‘S.N.L.’ Weekend Update: An Oral History of 50 Seasons

MICHAELS Because Chevy said his own name and because it was popular, he was the first person to emerge. Subsequently, it’s where most people broke out: Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and to this day it continues. [When Chase left], I thought, You can’t follow Chevy. Any other guy doing it would be seen as a reaction to him. Jane was my first choice.

JANE CURTIN (anchor, 1976-80) I’m a good cold reader. It was easy for me to look into the camera and spew things without going over the top because I had done commercials. At that time, there weren’t many female anchors, and they were all very ambitious and driven. There was a brittleness to them because they had to compete with the men. So I thought, well, I’ll do that.

Dan [Aykroyd] just appeared — I guess they thought we needed more people there — and I thought, Oh, great, company. I trusted Dan. The chemistry was there just from watching him work and being in sketches with him.

MICHAELS “Jane, you ignorant slut” was a parody of “60 Minutes” at the time.

CURTIN This was the ’70s, and it was an interesting dynamic that men and women had. It was not unusual to have a response that pointed — but not exactly that direct. I never assumed anybody would use it that way without the other person thinking it was funny. If they’re not using it in jest, then they’re an idiot.

After five seasons of “S.N.L.,” there was plenty of cast turnover and creative burnout, and Michaels was contemplating his future. On the May 10, 1980, broadcast, Franken performed a satirical Weekend Update commentary, “A Limo for a Lame-O,” that mocked the NBC president, Fred Silverman, for the network’s poor performance. The fallout from this segment is sometimes cited as a reason Michaels and Franken departed “S.N.L.” at the end of the season.