For 50 years now, Lorne Michaels has been shepherding Saturday Night Live to the stage, and Susan Morrison takes an in-depth look at his mindset in a New Yorker profile that pronounces him the "real star" of the show. The piece runs through the weekly schedule but zeroes in on one point in particular, explaining that the 90 minutes between dress rehearsal and the actual show on Saturday nights "is when Michaels displays his superpowers." Michaels watches from the bleachers, where he "is definite and direct in a way that he is not during the rest of the week—a mode that he describes as 'being on knifepoint,'" writes Morrison. Michaels doesn't like confrontation, but this is "outweighed by the urgent need for triage." Two voices from show alums on the matter:
- John Mulaney: "May the cast members go to their graves never knowing the things I heard under the bleachers."
- A. Whitney Brown: "If you were to read a year's worth of his notes from dress rehearsal, you'd have a master class in TV production that is unparalleled."
The full profile traces the arc of the career of the man born Lorne Lipowitz, including his early days as a straight man in a comedy duo and later as a writer on shows such as
Laugh-In. It's
SNL, though, where things gelled. "I learned everything I know from that show," says Chris Rock. Read it
here. (Or check out other
longform recaps.)