A new report says Tina Fey is being courted to take over “Saturday Night Live” for Lorne Michaels — but an NBC spokesperson is now denying such claims.
According to a source, per The New York Post, the actress and comedian is being considered to take Michaels’ current position as executive producer when the “SNL” creator, 78, eventually departs.
Though Michaels, who created the popular weekly comedy series back in 1975, hasn’t formally announced a departure, he previously spoke about leaving the show after “its 50th anniversary, which is in three years,” he told Gayle King on “CBS Mornings” in December 2021. “I’d like to see that through and I have a feeling that would be a really good time to leave.”
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“SNL”‘s 50th season will premiere in the fall of 2024, also marking Michaels’ 80th birthday on November 17 that same year.
However, an NBC spokesperson has since told ET Canada that “there is no truth to this report,” while pointing to Michaels’ New York Times interview in September 2022 where he said, “I have no plans to retire.”
Michaels gave said quote after the interviewer asked him whether he saw the 50th anniversary of “SNL” as a good opportunity to “tip your hat and say goodbye.”
“I’m not a big person for celebrating,” Michaels added. “Even the 40th [anniversary show], in the end, the only way I got through it was because I knew I was doing a show, and at a certain point, the credits would roll and we’d be off the air. The 50th will be a big event. We’ll bring everyone back from all 50 years and hosts and all of that.”
The New York Post report says Fey is considered by many in the industry to be a top candidate to take the helm at “SNL” once Michaels retires.
“I would be surprised if it wasn’t her,” the source told the outlet of Fey, explaining: “Seth Meyers has his own show. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg won’t come here. Judd Apatow passed [on the job] years ago. Amy Poehler has her own stuff. Bill Hader is directing a movie. Kate McKinnon is too hot.”
While another NBC insider said there’s no truth to the growing rumour, other fellow showrunners believe Fey, 53, could easily snag the job if she wants it, noting that her frequent collaborator Robert Carlock — whom she’s worked with on several projects, including “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, “Girls5eva”, “Mr. Mayor” and “30 Rock” — would likely follow her to “SNL”.
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“She doesn’t move without him,” one source said.
Another insider believes taking the job would be a smart move for Fey — who, online, has been rumoured to take over “SNL” for the past few years — because it would suit her family life since the show films right in New York City, where she currently resides in Manhattan with her husband — composer, producer and director Jeff Richmond — and their two daughters.
“I think she’d do it,” the source said. “It would keep the husband employed and the kids in school here.”
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Since 2006, when Fey left her post as head writer and “Weekend Update” co-anchor on “SNL”, she’s gone on to become one of the greatest talents to come out of NBC. Her sitcom “30 Rock”, which she created and starred in as Liz Lemon after leaving “SNL”, won 16 Emmy awards. It aired on NBC and centred more-than-loosely on backstage shenanigans at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in N.Y.C. where “Saturday Night Live” is written, produced, and filmed.
Fey is currently on her first live comedy tour with longtime friend and fellow comedian, Amy Poehler, which is scheduled to conclude in Portland, Oregon, on January 13, 2024.