>> gay identity is a social construction. >> keep up the fight, the goodwill always prevail. >> and hanna giles. she's keeping quiet about her future plans. but promises there's more to come. >> this is hope right here, guys. >> we love you hanna. >> larry:ing tonight from new york it's "saturday night live." in prime time. amy poehler. seth meyers. kristian wiig. the guy who plays me, fred armisen.

andy samberg. and the creator. they are here from the set of one of the late night's longest running shows. if you don't know what "saturday night live" is, you're not from this planet. next on "larry king live." >> larry: tomorrow night, "saturday night live" will celebrate the beginning of its 36th year on nbc at 11:30 eastern time. we have five outstanding cast members and the executive producer with us. we're in the studio, this famous studio, studio 8 h, 8th floor of 30 rock. our guest is lauren michaels, producer of "saturday night live." amy poehler former cast member will host the show tomorrow

night. she's the three-time elm jmmy a nominee. seth meyers is the writer. kristian wiig you know her as nancy pelosi or the target lady. fred armisen, you know him as me or president obama or joy behar. and finally andy samberg the emmy-winner best known for his digital short. how did this idea get conceived? >> i think it got conceived because herb who was then running nbc felt production should be back in new york and he had a strong affection for live programming in the glory days of new york television. >> the "tonight show" had been on. >> the "tonight show" was down stairs in 6 b with johnnie carson. they just want ad new show.

>> for saturday? >> for saturday. the time period at that point was carson befts at carson which was reruns of the tonight show and i don't think johnny was happy with those shows. they decided to do a new show and dick ebersole was hired as director of late night. left sports. >> what were you doing at the time? >> at the time i was working with lily tomlin on producing her shows and abc. i began at abc with the phyllis diller show and laugh-in but all in california. >> "saturday night live." what a history. how did you get on to the show? >> well i auditioned like everyone did. i had some friend who were on the show already and of course

grew up watching it. so then i just met lauren at an undisclosed location and handed him an envelope with $50,000 and here i am. >> was the audition just with him. >> it used to be but then hr -- >> its really -- good job. you should write comedy. >> nice job. it's really a very -- it's on this stage and you can't see anyone out there. >> did they give you something? >> you do characters and impression, you have what, five minutes. >> how did you get on the show? >> i was doing a two person show in chicago with my comedy partner at the time andists lucky enough that someone from the talent department was out in chicago at the time and they saw the show and i sent in a couple of audition tapes and finally got brought in for the same process that we all went through. >> so, you were nervous?

>> i was terrified. i remember when they put the mike on me. i kept asking if it was on. i just didn't want him to leave. >> do you hold in your mind the fact that they are nervous? >> yeah. you're looking for a quality that has to be evident in the audition. they have to be -- they have to have a certain amount of comfort being on a stage because they are about to go into, as -- >> live television. >> as chaotic of an experience you can get. if you're not poised and ready for it you can get knocked over. >> what were you doing at that time? >> loin 50,000? yours was loin 50,000. i was at the groundlings in los angeles and my manager talked to me about making a tape. so we put some stuff together and auditions here. the most nervous i've ever been

in my life because i don't do -- i hadn't done any stand up or a lot of performing, just myself on the stage. so i was terrified. >> fred, how did they find you or where did they find you? how did you fine them. >> i was doing stand up comedy in los angeles and we also sent in tapes. i auditioned right here. i remember it was like really nerve-racking but when i got the phone call that i got the show i saved it on the phone as best call ever. since then i've just transferred that number over and over. but it was exciting. it was really great to be on the stage. >> did you do imitations. >> i did some impressions and characters. it was a blur. >> you say in your mind sometime this is it, he's definitely going get it or she's going get it. >> yeah. course. >> andy -- >> there's construction so i auditioned at a side stage which

took a lot of pressure off because it was like this is a b league thing. kind of just let it rip. but, yeah. >> you had a break. >> i still threw up before it. >> you're going to host tomorrow night. >> can you believe it? you say it like you can't believe it. >> on the stage. whole different thing. >> i'm so incredibly honored and privilege to be back any time to do anything on the show but to be able to host is a whopper. >> how was she selected? >> no idea. it was -- we have four new casts this year, and it's an election year and just want most solid choice i could find and here she is. >> how do you feel about that seth? >> i'm very -- we're all thrilled. it's very exciting. one.

