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Lorne : The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live
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Overview
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The definitive biography of Lorne Michaels, the man behind America's most beloved comedy show"The kind of biographical monument usually consecrated to founding fathers, canonical authors and world-historical scientific geniuses."--The New York Times (Editors' Choice)"Readers are treated to the Holy Grail for any journalist hoping to crack the show: a warts-and-all week in the life of SNL, where Morrison gets to see the real process of putting the thing together."--Variety
LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY - A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, The New Yorker, Elle, Kirkus Reviews, Denver Public Library Over the fifty years that Lorne Michaels has been at the helm of Saturday Night Live, he has become a revered and inimitable presence in the entertainment world. He's a tastemaker, a mogul, a withholding father figure, a genius spotter of talent, a shrewd businessman, a name-dropper, a raconteur, the inspiration for Dr. Evil, the winner of more than a hundred Emmys--and, essentially, a mystery. Generations of writers and performers have spent their lives trying to figure him out, by turns demonizing and lionizing him. He's "Obi-Wan Kenobi" (Tracy Morgan), the "great and powerful Oz" (Kate McKinnon), "some kind of very distant, strange comedy god" (Bob Odenkirk). Lorne will introduce you to him, in full, for the first time. With unprecedented access to Michaels and the entire SNL apparatus, Susan Morrison takes readers behind the curtain for the lively, up-and-down, definitive story of how Michaels created and maintained the institution that changed comedy forever. Drawn from hundreds of interviews--with Michaels, his friends, and SNL's iconic stars and writers, from Will Ferrell to Tina Fey to John Mulaney to Chris Rock to Dan Aykroyd--Lorne is a deeply reported, wildly entertaining account of a man singularly obsessed with the show that would define his life and have a profound impact on American culture.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9780812988871
- ISBN-10: 0812988876
- Publisher: Random House
- Publish Date: February 2025
- Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
- Page Count: 656
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The 50th anniversary season of Saturday Night Live is the perfect time to release this definitive biography of the show’s creator, Lorne Michaels. In Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, New Yorker articles editor Susan Morrison uses meticulous research and pleasurably crisp writing to tell the life story of a man who has shaped pop culture for a half-century.
So many biographies are weighed down by ponderous recollections of a subject’s early years. Morrison wisely spends only a few chapters on Michaels’ childhood. She includes important contextual details, like how Michaels’ father died when Michaels was a teenager and how his mom was tough and distant. But Morrison knows what we want to hear about: SNL!
And boy, do we. Morrison has unparalleled access to the workings of SNL, from cast auditions to the writing room, costumes and makeup, and the sometimes sublime, sometimes sweaty minutes of live airtime. She conducted hundreds of interviews, including with many of the show’s stalwarts, like Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Bill Hader and Chris Rock, to name just a few. (If only we could hear stories from late cast members like Gilda Radner, John Belushi and Phil Hartman . . .) Most importantly, she interviewed Michaels extensively.
Lorne offers a fascinating blow-by-blow of the sometimes harrowing months leading up to SNL’s 1975 premiere. Belushi played hard to get, but ultimately wanted to be on the show more than anyone. Chevy Chase was initially hired as a writer, but with his preppy good looks, he quickly became the first anchor of Weekend Update, signing on each week with, “I’m Chevy Chase, and you’re not.”
Morrison does not shy away from the less endearing aspects of Michaels’ persona. A known name-dropper, he casually mentions “dinner with Paul” (leaving one to wonder, Simon or McCartney—he’s dear friends with both). He’s also notoriously conflict-averse, leaving firing and other tough managerial decisions to others on his staff.
It’s been observed that everyone says Saturday Night Live was best during the years they were in high school. Yet Morrison gets to the heart of why the show has survived all these years despite such naysayers: Lorne Michaels understands comedy—and comedians—more than perhaps anyone in Hollywood. “One of Michaels’s rules is ‘Do it in sunshine,’ which means, don’t forget that comedy is an entertainment,” Morrison writes. “Colors should be bright, costumes flattering. He likes hard laughs, he says, because ‘I search for anything that makes me feel free.’ ”
The 50th anniversary season of Saturday Night Live is the perfect time to release this definitive biography of the show’s creator, Lorne Michaels. In Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, New Yorker articles editor Susan Morrison uses meticulous research and pleasurably crisp writing to tell the life story of a man who has shaped pop culture for a half-century.
So many biographies are weighed down by ponderous recollections of a subject’s early years. Morrison wisely spends only a few chapters on Michaels’ childhood. She includes important contextual details, like how Michaels’ father died when Michaels was a teenager and how his mom was tough and distant. But Morrison knows what we want to hear about: SNL!
And boy, do we. Morrison has unparalleled access to the workings of SNL, from cast auditions to the writing room, costumes and makeup, and the sometimes sublime, sometimes sweaty minutes of live airtime. She conducted hundreds of interviews, including with many of the show’s stalwarts, like Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Bill Hader and Chris Rock, to name just a few. (If only we could hear stories from late cast members like Gilda Radner, John Belushi and Phil Hartman . . .) Most importantly, she interviewed Michaels extensively.
Lorne offers a fascinating blow-by-blow of the sometimes harrowing months leading up to SNL’s 1975 premiere. Belushi played hard to get, but ultimately wanted to be on the show more than anyone. Chevy Chase was initially hired as a writer, but with his preppy good looks, he quickly became the first anchor of Weekend Update, signing on each week with, “I’m Chevy Chase, and you’re not.”
Morrison does not shy away from the less endearing aspects of Michaels’ persona. A known name-dropper, he casually mentions “dinner with Paul” (leaving one to wonder, Simon or McCartney—he’s dear friends with both). He’s also notoriously conflict-averse, leaving firing and other tough managerial decisions to others on his staff.
It’s been observed that everyone says Saturday Night Live was best during the years they were in high school. Yet Morrison gets to the heart of why the show has survived all these years despite such naysayers: Lorne Michaels understands comedy—and comedians—more than perhaps anyone in Hollywood. “One of Michaels’s rules is ‘Do it in sunshine,’ which means, don’t forget that comedy is an entertainment,” Morrison writes. “Colors should be bright, costumes flattering. He likes hard laughs, he says, because ‘I search for anything that makes me feel free.’ ”