James Andrew Miller
Appearances
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Okay.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Oh, wow.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Hmm.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Okay.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Oh, yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Well, listen, I think it was pretty good. You know, I loved Adam Sandler. Eddie doing Tracy Morgan, I could watch all day, particularly given Eddie's tortured history with SNL. It was just great to see him back. You know, the world's a difficult place when things work out between people and there's not contention and people forget about things.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
You know, Bill Murray saying something nice about Chevy Chase. It's time. It's all good. I miss Bill Hader. You know, wish he had been there. Tina continues to be terrific. But there was enough good stuff going on that made you feel like it was worthwhile.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I mean, and by the way, with Adam, let's not forget that Jack Nicholson,
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
introduced him jack hasn't been seen and i mean unless you're in certain parties or whatever that's a big deal and it was it was wonderful for uh for for that to happen but you know eddie murphy being on the nnh is just incredible still i mean he saved you and i have discussed this before but eddie saved the franchise yeah without a doubt i don't think if if that 19 year old eddie murphy hadn't come along when he did we're not talking about snl 50.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Well, I will say though, Kristen Wiig, I told her, she gets big, big, I don't know. I mean, she came on after Bridesmaids. She stayed on the cast after Bridesmaids. That's pretty impressive.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
And Kristen got one of the great send-offs of all time. Do you remember that?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Mick Jagger singing to her and her dancing with Lauren. Not everybody gets that kind of send-off.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
He would have been all over it. Fred Armisen was in a lot. I think, look, I don't know. I didn't talk to Bill and ask him exactly why. The Ackroyd thing was a little suspicious because at one point he said, it depends on... who asks me and what they want of me. And it seemed like there was a bill of particulars attached. And as Lorna said many times to people, we don't negotiate with terrorists.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
So maybe he was unwilling.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Without a doubt, without a doubt, particularly given, I mean, Martin Short was visible, very visible. And I think Dana would have had a lot to do.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
You know, you may be onto something. Look, I was there at the 25th, and that was outrageous because nothing like that had been done. Remember, last night, they did not have a dress rehearsal. So this is the equivalent of Lorne and the writers flying blind because one of the great luxuries, right?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
You go in, 8 o'clock, you throw everything against the wall, you see what sticks, you can figure out what belongs in the show, what doesn't, and also, more importantly sometimes, the order. Right? I mean, you get a real sense of it. I mean, occasionally they'll screw up and put Wayne's World at 10 of 1 the first time it aired. But they had no dress rehearsal. And I think
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
maybe it wasn't that it was derivative build, but that it, because they had done the 40th the way they did it, it was like, there was some muscle memory. Like we can do this. We'll have, we'll still have the monologue. We still need a big music act. We still need a big closing music act. And then of course it's the emotional arc that you just referred to with, with Adam, right?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Which is you're going to have uproarious sketches. Then you want some poignancy. Then you want some memory. I thought, I thought one of the great things about Adam also was that they snuck in a memoriam in there too. It wasn't just like a capital M Oscars or Emmy memoriam. You saw Jan hooks, you saw Phil, you saw the people that unfortunately couldn't, you know, of course, Norm. Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I mean, that couldn't be there. So that was an elegant way of doing it. And, you know, they did that in the 25th, uh, in terms of recognizing people who, who had passed. And so I think that they, uh, I'm not saying they used the same playbook, but it certainly felt like, you know, there was that DNA of 40th anniversary there.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Paul and Paul. Yeah. Open and close with two of Lauren's best friends.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah, exactly. But you bring up a good point about the second show. You know, I feel this way about The Sopranos and there's actually, somebody should really do, it would be a really cool article. You get the first show and you're spending so much time thinking about the first show, right? And then all of a sudden it's like, oh shit, we got a second show.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
And like The Sopranos didn't find its way till episode five. Yeah. Saturday Night Live, you know, really, I mean, two, three and four, good stuff and everything, but you still didn't understand the DNA. It wasn't, the broth wasn't fully simmered. And I think that particularly when you don't get an order, like nowadays on streaming services, you get an order, go do eight.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
So you're thinking about that. A lot of times when you're just doing one by one, You need to get them on their feet before you can really learn things. And so Paul Simon on episode two, if people go back and watch it, man, it's an experiment. It's like, let's call my friend Paul. Let's see how we can stitch together 90 minutes.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Well, it's an incredible thing because also in the first episode, you're establishing the characters. So you're trying so hard to introduce the character that you're spending all that time on that. That's why with The Sopranos, not to get off track from SNL, but The Sopranos, the biggest fight David Chase ever had with HBO was in episode five was, were they going to watch Tony kill somebody?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Right. And Chase is like... dude, this is what the guy does. He's not a hallmark salesman. He kills people. We've got to show it. And it hadn't really been thought of before that because it hadn't come up. And so I think particularly for SNL, episode two, episode three, episode four, it's a cocktail, right? And getting down... How much of Albert Brooks? How much of a movie?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
