Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1504681
8 8 P E R S P E C T I V E | J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 2 3 Saturday Night Live (SNL) is only one season away from its 50th anniversary, an incredible milestone in comedy and television history. When I was asked if I would like to write a piece about the designing of the show, specifically a single episode from this past season, I said yes but without thinking about how difficult it might be to choose just one. Season forty-eight ended (three shows earlier than scheduled) with my having worked on seven hundred fifty-three consecutive shows. While that may seem an impressive number, it only places me third in our department behind designers Eugene Lee and Akira "Leo" Yoshimura, the original set design team going back to the show's premiere on Ocober 11, 1975. In fact, Leo has the longest- running tenure of anyone currently at or in the history of the show. Most significantly, this season brought with it some unexpected changes to the continuity and very heart of our department. It was with great sadness that we lost Eugene this past February at the age of 83. He was far more A d v e n t u r e s w i t h E u g e n e L e e T H E C O L L A B O R A T I O N O F A L I F E T I M E A T S N L B Y K E I T H I A N R AY W O O D , P R O D U C T I O N D E S I G N E R To remember Eugene simply as the original designer of SNL and our collaborative mentor is to understate the profound influence he had on all our lives, both personally and professionally. He brought each of us into his world and was so much more than a design colleague. A. SNL PRODUCTION DESIGNERS (L-R): JOE DETULLIO, AKIRA LEO YOSHIMURA, EUGENE LEE AND KEITH RAYWOOD. IMAGES COURTESY OF NBC. A