Lorne Michaels, along with many others, celebrated the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live this past weekend.
On Saturday, February 15, the special aired live from New York, featuring a star-studded lineup of alumni, including Steve Martin, who has hosted the show 16 times.
Ahead of the special, the 80-year-old Michaels spoke to The New York Times about how emotional the night would be.
“There’s going to be a lot of emotional moments seeing people who I last saw when they were 25,” he shared, adding that he hadn’t read or seen any coverage of the anniversary. “Because something in it will hurt my feelings.”
One lingering question remains: after 50 years with the show, will the Emmy-winning television producer, writer, and comedian, who is best known for creating and producing SNL, continue his tenure? Read on to find out more about Michaels’ long history with the show, his future plans, and other details about his remarkable career.
Michaels first garnered the attention of Dick Ebersol, NBC’s head of late-night television programming, in the early 1970s. At that time, Michaels was a 29-year-old comedy writer from Toronto, Canada.
He served as a producer on SNL from 1975 to 1980, before taking a five-year hiatus to focus on other projects. Since 1985, he has remained at the helm of the show.
