I’ve always been fascinated by watching Hollywood screen tests of icons before they were famous, but nothing prepared me for the spectacle of watching some of Saturday Night Live‘s most celebrated players watching tapes of their own auditions, raw nerves on display. Andy Samberg threw up during his first audition. Amy Poehler asks to stop after watching a morsel of her understated tryout: “That’s enough, oh boy,” she smiles. (Marci Klein, head of talent at the time, reveals in a separate interview, “We knew we were hiring her before she did this.”)
Fascinating moments like these are peppered throughout the four hours of SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, Peacock‘s terrific behind-the-scenes docuseries that marks many of the remarkable highs and equally unforgettable lows of the revered late-night sketch-comedy variety brainchild of Lorne Michaels. Executive produced by Oscar-winner Morgan Neville, with a different director helming each of the roughly hourlong films, the series is especially enlightening in its vivid description of the harrowing process of producing 90 minutes of topical live comedy on a weekly basis. Long nights of writing and rewriting lead to the big night, when writers and actors nervously wait up to the last minute to learn which of their pieces will make it on air.
“Five Minutes,” directed by Robert Alexander, kicks off the series with a memorable survey of the nerve-wracking audition process. “How the f— did I get this show?” wonders Pete Davidson after watching his tape. “I was hoping I would never see this,” cracks Stephen Colbert, one of many who didn’t make the cut, cringing as he watches his failed effort. “Why didn’t you hire me?” he cries in mock outrage. (Other also-rans include Jim Carrey, Jennifer Coolidge, Mindy Kaling, Kevin Hart, Donald Glover, and Jordan Peele.)
Peacock
“What does well on our show is somebody that’s really funny in a way that you haven’t seen,” explains longtime executive producer Michael Shoemaker (now with Late Night With Seth Meyers). Some promising performers are hired on as writers, held in reserve for later. Others try and try again. Many arrive with shtick honed in years of repertory and improvisational training at companies like Second City and the Groundlings. (Though we’re repeatedly told that improvisation is nearly non-existent on the stage of Studio 8H, and when someone goes off-script, as a frustrated Damon Wayans infamously did during his one aborted season, the consequences aren’t pretty.)
“I’m still in awe that I was able to do that,” marvels the protean Cheri Oteri as she looks back with fondness at her time on the show. We share that feeling.
The following episode, “Written By: A Week Inside the SNL Writers Room,” directed by Marshall Curry, is even more riveting in its fly-on-the-wall account of a single episode’s production from last season, when The Bear‘s Ayo Edebiri was the first-time guest host on February 3, 2024. As the clock ticks relentlessly, cameras sit in on Monday’s pitch meeting (“smoke and mirrors,” as Seth Meyers remembers it) when writers throw out ideas after meeting the star, then retreat into their offices for Tuesday’s “late-night delirium” of writing before Wednesday’s critical table read. Once sketches are chosen, rewriting begins, and writers become their own producers, meeting with designers and costumers to realize their vision before Friday’s blocking and more rewriting.
Show day involves editing of the pre-filmed pieces, an afternoon run-through and an evening dress rehearsal from 8-10 pm. (“The dress audience tells you the truth,” says former head writer Tina Fey.) With Michaels and the writers observing from under the bleachers, the stress builds as the boss decides which of the sketches will make the final cut and in which order. And then: Showtime.
Related‘Saturday Night Live’ 50th Anniversary Special: What to Know
An entire episode, “More Cowbell,” directed by Neil Berkeley, is devoted to the iconic sketch from April 2000 featuring guest host Christopher Walken at his most eccentric and Will Ferrell (the sketch’s writer) at his most unhinged in an uproarious parody of the recording session for Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” Reflecting on “the freedom to kind of create something that crazy,” Ferrell asks if it’s “pathetic if I laugh at my own sketch.” (The answer: No.)
The final installment, “The Weird Year,” directed by Jason Zeldes, takes a Twilight Zone approach to a wry chronicle of the infamous 11th season (1985-86), a historic moment that brought Michaels back to the show after a five-year absence, with the struggling show’s future very much in doubt. His decision to recast the ensemble with established and rising actors (Randy Quaid, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, Joan Cusack) with little background in sketch comedy proved disastrous, although the season was notable for the ensemble’s first openly gay performer (Terry Sweeney) and breakout work from Jon Lovitz, Nora Dunn, and Weekend Update anchor Dennis Miller (the season’s sole survivors).
This was also the season during which Damon Wayans was ignominiously fired (though welcomed back later to do his stand-up act and to host the show a decade later). Even at its worst, there were moments of brilliance, and this made me want to go back and watch the experimental episode (hosted by Cheers star George Wendt) from March 1986 in which Frances Ford Coppola purportedly takes over the reins for the full 90 minutes. SNL barely survived cancellation after that year’s debacle, but a year later would rebound with the addition of instant stars including Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, and Jan Hooks.
So much history. So much comedy. So many memories. While we wait for next month’s primetime 50th anniversary blowout (airing February 16 on NBC), this is a wonderful way to take stock of SNL‘s unprecedented staying power. As Carvey’s Church Lady might say: Isn’t that special?
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, Docuseries Premiere (four episodes), Thursday, January 16, Peacock
More Headlines:
‘Spartacus: House of Ashur’: Nick Tarabay Returns in Arena in Trailer (VIDEO)Roush Review: Live from New York … 4 Fascinating Chapters of ‘SNL’ History‘Southern Charm’ Clip Shows Taylor Ann Green and Salley Carson Finally Having a Real Conversation (VIDEO)Was Mayim Bialik Asked to Join ‘Big Bang Theory’ Spinoff? She Reveals If She’d Star‘The View’: Whoopi Goldberg Gives Pete Hegseth a Personal Challenge After Confirmation Hearing