Lorne Michaels Reportedly Considering ‘SNL’ Retirement

Fifty is a nice round number, especially in the mind of Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels. The television legend, who was a member of the Kennedy Center Honors 2021 class, said he plans to stay on at least through Season 50 before possibly retiring. Michaels, 77, created SNL for NBC in 1975, helping to launch the career of countless comedy stars since.

On CBS This Morning, Gayle King asked Michaels if he is still not thinking about retiring. He is committed to overseeing the show at least through 2024 when it begins its 50th anniversary season. “I’d like to see that through, and I have a feeling that’d be a really good time to leave,” Michaels said. “But here’s the point: I won’t want the show ever to be bad. I care too deeply about it. It’s been my life’s work. So, I’m gonna do everything I can to see it carry on and carry on well.”

When asked if it is possible for SNL to survive without him, Michaels said “of course” it could. Michaels was unwilling to share who his replacement could be. “I have a sense of where we’re headed with that, you know,” he told King, before adding, “I’m not gonna go on about it – it’s three years away!” King even pressed him for the initials of his replacement, but Michaels steadfastly refused.

This was not the first time Michaels mentioned retiring after Season 50. “My plan, I’m not sure that I’ll see it through, but my plan is to be here for the 50th (anniversary),” Michaels told Today‘s Willie Geist in October 2020. “And by that point, I think I really deserve to wander off.”

SNL launched in 1975 after the then-NBC vice president of late-night programming Dick Ebersol was asked to come up with new programming for the Saturday night timeslot. Michaels was the showrunner until 1980 when he left and was replaced by Jean Doubanian, who lasted only one season. Ebersol took over until Michaels returned in 1985. He has been running the show ever since.

When the show’s 40th anniversary came around, Michaels became aware of just how influential and important SNL has become. “I think it really, for the first time, really hit me on the 40th anniversary… just seeing all the generations of the show,” Michaels told King. “You can’t put anyone in the cast that you don’t have complete faith in. You may not know how it’ll turn out, but you want that decision to have been pure of heart.”

Michaels received his Kennedy Center Honor medal on Dec. 4, alongside singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, Motown founder Berry Gordy, and opera singer Justino Diaz. The ceremony will air on CBS Wednesday, Dec. 22 at 9 p.m. ET. It will also be available to stream on Paramount+.