The Best Idea Yet - 📺 SNL: The Snickers Bar of Saturday Night | 50

Episode Date: September 23, 2025

When Johnny Carson, 1970s late-night king, declared he wanted another day off, it left NBC with a hole in their weekend lineup. 11:30pm Saturday night wasn’t exactly the hot time slot… so the network recruited a quiet Canadian comedy writer named Lorne Michaels to produce a live variety show on the cheap. NBC figured, this thing might not get ratings, but it should be affordable and easy to produce. What could go wrong?Turns out, a LOT. Cost overruns. Clashing egos. A studio that hadn’t been used since the 50s. And yeah, some drugs along the way. The show that eventually became Saturday Night Live has actually never been cheap OR easy to make. But it also made TV history. SNL is kingmaker, cash cow, and comedy accelerator program. (Without SNL, there’s no Shrek, no Mean Girls, and definitely no 30 Rock.) Find out how this 50+ year old network program became an unofficial cofounder of Youtube; why Lorne defines success as a Snickers bar, and why Saturday Night Live is the best idea yet.Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterFollow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting www.wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/ now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to the best idea yet early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. Jack, do you know what the official timing is for prime time? I think it's 9 to 10 Eastern time. 7 to 10 weekdays, 8 to 11 weekends. But after that, do you know what they call the time after prime time? late night and they call it slime time love that

it's pajama programming viewership drops like 50% after 11 p.m. I remember the first time I was allowed to watch TV after 11 it was actually Y2K I was 12 years old waiting to see if the world fell apart yeah we're on the edge of our seat like wondering what the hell was about to happen and I got to watch

the ball drop in Times Square it was very exciting being able to watch late but Jack that's what's so funny about that slime time time slot is that it's the most unwanted of time slots on TV, and yet there's one program that is the most culturally relevant entertainment show in our country, and it occupies that moment. Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! It's Saturday Night Live, the classic late-night sketch comedy show on NBC, and the reason we all know Chevy Chase as a person, not just a

suburb of D.C. With 1,000 episodes, it's one of the longest running shows in TV. history. And one key feature is the constantly changing cast. Except for Keenan Thompson. Good point, Jack. SNL is employed over 160 different cast members and counting. S&L brought to life hundreds of unforgettable characters. The Blues Brothers got the band back together on SNL, and Domingo broke up a wedding twice. But SNL didn't just create iconic characters and sketches. It launched dozens of wildly successful careers. Your favorite comedy movie? There's a good chance that stars a former SNL cast member, from Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler to Amy Poehler and Tina Faye.

We would argue that SNL is the greatest platform for launching talent in the history of entertainment. But, Jack, for all the iconic names associated with this show, there is one name that looms above all the others, the Canadian king of SNL himself. We're talking about the show's executive producer and chief architect, Lorne Michaels. Tonight, we will share with you

The incredible story of how Lauren Michaels developed one of late night's most enduring sources of laughs, from the cone heads to the Californians. And we'll look at how that is translated into pure profit power for NBC. Not just in the 80 million bucks a year in ad revenue, but in all the spinoff shows and films created by SNL alums, many produced by Lauren himself. But like in every great comedy sketch, Nick, there's a complicating twist here. Because SNL almost fell apart before it even reached full orbit. Not just once, but twice.

We'll hear why inefficiency can really be efficient. And how the key to success can be found inside a Snickers bar. Plus, we'll walk you through how SNL puts together a show in only six days just in time for Saturday night. And how SNL put YouTube on the map. We've got a great show for you tonight. Sabrina Carpenter is here to stick around. We got Sabrina Carpenter on the show? No, I'm just saying that's what they say.

You know, like, but Sabrina, hey, you're welcome to come. on this show anytime. Just bring more cowbell. Here is why Saturday Night Live is the best idea yet. From Wondery and T-boy, I'm Nick Martell. And I'm Jack Kravici Kramer. And this

is the best idea yet. The untold origin stories of the products you're obsessed with. And the bold risk takers who made them go viral. We got it coming to you. I got that feeling again. They change the game in one move. It's how they hook all over.

It's your man, Nick Cannon. I'm here to bring you my new podcast, Nick Cannon, at night. Every week, I'm bringing out some of my celebrity friends and the best experts in the business to answer your most intimate relationship questions. So don't be shy. Join the conversation and head over to YouTube to watch Nick Cannon at night or subscribe on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcast.

I'm John Robbins and on my podcast I sit down with incredible people to ask the very simple question, how do you cope? From confronting grief and mental health struggles to finding strength and failure, every episode is a raw and honest exploration of what it means to be human. It's not always easy, but it's always real. Whether you're looking for inspiration, comfort or just a reminder that you're not alone in life's messier moments, join me on How Do You Cope? Follow now wherever you get your podcasts, or listen to episodes early and ad-free on Wondery Plus.

