More praise for Tina Fey! After a bit at the Emmy Awards where the Mean Girls writer and former Saturday Night Live! "Weekend Update" host reunited with Amy Poehler, talk of who will succeed 78-year-old SNL head Lorne Michaels once again resurfaced. This time, the question even reached the man himself. When asked by Entertainment Weekly if Fey is his chosen successor, Michaels gave a pretty cryptic answer.
"It could easily be Tina Fey," Michaels stated, "but you know, there are a lot of people." Fey has been the biggest name in the race so far, after she became a head writer on SNL just two years after joining the show in the late '90s. After leaving SNL in 2006, she created the hit sitcom, 30 Rock, which starred herself, Alec Baldwin, Jane Krakowski, and Tracy Morgan. Michaels, of course, served as an executive producer. "Tina’s brilliant and great at everything," the SNL boss added. "She’s a very important person in my life."
Still, Michaels has no plans to retire from his head-honcho duties. He even said so, verbatim, just a year ago in an interview with The New York Times. The longtime showrunner even called the 47th season a "rebirth" and a "year of reinvention." He even confirmed recently that he plans to stick around to see the series 50th anniversary special in February 2025. "I will definitely be there for that, and definitely be there until that, and sometime before that we’ll figure out what we’re gonna do," Michaels continued.
Fey has yet to comment on the rumors that she's being courted for the role. In fact, a spokesperson from NBC responded to an ET Canada piece on the subject, stating that "there is no truth" to the succession plans. Even so, you have to ask: What would a total overhaul for SNL look like? What would Fey change about the nearly 50-year-old show? As recent sketch series such as I Think You Should Leave and The Eric Andre Show have proved, the format and tone of SNL could use a proper update.
