Lorne Michael Says ‘Saturday Night Live’ 50th Anniversary Would be ‘Good Time to Leave’ Show

In a new interview with Gayle King on CBS Mornings, Lorne Michaels opened up about the possibility of leaving Saturday Night Live following the show’s 50^th anniversary in the 2024-2025 season.

When asked if he thinks about retirement, the 77-year-old SNL creator, who launched the show in 1975, replied: “I think I’m committed to doing this show until its 50^th anniversary, which is in three years. I’d like to see that through, and I have a feeling that’d be a really good time to leave.”

Michaels added, “But here’s the point: I won’t want the show ever to be bad. I care too deeply about it. It’s been my life’s work. So, I’m gonna do everything I can to see it carry on and carry on well.”

When questioned about the possibility of the iconic sketch comedy show going on without him, Michaels said, “Of course,” though he was unwilling to share who his replacement could be. “I have a sense of where we’re headed with that, you know,” he explained. “I’m not gonna go on about it – it’s three years away!”

Michaels’ remarks arrive just a year after he first alluded to retiring after Season 50. “My plan, I’m not sure that I’ll see it through, but my plan is to be here for the 50^th (anniversary),” Michaels told Today’s Willie Geist in October 2020. “And by that point, I think I really deserve to wander off.”

Check out Lorne Michaels’ interview with CBS Mornings up top.