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  • The 'Hazing' And Internal Pecking Order Made New Talent Begin To Reject The Show on Random Thing Of '94-'95 Season Of 'SNL'

    (#4) The 'Hazing' And Internal Pecking Order Made New Talent Begin To Reject The Show

    Janeane Garofalo likened her first few months on SNL to "hazing... Fraternity hazing. It's hard. It takes its toll on you. But I think you come out much better in the end. If nothing else, this experience has just toughened me up."

    Air time seemed to be distributed according to tenure on the show, with competing personalities draining SNL of its comedic energy. Observers indicated, "You feel it as soon as you walk into the writers' room... It's a depressed, kind of lethargic burnout."

    An SNL writer observed how the cast members couldn't "even fake forcing themselves to care." According to the writer:

    When you watch the show on TV, that comes through - it really seems taken with itself. And when it's as bad as it can be, and people still act like there's nothing wrong, then it's sort of like a f**k-you to the audience - "We don’t have to be good, because we're Saturday Night Live!" It's like the post office. "What are you gonna do, deliver the mail yourself?"

  • Lorne Michaels Describes The Season As The 'Closest' He Ever Came To 'Being Fired' on Random Thing Of '94-'95 Season Of 'SNL'

    (#1) Lorne Michaels Describes The Season As The 'Closest' He Ever Came To 'Being Fired'

    In the 2007 documentary Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation, show producer Lorne Michaels indicated that the struggles of the 1994-1995 season almost cost him his job. Critics called SNL "dysfunctional" and "embarrassing," something substantiated by ever-declining ratings.

    According to NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer, "Lorne knew that there was a problem, but I think he was unsure of exactly what the problem was... I never gave Lorne an ultimatum. But what I basically said to him is, 'The show has to get better.'"

    Michaels claimed, "I don't think I'd ever been as scared." He knew he was in danger of being "broke and washed up." 

    As a result, Michaels took a drastic approach to revamping the show, firing many of the major players when the season came to an end. While Adam Sandler and Chris Farley, among others, were still on contract with SNL, they found themselves on the chopping block and off the show for the 1995-1996 season.

  • In His First Season As 'Weekend Update' Host, Norm Macdonald Wasn't Afraid To Ruffle Feathers on Random Thing Of '94-'95 Season Of 'SNL'

    (#11) In His First Season As 'Weekend Update' Host, Norm Macdonald Wasn't Afraid To Ruffle Feathers

    Norm Macdonald, put into the anchor chair for "Weekend Update" for the first time on September 24, 1994, was antagonistic on- and off-screen. In the writers' room, his tendency to smoke prompted fellow writer Ian Maxtone-Graham to shoot a water gun into his face. Macdonald punched him in retaliation. 

    Macdonald's dark humor and dry delivery took some getting used to from the network executives, as well. Macdonald and "Weekend Update" writer Jim Downey were targeted by NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer, especially as they offered up more and more jokes about OJ Simpson and his upcoming trial. 

    Lorne Michaels also thought their approach was "too mean and cold and nasty," according to a former cast member.

    In the end, Ohlmeyer got Downey fired, although he later returned, and Macdonald was ultimately let go during the 1997-1998 season.

  • Lorne Michaels's Standoffish Demeanor Kept Hosts, Cast Members, And Staffers On Edge on Random Thing Of '94-'95 Season Of 'SNL'

    (#9) Lorne Michaels's Standoffish Demeanor Kept Hosts, Cast Members, And Staffers On Edge

    Sarah Jessica Parker hosted the November 12, 1994, episode of SNL, the fifth of the season. She recalled the week building up to the show, especially how Lorne Michaels would "put his head down and not pay attention" when she tried to talk to him. She had to tell herself not to "take it personally... [but] if I had been my normal self, I would have really flipped out."

    Michaels wasn't one to cozy up to anyone on the show, sitting far apart from writers and performers during read-throughs, rehearsals, and any social gatherings. Former SNL performers recalled Michaels "becoming aloof" during the early years of the show, noting, "Lorne always wanted to be admired - revered, even."

    During the 1994-1995 season, however, the crew indicated their disappointment with Michaels's changing behavior: "There's a real difference between running a kind of rebel outfit and running an institution," according to one cast member, indicating they'd rather know the rebel leader than the king atop his throne.

    Still other observers felt Michaels intentionally kept the cast feeling ill at ease, likening it to "the same techniques cults use - they keep you up for hours, they never let you know that you're okay, they always make you think that your spot could be taken at any moment by someone else."

  • There Are Very Different Interpretations Of What Exactly Happened During The 1994-1995 Season on Random Thing Of '94-'95 Season Of 'SNL'

    (#13) There Are Very Different Interpretations Of What Exactly Happened During The 1994-1995 Season

    Janeane Garofalo has made no secret of her difficult experience on SNL. She's talked about what she viewed as sexism, homophobia, and the lack of intellectualism on the show, but many of her former colleagues view her time on the show differently.

    Writer Fred Wolf, for example, found her arguments that some sketches were "disrespectful to women" to be "the most convoluted, strangest, and most ridiculous" he'd ever heard. He described her as "awful on the show... completely and totally wrong... very, very insecure," even though he'd helped her get on the show.

    Paul Simon, musical guest alongside Edie Brickell for the October 22, 1994, episode, insists, "Garofalo has no case. It was during one of the show's low points... and she had a miserable case," but "she messed him up" by leaving mid-season.

    Fellow first-year cast member Chris Elliott acknowledged, "A lot of the humor was not up her [Garofalo's] alley," but he, too, tried to quit during the season. For his part, he doesn't even remember some of the skits he appeared in, theorizing, "It was just such a miserable experience that I have sort of blacked out a lot of these things. "

    Still one more contemporary, Rosie Shuster - writer and former wife to Lorne Michaels - said, "There's no word for when you castrate a female... but that's the feeling I get watching" what Janeane Garofalo went through.

  • Though The Cast Produced Memorable Sketches, They Also Made Some Of The Biggest Bombs on Random Thing Of '94-'95 Season Of 'SNL'

    (#5) Though The Cast Produced Memorable Sketches, They Also Made Some Of The Biggest Bombs

    As morale and ratings declined at SNL during the 1994-1995 season, writers noticed the subject matter took a downhill trajectory, as well. Writers Bonnie and Terry Turner, who had penned skits like "Wayne's World" and the Church Lady sketches, were disappointed to see "less about relationships... Unless the relationship is between a man and his shoe, rather than actual people."

    Similarly, sketches like "Gay Stripper Theater" indicated to Janeane Garofalo that, "They love the anal sex here... that's considered incredibly funny." It wasn't something she found amusing, nor was an alien skit that included anal probes and the word "b*tch" written across male cast members' chests in lipstick. Garofalo, who later said she "wanted to quit after the first week," found it nausea-inducing instead.  

    There were some bright points during the season, however. Al Franken continued to appear as Stuart Smalley, Chris Farley as Matt Foley remained popular, and the Gap Girls - featuring Farley, Adam Sandler, and David Spade - brought lots of laughs.

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Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series. Its twentieth season has been regarded as the classic and most impressive. It aired on NBC from September 24, 1994, to May 13, 1995. 1994 was flooded with famous SNL comedians and great sketches, but even outstanding actors such as Chris Elliot, Janene Garafalo, Mark McKinney, and Laura Kightlinger could not save this season.

Lorne Michaels thinks 94-95 season is his closest to being fired. The firing of actors and loss of personnel in the 20th season resulted in the biggest lineup change in SNL's history. The random tool explained 13 things about the 94-95 season you did not know.

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