Dan Aykroyd & Lorne Michaels Had Backup Plans If Saturday Night Live's Debut Flopped
When "Saturday Night Live" hit NBC's airwaves on October 11, 1975, expectations were tempered. With its 11:30 PM time slot and cast of fringe comedy talents, the show was a hedged bet. If the Nielsen ratings were poor, it'd be exceedingly easy for the network to pull the plug after a few episodes.
Everyone from creator Lorne Michaels on down were confident that they'd pulled together something special, if not revolutionary, but they were also concerned that their target audience might not show up. There was also the matter of executing a live television show with a bunch of boob-tube neophytes. There were so many moving pieces that had to click into place, and zero leeway for mistakes. One slip-up could set off a domino effect of snafus, resulting in a live TV debacle for the ages.
As the premiere approached, the cast members mulled their uncertain future. They believed in their work, but if opening night went south, some of the cast had their next move plotted out.
Live from New York, it's... a late-night movie?
In Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller's "Live from New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers and Guests," writer Herb Sargent reveals that Chevy Chase, who would become the series' first breakout star, was already thinking about the big picture of his career. He asked Sargent what his logical next step would be, to which the writer replied, "You'll probably end up hosting a talk show." Sargent wasn't wrong, he was just looking too far ahead (to the fiasco of "The Chevy Chase Show").
According to writer Neil Levy, Dan Aykroyd was prepared for the very worst. As Levy related to Shales and Miller, "[Aykroyd] said, 'Neil, this show could fold in a second and I got a nice little spot picked out on the 401 [in Ontario], and I'm going to open a truck stop.'"
As for Lorne Michaels, he went down to the wire worried that they wouldn't be ready for their 11:30 PM launch. Producer Craig Kellem recalled:
"We almost didn't get on the air, because dress rehearsal went so poorly. I remember Lorne seriously asking the network people — or having me ask them — to have a movie ready to go, just in case. And I don't think he was kidding."
There was no need. Michael O'Donoghue and John Belushi nailed the show's first sketch, an absurdist bit called "The Wolverines," and the rest is television history. Aykroyd never had to pump gas, and NBC didn't have to run a late-night movie (though I'd love to know what film they chose as a backup). "SNL" quickly became appointment viewing, and pop culture is the better for this.