How many commercial parodies are we going to have? How much time are we going to do two musical acts or just one? How much time does that leave for everything else? And then, of course, what is Weekend Update going to be? Because Weekend Update had this huge advantage, right? Chevy was the only one who said his real name. I'm Chevy Chaser or not. He got all that time by himself.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Other cast members were a little resentful of that, trying to cut back on that. So it takes a couple shows to iron out those arguments.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Well, part of it also is, though, Carlin was stoned out of his mind. You can see it. He was unavailable at certain points throughout the show. The other thing that is worth mentioning is, like, Chevy, 15 minutes before the first show, said to one of the producers, hey, what do you think I should do after this? Because he was convinced it was going to be a failure. Right. Right?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
And Lauren kept that... I mean, Lauren is Lauren. I mean, he's telling everybody, oh no, this is, we're going to, this is, it's a hit. We're going to be a hit. We're going to be a hit. Even before the rating suggested it, even before anybody had written about it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
But by the fifth time when Gilda is walking down Avenue of the Americas and start, starts getting stopped by people like, oh my gosh, you're so great and whatever. And she's like, what?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
The show changes when people know it's a hit. Even though SNL wasn't going to pander to people and it wasn't going to try and become a hit, right? They were just going to do what they thought was cool and it caught on. And so that also has, I think, a real impact on the trajectory of the show because then all of a sudden you're like,
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Well, we don't really care whether somebody thinks this is going to work or not. We're going to think we're going to have Beethoven at a piano playing something. Belushi, go ahead, do it. And we think it's cool. I mean, there's no time to like, I mean, they address this, but there's no time to really test that out. So that became a real powerful force.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Miss the show. Most people watch clips. Most people get, maybe they'll get YouTube clips or they've customized it somehow on X or something else. But, you know, I think a lot more people obviously are watching it during the week than are sitting down in their Barker lounger at 1135.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Well, it's the highest rated non-sports entertainment show on linear television.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah. Which is nuts.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Which is incredible. And that's why you get to spend nearly $100 million a season doing it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
A lot.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I'm just surprised she never did it. Look, they ask Tom Cruise a lot. He never did it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Actually, you know what? That would be a great question if I get him in an interview again. I think what would be more terrifying for you, going over like the Grand Canyon in a motorcycle or hosting Saturday Night Live? And he might say the latter.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Other than Cruise. Yeah. That's it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah. I mean, De Niro did a couple of walk-ons from time to time and then eventually hosted.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
The ad was fun. And Kate is one of the few people that can pull that off, that give us, you know, even though you know what's coming, it's still fun to watch.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
It wasn't just Eddie coming on and doing Eddie or doing something. He was actually impersonating Tracy.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Who was standing right next to him. It was so good. That was a rough add-on with Tom Hanks. But I will say, the Black Jeopardy sketch that Tom Hanks did do back then was legendary. It just was really hard last night after Eddie.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
That was tough. And by the way, Eddie was good doing that. Eddie was good.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
That was the whole purpose of it. They did that in the 40th as well. Yeah. You get to show off the wares, you know? I mean, like, because unless people are watching the red carpet or whatever, a lot of those people like Jerry and Larry, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David were in the audience, obviously, but weren't in the show. Right. So, you know, it's a great way to show them off.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
And not only that, but Tina and Amy are the only, really the only two people that could handle that. Because you got to riff on it. You got to tease that. I mean, it's really, it's much harder than it looks.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I hate to say it, but it's like driving a Porsche at 40 miles an hour. Because why point out to us that Dave is here? And not use him. And then not use him for anything. I mean, I just... I kept on waiting for him to do something or say something from his seat even, or whatever. And it wasn't anything. So, I mean, I guess... I don't know. It was weird. Julia, too.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I mean, Julia is Julia Louis-Dreyfus, even though she had a hard time when she was an SNL cast member. Yeah. She could have done anything. She's fearless and she's terrific.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Well, I thought it was brilliant that he did this black anchorage first, got Che out of the way. And then what it wound up really doing was just being a real dig to Colin Jost, who didn't make any of the spots. Right. So I think that Colin...
