live from mtsu it’s monday night by barbara johnson
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Live from MTSU it’s MONDAY NIGHT By Barbara Johnson. Accomplishments. 38 years of entertainment 156 Emmy nominations 36 Prime Time Emmy Awards 4 in its first season ~750 live episodes 10th in TV Guide's top 50 greatest shows (2002) - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Live from MTSU it’s
MONDAY NIGHT By Barbara Johnson
Accomplishments• 38 years of entertainment• 156 Emmy nominations• 36 Prime Time Emmy Awards– 4 in its first season
• ~750 live episodes• 10th in TV Guide's top 50 greatest shows
(2002) • 11th in Time Magazine’s Top 100 Best TV
shows of all times (2007)
SNL- Who is Operations?• Executive producer-Lorne Michaels-33 of 38 years• Head writers• Staff writers• Repertory players/Featured players • Weekly Hosts • Musical guests• Narrator-Don Pardo- 37 of 38 years.• Broadway Video /SNL Studios-post production
SNL- Seasonal Operations
• ~20 episodes per season• 3 weeks on and 1 week off in season. • Follow a rigorous and successful weekly
routine
SNL- Weekly Operations
• Monday:– free-form pitch meeting with all writers and host.– 66 minutes of programming
• Tuesday:– all day and nighter– shaping of ideas and writing for read through
Weekly Operations: SCHEDULE
• Wednesday:– 3:00 all scripts due– 5:00pm read-through followed by Production
team meeting w/ Lorne Michaels and small team of writers for brainstorming to fill in gaps
– Once finalized, Production Team goes to work (costumes, sets, sound effects, blocking, etc)
• Thursday:– Production Team hard at work, dry blocking
Weekly Operations: SCHEDULE
• Friday:– Set complete, rehearsal and costuming, writing
tweaked on sketches.
– Three additional pieces written:• cold opening• host monologue• Weekend Update.
Weekly Operations: SCHEDULE
• Saturday:– 1:00 1st dress rehearsal with costuming
– 5:30-6:30- Mandatory dinner break (union rules) • Prepping for 7 hour blitz
– 7:30-8:30 1 hour rehearsal of Weekend Update.
Weekly Operations: SCHEDULE
• Saturday (continued):– 8:30-10:00(ish)- Full dress rehearsal • Lorne Michaels watches intently for audience reaction,
quality of performances, timing. • 2 meetings during this time
– 1st meeting-writers and production team – 2nd meeting-cast and host.
• Controlled hysteria-no time for debating. • 1-2 sketches usually cut plus subtle changes to each
sketch. • Parody commercials and/or shorts are available to fill
gaps
Weekly Operations: SCHEDULE
• Saturday (continued):– 11:29
• Sunday - DAY OFF
HISTORY• Johnny Carson-10 years of "Best Of Carson" for late
night Saturdays. • 1974 Johnny Carson wanted this to end so that reruns
could be used during weekdays and give him more time off.
• Late night programmer for NBC contacted Lorne Michaels, award winner for producing variety show specials.
• 3 weeks later SNL was developed, avariety show featuring high concept comedy sketches, political satire, and musical performances.
HISTORY
• Debuted on October 11, 1975
• Approved for only 6 episodes 1. George Carlin 2. Paul Simeon 3. Rob Reiner 4. Candice Bergman 5. Lily Thomlin 6. Robert Klein
HOSTS• They were approved for further seasons.• From these 6 episodes, they learned the host
makes/breaks the show, and developed a good criteria for a successful host.– go along to get along – preferred NO TV stars
• 5 Timer Club– Tom Hanks– Steve Martin– Alex Baldwin– Elliot Gould– John Goodman– Justin Timberlake
Innovative Operations
• First Season- All unknown players with known hosts
• Live shows• Muppets involved• Youngest audience targeted-18-35 year olds• Edgy, cutting edge comedy
Today
• Unknown players• Live- only one show ever not live- delayed 5
minutes- due to host- Richard Prior• Got rid of Muppets sketches after first season• Target audience 18-35 years olds• Edgy, cutting edge comedy
Resources
• Saturday Night – A Backstage History to SNL, Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad, 1986
• Wikipedia- Saturday Night Live• Here’s The Thing- Radio/Podcast-Alex
Baldwin with Lorne Michaels- 1-30-2012