‘SNL50′ Was the Culmination of Lorne Michaels’ Vision, For Better and Worse
variety.comDaniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic At the end of the Feb. 16 broadcast of “SNL50,” a tribute to the half-century reign of “Saturday Night Live” over American culture, Martin Short thanked executive producer and series creator Lorne Michaels, calling him “the man who made our dreams come true.” Michaels — relentlessly parodied in popular culture, including on that very broadcast — seems at once familiar and remote.
On film, his whimsical, dismissive mien provided the basis for Mike Myers’ “Austin Powers” villain Dr. Evil; on “SNL50,” his putative best friends from growing up in Canada (played by Vanessa Bayer and Fred Armisen) roasted him for his imperious management style when they helped him move.
Onstage, at the end of a three-hour-plus special that would seem to have crystallized his sensibility, he was affable, but let others do the talking for him.
We have fifty years’ worth of evidence that such a role is most comfortable for him. The new biography “Lorne,” by the journalist Susan Morrison, reveals a surprising career ambition: After The New Yorker fired top editor William Shawn, Michaels provided him office space.
Read more on variety.com
