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Sex, drugs and the 'Harvard of comedy'Oral history ponders the highs and lows of 'Saturday Night Live'
By Todd Leopold
(CNN) -- Has any show in television history ever contained such multitudes as "Saturday Night Live"? It's been called the "Harvard of comedy" and "Saturday Night Dead." It has aimed at the cleverest highs and the most scatological lows. It's become the entertainment business' leading farm system; its stars have gone on groundbreaking television ("Seinfeld's" Larry David and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were both with the show in the early '80s) and have made some of the highest-grossing movies in Hollywood history. Of course, they've also committed some of the most egregious transgressions ever immortalized on celluloid. And despite being a show known for its laughs, in classic Pagliacci fashion its cast members and writers have often been unhappy souls who have covered up their pain with lacerating wits, alcohol and substance abuse. A few -- John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Chris Farley, Danitra Vance, Michael O'Donoghue, Phil Hartman -- have died young. What is it about the show that keeps it on the edge of the abyss, sometimes soaring, sometimes falling? It's the live element, says James Andrew Miller, co-author of a new oral history of the show, "Live From New York" (Little, Brown). It's the adrenaline, the flop sweat, the fact that it feels like there's no tomorrow.
"I think the secret is, no matter how good you are Saturday night, on Monday morning you start with a blank page," Miller says in a telephone interview. No guaranteesMoreover, sometimes your work makes the cut -- and sometimes it doesn't. You may taste a performer's worst nightmare: becoming invisible. "As Dana Carvey said," Miller continues, "you can do the greatest sketch [one week], but there's no guarantee you'll be on [the next]." Yet the show has thrived, through countless changes in the cast and writing staff and differing political and popular tastes over the years. It also has managed to overcome itself on more than one occasion. "There's a huge disparity between what you see on-screen and off camera," Miller says. "There's a lot of tragedy and pain. Their ability to hide it is just awesome." Miller and his co-author, Washington Post television critic Tom Shales, worked on "Live from New York" for more than two years. They interviewed cast members from every era of the show as well as writers, production staffers and several notable guest hosts, including Steve Martin, Tom Hanks and Alec Baldwin. Candid talk
The idea for the book came from Lorne Michaels, the creator and longtime executive producer of "SNL," Miller says. "He'd wanted to do a history like this for years," he says. There had been previous books on the show, including an extensive 1987 history by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad, but those books inevitably left out some cast members or infuriated others. The new volume also had the benefit of more hindsight and Michaels' magic name. "We would invariably ask people, and they would say, 'Has Lorne talked to you?' We'd say yes," says Miller. Not that it helped with some of the bigger names: It took eight months for the authors to get Mike Myers, and Eddie Murphy never did agree to an interview. (Murphy has put a great deal of distance between himself and "SNL," having avoided both the 15th and 25th anniversary shows.) The interviewees held little back in their talks. "I was surprised at just how candid people were," Miller says. "If they'd said, 'It was an amazing opportunity,' there would probably be no book. But 'I took coke five minutes before the show' [is something else]. ... They were so articulate and so open," particularly Bill Murray, whom Miller calls "my favorite interview." Fighting for attentionThe many voices create an interesting mosaic. Some people still appear to be fighting for screen time. Many freely admit drug use and tell of old, still festering grudges. Chevy Chase, in particular, seems to have offended almost every "SNL" staffer he's ever met.
Miller says he enjoyed his interview with Chase -- "he's very smart" -- and observes that the show may have failed without Chase's early stardom. But, he adds, "he has had an ability to tick people off through the generations, even into the late '90s." Then there are the swipes at others. Jim Belushi is still fuming at journalist Bob Woodward for his book on brother John Belushi, "Wired": "Yeah, Woodward did a really nice job of making John look like a Bluto junkie," he says in "Live From New York." "I don't think Woodward's capable of understanding what love is, or compassion, or relationships. He is one cold fish." And writer Elliot Wald took a shot at current NBC Sports and NBC Olympics Chairman Dick Ebersol, who helped get the show on the air in the '70s and helped save it in the '80s: "Every time somebody in the world lies, Dick Ebersol gets a royalty." But eventually the conversation in the book comes around to Michaels, who has been "SNL's" driving force for almost its entire run. He's seen as a genius, a father figure, a difficult businessman, an enigma. Miller and Shales devote an entire chapter to people's impressions of him. "He is unlike anyone, even in the entertainment business," Miller says. "He has a combination of qualities that are unique. He has a huge impact on people." Julia Sweeney still has dreams about earning Michaels' approval; Conan O'Brien tells a story about how Michaels kept the writers off balance. Over the years, "SNL" has been television's version of the Broadway stage -- the "fabulous invalid." Each cast is criticized for being less funny than the previous group, and rumors occasionally arise that the show is going to be canceled. But one of the many legacies of the show is its ability to reinvigorate itself, says Miller. "Saturday Night Live" is in its 28th season, and it still produces sketches and characters people talk about at the water cooler the next day. "It's amazing how it can still find people to fill the shoes," Miller says. "There's always one sketch that makes me glad I tuned in. ... The show has proven something."
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