michaels had praise for the Daily Show but said the two shows are different enough that they’re not stepping on each other. Meyers said his “Weekend Update” is the segment most affected, admitting that they monitor the competition to make sure they’re not writing jokes that have been done earlier in the week.

4)  The role of Sarah Palin on the show (as played by Tina Fey and in person) was discussed several times. Speaking about Palin’s actual appearance, Michaels said people shouldn’t underestimate star power just because they don’t agree.

Here’s a clip of the Sarah Palin-inspired rap on SNL’s Weekend Update:

Tina Fey as Palin: