Deep Thoughts: The End of SNL?

From The Not Ready for Prime Time Project: An SNL Retrospective by Two Pints Productions, Inc.

March 17, 2026 · 55 min

About this episode

The episode explores the reasons behind Lorne Michaels' departure from SNL and the impact on the show's original era.

Why did Lorne Michaels leave SNL? How hard did NBC try to keep him? Did a future US senator really sabotage everything? Saturday Night Live historians and authors Doug Hill & Jeff Weingrad join us once again to answer these questions (and more) as we look back on the end of SNL’s original era. Beginning with Season Four (which they would argue was the beginning of the end), we connect the dots as to what brought about the eventual end of Lorne Michaels’ original run of the show. Dou...

People in this episode

Guests: Doug Hill, Jeff Weingrad

Topics covered

SNL history
Lorne Michaels
television
comedy
media analysis

Keywords

Lorne Michaels
SNL
Doug Hill
Jeff Weingrad
NBC
comedy history
television

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NBC

Books & works: Saturday Night Live