Lorne Michaels won the Mark Twain Prize for Humor, but he’s never told a joke we can remember.
Michaels doesn’t do impressions or stand-up comedy, and his deadpan delivery hardly screams “laughter.” His oversized presence on the comedy scene, though, is undeniable.
He created “Saturday Night Live” in the mid-1970s, the show that revolutionized TV comedy and spawned some of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood.
Murphy. Ferrell. Murray. Chase. Aykroyd. Rock. Poehler. Sandler. Myers. Fey.
Now, he’s getting the feature film treatment.
“Lorne,” in theaters April 17, recounts the consequential life of “SNL’s” brainchild. He’s still hard at work at 81, overseeing a show in its fifth decade.
And, yes, “SNL” is a shell of its old self. The series no longer produces A-list comedy stars. In fact, most Americans would be hard-pressed to name more than two current cast members.
Even worse?
“SNL” no longer rocks the zeitgeist, in part due to its extreme liberal bias. The show once hammered both sides of the aisle without mercy, swatting President Bill Clinton and Gov. Sarah Palin with equal glee.
Now, as former cast member Jay Pharoah recalled, the show gave up on “the Obama thing” and every subsequent Democrat.
That’s the biggest question hanging over “Lorne.” Will the film press Michaels on the show’s undeniable transformation?
So far, no journalist has been able to do just that. A few have teased that political question over the years, allowing Michaels to insist the show doesn’t take sides.
That’s hilarious.
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“What I wanted was a voice in the culture,” Michaels says in the trailer. That can be interpreted in two distinct ways. He got what he wanted in one regard, influencing humor beyond his wildest dreams.
Did he succeed on the latter front? For a while, yes.
Chevy Chase’s “SNL” take on President Gerald Ford branded him a klutz, a far cry from the former athlete’s actual demeanor. The show’s withering takedown of Gov. Palin, courtesy of Tina Fey, made her a laughingstock, whether you like the unorthodox politician or not.
Today?
The show’s far-Left skits get traction in the media and on left-leaning social accounts, but the show no longer sways the masses.
Sadly,that’s the legacy Michaels is leaving in minds of many, and he doesn’t deserve that fate. But he has only himself to blame.
