I recently watched Albert Brooks's Defending Your Life. In it, he mentions that when SNL started, Lorne Michaels wanted him to be the permanent host. Brooks told him they should not have a host, but rather rotate guest hosts.
They went with his idea (obviously), but still really wanted him for the show, so they agreed he could stay in CA and make short films that they'd air each week.
Haven’t caught the Brooks doc yet, so I’m not sure that this was mentioned as well. The relationship between Brooks & SNL quickly grew contentious; since he was LA based he never really became part of the show’s culture & the films he submitted were running too long.
I recently watched Albert Brooks's Defending Your Life. In it, he mentions that when SNL started, Lorne Michaels wanted him to be the permanent host. Brooks told him they should not have a host, but rather rotate guest hosts.
They went with his idea (obviously), but still really wanted him for the show, so they agreed he could stay in CA and make short films that they'd air each week.
Haven’t caught the Brooks doc yet, so I’m not sure that this was mentioned as well. The relationship between Brooks & SNL quickly grew contentious; since he was LA based he never really became part of the show’s culture & the films he submitted were running too long.