Norm Macdonald Talks About Getting Fired From "Saturday Night Live" | Letterman

well i'm glad you folks are in a great mood  tonight our first guest is uh one of the   funniest men working in television today  he is the anchor of weekend update on the   popular saturday night live program please welcome  norm macdonald how you doing i'm doing good huh   no that's hard i'm just slow that's okay happy  new year buddy happy new year thank you very   much for being here yeah you don't mind if i ask  you a question i hear today i hear this story   another's like this press release you get your  ass fired does that yeah no you didn't get fired   yeah they fired no they didn't fire yet no i'm  serious i i talked to a guy that said i'm fired   fired from your television job from on  the weekend out you know i do the news   the weekend update and i do the jokes  sometimes many times the best part of the show but uh it's all a matter of opinion that's your opinion  it's my opinion yeah but then the guys that can   fire me that's not their opinion now why would  they fire you well uh who fired you first of all   let's get some names here let's get this on the  record well i don't know the guys like because the   guys i work with like lauren michaels and stuff  did lauren michaels fire you no he did he didn't   fire me he likes me and stuff well it's his show  isn't it i thought it was his show yeah but well   then how can a guy come in from the outside and  fire you somebody from abc fired you no no their   nbc what happens is you work on the show and then  there's these guys that hang out like in the halls   yeah we got them here we got them here and they're  called executives they're nbc executives right   and then i'd see them i didn't know who the hell  they were what they did you know now i know what   they do they fire me from weekend update but uh  they uh they they said that this guy don who turns   out to be the president yeah now i know don o  meyer and just between you and me as an idiot so i wouldn't take it seriously if this guy  fired you you may still have a job you never know   i'd wait for some paperwork  yeah i i phoned him you know   oh you had the phone you had to phone  in to pick up your messages from that   oh man yeah so i said hey you don't know what to  say you're like hey how's it going there you know   you're trying to talk about something else did  you have a turkey there for the thing or whatever   and then uh so he goes uh oh yeah i'm uh i'm  firing you there from the show and then i i   said uh oh that's not good and then i said why  is that now and he goes uh oh you're not you   know you're not funny yeah and then i said uh i  said holy lord that's even worse news you know he just fired you what do you mean  he's a good what is wrong with you   you quizzling stop that i  don't know what quizzling means but i mean to me like you know you have to be  philosophical by these things i mean at first   like when i found out you know i was upset but  then you know i uh i really started to i started   to think about it you know and plus i drank a  lot of whiskey and i and then afterwards yeah   like that but then the next day  i sobered up and i remembered   you know that i still had some whiskey left so you went right back through it but now  now norm i far be it for me to tell you   how to lead your life or your career because  lord knows you've been very very successful   but if the guy says to you we don't want you on  the weekend update and that's like your signature   piece you're you're kind of like the anchorman  not only of that segment but of the entire   saturday night live show if things aren't  going great they give the ball to you   you're the damn quarterback norm you're the one  who punches it over the goal line for pay dirt so now i mean mr big shot  cologne and cufflinks don ohmeyer   if he says we don't want you on the weekend update  i'd adios absolutely hit the dirt come on over   here to cbs we'll get you a nice show we'll put  you we'll put you together a nice show for you all right you're no quizzling i never  i've never been called that   well now will you stay on the on the  rest of the show yeah i'm gonna stay   like i do also uh other than do an update i do  like sketches but like i stink in those so uh that you know he thinks i'm funny enough yeah oh it's  just the weekend update he doesn't think you're   funny yeah he doesn't think i'm funny in weekend  update and uh god only knows i mean you know   he it's just a matter of opinion he he also  thinks that oj is innocent exactly exactly don't   don't let this pinhead push you around for  heaven's sakes no he's not a pinhead he's a   uh he's a he's a fat guy there we go now come on  norm let's go let's get a little heat on here no   it's funny when you don't like a guy just cause  he's fat you know what i mean no it has nothing   to do with him being fat no he doesn't  have anything to do with him being fat   you don't like it because he's a dope  no no it's just a you know what i've   always said is uh i've said comedy is  subjective i never really said that i said i usually say whiskey is good yeah that's  right but norm you're you're very very funny   you're you're like the strength of that franchise  well do you know any guys over there you can give   a call to anything well yeah well they're gonna  take a call from me you're lucky you're lucky   they took your call so they can fire you are  you kidding ah but there are you getting some   support from the rest of the cast members well  you know the the people on the cast like they go   you know when you work at a place you know  some people like it some people hate you   but uh oh yeah you don't even tell me that so you  know people come up to you and go oh man i'm sorry   and then uh either they they're sorry or they're  not sorry yeah that's right so how the hell do you   know no you don't really know but you can tell  well sometimes you can tell like you walk into   a room and then everybody will stop talking and  then so you go hey were you just talking about   how you were glad i got fired from the update and  then you go no no we were talking about uh hats but now let me go back to this and i don't want to  embarrass you again but if if lauren michaels the   guy who created the show the guy who's kept the  show in business all these years it's his