How Do You Cope is brought to you by Audible, who make it easy to embark on a wellness journey that fits your life with thousands of audiobooks, guided meditations, and motivational series. In lovely Los Angeles, the most important meetings happen at breakfast. Clean white tablecloths, coffee, and silver craps next to plates of fresh fruit and overpriced eggs, Benedict. It's 8 a.m. We're at the polo lounge of the historic Beverly Hills Hotel, early 1975. Three NBC executives are sitting across from a slightly rumpled 30-year-old Canadian writer-producer,

Lorne Michaels. Lorne should be thrilled, sitting at a power breakfast with network brass. But he's having trouble soaking it all in. Because for Lauren Michael's 8 a.m. is way, way too early. Lauren's a lifelong night owl here. He's an eggs at noon, dinner at 10 p.m., kind of a guy. So he narrows his eyes at the man across from him, a sandy-haired 27-year-old executive named Dick Ebersaw.

Now, as NBC's new head of weekend, late-night programming, Dick has one job right now. Close a gap in NBC's late-night lineup. You see, Saturday nights at 11.30 p.m., used to be for reruns of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. But Johnny wants more time off to play golf, so his reruns are moving to a weekday. So for the past five months,

Dick has been searching for comedy producers to create a live variety show to fill the time slot. Live variety shows can be a real cost-saver in the TV business because you shoot it once and you're done. There's no retakes, no post-production. And often not much of a script either. Just some jokey monologues in between music, numbers. Dick needs a showrunner, though, for this new live variety show, and this is exactly

what has led him to Lorne. Born Lauren Lipowitz of Toronto, Lauren's resume includes writing for the variety show laughing, which helped launch the careers of Lily Tomlin and Goldie Han, and he even had his own variety show back up in Canada called The Heart and Lauren Terrific Hour. Now it's time once again to talk to our old friend, the Canadian Beaver. How are you feeling, beef? Oh, pretty chipper, pretty chipper. But Lauren's greatest test, isn't performing its vision. And he has a revolutionary idea for what comedy on television might look like.

At the time, network television is mostly playing it safe with their late-night programming. The biggest comedy variety acts are getting kind of old. But Lauren, on the other hand, he thinks sketch comedy on TV actually has a chance to speak the language of young people. It can be subversive, sharp, and silly. And it can reflect the vibrant underground comedy scene of the time.

The 70s was all about sketch troops like the groundlings in L.A. and Second City in Chicago and Toronto. This is exactly what Lauren is pitching to the NBC brass at that meeting. A sketch comedy show with a sense of danger. But what he's painting is really a grand vision. Here's what Lauren says, we're going to make TV for young people, the generation that's grown up on TV. Now, interestingly, Lawrence pitch doesn't get specific. There are a lot of details to still figure out down the road. And NBC hasn't given him the green light yet. For 10 days, Dick and Lauren hole up at the Chateau Marmont Hotel to work out a format for their variety show. Lauren describes this as a cross

between Monty Python and 60 Minutes. It'll have a core group of cast members, a house band, visiting musical acts, and a guest host that varies every week. The rotating guest host will add legitimacy and novelty to the show. novelty because the host changes every week. If you didn't like last week's show, hey, stick around for what this week's host is going to do. And adds legitimacy because the guest host will be famous, which allows the repertory players to be actors nobody's ever heard of.

Now, this no-name cast of players is what Lauren considers his secret weapon, unburdened by the network's opinion of who's hot, he can just trust his own comedic gut and focus on finding the funniest newcomers in comedy. So as spring turns to summer of 1975, Lauren pours through both live and taped auditions. And the way the cast develops is like a game of networking telephone pre-linked in. All right, Jack, you know what the first comic Lauren considers this? Who is it?

It's Chevy Chase. But here's the deal. They don't cast them right away. Instead, Chevy Chase gets a job as a writer until, as legend has it, Lauren runs into Chevy on the street a few weeks later. They start talking, and as Chevy leaves, he immediately trips and tumbles, head over heels, right into a puddle, full somersault. Then he stands up, brushes himself off like nothing happened, and Lorne cracks up.

It's a gag. Totally Jack, then you know what? It works. Just like that, Chevy is in the cast. But the first person Lauren actually casts on SNL is the delightful Gilda Radner. More violins on television. It's terrible the way thing. What?

Mr. Teller, that was violence on television, not violins. Oh, well, that's different. Yes. Never mind. Gilda is playful. She's sweet with a face that can't help scrunching up in a smile. She grew up in Detroit, but she started her career in Canada. So she is part of a comedy circle that Lauren trusts from north of the border.

