We already knew that NBC was planning to pull out all the stops to mark Saturday Night Live’s landmark 50th season, but a new interview with Lorne Michaels puts those plans into greater focus.
In a New York Times profile published on Saturday, the show’s creator and EP revealed some of the A-list talent he has enlisted for the occasion.
Among the revelations: Oscar-winning music super producer Mark Ronson will co-produce the televised Radio City Music Hall event that will kick off the show’s celebratory weekend on Friday, February 14. (That event will be followed by the show’s anniversary special two days later.)
Ronson’s involvement would suggest that the Radio City event will be music-heavy, which is no surprise given the sheer number of musical acts who’ve been associated with the show over the past half-century.
Speaking of music, The Roots co-founder and Tonight Show bandleader Questlove (an Academy Award winner for his documentary Summer of Soul) will co-produce a documentary focused on the show’s impact on music and culture.
Another Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? and the recent STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces), will produce an additional five documentaries on the show and its legacy.
Of course, no profile of Michaels would be complete these days without broaching what LateNighter’s Bill Carter recently termed “TV’s biggest (non) story”: the SNL creator’s own retirement. (In past interviews, he has hinted that perhaps Season 50 would be a good time to exit studio 8H.)
“I’m going to do it as long as I feel I can do it,” Michaels told The Times. “But I rely on other people and always have.”
