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Robert Smigel on the first show of Saturday Night Live he was hired to write for; on a sketch he wrote for Madonna when she hosted Saturday Night Live in 1985 where she portrayed a Spanish variety show hostess; on his recollections of that show; on what he learned about writing a successful sketch for the show; on what it meant to him to be part of SNL- a show he grew up watching; on being a comedy nerd coming to the show and feeling he was not fitting in 05:41
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: First Big Break
Robert Smigel on the first show of Saturday Night Live he was hired to write for; on a sketch he wrote for Madonna when she hosted Saturday Night Live in 1985 where she portrayed a Spanish variety show hostess; on his recollections of that show; on what he learned about writing a successful sketch for the show; on what it meant to him to be part of SNL- a show he grew up watching; on being a comedy nerd coming to the show and feeling he was not fitting in 05:41
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Pivotal Career Moments
On writing sketches about then-President Ronald Reagan (with Phil Hartman as Reagan) on Saturday Night Live; on his Ross Perot/Admiral Stockdale sketch about the 1992 presidential campaign which he co-wrote with Bob Odenkirk; on Dana Carvey's impression of then-President George Bush; on the writing duo of Al Franken and Jim Downey; on Adam McKay joining the writing staff on SNL; on Will Ferrell’s impression of George W. Bush; on Jim Downey’s return to SNL for the Al Gore debate sketch, featuring the classic line “lock box”; on Jim Downey not wanting to focus on skewering the laughs towards one side of the political spectrum, but wanting to focus just on the comedy 14:32
Interview: Robert Smigel
On Bob Odenkirk joining the writing staff at Saturday Night Live, and on Odenkirk’s tenure at SNL; on Odenkirk’s "Matt Foley" sketch for Chris Farley; on Conan O'Brien's contributions to SNL; on some of the classic sketches Smigel wrote for SNL such as "Trekkers," Steve Martin's monologues, "Nude Beach," and "Bill Swerski's Superfans" 44:52
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on Bob Odenkirk joining the writing staff at Saturday Night Live, and on Odenkirk’s tenure at SNL; on Odenkirk’s "Matt Foley" sketch for Chris Farley 05:47
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Bob Odenkirk
Robert Smigel on Conan O'Brien's tenure on Saturday Night Live; on Conan's contributions as a writer on the show and how he inspired Smigel's own writing 05:06
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on the writing duo of Jim Downey and Al Franken on Saturday Night Live and their different political points of view; on Downey not wanting to focus on skewering the laughs towards one side of the political spectrum, but wanting to focus just on the comedy and not political satire; on Downey's return to the show in 2000; on his later sketches becoming more counterpoint to the left-leaning sketches that predominant on the show 09:29
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Jim Downey
Robert Smigel on writing the Steve Martin opening monologue "I'm not gonna phone it in tonight" on Saturday Night Live 03:39
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Steve Martin
Robert Smigel on the sketch "Matt Foley Motivational Speaker" with Chris Farley, written by Bob Odenkirk 01:17
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Chris Farley
Robert Smigel on the Saturday Night Live "Trekkers" sketch with William Shatner and the line "Get a life," directed at Star Trek nerds, and on loving nerds 05:18
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: William Shatner
Robert Smigel on Chris Farley and George Wendt in the Saturday Night Live "Bill Swerski's Superfans" sketches; on doing the sketch at Mike Ditka's roast; on the real Mike Ditka's (of the Chicago Bears) take on the sketches and on being roasted by SNL in general 06:36
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: George Wendt
Robert Smigel on writing the "Get a life" line for William Shatner on the classic Saturday Night Live sketch "Trekkers" in which Shatner says the line to some Star Trek superfans, and on the sketch being a turning point in his writing career at SNL 02:48
Interview: Robert Smigel | Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on the sketch "Bill Swerski's Superfan's" about the Chicago Bears fans that he wrote for Saturday Night Live with George Wendt, and on coming up with "da Bears" catchphrase 06:04
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on coming up with the "Get a life" line for William Shatner in the Saturday Night Live "Trekkers" sketch about Star Trek fans 02:06
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on the political satire sketches he wrote for Saturday Night Live during the Clinton presidency; on the Stockdale vice presidential debate sketch; on observational humor on the show; on Dana Carvey's impression of President George Bush 04:46
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Saturday Night Live
Robert Smigel on the writing duo of Jim Downey and Al Franken on Saturday Night Live; on Adam McKay joining the writing staff of SNL and how the show's writing was changing in the 1990s; on the political sketches on SNL during the Bill Clinton presidency; on Will Ferrell’s impression of George W. Bush; on Jim Downey’s return to SNL for the Al Gore presidential debate sketch in 2000 featuring the classic line “lock box”; On Downey not wanting to focus on skewering the laughs towards one side of the political spectrum, but wanting to focus just on the comedy 09:25
