It Sounds Like Lorne Michaels Isn’t Leaving ‘SNL’ After All

Is this Saturday Night Live or Succession?

After Lorne Michaels seemingly confirmed that Season 50 would be his last at the helm of SNL — good god, the man will be 80 at year’s end — pundits and show alumni are suddenly waving the “not so fast” flags. Just in case you were thinking about wagering on Michaels’ departure?

“It is dumb money to think that Lorne is stepping down after the 50th,” Seth Meyers told Matt Belloni this week on The Town podcast. 

Belloni, who has devoted multiple podcasts to handicapping Michaels’ SNL successor, explained that he’s done a 180 on SNL’s future leader. “I thought for sure the 50th would be the big moment,” he said. “And (next) summer, he would say, ‘I’m gonna hang on Paul McCartney’s yacht, and I’m not coming back.’”  

Now Belloni is changing his tune. “I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” he continued. “I think that he may elevate someone. Someone on the current staff may get a bigger position. Or he may bring in someone new to be the heir apparent. But I don’t think he will give up the crown.” 

Meyers agreed that Michaels isn’t walking away despite all of his insinuations over the past year. Part of the problem is no one seems to want the job, including Meyers himself. Or as he put it, “Taking over for Lorne Michaels, it is not a job that has a lot of appeal to it.” 

Some believe that underlings who work with Lorne can figure out how to be Lorne. Meyers says think again. “The things that Lorne does for that show that are hard to put your finger on are just massive,” he explained. “His very ability to convince people in every single field from film to television to music to sports to politics, he just gets people to do things that are out of their comfort zone. That isn’t a skill you can learn. That’s a reputation you earn over 50 years.”

Along with Tina Fey and Kenan Thompson, former head writer Meyers is one of the first names mentioned when it comes to SNL succession talk. “Look, I loved working there more than anything,” he said. “But being Lorne’s right-hand man is a lot more fun than being Lorne.”

That puts the future of Saturday Night Live in a precarious position. Belloni notes that no other franchise in television history revolves around one person like SNL and Lorne Michaels. “There are helpers that come in and out, but there’s nobody that is the heir apparent,” he explained. “There’s nobody else that is really running the show. It is still one guy.” 

“There are people that love some eras of SNL, and there are people that hate other eras of SNL,” noted Meyers. “Lorne has always loved SNL, and he has loved every era of it. He loves being around those people. I just can’t imagine a reason that he would walk away from it.”