Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News and Analysis - Bill O'Reilly on Saturday Night Live's Legacy and 50th Special

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

Bill O'Reilly talks about the legacy of SNL. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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eBay is the place for pre-loved and vintage fashion. eBay, things people love. Saturday Night Live. So a big three and a half hour special, 50th anniversary, and I've got some thoughts. So Saturday Night Live came on just when I was starting my career. So I've been 50 years in the journalism business, and SNL has been 50 years in the satire business. And I always admired people who could make me laugh, particularly talking about current events. I think that's so important. That satire is such a great talent, skill. You know, we've got to make fun of ourselves sometimes. I get to overdo it. So in the beginning, they're all unbelievable. Belushi and Akroyd and Gilda Radner and Garrett Morris, Lorraine Newman, Chevy Chase. Chase is problematic. Not a nice. guy at all, but skilled. And it sure just took off. You know the history of it. And then it went up and down,

in and out, up and down, in and out. It got into a lot of trouble when Donald Trump got into politics because it took a very hateful approach toward Donald Trump, where it hadn't in the past. So they mocked Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, the Bushes, even Barack Obama. They were gentle on Obama. But they, it wasn't hateful, but Trump got hateful. Now, the guy who runs the show is Lauren Michaels. He's a genius, the guy, I know him. And a tremendous talent evaluator, tough guy, not benevolent, I don't think. But he's got loyalists who love him.

And you saw them in the special, you know, Jack Nicholson showed up, big friends with Lauren Michaels, Steve Martin, he's a comic genius. He started off that special and he was great. And that's a tough spot to come out in a big, you know, program like that and hit the monologue the way Martin did. Boy, I never met Martin, by the way, but I've always admired him. He's a very, very funny guy. And the show last night was okay. I wasn't on the floor or anything like that, but I admired the way it was put together and the skill sets of most of the people in the audience.

So they opened with Paul Simon, 83, and he looks at, and then they brought on a young woman, Sabrina Carpenter, to help Paul and Homer Bound. And she was good, an effervescent presence. I don't know her very well. I mean, I've heard the name. And then they went into their sketch. Eddie Murphy, I would have liked to have seen more of genius.

And he played Tracy Morgan, my pal, who's a great guy. And Tracy was standing next to him. And that was really created. That was in Black Jeopardy with Kenan Thompson, another really funny guy. And that fell flat when they tried to do a MAGA thing with Tom Hanks. Didn't work. But that's all right. You've got to try. I don't mind satire about MAGA or Trump, as long it's not hateful. Hateful is the dividing line. And SNL has not been hateful, generally speaking, over the years.

Michael's, he goes up to the line, but he doesn't cross it. But they made a mistake with the Trump stuff. And they lost a lot of cachet. But you may have noticed that in three and a half hours, very, no, Trump stuff. Trump didn't, no impressions, didn't mock them, weren't after him. Alec Baldwin only appeared, what, 30 seconds, 40 seconds? And he's like attached the hip to Michaels and Saturday night live. But he would bring back that far left countenance. Tina Faye, another progressive loon. She had, she's a writer and they have a strong relationship. Michaels and her, I understand that. The Weekend Update, always my favorite part of the show. I think Jost and Che are excellent.

And I went out, you know, I know Dennis Miller as well as anybody knows, and we were out across the country doing shows. Miller gave me all kinds of great stuff. Norm MacDonald was a friend of mine, RIP for Norm, genius. And Miller is, you know, first-rate, funny. And so I know, I know. And I always liked, you know, that sharp, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, on a weekend update.

Bill Murray, nasty guy like Chevy. In fact, those two almost punched each other out, Murray and Chase. And I ran it to Murray one time, and this is a good story. So I was over at NBC after I had appeared on Saturday Night Live myself. And if you want to see that, it was, let's see, 13 years ago, 12th. Wow, 13 years. And I ran it to Murray and he went like this. I go, stared him in the eye. I'm 6'4. He's about 5'10. I go, problem. Oh, boy, he's scampered out of there because I don't book that. You don't like me. That's okay. A lot of people don't like me.

Probably more people don't like me than do like me. But don't give me, poof. I mean, you know, you got something on your mind? Let's hear it. Back to last night. 50 years. I mean, I can't believe I've lasted 50 years in my profession, but 50 years are not kind of a platform.

But Saturday Night Live has always been a weekly satire that the country needed which is why I respect it let me run down some performance you might want to think hear what I think about them so last night I miss Dan Aykroyd Akroyd and Belushi made that show she's got all the ink but Belushi and Akroyd in 1975 they were the heart of that show and then Murray came later Mary was good a Jane Curtin Ray Newman were there. You know, Garrett Morris, they're all up there and look their age. Martin's short. Martin, I would have, he needed to do Jiminy. Was it Jiminy Glick character? That's what he needed to do there. But it's very tough.

Steve Martin, way above the rest. He can do it, but very tough for the others to, to the breakthrough. A lot of them have died. Belushi, as everybody knows, Phil Hartman, tragedy. Lerane Newman was still alive, as I said. Gilderadna died. A lot of them not around. Chris Farley. Farley, boy, I wish I could have talked to him, you know. Kate McKinnon is a genius. There's absolute genius. I don't know if she's going to make it in the movies. That was really Saturday Night Live was wow. And as I mentioned, Kenan Thompson, Davidson, Bowen Yang, all very, very good.

I wouldn't, Sherry O'Terry, I missed her. Darryl Hammond, I missed him. They didn't get much attention. They were, they're very good performers. Okay, so let me tell you what the story was. So I got a call on February of 2012 to host Saturday Night Live from Laura Michaels. And I wanted to do it, but it would have been bad for me to do it.

Because I'm not a sketch guy. I'm spontaneous. I can hold my own, but I don't think that would have, but you know, my ego and all that, I would have tried it. But I couldn't get away six days from Fox. So we entered a compromise that I would do a skit called What Up With That, with Keenan Thompson. And Hater was on a skit.

and a model was on the skit, Kate Upton. And I had a blast. Then he wrote me a script and two really good writers, I forget their name, came into the dressing room on the rehearsal and said, well, here's your script. I don't need a script. I'll just play off Thompson, okay? And that's what I did.

I didn't even use a script, okay? So Thompson said, all right, tell me about killing Lincoln. That was the premise of why I was there. And I said, well, you know, And then he goes into his dance. But the funny part was, while he was doing his stick, what up with that? I would give him looks, all right? Because I told the writers, I said, when he's doing it, make sure the director get shots of me.

And it worked. That was a lot of fun. I mean, I have to say. Now, Thompson himself, he had no idea why it was. He had no blanket idea. It was fine. Hater knew, Upton, I don't know. Upton did how much it'd say in the script.

He was just there. But one of the highlights of my career was doing Saturday Night Live. And I appreciate Laura Michaels thinking about me and put me on. They did impressions of me. Jason Sudeikas and Hammond both mocked me. And it was fine. That was satire and they didn't do it in a mean way. So anyway.

Anyway, I am a big SNL fan. I'm glad. I hope they're coming back from the hate stuff. That's good, but a very worthy enterprise for 50 years in the United States. Thank you for listening to me tonight on our YouTube channel. We'll see you next time.