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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
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