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ratings in prime time and even worse press. Fred Silverman, having a spectacularly stormy reign as network president and already feeling under siege, saw Saturday Night Live graduate from being a source of occasional irritation to being a major, gaping trouble spot. Al Franken picked this painful moment to compose a savage piece of satire called “Limo for a Lame-O,” one of the meanest acts of character assassination in the history of — well, in the history of mean acts of character assassination. Franken, addressing the camera, told viewers Silverman had done a lousy job running the network and didn’t deserve the limousine that was one of his lavish perks, whereas Franken, star of a hit show, did. He invited viewers to write to Silverman demanding that Franken be given the use of a limo. More than five thousand letters — nastily addressed to “The Lame-O” — deluged an infuriated Silverman’s office.

Already incensed about losing the Gilda Radner variety hour that he thought would rescue his regime, and assuming the Franken sketch to have been part of a staff conspiracy at Saturday Night Live, Silverman broke off communication with Michaels and never consulted him about who his replacement as executive producer should be. Michaels wanted Franken. The “Limo” sketch certainly put the kibosh on that.

LORNE MICHAELS:

I was going back and forth about whether to come back or not. All I really wanted was time. Since the election was coming up in the fall and they always threw us out of 8H for election coverage in those days, I was looking for some downtime after the season ended. I’d worked the summer before on Gilda’s Broadway show, and I wanted this summer off, plus just a month or two of recovery time. So basically, I wanted to start up again after the 1980 election. That was what I wanted creatively. The business questions of what I wanted, or of what I have to this day, had been solved at the end of the third season, when my contract was first up. So it wasn’t a money issue at all.

And that fifth season, Fred Silverman was running a Best of Saturday Night Live in prime time for thirteen weeks, so in every way we were at the peak of being exploited — or to put it another way, the peak of overexposure. We were limping to the finish line.

Gilda had said she would stay with me. There were a couple people I knew would still be there. But the big piece of information was that I was going to have to really recast and reinvent the show. I was going to have to fire some people, many of whom had lived up to the top of their talent, but the mistake was made five years earlier in the hiring. Quite often the least talented are the ones who most want you to know how loyal they are. And if I did return, I’d have to give up all thoughts of directing movies or whatever else I thought I might want to do with my life.

Brandon Tartikoff had been given the task of either trying to get me to come back or getting a replacement. I think he had more than enough problems with Silverman as it was. And Freddie was a screamer. I was supposed to have met with Fred, but he had stayed out late the night before and canceled the meeting. Bernie took this as a sign of lack of respect. I did know they were making Tom Snyder’s new deal and Johnny Carson’s new deal, so the emphasis seemed to be on on-air talent as opposed to dealing with a producer, which they weren’t used to. It just wasn’t a priority. I don’t think they understood the part a producer played in that kind of a show.

Anyway, Fred apologized profusely and our meeting was rescheduled for the following Monday. That weekend, Al Franken does “Limo for a Lame-O,” which is a direct fucking assault on Fred Silverman. I see it for the first time, as I do with “Update,” at dress rehearsal. Brandon Tartikoff comes over to me, and he’s laughing at it because it’s very funny and it killed with the audience. I say to Brandon and Barbara Gallagher, who worked directly for Fred, “You should let Fred know. Don’t blindside him on this. You don’t want to be sitting in your house and suddenly Al Franken is attacking