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Colin Quinn thing at the beginning was just to think, to make Colin Jost think that he was going to be on the list because it was Colin and then he waited a bit. I mean, Bill Murray's timing is fantastic. And he was Friday night at Radio Cine Music Hall. He was awesome as well.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Thank God.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
It was really... I mean, the irony, of course, that Belushi wound up dying first, but also when he mentioned Gilda. I mean, the whole thing is just perfect. It's one of... I think it's one of my favorite SNL moments of 50 years.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
And yet you guys got married.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
And she was like, Oh, like I think she was like half paying attention, but that's what I meant though, in terms of like the rhythm also, Lauren, I think pays more attention to that, that he talks about. And when you have something boisterous or something supposed to be really broad and loud, and then you come to something like that, it's, it's a really interesting symphony that he's conducting.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
And not only that, but it's incredibly shrewd because for all of you thinking that we're going to hide from it and you can go and write about it and take us to task for it. Oh, we're going to own it. We'll own it right now. Here you go. And with perfect context, I thought it was the shrewdest part of the entire show.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I think there are Debbie Downer societies. There are people that literally talk about it about themselves. They talk about it in therapy. There's a whole big online presence. So, you know, I was wondering whether or not Rachel and Will were going to do the lover sketch and Will was going to start cracking somebody up underneath the hot tub, which would have been terrific.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
But that also is logistically difficult.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah, I think the one thing that might have worked against that is that requires another level of knowledge on the show just because it's not in the zeitgeist as prominently as some of these other ones or as recently. By the way, how about Sabrina?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
But how about Sabrina Carpenter's line to Paul Simon? Oh my God. My parents, that set, that one line, like I think it shocked the audience and it set the tone for the whole night because you're going to see a bunch of people in their seventies and eighties.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
And Billy Crystal was in the audience.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
He could have been used. Could have been used.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Without a doubt. I mean, listen, given what happened to Billy on the very first SNL, where he and his manager stormed out because he wasn't going to get enough time. That's a complicated history, Billy Crystal and SNL.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
All the way through 50.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Well, one of the things you and I have talked about before is that over recent years, you don't have a lot of reoccurring sketches, reoccurring characters that you can draw back on. And so that's when it really comes to haunt you because you can't all of a sudden, it's not like the cheerleaders were from the past 10 years.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
So you throw them up or I guess we're, we could go back to the Californians, but you can't do the Californians without hater. Right. So, you know, um, they were in a box, but I think that's part of what was going on. Look, Davidson, I maybe, maybe you'll argue with me on this, but Davidson isn't there because of what he did on SNL. He's there because he became a cultural force with his, uh,
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
No, I think the show's in a weird place. If you ever get a moment, Pete's first show appearance was on update and he crushed.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
He did a great. And so you think, Whoa, wait a second. And then, you know, it just, it didn't, it didn't have, I mean, I'm not saying he's not successful, but we know, most people know Pete Davidson because of the incredible runway of beautiful, popular women he dated rather than what he did on the show.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
He could show up for it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Friday night, too. Friday night, he had a great seat at Radio City. He sat there the whole time. I mean, look, last night they had... They had everybody come in. They had some of the top notch. The varsity was in the writer's room. And they went over that. And Lorne was very, very, very involved.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
And I think he geared it so he could actually, God forbid, not be under the bleachers, sit in a seat and enjoy it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I think he's going to stay. I think he's going to stay. I mean... whether or not there's an emeritus attached to him or not. I mean, but right now he's already cut back on his schedule. So he's not in every single day and night like he used to be. And I think that what you probably see is More people, it will be interesting to see though.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I mean, like obviously if Tina or Seth comes back to the show, Lauren's a Meredith, right? Lauren is by definition going to be saying, I'm handing over the reins. But without that, it'll be interesting to see what happens next season. Originally he had said he would be, he'd like to make it to 50 and then walk away. But I don't think he, he said, I don't think I'm done. I don't think I'm done.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I think it falls under the rubric of something else. Okay, that's it? That's all you got? Well, Friday night, Jimmy Fallon did something very nice, which was, it may have been a commercial break or something, but he leaned down and he said, ladies and gentlemen, I haven't watched the air copy yet, so maybe it was on air. Ladies and gentlemen, Chevy Chase.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
And Chevy stood up and took a big bow and was expecting a big hand. And I don't want to diss him, but it wasn't, Huge. And I think that the powers that be were aware of that and felt like maybe that wouldn't happen if he was part of the show.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
