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to influence who the musical guest is?” And Lorne just looked at me very bemused and said, “What did you have in mind?” And I said, “What about someone who’s a great singer of standards — how about Rosemary Clooney?” And I thought Lorne was going to swallow his tongue. And then he explained to me the basic rule that governs the musical guest selection: The cost of bringing the musical guest to do the show is often shared by the record company, because it’s very expensive to bring them and the crew and all their technical equipment to New York and NBC. And very often it’s an artist who is promoting current product, and since it’s a promotional tool, the label shares that cost.

JOHN ZONARS:

When we have a musical act perform, the network has evidence that proves that the ratings drop off, and frankly it took me a long time to accept that, because in my world, everyone is worried about the music. We only watched the show when we were kids because we thought the musical act was cool. But the network started telling Lorne that the ratings were dropping off during the musical act and that we should only do one song and that the song should be after “Update.” And while they may have a point — I can see how Middle America doesn’t care about music, they just want to see the Cheerleaders do their skit — I think it inherently screws up the rhythm of the show.

Considering the gazillions they’ve earned at the box office — we’re talking mythic money — Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy are possibly more revered by the new breed of Not Ready for Prime Time Players than are Chevy and Gilda and Dan and John. Of course, a good many flop films have been based on SNL skits or have featured former SNL cast members. But the show is obviously still seen as a springboard into Hollywood, and key cast members have no shortage of scripts submitted by eager producers anxious to cash in.

WILL FERRELL:

I think there’s a perception that there’s like this instantaneous thing that happens, whether it’s movie offers or whatever. But it’s all very gradual, and even after being on the show for five years you still feel tenuous about your existence. People go, “What a great stepping-stone,” but we’ve all been happy just to have a job. It’s like, I mean, initially while you’re here, you’re just — I mean, there was a part of me that could have quit after the very first time I was on the show. Really. It was like, “Wow, I did it, I was on an episode of Saturday Night Live,” and I almost wanted to keep it pristine.

JIMMY FALLON:

I’m not reading anything cool. I’m not reading any scripts that I enjoy. Everyone wants me to do a goofball comedy where it’s like high concept — I get like robot feet or something. It’s ridiculous like that. I could be a millionaire, yeah, easily, but I’d rather have peace of mind than a paycheck. I could drive myself crazy just thinking about it. My new move is I just might try dramatic parts until I find the right comedy or until I get off the show. You know — keep learning with really good directors and learn how to act and then — then I’ll just be unstoppable when I’m off the show, because I know I can do that too.

ANDY BRECKMAN:

You can’t deny the show is a launching pad unlike any other that I can think of. It’s a farm club. It has an amazing batting average. It’s like a shot on the old Tonight Show, which was so prestigious because it led to so many other things.

MOLLY SHANNON:

Lorne produced Superstar, my movie about Mary Katherine Gallagher. Those movies are very cheap to make. They’re low-budget, cheap comedies. It maybe cost $14 million and it made $30 million in domestic box office, and then it makes a lot in video, because we have a lot of kids who watch it over and over and over again, and they memorize the lines — little girls and stuff like that. So Superstar was a very profitable little venture for Paramount Pictures. One of those low-budget cheapies.

I do have another movie in development at Paramount. Lorne will be involved in that too.

CHRIS KATTAN:

When I first got on the read-through table, it was very