new york. this was backyard. so it was almost incumbent ton saturday night live to play some sort of role in the nation s healing. the question is, when is it okay to laugh again? on behalf of everyone here, i want to thank you all for being here tonight. especially you, mr. mayor. thank you. thank you very much. having our institutions up and running sends the message that new york city is open for business. saturday night live is one of our great new york city institutions, and that s why it s important for you to do your show tonight. can we be funny? why start now? it was that saturday night we decided, okay, you know, we re going to be able to do this again. and they slowly brought us through it. i think it s one of the finest moments in snl history. live from new york, it s saturday night! right after 9/11, i had to
long hours deep into the night, constantly revising the script. revisions made necessary by last-minute changes in a changing world. bob hope was the first guy to utilize an actual staff of writers to give you topical material of the day. he really did invent the idea of the comedian being the head writer, managing editor, and having a bunch of writers. the traditions of standup comedy in the 50s were still really derived from vaudeville. those performers like bob hope had nothing more on their mind than just getting laughs. that was plenty. the guy who really came along and changed all that was mort sahl. richard nixon is running for governor of california, and i realize sometimes the shows to hit on are all topical. he will be running for something no matter when this show is on, so sorry. mort sahl was the first person to talk like a human being on stage. it wasn t schmaltzy. he did for comedy what james
to it. it just does. it was worth the trip in, wasn t it? so many things that are going on just seem so crazy. you feel so powerless. so the comedian that deals with topical issues, they re giving people who are voiceless a voice. i ll be honest with you. it s beginning to look like i m not going to get the tonight show. what is that comedian s take on that election? what s the comedian s take on that hurricane? we are speaking on behalf of the consumer, the voter, the victim. the joke you ll forget. you ll forget the joke. but if it s the right moment and the right condition and you acknowledge what just happened, it s a beautiful thing. the fact that you can take something dark and make light of it is one of the few superpowers people have. you remember when a laugh steered you back to sanity and comfort. all of the awful things in the world, if they can be
wanted to do, and i have enjoyed every single minute of it. i bid you a very heartfelt good night. it s certainly true that with johnny out, a vacuum was created. a big decision that had the entertainment industry buzzing, this week. that s of course the fate of late-night stars jay leno and david letterman. the tonight show without johnny carson as the regular host made its debut last night. jay leno emerged from behind the curtain. oh, i don t care if you laugh. i got the job. look at this. they are getting more press than the president. so start up your remote controls. a late-night race is about to begin. jay was a brilliant standup. he continued the tradition of johnny. he had a big group of monologue writers. that was the main writing on that show. he was writing the best topical jokes that anybody could write. democratic candidate bill clinton said he is also troubled by the amount of sex portrayed on television. clinton said where he comes from
but it was an important moment for snl. the words spoken at 11:31 every saturday night are live from new york. this was backyard. so it was almost incumbent ton saturday night live to play some sort of role in the nation s healing. the question is, when is it okay to laugh again? on behalf of everyone here, i want to thank you all for being here tonight. especially you, mr. mayor. thank you. thank you very much. having our institutions up and running sends the message that new york city is open for business. saturday night live is one of our great new york city institutions, and that s why it s important for you to do your show tonight. can we be funny? why start now? it was that saturday night we decided, okay, you know, we re going to be able to do this again. and they slowly brought us through it. i think it s one of the finest moments in snl history.