He napalmed them.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I don't think Conan would be that petty. In fact, I'd like to give him a get-out-of-jail-free card in the sense that two weeks from last night, he's hosting the Oscars. And it's just like, I can't, I don't know. I mean, very few people would be gonna be hosting the Oscars and then rehearsing a sketch.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
No. You know, I think Warren is at the point now where he's like really too powerful, too rich, too everything. Like, there's very few, like, who's he petty with? I mean, like... That's true.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
It's a victory lap.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
He's declared victory. If you're petty, that means that you're in the trenches fighting with somebody and there's no one that's going to fight with Warren. Who's got, I mean, unless it's like Cher or Madonna, who's got even one name to mention? Like, he's going to be like in a... I don't know, with Conan? No, I don't think so.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I always thought that theory said more about David talking to himself than him giving advice to others. Because he was so crestfallen. I mean, you must have seen him. When Adam took over, he was like, he was just a man without an island. And I think Lauren, look, Lauren is always going to have
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
agency and the keys to 8-H no matter what even if he retires he can go back there and do whatever he wants and he's got a million other projects so I don't think Lauren's gonna I don't think people are gonna stop calling Lauren the cast may stop worrying about whether he loves them or not but that's about it amazing relationship all right so your final grade sounds like it was like an A-
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I think so. It's good to see, you know, I mean, look, whatever. Again, I miss Bill Hader. And certainly, I mean, every time you have one of these shows, I mean, the idea that Belushi killed Phil and now Norm and Jan Hooks. I mean, you can go on the list. It really, it really makes it because they died too young. I mean, and Chris Farley. I mean, how ironic is it that
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Belushi was Chris Farley's hero. He tried on his clothes when he got to the show. Right. And then he winds up dying at 33, the same age that John was when he died. I mean, there's just, it's just, you know, all the sadness surrounding the show is really sad.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Well, we'll see what happens this fall, right? I mean, that's one of the big chapters in ESPN's life, going direct to consumer. And let's see how much they piss off the cable operators. What are they going to charge? I mean, that's a wild calculation. I mean, Jimmy's done his job. He made nice with the NFL. They got the NBA. Maybe they'll improve the NBA shoulder programming.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
But I know you're dubious about that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
It's going to be the same crap. It's always a work in progress.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah, but this is going to be different now. Direct-to-consumer. And look, when I wrote that book, it was 100 million homes. Now it's, what, 67? And you times that times $8 a month. You're talking about real money. If you're Disney, you can't buy Pixar. You can't buy Marvel. You can't do any of that with the current financial equation.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
So it's going to be really interesting to see what happens in the fall when they decide to price that out and see how many people follow them.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I think most of the people I talk to, you know, Freud had one of his definitions of maturity is the ability to handle ambiguity.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
So I think there are a lot of people becoming mature naturally. Or else they're drinking themselves silly on the weekends. Because it used to be, you know this, I mean, particularly because ESPN's in Bristol, Connecticut. You got to move your ass up to Central Connecticut. You put your kids in school. Everybody's there for 25, 30 years.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I mean, if you're at CBS Sports and you don't like it or you get recruited to NBC, you're just going across town. Just jump somewhere else. So a lot of people out there for 25, 30 years, those jobs aren't as safe as they used to be. And a lot of people were having a very difficult time, particularly since some real legends were laid off during these layoffs.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
So I think there's a level of insecurity, a palpable level of insecurity, Bill, that's never been there before.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I think there's a branding issue with the whole universe that really hurt HBO. This idea that, I mean, like those three letters are worth just as much in terms of currency and pedigree than any three level letters There are in the ecosystem and they dialed back on it. And I think Casey Boyce has done the Lord's work. He is without a doubt one of the best creative executives in the business today.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I wish they had more money. I wish they – I mean, I know that they could have done unbelievable things if they had more money, which wasn't always the case. But I think that they – you know, the brand has really lost a lot of its halo, not because it's turning out shit, but because it's gotten messed up in this whole – Discovery+, HBO+, Max, and this and that. It was HBO Go.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I mean, it's a lot to go through for a brand. And even though they have some great people working there, I think they deserve better.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
And I feel like there's a lot of politics involved. with that homepage. I mean, look, at Netflix, it's almost like Darwinian. It's survival of the fittest because you got that algorithm and like, don't mess around with it, man. We know what we're doing. But with Max, it's like subjective. It's like, wait a second. Like, and there's this whole big thing with Entourage, you know, where's that?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
I mean, been deep six too. And you can't find this, you can't find that. It's really complicated on that Max homepage.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah, good luck with the Celtics, man. That's awesome.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Stuff? Things? Yeah, just stuff. I'm writing stuff. New project? A couple of new ones, yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
An NBA All-Star Fix, Kendrick Vs. Drake, and the 'SNL' 50th Anniversary Show With Van Lathan and James Andrew Miller
Yeah.