Date: 13th February 2001

It's Saturday night Delayed


Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels was being described as "enraged" Monday by NBC's decision to delay the show almost 45 minutes last weekend because of a late-running XFL football game.

Waiting for the game to end, he at one point considered canceling the live telecast and telling the network to air a rerun, according to today's (Tuesday) New York Times. The newspaper said that he decided against that move because the telecast featuring guest star Jennifer Lopez had been heavily promoted. (Despite her appearance, the show wound up with a 6 rating, well below the 7.4 that it scored the previous week -- for a rerun.) The Times report said that Michaels gave the go-ahead for the show to start at its regular 11:30 p.m. time, with the tape to actually go on the air following the game (and local news).

Neither Lopez nor the cast members were aware that they were not being seen live, the Times said. On Monday, NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol said that to ensure that the game ends on time, the clock will be kept running after certain plays on which it was previously stopped. The opening kickoff is being moved up five minutes and halftime is being shortened by five minutes, Ebersol said.

Source: Studio Briefing