Saturday Night Live is an institution and one of NBC's longest-running shows along with Law and Order and The Tonight Show. At the helm of the sketch comedy is showrunner Lorne Michaels. After cutting his teeth as a comedy writer for Laugh-In and The Phyllis Diller Show, he debuted SNL in 1975 and the show skyrocketed him and his cast to success thanks to the show's reputation for being unpredictable and cutting edge.
Michaels runs a tight ship, which is one of the many reasons the show has endured for so long. While the show might be unpredictable for the audience, behind the scenes it is a disciplined and sometimes strict environment. Break any of these rules and Michaels will not be shy about banning you from his show. Some of these rules are more strictly enforced than others, but there is one rule you never want to break if you want to stay on Michael's good side.
6 No (Unplanned) Self Promotion
Many stars have gotten banned from hosting SNL for breaking Lorne Michaels's rules, or just for rubbing the cast the wrong way. It surprises some fans of the show to learn that comedy legend Milton Berle, a.k.a. Uncle Milty to his fans, was banned from the show after hosting in 1979 and the episode has never been rebroadcast. Berle would constantly break the fourth wall in the middle of sketches to improvise one-liners for the audience, most of which were awkward jokes about his previous projects. Now, many hosts go onto SNL to promote upcoming shows and they will mention them in the opening monologue, but outside of that scripted moment the show is otherwise not a time to self-promote. Berle both interrupted his sketches and used the show to promote himself. Not only was Milton Berle banned, but he is also considered one of the worst SNL guests ever.
5 Be On Time
This rule applies just as much to castmates as well as guest hosts. SNL runs on a tight weekly schedule to be able to record live episodes as regularly as they do. That means writers need to turn in scripts on time, actors need to be at rehearsal on time, and timing is obviously the most important part of filming anything live. Andy Samberg talked with fellow SNL alum Conan O'Brien about the tight, and busy, schedule that writing for SNL kept him on.
4 Don't Threaten His Employees
Everyone has been following the Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson, and Kanye West drama, and despite his best efforts to squash the feud, Pete Davidson's co-workers have gotten sucked into the mess. Kanye offered SNL cast member and Weekend Update host Michael Che millions of dollars if he promised to refuse to work with Davidson ever again. Che not only refused but openly mocked Kardashian's ex-husband. Since this humiliation, Kanye has continued to lash out at Pete Davidson, even encouraging his followers to bully and harass Pete and Kim if they see him in public. Kanye then began to threaten Davidson, causing Lorne Michaels to get involved in the feud. Although stories are conflicted over whether or not the ban is official, it would seem Michaels is considering barring Kanye West from the show.
3 Treat The Cast With Respect
There is one host who almost every SNL employee agrees is one of the worst, and no it isn't Donald Trump, although he is high on the Worst Host list. Michaels thinks the rudest SNL guest host ever was 1990s action star, Steven Seagal. Seagal was apparently incredibly rude to the cast and crew, and oftentimes late for rehearsal, another major SNL no-no. Seagal also apparently didn't understand the jokes he was given and berated the writers for it. After his one-episode hosting, Michaels banned Steven Segall from SNL for life.
2 No Cussing
Samuel L. Jackson drew some ire from SNL castmates and Michaels when he slipped up on air and inserted one of his famous deliveries of the f-word into a sketch. Cast member Kenan Thompson got away with one line of improv in this sketch "Hey man come on, that costs money." To which Jackson nodded and the situation was mostly laughed off and the glib was edited out in rebroadcasts. Still, it should go without saying because it's been the rule since television was invented in the 1940s, you cannot swear on live television, period. This isn't just an SNL rule, but it is still one of the show's most important.
1 No Improvising!
Kenan Thompson was lucky that this was the only time improv was called for because there is one rule on SNL that is more important than all the others. You cannot improvise while the show is being aired, period, end of story. Michaels has banned several hosts for improvising while on air, like Milton Berle and rock legend Frank Zappa. Improv can even get you fired. In the mid-1980s Damon Wayans had a brief tenure on SNL, but when he improvised during a police sketch the producers were furious and fired him immediately. Wayans didn't even get to finish the season. Don't feel bad for Damon Wayans though, he went on to create In Living Color which became one of the most important sketch comedy shows of the 1990s. Still, it's important to remember for anyone making an appearance on SNL, stick to the script or feel the wrath of Lorne Michaels.
