That '70s Show

Thirty-one years later, Michaels is still doing the other one: SNL. "You're doing 90 minutes from blank page to on-air," he says. "How can it be everything you'd hoped it could be? And the reason that you show up next week is that hope springs eternal and maybe this week, it'll be that." He mentions the Jaime Pressly show, where he'd seen "the sparks of a new cast" and he'd been "pleased." He mentioned the A-Holes and Kuato and how Will Forte's writing is starting to turn heads, and also seemed "pleased" that the audience might soon develop "that thing of old friends they can hold on to," which clearly Michaels knows something about.

Forty-four minutes have passed, and at 1:59 a.m. Michaels excuses himself. "All right," he says, "and now I'm going back to work."

photo: Dana Edelson/NBC

'The sparks of a new cast': SNL’ers Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis, Andy Samberg, and Amy Poehler with guest host Jaime Pressly in the October 7 show that 'pleased' Lorne Michaels

Details

See also:
Obsessive Guide to SNL Needs You
Open thread in Power Plays

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Additional reporting: Patrick Waldo

***Editor's note: This article was corrected on 11.01.06. It orginally reported that Fred Armisen and Martha Plimpton are still dating. They're not.
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