joips of wri joys of writing for a show it's that unknown quality. with a former cast member it's a known quality. >> some day it will be you. >> that would be great. >> amy has changed. she's a lot harder to work with. >> a little stuck up? >> talks a lot about hollywood. >> i don't appreciate eye contact from people that are younger than me. >> i see. >> you don't like -- you have no peers? >> i look around the landscape and i'm like where are my peers. that's how i feel. >> meryl streep, maybe meryl streep. >> maybe. if she's lucky. >> your very happy for amy's success? >> yeah. yeah. amy is beloved by all. that's her secret move.

no dwoint like her. it's inspiring to see. i came in when amy was in the mid. her run. her and seth, maybe more than anyone really looked out for me, kind of took me under their wing and made sure i was doing okay. >> why fred isn't staring at you? >> i was showing them ropes. >> at that lot of hazing. >> so much hazing. limp hazing. >> but i accepted you. >> appreciate that. >> this year first time. >> i'm very happy for amy. >> we'll be back with the cast. "saturday night live" starts tomorrow night don't go away. hey, did you ever finish last month's invoices?

sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

so they can focus on serving but now i see the splash., ♪ i wanted love, i needed love ♪ ♪ most of all, most of all... ♪

♪ ♪ >> larry: was she a good sport. >> yes. anyone who comes on the show is already a good sport. >> larry: fred the new season starting.

you going to play obama early? >> we'll see how the week goes and what the writers have and what lauren decides. >> whatever is in the news. >> larry: any trepidation playing him? >> no. it's fun to see what angle the writers have on it. >> larry: do you have impact with the writers. can you say i'm comfortable with that but not this. >> i trust them a lot. >>it's also here are the cast write as well and fred contributes a lot and amy and christian and andy. they are writing. >> larry: an ensemble. your most famous impressions are the speaker of the house pelosi, cat think lee gifford and suzy orman. what's the trick of suzy orman? >> oh, my gosh.

she's very energetic. very passionate about everything she talks about. so, i think for me just finding that one thing in a person that i'm doing an impression of and really just blowing it up to make it like more of a character than the actual person. that's what my hairdresser named my hairdo, the cutback because she only cuts the back. i watched her for years. i love her. i obviously make her a little crazier than she is. but i've met her. she likes it. she was actually in the audience one time when i did her which is a little scary. >> easiest person to pick out in the audience. >> you can see her. >> larry: andy, you had a fight with mark wahlberg, right? >> fight is harsh. i did an impression of him and

he was to -- >> larry: how do you impersonate mark wahlberg? what sticks out about him. >> he remind me of a lot of guys i grew up with. >> you're a donkey. the minute andy started to do that. oh, that's how do you it. i'm pregs is not so much in the voice as the manner. >> grab the personality. >> but i mean heel came on and did a thing with me. >> it was all in gist. >> not besty besties but close. pretty close. >> larry: you do hillary. >> right. >> larry: easy or hard? >> i found hard. i'll say, you know, there's a difference between like, you know, someone like darrell hamlin is a premier

impressionist can get everything down to the last drop and then there are times when you just try to do something and you want to just like get a funny take on it. not necessarily need to be like even really sound exactly like them you want to create a character of who they are. so i try to do that with her. hillary doesn't -- she's kind of, you know -- nothing stuck out voice wise that i could hang on. >> larry: you don't play it funny. you have to play her. you're serious about it. >> yeah. we play it as hopefully as real in the moment as can you. i thought jim downey wrote a lot of hillary clinton's pieces. it fluctuated over the many years i played her. the game was fun to play was how she had to hold it together when she was becoming so frustrated or that the last lot of stuff n