And it's Gilda who persuades Lauren to take a chance on a wild, unconventional writer and performer who has started to build a name for himself, John Belushi. Basically, everyone in Lauren's orbit either knows or has worked with John, and they all say he's a genius. But Lauren isn't so sure. Basically, John is a sketch guy, a comics comic, if you will. He thinks TV is a cheap form of comedy. But after a while, even John starts feeling a little bit the FOMO, especially because his friends are getting hired. Gilda, Chavi, Dan Aykroyd, John starts to worry. Maybe he does actually want to be on TV.

The show is going to be different from anything else on television. So they work it out. Volushi gets hired. And Lorne moves on to the next big task. Making the Dang Show. The next few months are a whirlwind of meetings, deal memos, and fights. Not actual fist fights. Well, not yet, Jack, but fights between Lauren and the network because Lauren has been asking for a lot, including a $300,000 renovation of the studio NBC is designated

for the project, Studio 8H. Studio 8H was built as a radio studio in the 1930s and used to broadcast live performances of NBC's Symphony Orchestra. But after the 1950s, the studio fell out of use. So by the time Lauren gets a look at it, it's kind of a dump. It's small, the equipment's old, the speakers sound like the one at a McDonald's drive-thru. So Lauren has to remind NBC that he's planning to book some big name musical guests. We need this renovation, Lauren insists. A $300,000 renovation, by the way, is like $1.8 million today. And keep in mind that Lauren is not even an official NBC employee. Technically, he's a contractor and he's making all these expensive demands.

But Lauren does have one major piece of leverage with NBC. Lauren handpicked the talent. He set the vision. He's embedded in every aspect and detail of the production. And despite how it feels to Lauren sometimes, NBC is genuinely invested in the show's success. Because surprise, NBC, America's number two network, has got competition from the third place network, ABC. Their longtime sports broadcaster, Howard Cassell, is trying his hand to comedy these days. You know, this guy.

61 Curly Culp. These Kansas City Chiefs, 81 doesn't look real sharp either. We are less than a month before Lauren's show is going to debut on NBC. Meanwhile, Howard debuts a live primetime comedy hour on ABC called Saturday Night Live. This is insane. Before S&L launched, there was another show called Saturday Night Live. There was. And honestly, the ABC version seems like the horse to bet on at the time.

First, it's in a primetime slot 9 p.m., so it's expected to get much better ratings than the 1130 p.m. Slime time slot. And second, they've got major star power booked his guests, like Frank Sinatra, Sigfried and Roy, and the Broadway cast of The Wiz. So basically, besties, if you were a venture capitalist, yeah. This is the startup you'd be writing the check to, ABC's Saturday Night Live. And Cosell's repertory cast is known as the Primetime Players. Feeling snarky, someone in Lorne Shop calls their cast the not ready for primetime players. And because the name SNL is already taken, Lauren calls his show NBC's Saturday Night, NBCSN.

That sounds like a channel to watch minor league baseball games. But with the two networks locked in a sketch comedy arms race, NBC doesn't have much of a choice. Eventually, whatever Lauren wants, Lauren gets. Those studio renovations, they happen. The set and costume budgets, you get them. By the time Lauren and his crew get to their Friday run-through, one day before the premiere, NBC's Saturday night is over budget by $50,000 per episode. Yeties, the Friday run-through is a total disaster. The stage isn't done, meaning there are literally piles of bricks in the corner still waiting to be laid.

Also, the performer's egos are clashing. Belushi hasn't signed his contract yet. And, oh, Nick, the reason those Hollywood types kept on booking those L.A. hotels? The drugs. That's why. So that's another issue Lauren's got to deal with. A nagging feeling starts creeping up on the cast and the crew in Studio 8H. What if this crazy, hugely expensive show just doesn't.

work. But there's one person who has zero doubt. Or at least that's what he'll tell you. No one will truly know whether there's fear in his heart, but Lorne Michaels knows this much. The show will go on, even if Lauren has to personally will it into existence. Welcome aboard via rail. Please sit and enjoy. Please sit and stretch. Steep. Flip. Or that, and enjoy. Via Rail, love the way. In November 1974, IRA bombs ripped through two Birmingham pubs killing 21 innocent people.

Hundreds more were injured. It was the worst attack on British soil since the Second World War. When a crime this appalling and shocking happens, you want the police to act quickly. And boy, did they. The very next day, they had six men in custody. Confessions followed. the men were sent down for life. Good riddance, you might think, except those men were innocent.

Join me, Matt Ford. And me, Alice Levine. For the latest series of British Scandal, all about the Birmingham Six. It's the story of how a terrible tragedy morphed into a travesty of justice, and how one man couldn't rest until he'd exposed the truth. Follow British Scandal now, wherever you listen to podcasts and binge entire series early and ad-free on Wondery Plus. Saturday night, October 11th, 1975.

