Half a Century of SNL: Lessons for Entrepreneurs
The Original Cast of Saturday Night Live in 1975
(L to R: Chevy Chase, Larraine Newman, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin, and Dan Ackroyd)
Many would be entrepreneurs are looking for something truly new on which to build their enterprise. But often, success can be found in reimagining an existing offering that is tired and declining (think Starbucks vs corner coffee shops, or Uber vs Taxis) … and creating a reenergized version that a new or underserved market will find appealing.
That is the secret of “Saturday Night Live’s” half century run being celebrated this week. Creator Lorne Michaels, who still produces the show, had long experience with the well-established variety show format featuring big name entertainers popular with an aging audience. These shows usually ran during prime time and avoided controversial topics.
While Michaels created SNL, he was just a producer who would not have succeeded without the encouragement and backing of a top decision maker, visionary NBC TV president Herb Schlosser, who saw an unappreciated market (young boomers) and an underutilized asset: (an 11;30 p.m. Saturday night time slot that had been previously filled with Johnny Carson reruns}.
It’s hard to find any TV offering in any genre that has lasted even half as long as SNL. As Dana Carvey, who played “The Church Lady”, always quipped “Isn’t that special?” SNL has also launched more than few subsequent careers. Many cast members have gone to remarkable careers including Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin, Dan Ackroyd, Tina Fay, David Spade, Chevy Chase, Martin Short and others.
C-Level Executives who would like a short case study on revitalizing their current offering would do well to watch this 11 minute video that just aired on CBS Sunday Morning: “Looking Back at 50 Years of Saturday Night Live.”
After watching the video, if you want a deeper dive on what drove an extraordinary resurrection of a genre thought to be on its last legs, you can read the just released “Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live.”
