Why Saturday Night Live Goes On At 11:30
And what that can mean to you.
I was browsing through Seth Godin’s book The Practice the other day when I came across a reference he makes to Saturday Night Live that just blew me away.
As with many of Godin’s mini-essays in this book, he doesn’t spend much time getting into the meat of some of his observations. He leaves a lot of that to the reader.
His one sentence on SNL, however, I felt deserved a slightly deeper dive.
So here goes…
Not Ready For Prime Time
Simply put, Saturday Night Live, a 90-minute sketch comedy show featuring live music that has been around for over 40 years, goes on at 11:30 pm because that’s when they go on.
Look, for the most part, the SNL staff gets the Sunday after a show off, but then they’re right back to work — writing, finding props, collecting sets, working with guest hosts, more writing, coordinating with musical hosts, writing, rehearsing, more writing, dry run, followed by some last-minute writing.
Those cats are working on that show right up to airtime.
Why?
Because that’s when the show is scheduled to go on.
There is no “waiting until everything is perfect.” Anyone familiar with the show’s long history knows there have been shows that were far less successful than others.
There is no “I’m not ready.”
Even when Louise Lassler locked herself in her dressing room in 1976, the show still went on.
“What if something goes wrong?”
What? You mean like when Ashlee Simpson got caught lip-syncing her performance? They cut to commercial only to work the stage and set up for the following sketch. Or when Sinead O’Connor protested the abuses of the Catholic Church by ripping up a picture of the pope?
Hey, the show goes on. Cut to commercial. Take 90 seconds to set up the next bit.
At worst, Saturday Night Live employed seven-second delays for Richard Pryor and Andrew Dice Clay, but that didn’t stop the show from broadcasting. Even when there was an anthrax scare in the building, the show went on.
Why? Because even when the situation wasn’t ideal, 11:30 pm was when the show went on air… live.
What Does This Mean For You?
How many times have you decided against doing something because the time wasn’t perfectly right?
Maybe you were thinking of starting a business. Maybe you were going to quit your job and go freelance full time. Maybe you were going to ask that parking attendant out on a date. Maybe you were waiting for the right time to have kids.
There is never going to be a perfect time.
The best you can hope for is to be as prepared as you reasonably can be and then just do it.
And that’s pretty much what life is.
As Saturday Night Live comes on week after week regardless of whether they’re ready or not, so, too, will life be full of events you’ll have to make a decision on — whether you’re ready or not.
Shows that cancel because they aren’t ready never make it to air and never become a cultural institution.
People who never start never finish.
So you need to make a decision. Are you going to stall out waiting for conditions to be perfect?
Or will your show go on?
Start that business. Ask that parking attendant out. Hell, run for President. Go be a rock star.
It may not always work. You may have to fix things and study up as you go, but at least you’ve gained forward momentum.
Break a leg.
See you at the after-party!
About John Teehan
John lives in Rhode Island with his wife, son, and dog. He specializes in tech, health, business, parenting, pop culture, and gaming. Visit wordsbyjohn.net for more info and rates. Twitter: @WordsByJohn2
