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As documented by countless books, documentaries, and even narrative feature films, crazy things transpire on the set and behind the scenes in Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The drama and palace intrigue of Saturday Night Live is oftentimes more entertaining than the product put out by NBC for 50 years. Between feuds between cast members, controversial live performances, and illicit backstage behavior, each season is filled with enough material to tell a short story.
As an influential series and enterprise, consequential decisions made by executives, led by showrunner Lorne Michaels, amount to major shakeups in the comedy and media landscape. Of all the near firings and alternate paths, none would have been as disastrous for SNL and culture at large as when Conan O’Brien was nearly sent out the door for a minor quarrel with another crew member.
Conan O’Brien and Greg Daniels Were Nearly Fired From ‘Saturday Night Live’
In the late 1980s, legendary late-night host and comedian Conan O’Brien was in Saturday Night Live‘s writers’ room alongside future showrunner of the U.S. version of The Office and Parks and Recreation, Greg Daniels. Promoting his new Office spin-off, The Paper, Daniels was a guest on O’Brien’s podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and recalled an instance where they escaped an unfortunate firing thanks to support from their boss, Lorne Michaels.
Daniels recounts that he and O’Brien had upset the show’s costume designer, who goes unnamed in the interview. Accusing the two of stepping over boundaries by offering input into the wardrobe for a skit, the costume designer demanded that the two young writers be fired or else she’d quit. Considering that she was an award-winning artist and highly revered in the building, this was a threat that needed to be addressed. When O’Brien and Daniels were brought into the bigwig’s office, they were not reprimanded by him. Instead, Michaels had them sit in his office for roughly 20 minutes, signaling to the aggrieved party that the writers were being scolded. In reality, he had their backs.
The violation O’Brien and Daniels committed was nothing to complain about. “We wrote a sketch, and it had these elaborate costumes, and we went to the place where they were manufactured, just to check on them, because that’s what we thought a good writer-producer does,” Conan explained on the podcast. If they were overstepping their bounds, they were oblivious and simply trying to be proactive team players. After all, they were new to the staff, and O’Brien never recalled getting into any other major fights while working on SNL. “We just ignorantly stepped on toes,” Daniels quipped.
Conan O’Brien’s Memorable Tenure on ‘SNL’ and His Quick Rise in the Industry
Conan O’Brien and Greg Daniels were on SNL‘s writing team from Season 13 to Season 15, with the former staying on for an extra season. O’Brien, the Harvard grad who served as the President of The Harvard Lampoon, was a true wunderkind, writing for SNL before turning 30, writing sketches such as “Mr. Short-Term Memory” and “The Girl Watchers,” both starring Tom Hanks. During O’Brien’s tenure, Hanks cemented himself as an SNL legend and storied member of the illustrious “Five-Timers Club.” Speaking of which, a young Conan appears in the “Five-Timers Club” sketch as a guard who opens the door for Hanks into the inductee room.
O’Brien’s tenure, 1987-1991, was an era where Lorne Michaels found his groove after returning to the series in 1985 following a brief hiatus and a lackluster era that nearly derailed SNL forever. After the series cleaned house, it discovered a brand-new crop of talent that would become major tentpoles in show history, including Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Kevin Nealon, and Phil Hartman. Even more impressive was the writers’ room, which, under the leadership of Jim Downey, cultivated inspiring new voices like O’Brien, Daniels, Bob Odenkirk, Al Franken, and Robert Smigel.
As just one of many writers, O’Brien’s voice could only be so pronounced, but this era matches the spontaneous and off-kilter persona he perfected as a talk-show host. “Nude Beach,” featuring host Matthew Broderick, was a bold sketch by O’Brien and Smigel that dared to squeeze in as many utterances of the word “penis” as possible, to the chagrin of the FCC. Other sketches like “Irish Drinking Songs” and “Long White Beard” are gleefully irreverent and all over the place, but that’s what you want from anything crafted by O’Brien. Despite his success and career breakthrough, O’Brien regrets being too “intense” at SNL, which led to his eventual burnout.
Conan O’Brien Has Had a Lasting Impact on Comedy
Immediately following his SNL stint, O’Brien joined the writing staff of The Simpsons during its golden age. His tremendous work behind the page eventually led to Lorne Michaels selecting him to replace David Letterman as host of NBC’s Late Night show in 1993, a bold move considering he was a total unknown as an on-camera presence. Everyone knew that O’Brien was a special talent, which is why he earned these gigs in his late 20s and early 30s. Of course, the spat with SNL‘s costume designer was nothing compared to the media firestorm of his brief run as host of The Tonight Show.
You can criticize Lorne Michaels for many things, but his loyalty to his talent is untenable. In fact, he’s so committed to them that he refuses to step away from his position despite his age and falling out with modern sensibilities. It would’ve been easy for Michaels to side with the respected costume designer with seniority and punish the newcomers in O’Brien and Daniels, but he clearly didn’t see anything wrong with them being scrupulous about their sketches. However, this anecdote shines a light on the intricate power dynamics on SNL.
While Michaels is heavily involved in the creative vision, it may not always be incumbent on writers to check in on the technical aspect. Although his skills as a writer and host are obvious, O’Brien, like many of his peers, owes everything to Michaels. Few would have even considered giving O’Brien the time of day to host a network talk show, but Michaels shrewdly identified him as the proper successor to David Letterman.
The ripple effects of Conan O’Brien being fired on Saturday Night Live would have been unimaginable, now 30 years removed from this incident. A premature exit from the sketch series likely wouldn’t lead to a spot on The Simpsons‘ writing staff, nor would he ever be in the running for any late-night talk show, because, in the end, capitalizing on talent is at the whims of perfect opportunities and fortuitous circumstances.
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