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Robert Smigel on the subtle talents of Saturday Night Live cast member Kristen Wiig: going "small" but getting a huge response with her comedy 00:58
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Kristen Wiig
Robert Smigel on the sketches he worked with Adam Sandler on Saturday Night Live, including the commercial parody "Schmitts Gay" with Sandler and Chris Farley; on working with Sandler on songs like “She Comes Home to Me” 07:05
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Adam Sandler
Robert Smigel on Chris Farley and working with him writing sketches on Saturday Night Live; on 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 of Saturday Night Live for people who work on the show; on Chris Farley's legacy in comedy 16:06
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Chris Farley
Robert Smigel on leaving Saturday Night Live as a writer; on Lorne Michaels not wanting him to leave SNL; on Michaels wanting Conan O'Brien to produce the Late Night weekday slot first held by Steve Allen and later Jay Leno; on Michaels initially wanting Dana Carvey to host the show; on Conan O'Brien turning downing producing the late-night show slot because he wanted to be an on-camera performer again; on Conan auditioning for Lorne Michaels to take over Late Night; on Michaels' involvement with Conan's show 09:07
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Lorne Michaels
Robert Smigel on leaving Saturday Night Live as a writer; on Lorne Michaels not wanting him to leave SNL; on Michaels wanting Conan O'Brien to produce the Late Night weekday slot first held by Steve Allen and later Jay Leno; on Michaels initially wanting Dana Carvey to host the show; on Conan O'Brien turning downing producing the late-night show slot because he wanted to be an on-camera performer again; on Conan auditioning for Lorne Michaels to take over Late Night; on Michaels' involvement with Conan's show 08:23
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on the genesis of the Late Night with Conan O'Brien sketch "Masturbating Bear" which writer Brian Reich developed, and on the bear bit being funnier due to the limitations put on it by Standards & Practices 01:44
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Brian Reich
Robert Smigel on producing Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on hiring writers Dino Stamatopoulos and Louis C.K.; on wanting the show to be 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 Tom Brokaw’s cameo on the show; on the very dark humor present in the first season of the Late Night show; on the "Actual Items" bit on the show 06:52
Interview: Robert Smigel | Profession: Producers
Robert Smigel on the sketch "In the Year 2000" that he wrote for Late Night with Conan O'Brien and on the inspiration coming from 1960s television shows like The Jetsons; on the Clutch Cargo sketches which involved cutting out out lips from a still photograph and re-enacting the mouth through the photo (it was Smigel’s mouth); on his impressions being more "impercisions" than impressions of famous people like President Bill Clinton 04:49
Interview: Robert Smigel | Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on the genesis of the Late Night with Conan O'Brien sketch "Masturbating Bear" which writer Brian Reich developed, and on the bear bit being funnier due to the limitations put on it by Standards & Practices 01:44
Interview: Robert Smigel | Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on the sketch "In the Year 2000" that he wrote for Late Night with Conan O'Brien and on the inspiration coming from 1960s television shows like The Jetsons; on the Clutch Cargo sketches which involved cutting out out lips from a still photograph and re-enacting the mouth through the photo (it was Smigel’s mouth); on his impressions being more "impercisions" than impressions of famous people like then-President Bill Clinton 04:51
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on the tribute song Adam Sandler performed in honor of Chris Farley on Saturday Night Live, and on the bonding experience of Saturday Night Live for people who work on the show 05:40
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Saturday Night Live
Robert Smigel on leaving Saturday Night Live; on Lorne Michaels wanting Conan O'Brien to produce the Late Night weekday slot first held by Steve Allen and later Jay Leno; on Lorne initially wanting Dana Carvey to host the show; on Conan O'Brien turning down producing the late-night show slot because he wanted to be an on-camera performer again; on Conan auditioning for Lorne Michaels to take over Late Night on Lorne's involvement with Conan's show Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on hiring Dino Stamatopoulos and Louis C.K. as writers on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on Tom Brokaw's cameo on the show; on the first episode and the tone being very dark 21:10
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on the genesis of Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on wanting it to be 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 Tom Brokaw’s cameo on the show; on the very dark humor present in the first season of the Late Night show; on the "Actual Items" bit on the show 05:46
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on the sketch "In the Year 2000" that he wrote for Late Night with Conan O'Brien and on the inspiration coming from 60s television shows like The Jetsons; on the Clutch Cargo sketches which involved cutting out out lips from a still photograph and re-enacting the mouth through the photo (it was Smigel’s mouth); on his impressions being more "impercisions" than impressions of famous people like President Bill Clinton 04:51