Studio 8-H is so packed, you're schvitsen in your seats. Rows of audience members on three sides extend from the floor to the ceiling. Two armchairs sit on stage, one is empty, the other. occupied by a man in a brown suit reading the newspaper. A second man, played by John Belushi, waddles on in. And then he sits down in the second armchair. A language lesson begins. Repeat after me.

I would like to feed your fingertips. To feed your fingertips. To the wolverines. To the wolverines. Now this is called a cold open. A scene that starts with absolutely no context. You just have to jump right in. And today, the cold open is part of basic storytelling structure.

Actually, we have a cold open on our show every week. Like, that's how we open with, you know, a little bit of improv right there. But Lorne Michaels is the first to call it a cold open. The entire Wolverine sketch is less than two minutes long. And it ends when the language teacher has a massive heart attack. He clutches his chest as he tumbles to the floor. So his student, Volushi, thinks it's part of the lesson. And he clutches his chest.

and falls down on the floor next to him. And then Chevy Chase comes on stage. And he looks at the two men and then flashes a thousand-watt smile and says these magic words. Live from New York, it's Saturday Night. There we go. We got a catchphrase. The first episode of Saturday Night Live, I'm sorry, NBC's Saturday Night, is up and running. George Carlin is the first ever host, which has the network kind of sweating.

You see, they're afraid he's going to say one of those seven words you can't say on television. Although, in the end, shockingly, he behaves himself. During the show, Carlin performs three comedic monologues, but zero sketches. Compared to the S&L of today, the show feels kind of overstuffed. Two different musical guests perform two songs apiece. Then there's a second comedian, a couple of pre-tapeed shorts, and a sketch featuring brand-new Muppets designed by none other than Jim Henson himself. This is a due-less situation, Jack.

You see at this early stage, S&L is over-indexing on the whole variety angle. But if the show seems as crowded as a circus, that's because this entire show is a high-wire act. Remember, this baby is alive. Sets go up and come down in mere minutes during the opening credits and the commercial breaks. When you're watching at home, it's easy to forget that most other shows on television aren't live. They're pre-recorded. Even sitcoms that perform live in front of a studio audience get to pop. for lighting setups and costume changes,

and if someone flubs a line, they just retake the shoot. Not on Saturday night. You just have to keep on moving. And afterwards, everyone, including Lauren Michaels, breathe a huge sigh of relief. When the reviews come in,

the press reaction is marvelous. Or at least it's pretty good. The reviews say that while the show is uneven, they applaud NBC for trying something different. Okay, so maybe that whole, Muppets for grown-ups bit didn't really work. But the show, it is daring, it is exciting, and it is young, exactly what Lauren had been going for all along. Remember his vision for the generation that grew up on TV? That's what this is. By week four, Lauren and his team have

hammered out a show formula that is still in place today. One host, one live musical guest, a couple pre-taped segments like fake commercials or music performances, and the rest, live sketches, where the host mixes it up with the repertory cast. Lauren develops a weekly methodology. This too is the same process that they use today, and it's related to a candy bar. More on that in a bit. Okay, so what does this process actually look like? Jack, I'm so glad you ask. Here is how an episode of SNL comes together just in time. Monday kicks off with the writer's meeting. It starts at 6.5. P.M. Because remember, Lorne, he's a night owl. Everyone jams into his 17th floor office at 30 Rock with its view of the famous skating rink. The guest host squeezes in there, too, meeting the cast and

the writers for the first time, sitting shoulder to shoulder as everyone pitches their sketch ideas. And then sometime after midnight, the first round of sketch ideas are signed off on. Tuesday is writing night. Lorne and a few of the more famous cast members, wine and dine the host at Latansi, an Italian restaurant in Midtown that's Lauren's personal favorites. And while Lauren is whining and dining, the writers hunker down in their tiny offices putting ideas to page over Midtown Chinese takeout. Wednesday, finished sketches start materializing, and there's a table read, where actors read out every script they're given. It takes up to four hours, because most of these sketches will never see the light of day. That's right. Only a few

lucky scripts are actually greenlit. The rest gets stashed in the writer's personal vaults to be revised and tried again a little bit later. Thursday is Build Day. Performers block and rehearse as sets and costumes start coming together. And Jack, these can get really elaborate. For example, the famous Olympia Diner sketch. Cheese bagger, cheese baga, cheese, baga, cheese, what do you cheese, what do you, cheese, what do you? Now, for that sketch, the set includes a working grill. The actors flip actual burgers on stage. Now, interestingly, the person in charge of producing each sketch, overseeing the props, the costumes, the lighting, the whole works, isn't Lauren.