underneath. >> that's the best place for it in the show because then it picks up a different momentum. >> larry: you know how we're opening tomorrow? >> we don't know yet. >> we don't know until late as friday. >> change it on friday. . it will depend on what -- because anybody topical, the nightly shows probably if it happened on a monday or tuesday then the nightly shows would have probably beaten it to death by then and our take has to be original in some way so we have to find a way into it that seems -- >> i guess you may do the candidate in delaware. we'll be right back after this.

>> larry: "saturday night live" 36 years. we're 25 and a 1/2. feel like a baby. let's see, the target lady. watch. >> here you go. >> a 50. it's legit. i get to put this under the tray. >> i'm sorry, i'm in a hurry. >> hey, you know what fertilizer

is, right? >> excuse me. >> part dirt and part feces. it's my job to let you know what you're buying. >> larry: how do you find her? >> i met someone at target that talked a little bit like that but i exaggerated it. i did that character at the groundlings. she was one of the characters i auditioned with. >> larry: how did you find gilly? >> that's really me. >> larry: you play yourself? >> this is a character. >> larry: andy won an emmy for digital short with justin timberlake which after we see this i'm going to ask lauren how this ever got approved. ♪ ♪ you know it's christmas and my heart is open wide ♪

♪ going to give you something so you know what's on my mind ♪ ♪ take a look inside it's my >> larry: all right. >> always forget what's in the box. >> larry: who came up with that? >> me and my two buddies. >> larry: did timberlake go for it right away? >> immediately, yeah. >> larry: says a lot about him. >> for sure. we were upstairs working on it. he was down here blocking scenes. we started writing it and knew it was good. he was up for doing a song. he liked the ones we did. >> larry: how did you come up with the idea of digital shorts. >> there's a long history of short films on the show. when we came in it was something

are we were well versed in. we had our own group and website and a couple of small pilot deals. we kind of spontaneity lot of time making short films and specifically short music videos. so, but we didn't get hired for that. i got hired off my audition. they got hired on the writing pact. when we got here we suggested, you know, we do this kind of stuff. is there a place for it. we talked to some of the producers about it and they said yeah lauren would love that. we look for something to play while we change sets. so we went off and shot one on our own, the first one was called "lettuce." it aired. if you want to do another one give it a shot. we tried one more dhant work. the third one we tried was "lazy sunday." ♪ >> larry: lauren, is there someone upstairs at nbc who blew

pencils. >> yes. >> larry: did you have any trouble getting that through? >> it was certainly discussed. but, you know, i think it's -- the spirit of it is -- it's much more about comedy than it is -- >> the censors made you use the box. >> larry: what did the cast think of that bit? >> we loved it immediately. we were out on the floor. immediately. >> we won't see it until dress rehearsal. you know. so it's -- the nature of the show is -- i strongly encourage them to do a visual short that week. i believe i mentioned it on monday -- >> larry: when they came up with that, though? >> my point is they have a very high standard. they think and then sometimes over think and by the time they get started it's quite often

friday night. so -- >> larry: they lowered the standard for that bit? >> no, i think it got an emmy. >> larry: we'll be right back with more of the cast of "saturday night live." don't go away.

>> larry: we're back. we're honored to be in this place of honor. they will transport this to the smyth along with our set. >> it is a packaged deal.

>> for longevity. seth, "weekend update co-anchors." >> really, cdc next time you want to give something that should go to students how about an economics text book or a nuggie. >> or wet willie. really. come on. >> this has been -- >> is that your bit, seth? >> both of ours. i'll give credit to andy. i talk like that a lot. andy suggested i should put tint segment. >> your idea was really? >> talk like that all the time. >> it was born of his personality. my impression of seth is he would walk into at that room when he was p.o.'d about something. >> is this a fun place to work?

