Bill Carter On Covering 'SNL' And Lorne Michaels: 'Many Lost Their Minds'

Bill Carter On The Maddening Task Of Covering The Mastermind Of 'SNL'
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 18 -- Air Date 04/24/1976 -- Pictured: (l-r) Raquel Welch as herself, Chevy Chase as himself and Lorne Michaels during the 'Weekend Update' skit on April 24, 1976 (Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 18 -- Air Date 04/24/1976 -- Pictured: (l-r) Raquel Welch as herself, Chevy Chase as himself and Lorne Michaels during the 'Weekend Update' skit on April 24, 1976 (Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

I first encountered Lorne Michaels during Saturday Night Live's first year on the air. I had just started writing about television for The Baltimore Sun a few weeks before the show's premiere in October 1975, and I had the good sense to recognize it immediately as a breakthrough program — "the best thing NBC has done this year," I wrote.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot