by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Let me begin by saying the only reason why I keep talking about this is, well, Lorne Michaels is 76 years old and he’s got to retire sometime. But maybe he’ll be like Queen Elizabeth II and vow to retire when he’s 100. And, let me stress, I don’t know anything and I get things wrong all the time.
Having said that, there seems to be three types of people who are in the running for Michaels’ successor — Tina Fey, Kenan Thompson and everyone else.
So, while Thompson should get it because he knows the show so well, Fey will get it because she’s got brass balls and won’t take shit from anyone. I could definitely see NBC splitting Michaels’ job into two. Thompson gets to be the comical “executive producer” that shows up every once in a while, while Fey gets to be the behind the scenes, tough as nail broad who knocks heads when need be.
Just as an outsider, it seems as though Michaels job is a unique blend of mentor and aloof manager who has his finger on the sensibilities of liberal America to the extent that he can pluck comics from obscurity. So the “everyone else” group of potential successors could be a wide range of people.
It would be very interesting if NBC didn’t pick someone with extensive SNL experience to run the show. But who knows. It’s just something interesting to think about.
