Lorne Michaels on Why This Season of ‘Saturday Night Live’ Will ‘Reinvent’ Their Parody of Trump: ‘All of These Characters Have to Be Reexamined’

Ahead of its 50th season, the show's creator and longtime producer teases upcoming election coverage and a new generation taking the reins of the show.

Will this be the last season of “Saturday Night Live” to skewer former President Donald Trump? That remains to be seen, but what is known now is that the classic sketch comedy show has no plans to take its foot off the gas when it comes to knocking him down to size. Speaking in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the show’s creator and longtime producer, Lorne Michaels, discussed how he, the writers, and the cast are choosing to shift their parody of the infamous presidential nominee but maintains that comedy will always come before politics.

“Trump has morphed. James [Austin Johnson], who I think is brilliant, played Trump as the sort of diminished Trump. The guy at the back of the hardware store holding court, and that played because it felt relevant. But we are going to have to reinvent it again because, well, you saw the debate,” Michaels said. “One of the great parts of show business is that you can’t come back with the same show. So, all of these characters have to be reexamined, and if it makes sense and feels relevant, you know you’re on the right track. But if it feels like you’re talking to the audience and want to be supported because your values are the same as their values, you really shouldn’t be in comedy.” 

Michaels is referencing not the poor showing from President Joe Biden in the debate back in June, but the face-off between current nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Trump two weeks ago, in which the former president proceeded to spout off falsities, including that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating the pets of their neighbors. It has recently been revealed that Trump knew this racist and disgusting statement was a lie and proceeded to say it anyway with the aim of sowing further division. In reflecting this through a comic lens on “SNL,” Michaels isn’t interested in its parody of Trump coming off in ways it has in the past, but also doesn’t want to placate viewers.

“Our job is, you’re playing that guy, and whoever that villain is, you have to find a way to make it entertainment. You can’t lecture the audience, which most of politics is now, people lecturing the audience,” said Michaels to THR. “Ours is like, yeah, there are kind of idiots on both sides. And we’re not going to do anything that didn’t work at dress [rehearsal]. It has to play. It has to be comedy. We’re first and foremost a comedy show.”

While many have been moved by Biden’s selfless decision to pass the torch to a younger generation, Michaels doesn’t seem to be letting the choices of others influence his own plans for retirement. Even though he’s continuing to lean on others at “SNL” more and more, he feels his place as the main commanding voice of the series has allowed it to continue for as long as it has.

“There are not many network shows left, and this one has taken on [an importance]. It’s more about keeping it on course than anything else, and, obviously, I really love it,” Michael said. “And every year there are more and more people that I rely on for other things, but, in the end, you really need someone to say, ‘This is what we’re doing.’ So, I don’t really have an answer; I just know that this is kind of what I do and as long as I can keep doing it, I’ll keep doing it. There’s no immediate plan.”

The 50th season of “Saturday Night Live” premieres on NBC September 28.