“The Monday afternoon writers’ meeting (AKA the pitch meeting) is when each week officially begins. I love how the tradition of everyone cramming into Lorne Michaels’s office has not changed over the years—even as the number of cast members and writers has grown to the point that some have to hover at the door because not everyone can fit in the room.”
“Steven Spielberg, Bill Hader and Andy Samberg laughing as Laser-Cat-hater Lorne Michaels (seated at his desk, off camera) delivers the line on the cue card. This was filmed in Michaels’s actual office.”
“In the early years of the show, photographer Edie Baskin hand tinted the bumpers. This one of Steve Martin from season two is one of my favorites.”
“During the commercial break before Weekend Update, the anchors always go over the cue cards (seen here, Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler with longtime staffer Wally Feresten). The jokes for WU aren’t finalized until the last possible moment—which means the anchors may be seeing some bits for the first time right before air. They scan each card and say “next... next...next” as Wally flips them. I’ve witnessed this myself and the energy is electrifying.”
“During the first season of the show, Lorne Michaels frequently wore his ‘lucky’ pin depicting a mother duck and her ducklings. I like to think that he was the mother, and the cast and writers were his ducklings. He did lead them, and the show, to greatness. When Dick Ebersol, who co-founded the show with Michaels, took over the reins in 1981, Michaels lent him the pin as a gesture of good will.”
“The archives in the special effects makeup department are baffling. They contain molds and casts of current cast members as well as frequent hosts and special guests. You could spend hours in there poring over them, looking at the eerie likenesses. The amazing thing about this photo, of course, is the painted cast of Kristen Wiig’s head.”
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