MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SEMINAR SERIES, THE: WRITING LATE-NIGHT COMEDY: SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in this series of seminars conducted by The Museum of Television & Radio. This seminar, co-sponsored by the Writers Guild of America and moderated by television curator Ron Simon, examines writing live sketch-comedy television on "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) with writers Steve Koren, Lewis Morton, and Norm Hiscock and writer/performer Norm MacDonald. Simon begins the seminar by introducing the four panelists. Before each writer presents a sketch of his work, Simon asks each to comment on the experience of growing up with "SNL" and the differences between writing for "SNL" and other programs. The panelists discuss the constraints of writing for live television and the limitations on development of sketches in their six-day time frame. Koren screens two sketches, one a commercial parody about cats and another a scene about eye contact in bars. Next, Morton screens a sketch about airline safety and USAir, which prompts Simon to ask about the role of the standards and practices review board on the show. Hiscock then screens a sketch he wrote about the differences between "funny strange" and "funny ha-ha." MacDonald then screens a piece in which he impersonates CBS news correspondent Charles Kuralt. After the screening, the panel discusses the day to day process of writing for the show, including a Monday pitch meeting, the read-through and rehearsals, and re-writes on Fridays and Saturdays; the number of sketches on which any one writer is working at one time; and the intense media scrutiny of the show. Questions from the audience then prompt the panel to discuss the following: the process of writing the "Weekend Update" segment of the show; sketches that are written with particular actors in mind and the strength of the performers on the program; the panelists' light-hearted attitude toward the bad press about the show; insider status (a good method of becoming a writer on the show); the tendency of some of the writers to eschew satire in favor of observational humor; Mike Myers's "Coffee Talk" sketch, which is written by the comic and his wife; the dominance of male writers in the late-night comedy field; the importance of an agent in getting material read; the process of writing the opening monologues; the "SNL" tendency to mine for writers from the "Harvard Lampoon"; the writers' efforts to avoid repeating old ideas; the demographics of the program; the infrequency of ad-libs from the performers due to the live format of the show; and advice for aspiring writers.
Details
- NETWORK: Paley
- DATE: March 29, 1995 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:28:41
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:36749
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ron Simon … Host
- Norm Hiscock … Panelist
- Steve Koren … Panelist
- Norm MacDonald … Panelist
- Lewis Morton … Panelist
- Charles Kuralt
- Mike Myers