>> no. >> larry: it's not? >> before fred got here. >> larry: this is serious business? >> no. tilts most fun you could ever imagine. you're just around smart and funny people all the time. and you're around them a lot. the week is almost 24 hours a day that you're with everybody. and it's just the most fun. constantly. also like blocking sketches. >> hang out time. >> you're best friend. >> not to be sentimental about you want but i am, it's almost nine years to the day that we started our first show, seth and i our first show was september 29th, 2001 and it was a very different time to be on live twig and certainly a historic show, but we were also just new cast members trying to figure without the bathrooms were. so, to be able to be back nine years later and see how much things have changed and to be

back in different capacities. >> was it hard to write, seth, after 9/11? >> yeah. it would have been so hard just to be new on the show. for the new cast members we have now it's not right after 9/11 but they are going to go through the toughest time they ever had because you have to learn how to write for the show and perform in front of a live audience. no practice. to sort of have that both at once was a really tricky thing. on one hand it let us give a little bit of time to figure it out because nobody was paying attention to us. >> larry: how did you approach that? >> there were two things that was hard. one was finding a right way to start. i thought i would start with music in a got, i asked paul simon if he would sing "the boxer," which was a new york city song about renewal. we started with laugh. can we be funny?

why start now. so that's the moment, and the problem with it in dress rehearsal we were doing it and when rudy is about to tell a joke he starts to smile and so i would be looking at him in the eye and see -- because i'm doing my line and i know he's already excited about the fact that he's going to gaet a laugh. we didn't want him to gave smile. >> larry: we'll be right back. don't go away. my job at ge capital is to get bobcat all the financial and business support they need. we provide financing for every bobcat dealer in north america. together, we've rolled out over 100,000 machines to small businesses all over the country so they too can grow. ♪ ge capital. we're there for bobcat every step of the way.

♪

>> larry: i'll ask seth to take us through a week starting with the conception on monday through saturday. let's first see fred as me. watch. >> good evening i'm larry king. are these glasses getting bigger or is my face shrinking, you decide. tonight the flight wars are heating up once again with new rumors flying every day. conan is out. jay is in. and no one is talking about the greatest talk show of all time mr. joey bishop. >> that's pretty good. flattering by the way. >> thank you. >> aim hard to do? >> no. it's pretty easy. >> larry: i don't know how to take that.

>> you know, you're iconic. i'm so familiar with your voice. you know hearing it and listening to it. and your look. >> plus you do a service in dressing in a very easy way. >> larry: you making fun of this? >> no. >> larry: you are. >> we are with that sketch. >> larry: take us through a week. >> on monday we pitch ideas to our host amy and get started on the writing. you know everybody piles into lauren's office and says one or two ideas. >> the writers. cast members pitch as well. we have a lot of different comedy voice. people don't under how much the cast members write and contribute to that side it as well. >> larry: tuesday? >> tuesday people roll in here at noon and stay through the night pap fair share of us stay through the night to wednesday. >> larry: lauren is here for all of this?

>> no. >> leave at 3:00. designee leaves at 3:00 a.m. >> larry: wednesday. >> wednesday we sit "around the table." >> larry: is the host participating? >> of the 40 the host is in 35. they sit at the head of the table. we read through everything. and then we go off into a room where lauren and the host sort of start selecting, pairing that 40 down to about ten. >> larry: every host has a say? >> it wouldn't work if it was something they didn't want to do because then you would be discussing it. >> larry: you write the host monolog? >> we do. that's where you want the thofbt -- the host to be on board. >> larry: thursday? >> thursday we are in front of

the camera. rewrite. cut it down. punch it up. >> larry: are you laughing during these times? >> we are. >> larry: friday? >> that's just more camera blocking. down here. late in the night we go off to lauren's office and order the show. we'll fly out of the window after dress rehearsal. dealership is it true you do a show for an audience, a rehearsal show that an audience sees? >> yes. 8:00. >> larry: on saturday night pap new audience comes in. at rehearsal show decisions are made? >> yeah. during. right after. you know from the audience we can tell what will work. >> larry: does the rehearsal audience get to see more than what the audience will see at 11:30? >> definitely. >> larry: i rather go too rehearsal show. that would be a hoot. >> you're in bed by 11:00,

larry. >> larry: we'll be back with more right after this.