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on the genesis of the Conan sketch "Masturbating Bear" which Brian Reich developed; on the bear bit being funnier due to the limitations put on it by Standards & Practices 01:44
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on the genesis of the Late Night with Conan O'Brien sketch "Masturbating Bear" which writer Brian Reich developed, and on the bear bit being funnier due to the limitations put on it by Standards & Practices 01:40
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Censorship / Standards & Practices
Robert Smigel as "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" 01:33
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Characters & Catchphrases
Robert Smigel on the genesis of the Late Night with Conan O'Brien sketch "Masturbating Bear" which writer Brian Reich developed, and on the bear bit being funnier due to the limitations put on it by Standards & Practices 01:40
Interview: Robert Smigel | Topic: Television Industry
Robert Smigel on the Clutch Cargo technology being used on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; celebrity interviews would be done by cutting out lips from a celebrity's photograph and using a real mouth to animate through the photograph; the mouth was Smigels 02:42
Interview: Robert Smigel
On how she came to be the costume designer on The West Wing; on her creative process designing for the show, and on the research she did about Washington D.C. to prepare for the job; on how costumes must set the tone for the show, but then "disappear"; on working with Aaron Sorkin and his specific vision for the series, and on working with producer John Wells 15:13
Interview: Lyn Paolo
On working on The West Wing episode "The State Dinner," and dressing actress Stockard Channing as "First Lady Abbey Bartlett" 03:48
Interview: Lyn Paolo
On working on the special "A West Wing to Benefit When We All Vote" during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020; on the legacy of The West Wing; on meeting producer Shonda Rhimes due to her work on The West Wing and not initially wanting to do another show about Washington DC; on Shonda Rhimes being a "Wing Nut" (a term for fans of The West Wing) 05:43
Interview: Lyn Paolo
On working on Shameless with producer John Wells; on being familiar with the earlier British version of the show; on representing the city of Chicago through the clothes; on each Shameless character and how they were represented through clothes, and on how poverty was part of that story; on William H. Macy never having a character-fitting for costumes on Shameless, since he was supposed to be a "mess at all times"; on the challenge of making the show "visually interesting without making it sad"; on the fun she had with actress Shanola Hampton's character, "Veronica"; on her process of consciously re-using clothing as the Shameless characters would necessarily do in real life as hand-me-downs; on age-dyers and distressing clothing; on actress Emmy Rossum's character, "Fiona" 15:57
Interview: Lyn Paolo
On meeting with and working on Scandal with producer Shonda Rhimes; on the role colors (whites, creams, baby pinks) played on the show and evoking the idea of the "Gladiators"; on being concerned that the director of photography, Oliver Bokelberg, would not want to light white costumes but finding he was open to doing it; on why she felt the costumes should reflect the character "Olivia Pope" as high-end, fashionista because "when she walks in the room you want to feel her presence"; on what Kerry Washington brought to the role of "Olivia Pope"; on "Olivia" being a "pants girl" not a "skirt girl"; on cutting the pants to the ground to give Washington, who is petite, a longer look 08:51
Interview: Lyn Paolo
On the social media aspect of Scandal, and on the actors tweeting live when the show aired and becoming involved in live tweeting the show; on having her team create "Look Books" for the cast every Thursday, which listed every costume and designer so they could communicate that back to the fans during the broadcast via Twitter; on not getting comps from designers for the show; on "Olivia's" first purse being Lyn's personal Prada bag; on her process of breaking down the script and designing for a show like Scandal; on working with Kerry Washington; on building closets for actors on most of the shows she works on; on not re-using costumes for the women on Scandal; on working on multiple shows at the same time and how she balances the workload 12:07
Interview: Lyn Paolo
On her use of color on the costumes on Scandal to frame characters and tell the story, and on how different colors affects the viewer; on her story for "Olivia Pope" being the "white knight" or "Gladiator in a suit"; on some of the major designers used on the show: Armani, Prada, Escada, Dolce, and the budget for the show; on having to be a good manager with money and crew 07:19
Interview: Lyn Paolo
On how she allocates budget for a given show and scene; on not needing to spend much on jewelry on Scandal; on situations where she was asked to have a design or designer become part of a script for a show; on how hats were a big part of "Olivia Pope's" character's story on Scandal; on how Kerry Washington's real-life pregnancy affected the costume design on Scandal; on how Scandal impacted the real-world fashion landscape and the "Olivia Pope Look" became influential; on how Scandal changed how leading ladies dress on television; on how the Scandal clothing line in partnership with The Limited came about; on her Bridgerton bridal collection 12:10
Interview: Lyn Paolo
Lyn Paolo on being the costume designer for The West Wing 24:37
Interview: Lyn Paolo | Genre: Drama Series
Lyn Paolo on being the costume designer for Shameless 14:36
Interview: Lyn Paolo | Genre: Comedy Series