WASHINGTON – Lorne Michaels, who launched “Saturday Night Live” and generations of stars who brought their irreverent talent to his stage, picked up one of the nation’s top comedy honors Monday, the 2004 Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center.
Cast members old and new joined in feting the Canadian-born Michaels, 59, a nine-time Emmy winner whose show transformed Saturday night television 30 years ago.
“For the last 30 years, I’ve had the coolest job in New York City,” Michaels remarked after receiving his award at the end of the evening.
“It is the primary satirical voice of the country,” said 1970s veteran Dan Aykroyd, one of many who went on to successful film careers after stints on “Saturday Night Live.” Shuffling on the stage and doing a “Blues Brothers” dance, Aykroyd told the audience that the test of success was always trying to make Michaels break out laughing. “We seek approval of this man.”
A variety of the show’s hosts came to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, too. Recalling his Saturday night as host in the 2000 campaign, Arizona Sen. John McCain said: “It’s the only time I ever impressed my teenage children.”
Staying true to Saturday Night Live form, current and former cast members and staff joined Michaels on stage at the end of the show and hugged each other.
Michaels moved to Los Angeles from Toronto in 1968 to work as a writer for NBC’s “Rowan &Martin’s Laugh-In.” Seven years later he shifted to New York to begin “Saturday Night Live.” Among those featured in the cast in its three decades are John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Eddie Murphy, Dana Carvey, Chris Rock and Will Ferrell. Al Franken was a performer and writer for the show.
As executive producer, Michaels continues to dominate the NBC show he created, where he’s remained except for a 1980s hiatus.
He’s often talked about how show has soldiered on through countless cast changes and has been funnier some seasons than others:
“When a cast is at its peak and the writing staff is solid, you get an evenness,” Michaels said recently. “It never goes below a certain level. You never worry that when people are up there they’re going to sort of forget why they’re funny.”
The show, which debuted on Oct. 11, 1975, has won 18 Emmy Awards and been nominated for more than 80. It continues to get the highest ratings of any late-night television program.
Previous winners of the Mark Twain Prize include Richard Pryor, Bob Newhart and Tomlin. The prize comes with a bronze reproduction of an 1884 bust of satirist Mark Twain.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
