Beth McCarthy-Miller

In her three-hour-and-ten-minute interview, Beth McCarthy-Miller describes her early life and her internship at MTV. She recalls discovering her affinity for television directing and how it led to her directing the pilot for MTV's groundbreaking Unplugged series, as well as several later classic episodes featuring Nirvana and Tony Bennett. She discusses her time on The Jon Stewart Show, which started out on MTV and was later tapped to replace Paramount's Arsenio Hall Show in syndication. McCarthy-Miller recounts replacing long-time director Dave Wilson on Saturday Night Live, detailing her eleven-year association with the show, working with show creator Lorne Michaels, cast members Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey, and guest hosts Alec Baldwin and John Goodman. She covers directing two Super Bowl halftime shows, one of which included the infamous Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction." She discusses her several stints as director of the MTV Music Awards and talks about directing many episodes of the comedy series 30 Rock, including two special, critically-acclaimed live episodes. She also describes directing other sitcoms like Modern Family. Amy Harrington conducted the interview on June 19, 2014 in North Hollywood, CA.