It's the sketch writer. See, in addition to the cast members, most of whom also write sketches, there are writers who don't appear on screen. Before John Mullaney got famous, before he ever guest-hosted SNL, he worked on the writing staff. Larry David was a staff writer, too, before he was doing Seinfeld. So was Conan O'Brien. These writers, they might never appear on stage, but when it's time for their sketch to rehearse,

They become all-powerful. For five minutes of runtime, they transform from lowly writer to showrunner, taking the reins of their sketch. It's actually a great business lesson that was critical for a comedy show that had to basically launch a new product each week. Each product needs an owner, someone responsible to take it to the finish line. The buck stops with them. They will rise to the occasion and get more capable as they go,

or they won't. and they won't be around long. Exactly, Jack. But I'm checking the calendar here, man, and in SNL world, get ready. It's Friday. The day Lauren frowns at the show's lineup, which is written on index cards and tacked to his bulletin board. And every week, Lauren says the same thing.

We have nothing. At this moment, it feels like the show will just never come together. What were they doing all week? Total waste of time. I can't believe it. It's over. The whole thing's finished. And finally, Saturday.

The moment of truth. The afternoon run-through always goes too long. Sketches get axed, which, remember, have had entire sets built for them. Props and costumes, no matter, Lauren says they're out. All right, check, I don't want to cut you off, but it is 8 p.m. Man, we got dress rehearsal in front of a live audience. A different audience than the one that watches the final show, by the way. If you want S&L tickets, you actually have two chances, the dress rehearsal and the real deal.

Lauren watches dress from under the audience bleachers. He hears the crowd's laughter thundering over his head, and he notices when the laughs don't come, too. Alright, now dress rehearsal, it's still 20 minutes too long, so we got to cut more out of the show. And when the rehearsal ends, there are exactly 90 minutes until we air. It is in these 90 minutes that Lorne displays his showrunner superpowers. Having just absorbed the show and the audience's critical reactions, Lauren has a clear view of what he needs to be changed. He adjusts the running order.

Better go tell the crew. And he makes notes on the script. So new cue cards, yeah, they got to be ridden to. And yes, for just 90 minutes from showtime, and Lorne cuts more sketches. Besties, your script. It isn't safe until the on-air light flicks on at 11.30 p.m. Eastern. And the show, at long, long last, goes live. Way from New York.

It lives on New York. It's Saturday. And everyone from New York is Saturday night. This is the process. It remains constant from episode number four to episode 939, 50 years later. Lorne in Conductor Mode leading the orchestra. Intensive? Yes. Sustainable? Barely. It is a six-day-a-week job, and each season lasts about 20 episodes.

The only prescription to this marathon isn't more cowbell. It's a six-month summer break. But by the end of season one, everyone's hard work has paid off. Saturday Night wins, get this, two Emmy Awards, including an outstanding performance award for Chevy Chase. Each week, S&L is getting around 7 million viewers, which would be pretty good for prime time. But this show is on just before midnight on a weekend. For their funky time slot, slime time, these are Super Bowl level numbers. It is NBC's biggest hit with its sponsors since the early 1950s.

Lorne has pulled it off. Actually, they all have. But something terrible is about to happen to the not ready for primetime players. Success. Lauren realizes something is wrong when Dan Aykroyd burst into his office fuming. Chevy's giving me notes, and he's doing it in a Scottish accent. Chevy isn't just a cast member, of course. He's also one of the head writers.

So the fact that Chevy is giving Dan notes, that's not the problem. From the perspective of the cast, Chevy's ego is just got to, and way out of hand. It's not just the Emmys. He's getting stopped on the street. He's getting movie offers and renegotiating his contract with SNL. And all of that has resulted

in this most annoying part of Chevy. He's referring to himself in the third person. Chevy thinks that Chevy deserves a raise, Jack. Lauren is getting an immersive education right now in the effects of sudden fame. So Chevy Chase leaves the show halfway into season two to pursue his film career. He's replaced by someone Lauren tried to get for season one,

except he got poached by ABC show first. We're talking about Bill Murray. Now, audiences are slow to warm up to Bill, surprisingly, but he finds his groove with characters like a nerd named Todd and Nick, the lounge singer. Oh, Star Wars, nothing but Star Wars. Give me the Star Wars. By the way, if you were curious about what happened to ABC's competing version of Saturday Night Live,

it actually went off the air after just one season. That's why Bill Murray became available to go over to Lauren's show. So, I know what you're thinking, Jack. With ABC Show out of the way, Lauren and his team can finally call itself Saturday Night Live. But SNL keeps becoming the victim of its own success. Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi leave the show after season four to pursue their own film careers. By the time season five rolls around, Caddyshack, Animal House, and Blues Brothers, they're all hit movies. And those S&L cast members have gone off from New York City to Hollywood.