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Saturday Night Live
Robert Smigel on the "Matt Foley Motivational Speaker" sketch with Chris Farley written by Bob Odenkirk, and on the "Chippendales" sketch with Farley written by Jim Downey 01:17
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Saturday Night Live
Robert Smigel on his 1986 Saturday Night Live sketch "Trekkers" co-written with SNL writer George Meyers; on his attitude towards nerds in general; on the "Get a Life" line on the "Trekkers" sketches with William Shatner of Star Trek; on the holiday monologue sketch he wrote for Steve Martin 05:20
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Saturday Night Live
Robert Smigel on writing the Steve Martin opening monologue "I'm not gonna phone it in tonight" on Saturday Night Live (December 14, 1991); on always being on-set for the sketches he wrote for SNL 03:39
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Saturday Night Live
Robert Smigel on the Saturday Night Live sketch "Nude Beach" (he had written the sketch the summer before and came back to SNL in the fall to find that NBC had dissolved the Standards & Practices department so they were able to get away with saying “penis” on air - the episode would become one of the most controversial episodes to air on the show 06:32
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Saturday Night Live
Robert Smigel on writing the "Bill Swerski's Superfans" sketch about the Chicago Bears fans for Saturday Night Live in 1991; on coming up with "da Bears" catchphrase; on writing the sketch for Phil Hartman but Jim Downey talking Smigel into appearing in the sketch instead of Joe Mantegna because his Chicago accent was more authentic and would set a "metronome" for the sketch; on writing another sketch for George Wendt as Bob Swerski; on doing a sketch “The Quiz Show” about "da Bears" versus "da Bulls"; on the real Mike Ditka's (of the Chicago Bears) take on the sketches 18:09
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Saturday Night Live
Robert Smigel on the sketch "Bill Swerski's Superfans" about the Chicago Bears fans that he wrote for Saturday Night Live 01:04
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Characters & Catchphrases
Robert Smigel on writing the "Get a life" line for William Shatner on the classic Saturday Night Live sketch "Trekkers" in which Shatner says the line to some Star Trek superfans 02:17
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Characters & Catchphrases
Robert Smigel on the sketch "Bill Swerski's Superfans" about the Chicago Bears fans that he wrote for Saturday Night Live 01:04
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Pop Culture
Robert Smigel on writing the "Get a life" line for William Shatner on the classic Saturday Night Live sketch "Trekkers" in which Shatner says the line to some Star Trek superfans 02:17
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Pop Culture
On watching auditions by Saturday Night Live cast members Adam Sandler and Chris Rock; on connecting with Adam Sandler early on and working on sketches with him; on Smigel and Al Franken being the only Jewish writers or cast members on staff for a long time before Sandler arrived; on what made Sandler’s comedy stand out from the other comedians; on some specific sketches he worked on with Sandler; on Smigel's style of humor being more dry and conversational and killing in read-through, but being hard to pull off in front of an audience; on Kristen Wiig’s mastery of manifesting “small” subtle comedy live in the room; on working on the SNL commercial parody: "Schmitts Gay" beer commercial, with Adam Sandler and Chris Farley; on working with Sandler on songs like “She Comes Home to Me” 14:45
Interview: Robert Smigel
On Chris Farley getting fired from SNL and his addiction issues; on his feelings about how more could have been done to help Farley; on working with Sandler on his tribute song to Farley; on the bonding experience at Saturday Night Live for people who work on the show; on his decision to leave SNL; on Conan O’Brien leaving SNL; on Lorne Michaels wanting Dana Carvey to take over David Letterman’s Late Night slot; on Conan O'Brien turning downing producing the late-night show slot because he wanted to be an on-camera performer again; on why Smigel wanted to produce a late-night show; on Conan auditioning for Lorne Michaels to take over Late Night; on leaving SNL to produce Conan’s late-night show; on hiring Louis C.K. to be a writer on the show; on wanting to have a style for Late Night which was the opposite of David Letterman’s style but invoking his name in the first episode; on wanting to go right to where the “stress” is in humor; on the show getting better after he left; on sketches like "Actual Items," "Headlines," "In the Year 2000," and "Clutch-Cargo"; on the "Masturbating Bear" sketches and dealing with NBC's Standards & Practices on the show 37:59
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on the start of Late Night with Conan O'Brien 21:10
Interview: Robert Smigel | Genre: Late Night
Robert Smigel on watching auditions by Saturday Night Live cast members Adam Sandler and Chris Rock; on connecting with Adam Sandler early on and working on sketches with him; on Smigel and Al Franken being the only Jewish writers or cast members on staff for a long time before Sandler arrived; on what made Sandler’s comedy stand out from the other comedians; on some specific sketches he worked on with Sandler; on his style of humor being more dry and conversational and killing in read-through, but being hard to pull off in front of an audience 05:07
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Adam Sandler