>> the the party nation announced last week that sarah palin will headline the first national tea party convention in february. it is expected to be nation's largest ever gathering of misspelled signs. this wednesday the rockefeller christmas tree was eliminated, however the occasion was marred when aretha franklin was caught in a bear's mouth.

>> the toughest part you have to start over every week with a blarng slate whether you have good or bad show on saturday it doesn't stick around to the following monday. great part about this show is we're allowed to be wildly inconsistent with our approach to what we think is funny. >> larry: wildly inconsistent. >> in our approach. this week this writer might have an idea that has nothing to do with politics. next week somebody might have an idea about pop culture. next week it's seen as sort of like a timeless comedy idea that could have been on the 1340 years ago. >> larry: does it get all little on saturday at 11:15 -- >> that's just what the job is. making sure that you hit your mark and you got, you know, everything right. but it's still fun. >> those live moments are really -- those spikes you have when things go wrong, they are intoxicating. i remember doing a sketch one

time with queen latifah and rudolph and i we were back up singers we had to sing a song. something was happening with the music, the music wasn't coming on. it was live. okay. and our stage manager is like, okay, ten, nine, eight -- okay do you want me to tell them. circumstance fire, four, three -- okay there's no music. we had to sing without any music. and it's those kind of moments. >> larry: where were you lauren when this is happening? >> standing on the floor. >> larry: not in the control room? >> i go back and forth. there's lots of show going on. show in the control room, show out here. >> larry: frantic? >> changes are happening. >> larry: we'll be right back with more they start their 36th year tomorrow night don't go away.

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>>. >> i'm here to sing a mother's day song accompanied by the stearns a very special guest. a one and a two. ♪ i'm sure you have a lot to say about your mother on this day, tell me why you love her ♪ ♪ her apple pie is the best ♪ she tucks me in at night ♪ ♪ she gives me good advice

♪ i'm only allowed upstairs >> reporter: lawrence welk with the bubbles and you play judy. you didn't watch the lawrence welk. it was before your time. >> i was familiar with it. >> larry: how did you find judy. >> ann hathaway was hosting. and one of her sisters is a little different. the way she looked was almost not an after thought we sort of wanted to think of a different way of how to make her really kind of not attractive we were like big forehead and big tooth and little hand and she just sort of was going that way. >> wonderful. was her forehead really big or was i looking through a couple of bubbles.

>> larry: do you feel you're above this? >> no. it's really funny, like having been in the cast when you come back to host it's -- you kind of know -- you peeked behind the curtain and you know how hard everybody is working and so it's just -- it's like the ultimate experience to be able to lived it and go back. >> larry: fred, we saw you do me. >> you don't like that answer. >> larry: it was a good answer. >> yes, i feel above everyone. >> larry: fred, you were kidding when you imitate people like when you were 1 years old. >> all time. teachers. everyone. >> larry: let's do a couple. >> do your old teacher. >> okay. mr. brendall. >> that's so like him. >> larry: we all remember him.

hugo chavez? >> he's like -- always puckering up. >> larry: martin >> larry: no one in the world does steve jobs. >> he's a hero of mine. he's just the greatest, like a rock star in a way. he's really into numbers and long, long pauses, so he'll just say like, a billion downloads a day. a billion downloads a day. he loves numbers. he loves the moment. >> introducing the new ipod pecanuo. >> larry: the show itself, putting it all together and getting ready to go on, some weeks you have a lot, some weeks you don't have a lot.

