Lorne Michaels on his SNL future: “My plan, as of now, is to see it through to the 50th anniversary"

The Washington Post

Michaels tells The Washington Post -- in a profile timed with the Kennedy Center Honors -- that he'll be around Saturday Night Live at least until 2025, for the show's 50th anniversary, "because that’s a show everybody’s going to want to see. Including me.” The Post's Dan Zak went behind the scenes at SNL for his profile of Michaels. "Could it work without Lorne? It already has, you could argue: In 1980 Lorne left the show for five years to explore other producing opportunities. So is he, too, replaceable?" asks Zak. “I personally do not think so,” responds Conan O’Brien. “I don’t think so,” says Kenan Thompson, the longest-tenured cast member, and the person who comes closest to having a Lorne-like grasp of the show. “That level of people who will take his call — he’s built himself up in the world to be respected.” Molly Shannon adds: “In my opinion, the show is Lorne and Lorne is the show and nobody could ever replace him. Nobody.”