SNL creator Lorne Michaels gave a very Lorne Michaels acceptance speech at Sunday night’s 85th annual Peabody Awards, telling the crowd of receiving this year’s honorary Peabody Institutional Award, “I don’t really deserve this, but in a way I do.”
Michaels was presented the award by Jon Hamm, who’s enjoyed a long association with Saturday Night Live, hosting the show four times (most recently this past April), and making over a dozen cameo appearances on the show over the years.
Hamm praised SNL and its creator for “holding up a mirror and reflecting America’s culture to us — politics, contradictions, all of it, right back at you. Yes, SNL is wigs and cue cards and gigs and gags and all of this stuff, but it’s always something that dares to confront who we really are.”
Accepting the award at L.A.’s Beverly Wilshire hotel alongside former Saturday Night Live cast members Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, and Fred Armisen, Michaels was characteristically both sentimental and sardonic as he reflected on this year’s much-ballyhooed 50th anniversary special. “All of those people coming back from the first season on, all being in one room performing and applauding was one of the most moving experiences of my life.”
“I’m not planning a 60th,” he added. “But I think that getting to do what I get to do is sort of everything that makes me happy. It also makes me angry.”
“When you come to the Peabodys, unlike other awards shows, you know you’re in the right room,” he said, concluding his remarks. “It’s really an honor to be here, so thank you.”
This year marks the fourth time the Peabodys have recognized Saturday Night Live. The show was fêted with its first Peabody Award in 1990. A second came in 2008 for its satirization of the US Presidential election. Political satire again earned the show its third Peabody in 2017.
The most recent past recipients of the Peabody Institutional Award have included Star Trek, NBC’s Today, and NPR Fresh Air.
The Peabodys first announced that SNL and Michaels would receive this year’s Institutional Award back in April. “Under [Lorne] Michaels’ leadership, what began as an experiment in live late-night programming has become one of the most beloved and dependably enjoyable programs to appear on American television, remaining as relevant as ever,” the Peabody’s said at the time. “And for that, Saturday Night Live is honored with the Peabody Institutional Award.”
He couldn’t look more thrilled. 😉