are you perked up no matter what you're doing? i'm trying to figure out when you're not included a lot? >> when you have a bad week, in terms of being on the show, you definitely relax a little bit more. i do, anyway. >> larry: when you have a bad week? >> yeah. it's more fun if you're in the show but also a lot more stress and a lot more going on. you have a much better after party if you've been in the show a lot. >> larry: when a skit is not working as obviously every skit can't work when you're doing live. what goes through you as head writer, you know it's not working right. >> you hope, if it's during dress rehearsal, you hope you won't have to do it in the air show. if for whatever reason you have to fix it, you don't really have time to have anything go through your head other than get together as many people as you can and go to work on it. you sort of watch it under bleachers with lauren.

like triage more than anything else. which of these can we save or say good-bye to. >> larry: what goes through you when it's not working? >> it depends why it's not working. it could be the shooting cueing was wrong, audience not interested, just too long. >> larry: what happens if it's all three? >> if it's all three, it's left alone and tiptoes quietly out of here. >> you know if you're under the bleachers and lauren starts talking about other things. >> sometimes when they don't go well and you look at other cast members, it's very hard not to laugh. when you say that line -- >> larry: not going well. >> you know the line that's supposed to get the laugh and you're just silent and you look at the other person in the scene, i have like four more minutes. >> the first joke, well wester. >> that's the times you become

connected with the cast members. the time you're dying is when you become close friends. >> also the humility, mow matter how certain you were something was going to work and there was just silence. you realize no one knows. >> larry: have there been laughs at the dress rehearsal, not at the show? >> absolutely. >> larry: were you thrown by that? >> no one will know except the people on the inside, there's moments if you go back and look at it, we'll go back and look at a scene and laugh because there's a line that destroyed in dress and you see on air, somebody goes for that line with full confidence and that's what i said, to hell with the butler! and it's like dead silence. >> what? >> you can see our eyes like dilate. what happened? >> larry: we'll be back with our remaining moments and ask lauren

about betty white.

remember how bad a governor i am already? imagine how awful i will be when i'm not trying to impress anyone. i can let myself go like a typical housewife in new jersey! >> governor paterson of new york. >> pretty much one closed eye looking this way. and a little bit of a -- >> larry: do more than that. what is betty white to work with? >> she's fabulous. she worked so hard thursday and friday, we're used to that schedule. it was extraordinary to watch how great she was at it, what a pro. >> larry: what do you make of her resurrection. snickers made her. >> i've been watching her my whole life. it was such an honor to have her here. "golden girls" and "mary tyler

moore" a fan forever. very deserved. >> larry: we're in our remaining moments, you all revved up? >> i don't know. i think you're nervous for me. >> larry: you're above all these people. >> she's not above lauren. >> that's what she's aiming for, firing lauren. >> larry: she wants to be as great as? >> as great as. >> i'm very excited. see, look. >> larry: despite what she said. >> despite the fact we don't know what we're going to be doing. >> larry: we taped this earlier in the week. even on friday night, we wouldn't know what we're going to be doing. we haven't a very good idea but then things don't work or things come together you're surprised at or the audience. >> larry: why is has the show lasted?

anyone can jump in. seth? >> i think there's nothing quite like it. there's that chance on a saturday night you will see something you will remember for the rest of your life. i think it's cross generational. i was at the airport the other day and ran into a guy probably twice my age who says he still makes it home at 11:30 to watch it. >> i've always watched it. always felt like it was something i needed to be around and watch. >> why do you think, andy? >> i think it's something that never gets old because it's basically like a weekly campfire for the country. people get to check in and talk about what happened that week and combined with, i will suck it up and do it, lauren keeps choosing great people to be on, people with hits that come up with great creative ideas and has surrounded himself with people that are good at what they do in every department. when i came in here, i couldn't believe how smoothly thingsun