Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1504681
He told us that after a five-year hiatus he was going back to again produce SNL. Most of the people in the room had been there in those first five years and would be returning with him. He then mentioned I'd be coming along with them as well. In the previous three years, I'd had an office there with Eugene designing his theater projects and several TV shows for Broadway Video, a few Paul Simon tours, and my own work in off- Broadway, commercials and music videos. Leo, who'd remained at SNL becoming its Production Designer, and I had worked together on The New Show (NBC) and a few other projects. That summer was spent designing a new home base for the fall. The World was an adult cinema in the neighborhood and its movie marquee seemed like a clever idea as a centerpiece. Host and musical guest names could be posted each week, along with posters made for the window boxes outside the theater. Since part of my job on the ill-fated The New Show was designing the sets for the musical acts, I was tasked with designing and arranging the house band's setup, something I've been doing ever since. That year, they were elevated on a rooftop above storefronts. Their heads were almost in the grid and they really hated it up there. The way the show was done each week was pretty much the way it had been done before and still is. Readthrough is on Wednesday afternoon and we receive the "picks" around 9 p.m. After going over the sets and their studio placement with the director, then meeting with the cast and writers about their pieces, we draw up the sets for that week's show. A. GILDA RADNER AND CHEVY CHASE ON THE 1976 WEEKEND UPDATE SET. B. JANE CURTIN AND BILL MURRAY ON THE 1980 WEEKEND UPDATE SET. C. PAUL SIMON ON THE SEASON 11 1985 HOME BASE SET. AL LEVINE/NBC. D. WAYNE'S WORLD BASEMENT SET WITH MIKE MYERS, DANA CARVEY, TOM HANKS, AND AEROSMITH. RAY BONAR/ NBC. A B C D