rec.arts.theatre.musicals

'SNL' returning with 4 straight shows

By DAVID BAUDER

"Saturday Night Live" has been gone for so long that you'll never know
who its Mitt Romney impersonator was going to be.
The writers strike-imposed absence of the NBC institution ends this
weekend with the first of four straight weeks of new shows, the first
time that breakneck schedule has been tried since 1976.

"The last time we did it, it almost killed us," said Lorne Michaels, the
show's veteran executive producer. Old friend Tina Fey is the first
guest host.

The last new "Saturday Night Live" aired on Nov. 3. It was such a
generation ago politically that the opening skit was about a party at
Hillary Clinton's house where she was portrayed as the presumptive
president -- with the real Barack Obama taking a cameo role.

That's what irritated Michaels and cast member Seth Meyers, also the
show's lead writer, so much. The show prides itself on political parody
and here, during one of the most exciting nomination contests in
generations, they've been sidelined.

"I was in a rage for three of the four months," Michaels said, "then I
sort of calmed down."

Part of the reason Michaels picked Fey for the first show back is that
she's a former head writer and cast member at "SNL" and it gives a
comfort level for the expected rustiness.

Michaels said he learned from a 1988 strike that it took awhile to get
viewers back in the habit of looking for the show following an absence.
"You have to re-establish the bond with the audience when you don=B4t
show up for a long time. It=B4s like any other relationship. When you
don=B4t show up, people lose interest."

"SNL" averaged million viewers for the four original episodes of
this season.

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