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CAROL LEIFER, Writer:

I always felt like if Lorne was stony toward you it was pretty impenetrable. I saw him not too long ago and went over to say hello. And it was like the quintessential Lorne moment — “Oh hello, Carol, how are you, what’s going on,” talking, bullshitting, then a band started playing, with blaring horns. It was real loud music. And Lorne just turned to me and said, “Conversation over.” And now that’s become a catchphrase among my friends and me — “Conversation over.” That’s quintessential Lorne.

DICK EBERSOL, NBC Executive:

Maybe it’s because of his marriage to Alice or having a family, but the Lorne of today has done I think a very, very good job of learning at this stage of his life to delegate. He has, for the first time in the history of the show, the semblance of a real life. And that was never true for Lorne — or me — over the first two decades of the show. I can see it now, though. He doesn’t have to live at the show all the time anymore.

ANDY BRECKMAN:

Lorne has to be on his game just twice a week: after read-through and between dress and air. And that’s it. That’s when the show is formed. And every other moment of the week he can be Lorne — he can be, you know, the celebrity Lorne Michaels.

CHRIS PARNELL, Cast Member:

I don’t see Lorne running things except like in a removed way. The only time I really see him in action telling people what to do is when we have the meeting in his office between dress and air and he’s giving notes. Other than that, there’s not much interaction with him. We see him on Monday for the pitch meeting, Wednesday for the table read and then usually not again until Saturday. He’s around, but there’s not that need to interact with him.

I’ve always really liked Lorne and respected him. I wasn’t liking him too much when he was firing me. But he has a sort of fatherly nature about him, and I certainly respect what he’s done. Lorne has lived in a different world than most of us on the show, so that creates a certain difference or separation.

DARRELL HAMMOND, Cast Member:

I don’t understand anything about what happens between dress and show. It’s weird. I don’t know how Lorne does it. In the beginning I thought I did get it. But as time went on, I kept seeing Lorne make these decisions. He would make all sorts of changes and I wouldn’t understand why he did what he did. I mean, anyone can second-guess anyone else. But then we would go out there for the live show and the changes would work. He can’t always be right, no one can, but I realized at that time that he invented this and it’s not a sketch show and it’s not a comedy show and it’s not a variety show or a musical show. It’s Saturday Night Live. It’s his and he knows how to do it and I don’t.

AL FRANKEN, Writer:

Lorne called the shots. But Lorne is also taking into account a lot of things. He used to try to make sure that everyone was in the show. That was easier to do when the cast was smaller. Sometimes he would put something in just because someone needed something in, psychologically. Sometimes two pieces may bump in a certain kind of way, that other people don’t see, the same style of a piece, and they shouldn’t run back-to-back. There are just so many factors — you can’t get from this set to the other set, there is no configuration in the show where this thing can go in, this sketch can go in but then we have to lose that sketch.

Almost every week, that was the case. Somebody felt bad, and some people take it like, “I am insulted,” or “I am just going to take it.” Those were people who usually got a lot of stuff, and other people were angry and hurt and depressed, actually. A person could actually get so disheartened and depressed that it affected their ability to create. Certain people actually spiraled out of control or spiraled down to a point where they were having a difficult time emotionally during the year, and it very much hurt their productivity. And it just was a vicious cycle.

GARRY SHANDLING, Host: