โSaturday Night Liveโ creator and longtime producer Lorne Michaels may be involved with recently launched U.K. version of the sketch comedy show, but he insists heโs not too hands-on.
โMy design for it was that it would be the cooler of the two shows, and it would be the thing they beat us up with that. That itโs smarter, funnier, more original, and it had to be that,โ Michaels said Tuesday night at the Los Angeles premiere of his documentary, โLorne,โ on the Universal lot. โIt had to be its own thing. It couldnโt be an imitation of what we do.โ
Michaelsโ remarks came during a post-screening Q&A moderated by NBCUniversal Entertainment chief Donna Langley.
Michaels said he talks โall the timeโ with U.K. producer James Longman and head writer Daran Jonno Johnson. Even so, he said, โit has to be their show because I can tell you how I would do it โ Iโve been doing it for 50 years, and itโs pretty well known how I would do it โ [but] you have to do it your ways.โ
โSaturday Night Live U.K.โ premiered on March 21. The cast includes Hammed Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, George Fouracres, Ania Magliano, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, Emma Sidi and Paddy Young.
The Focus Features documentary, directed by Morgan Neville, features archival material, as well as interviews with โSNLโ cast members and writers including Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, John Mulaney, Andy Samberg, Conan OโBrien and Chris Rock.
In the doc, Michaels, 81, tells Steve Martin over dinner at Orso in New York City that he has no plans to retire.
During his introduction of the screening, Mulaney said, โI donโt think Lorne Michaels is ever going to leave, but obviously a lot of people are excited โ which lucky duck will get to run that show at a third of the salary with none of the stature?โ
On the red carpet, Neville said that he may have gotten unprecedented access to the famously private Michaels, but he wasnโt able to crack him on two subjects. โHe didnโt want to talk about his family,โ Neville said. โAnd he didnโt want to talk about how much money has. But heโs done alright. I donโt know if youโve heard.โ
โLorneโ is in theaters on April 17.
See more photos from the โLorneโ premiere below.
Morgan Neville, Donna Langley and Lorne Michaels and Steven Spielberg
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Jon Hamm and Anna Osceola
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Laraine Newman and Steven Weber
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Owen Wilson
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Vanessa Bayer and Kyle Mooney
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Rob Morrow and Tu Simone
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Susan Yeagley and Kevin Nealon
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Chris Parnell
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