But it doesn't matter. By 1980, S&L is a full-blown institution. The show and Lorne are kingmakers now, creating the next generation of A-list entertainers. But Jack, backstage, things are little. little bit out of control. The fight among the writers and the performers for airtime is savage because they can see the stakes are really high. Getting your sketch on air is the difference between a Hollywood career and total obscurity. All those last minute adjustments Lauren makes have life altering effects. The better the show does, the more weight Lauren's decisions have. His office

on the 17th floor starts seeming more and more like the office of Oz and a meeting with the wizard has consequences. As season five draws to a close in the spring of 1980, Lorne is renegotiating his own contract. He wants more weeks off between seasons, some time to regroup and mix up the show's structure. It's a haggle, but it feels like Lauren and NBC are going to work it out. But then, one of his veteran writers,

future U.S. Senator Al Franken, makes a strategic editorial error. He decides to mock the network president on the air during weekend update. Fred Silverman. The guy's been here two years, and he hasn't done Dibbley squad. You heard all that shock laughter from the audience? Fred isn't laughed. No, no, he's not.

A huge behind-the-scenes fight ensues where Fred probably demands that Lorne fire Al Frank. Which ends with the inevitable, but still somehow unthinkable conclusion. Lorne and nearly all the cast leave the show. No contract extension, no time to regroup. Lorne walks. Suddenly, NBC's unlikely a success

has a very uncertain future. The talent and the leadership are already out the door. So Jack, what's Saturday Night Live without Lorne and the cast that made it famous?

How will this ship sail without its captain? It's your man, Nick Cannon, and I'm here to bring you my new podcast, Nick Cannon at night. I've heard y'all been needing some advice in the love department.

So who better to help? than yours truly. Now, I'm serious. Every week, I'm bringing out some of my celebrity friends and the best experts in the business to answer your most intimate relationship questions. Having problems with your man? We got you. Catching feelings for your sneaky link? Let's make sure it's the real deal first. Ready to bring toys into the bedroom? Let's talk about it. Consider this a non-judgment zone to ask your questions when it comes to sex and modern dating in relationships, friendships, situations, and everything in between. It's going to be sexy, freaky messy and you know what you'll just have to watch this show so don't be shy join the

conversation and head over to youtube to watch nick cannon at night or subscribe on the wondery app or wherever you get your podcast want to watch episodes early and ad free join wondery plus right now hi i'm denise chan host of scam factory you might remember hearing about our investigative series that exposed what's really happening behind those suspicious texts you get Inside heavily guarded compounds across Asia, thousands are trapped and forced to scam others or risk torture. One of our most powerful stories was Jela's, a young woman who thought she'd found her dream job,

only to end up imprisoned in a scam compound. Her escape story caught the attention of criminals Phoebe Judge and am honored to share more details of Jella's journey with their audience. But Jella's story is just one piece of this investigation. In Scam Factory, we reveal how a billion-dollar criminal empire turns job seekers into prisoners and how the only way out is to scam your way out. Ready to uncover the full story?

Binge all episodes of Scam Factory now. Listen to Scam Factory on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Call it corporate puberty, because SNL is about to go through it's awkward years. First, NBC hires a producer, Gene Domanian, to replace Lauren. She's tasked with hiring a completely new cast and writing staff,

since most of the others left with their old boss. But at the same time, the network slashes the show's production budget by two-thirds. And when the money's out, so is the quality. Not only does viewer interest decline, but interest from A-lister's to host the show declines as well. Gene's replaced after just 12 episodes with Dick Ebersol, the guy who recruited Lauren in the first place.

But before she goes, Gene does make one casting decision that changes entertainment history. She hires a 19-year-old up-and-comer named Eddie Murphy. Do we need to explain how brilliant Eddie is? I don't think we need to explain it. Totally.

But Eddie plays Gumby as a jaded showbiz hack. He plays Stevie Wonder perfectly duetting with Frank Sinatra. He channels James Brown, getting into a hot tub. But even with Eddy and the show, the show feels like a shell of its former self. Ratings had steadily risen during Lauren's tenure from a 19% audience share in year one to 39% share in year 5. But after he goes, the numbers backslide sharply in the Lorneless era. For Lorne, it is painful to watch his babies decline.

Instead, Lorne co-writes and co-produces a movie during his exile, The Three Amigos, and he also tries his hand at a prime-time variety show, but that fizzles out. So in 1985, both Lorne and the NBC Network swallow their pride, and Lorne returns to SNL. With Lauren back at the helm, SNL 2.0 goes on one of the longest creative runs in TV history. The 80s gives us Dana Carvey's church lady, Phil Hartman, and

Nora Dunn, Hans and Franz, colon blow, Stuart Smalley. But then Lorne makes a move that will totally transform the business model of SNL. He adds a rubbery -faced Canadian, Mike Myers, to the cast. Soon, the world meets a pair of teenage

public access TV hosts. It's a week world, which world, part his hat, excellent, The reason Jack mentioned SNL's business model is because not only does Wayne's World become a regular set piece of SNL, it spins off into a blockbuster movie franchise. Now, Wayne's World is not the first sketch to jump to the big screen. That would be the Blues Brothers back in 1980.

But Wayne's World is the first SNL spinoff produced by Lauren himself. and it makes over 183 million bucks worldwide kick-starting Mike Myers' film career, which generates more than $1 billion. Now, Austin Powers and its sequels, Shrek, and its sequels, none of these would have happened without Wayne's world. Lorne is back at SNL,

back to picking the next great comedy stars. Tons of alums have gone on to this exact template of success, often with Lauren producing, like Tina Faye, who wrote and co-starred in Mean Girls, and then created 30 Rock, a sitcom about making an SNL-type show. Or Adam Sandler, whose Happy Madison Productions has made more than 50 films. And counting, including a new $275 million deal with Netflix, which means we probably have 50 more films coming. Lauren personally oversees the jump to late-night talk shows for Seth Myers,

Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon, who eventually takes over the Tonight Show. This S&L machine is not just a show. It's a launch pad to future stardom and success. Lorne hasn't just created stars with S&L. He's created moguls. But another surprise beneficiary? YouTube. And all because of a joke video shot on a borrowed digital camera with almost no crew

about two guys on a lazy Sunday. Paul Parnel just to see how he's doing. Hello, what up, Porn. No, Samberg, what's cracking? You thinking what I'm thinking? Party up. This low-rent but high-octane video is the product of cast member Andy Sandberg and his group, The Lonely Island. It airs on SNL in December 2005, not long after these guys were hired by Lauren.

Now, at first, it just seemed like a regular pre-taped segment. You know, SNL's been doing them from the beginning. But fate intervenes when a random viewer tapes the song, rips it, and uploads it, and uploads it to YouTube. At the time, YouTube's been around for less than a year. No one knows if YouTube is going to stick around. But as soon as Lazy Sunday hits YouTube, it becomes one of the platform's first viral hits. This one video increases YouTube's traffic by 83% in the first week alone. One video, YouTube blows up and less than a year later, Google acquires them for $1.6 billion. Another S&L success story.

This time, SNL influencing big tech. But ironically, it takes NBC a long time to embrace YouTube as a vehicle for their content. In fact, the network's reaction to Lazy Sunday's millions of views, they actually threaten to sue YouTube for copyright violation, and they force YouTube to take down that viral video. For years, NBC tries to keep their web content gated on NBC.com, where nobody is really watching it. But eventually, like every other network going through the same situation, NBC realizes YouTube is here to stay.

So in 2013, they stopped resisting and finally embrace it by launching SNL's official YouTube channel. Turns out, SNL and YouTube go together like bread and water. The channel now has 16 million subscribers, more than last week tonight, more than the daily show. Now, here's the thing, SNL's digital strategy. it is key to their continued relevance. Back in the 70s, SNL earned its credit with young people through its daring comedy

and its late-night time slot, back when we all watched the same thing on TV. But today, young people don't watch network TV. They grew up watching YouTube, and the proof is in the numbers. For its 50th anniversary season, SNL's episodes average 7 million viewers

for the original broadcast, and that is among their best ratings yet. but SNL on YouTube, between 25 and 50 million views per week. That papyrus skit, Ryan Gosling started? Boom, that racked up 24 million views and counting. I forgot about it for years, but then I remembered that Avatar, a giant international blockbuster, use the papyrus font as its logo.

Saturday Night Live is still going strong, even if most of you don't watch it live and don't watch it on Saturday night. Like you did, when Lauren Michaels first unleashed this show on Studio 8H 50 years ago. Speaking of Lauren, at 80, he's still captaining the ship of S&L. He's had to say goodbye, though, to some beloved cast members along the way. Gilder Radner, John Belushi, Andy Kaufman, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, Jan Hooks, Norm MacDonald, and many more in front of the camera and behind the scenes. A few names have been whispered as possible successors to Lord Michaels.

Tina Fed. Okay. Seth Myers. I see it. Colin Jost. I bet Scarjo would like that, too. But everyone agrees the job is Lawrence to give away. And as long as Lauren's running it, the show will go on.

Maybe even for another 50 years and beyond. So, Jack, now that you've heard the story of Saturday Night Live, I got a disease. And the only prescription is more takeaway. What's your takeaway on SNL? According to Lorne Michaels, the Snickers bar is the model for S&L success. Because the Snickers has variety and consistency. People expect a certain amount of peanuts,

a certain amount of caramel and a certain amount of chocolate. A balanced variety of ingredients assembled in a consistent format that puts customers at ease. But, Jack, no two Snickers bars are alike, right? Just like no two episodes of S&L are alike. Right, but the key four. The formula underneath it remains the same. Consistency and variety.

It's the Snickers bar model of creative success. What about you, Nick? What's your takeaway? Jack, mine's a Lorne takeaway as well. Inefficiency can actually be very efficient. Here's how Lorne Michaels explains why he waits until Friday or even Saturday to cut sketches. He says, snap decisions get you into trouble.

So I tend to do rolling decisions. It is really inefficient to build sets and props and wigs for a sketch that's just going to get cut from the show. Right, it would save so much time and money to lock in the sketches on Wednesday instead of waiting for like Saturday night right before the show. But then that would be making a decision without a key piece of information, how it performs in front of a live audience. That's why Lawrence sits under those audience bleachers, vibe in with the crowd. It lets them see the whole show as one piece. And then at the last minute, he can make the right decision. That inefficiency can be very efficient.

All right, Nick, before we go, it's time for our favorite part of the show, the best facts yet. Yeties, these are the hero stats, the facts, and the surprises we discovered in our research, but we just couldn't fit into the story. We've said how Lauren has kept certain traditions and methods in place from 1975 on. Well, this includes the fact that S&L still using, giant handwritten cue cards. They don't use teleprompters. Why is this, Jack?

Because I bet it's a really weird reason. Rumor has that Lauren is superstitious. He feels like the second they move to the teleprompter, the TV gods will cause all power to go out or all the hard drives to get fried or something. So analog, handcraft and cue cards, it is. I'm Ron Burgundy. And finally, here's one for you, Jack.

It's about one of the most memorable sketches the show has ever produced in our lifetimes. It stars Christopher Walken, and honestly, that's probably all we really need to say. I got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. Forget this, Jack. More cowbell? Almost didn't have Walking in it,

and it almost didn't have a cowbell. It's true. This sketch originally was pitched for an earlier episode hosted by Norm McDonald. And Will Ferrell's character, the one showing out that midriff and banging the cowbell, he was actually written to play a wood block instead. But it turned out to be one of those sketches that got cut and reworked and resurfaced months later, rewritten for Christopher Walken's voice.

And we are all the better for it. Except maybe Christopher Walken, who still hears people yell, More Cowbell! To this day. Bruce Dickinson, Cock of the Walk, baby. All right, Nick. Checking my watch, and as David Spain would say, bye-bye. And that Yeties is why Saturday Night Live is the best idea yet.

Coming up on the next episode of The Best Idea Yet, we're heading up to the self-proclaimed Vacation Land USA and lace up those duck boots because we're wading into the origins of L.L. Bean. You're welcome, Mainers. You're welcome. And don't forget to rate and review the show. five stars is the best way to help us grow. And then tap to follow the show and auto download the episodes so we can hang with you every single week.

Follow the best idea yet on the Wondry app, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcast. You can listen to every episode of the best idea yet early and ad free right now by joining Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey

at Wondery.com slash survey. The best idea yet is a production of Wondery, hosted by me, Nick Martel, and me, Jack Kravici Kramer. Our senior producers are Matt Beagle and Chris Gautier. Peter Arcuni is our additional senior producer. Our senior managing producer is Callum Ploos, and Jake Kleimberg is our managing producer. Our producer is H. Conley, research by Brent Corson. This episode was written and produced by Katie Clark Gray. We use many sources in our research, including the classic oral history of the first

10 years of SNL. Live from New York by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller. And Lauren Michaels is the real star of Saturday Night Live by Susan Morrison for The New Yorker. Sound design and mixing by C.J. Drumler. Fact-checking by Brian Pognant. Music supervision by Scott Velazquez and Jolina Garcia for Frieson Sink. Our theme song is Got That Feeling again by Blackalac. Executive producers for Nick and Jack Studios are me, Nick Martell, and me, Jack Kravici Kramer. The executive producers for Wondery are Jenny Lauer Beckman, Erin O'Flaherty and Marshall Louis. On Boxing Day, 2018, 20-year-old Joy Morgan was last seen at her church, Israel United in Christ, or IUIC. I just went on my Snapchat and I just see her face plastered everywhere.

This is the missing sister, the true story of a woman. betrayed by those she trusted most. IUC is my family and like the best family that I've ever had. But IUIC isn't like most churches. This is a devilish cult. You know when you get that feeling, man, you just, I don't want to be here. I want to get out. It's like that feeling of like I want to go hang out.

I'm Charlie Brink Coast Cuff, and after years of investigating Joy's case, I need to know what really happened to Joy. Binge all episodes of The Missing Sister exclusively an ad-free right now on Wondery Plus. Start your free trial of Wondry Plus on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or in the Wondery app.