show   mr big shot mr table at orsos lorne michaels why  doesn't he step in why doesn't he throw himself   in front of this gorilla to save your job what's  going on there with that it sounds to me like he's   a quizzling he is he well it's what it sounds  like maybe we can get a dictionary at the break but you know what i'm saying this is the guy  didn't lauren michaels hire you yes he did   then who ought to be able to fire you lauren  michael right so where was he did he fire you   no he didn't fire him but he's like  your buddy right your buddies yeah   he's a good man and what did he say to you  been very supportive of him well i guess not what did he say to you he said  to me he says to me he says he said look norm this is the deal he said  i want you to stay on as we can update oh   good well there you go well great so  you got the job back that's good news hang on stay right there think about it we're  going to get this straightened out all right norm   macdonald is here from saturday night live peter  wilson from uh la femme nikita streb have you ever   seen these strap people oh they're great they're  going to change your life but he got there now we   looked up quizlet yeah i looked at it yeah and  also there's do you know what quiz master means   yeah i'd be like alex quebec yeah i knew that no  quizling is a master of ceremonies on a game show   there you go quizling is a traitor  who serves as the puppet of the   enemy occupying his country exactly that's  what i'm talking about thank you very much   you sir are no quizzlings i thought i was  done when i didn't know what quizzling was   i think i'm even dumber now  because i still don't know so now norm a couple of things come to mind here this seems so preposterous to me so unfathomable  so unreasonable that i'm guessing oh it's like   a stunt like a publicity stunt like big time  wrestling or something is that that kind of deal   where you and donald meyer will have a feud and  you'll you'll wrestle on the show or something for   your job one of those deals no no i like donald  oh no how can you like this weasel fired you   no but he doesn't think i'm funny and yet you like  the man sure i don't i mean you know here's here's   what a lot of people don't think i'm fine enjoy  your complimentary beverage now tomorrow night it   ain't risky but it's good now there's a great song  now tomorrow night tomorrow night come back on the   show or friday when i come back on the show and  do weekend update you can do weekend update here   you can be the weekend update guy on  this show that'd be great there you go now who's who's taking your place on the weekend  update i don't know apparently they had some press   release today but i don't i don't read the papers  which is that wasn't good either not if you're   in charge of weekend update just blatantly  admit that you don't know what's going on   i did too many nixon jokes i'll tell you one thing i'll tell you who's  taking your place nobody can take your place   mcdonald's that's what i think you don't seem to be taking this too hard you  seem to be taking it pretty well well i mean   i don't know because uh if so if somebody  doesn't like you then and they uh own the   joint you know that's fine i mean i don't know  why would you want to work in that atmosphere   why wouldn't you want to take a hike and say  well i'll show you i'll take my little weekend   update someplace else and bury you punks i don't  know i guess i'm a goddamn quizling or something normal jeez i hope you land on your feet i think  you're gonna but you're gonna be in part of the   show anyway right yeah i'll be doing you know  kind of things yeah i'll be you know now i think   that's a hilarious impression of me you'll be  doing that i guess why didn't they fire that they do is they uh now they're saying oh we're  putting a whole bunch of sketches which i don't   want to be in because of course then they're  like here you're the scientist and uh uh   you uh you're the scientist in charge of monkey  boy or something and uh you know and then i'm   like running in going hey uh cheerleaders what's  going on uh i haven't seen monkey boy i don't know i didn't have a bad sketch though that ain't bad  that's got possibilities um how's everything at   home your mom all right oh yeah you get to see  your mom much uh she came to visit me in new york   you know that's nice and she's a real sweet you  know she she doesn't know much about show business   you know but she always tries she knows i'm in  show business right yeah i mean until tonight so she always tries to give me like the  showbiz news i mean like a couple years ago   she phoned me up she goes uh oh my god have  you heard the news liza minnelli's a phony   and that was her like story elizabeth is  a phony and i thought how can that be like   a story like uh i'm sure she probably is a phony  you know but how would that be a scoop and then   like it took me a while to figure out she was  talking about them i remember millie vanilli yeah oh she's like into that stuff you know she must  be very excited and proud though i mean what   because you work with big big stars like you've  worked with i know you've worked with bill cosby   oh yeah bill cosby man he was he's my  favorite guy ever since i was young   and i got to open for him at this  comedy thing and he was the greatest   i got to meet him and stuff and you know  when you meet these guys it's so like   you know you're aw shock or something you know  because you can't believe you're talking this guy   and uh and so i told him i said you know he's  always funny he has that funny way of talking so   i go hey hi nice to meet you mr cosby and he goes  like yes yes yeah and then you just laugh you know   and then so i go oh man i go you're my favorite  you know and ever since i was a little kid i   always listen to you're my dad's favorite comedian  ever you know and he goes now where is your dad   from yeah yeah that's pretty good that's pretty  good maybe i'll do it this week on the show so so i tell cosby you know i say oh  my dad's from ottawa so he turns to his   buddy ben as his manager or something and he  goes ben isn't we aren't the ottawa you know   and uh ben goes yes we are playing ottawa soon  ben understands cosby says and uh he goes yes mr   cosby we are uh we do have a gig in ottawa and  uh coming up and uh he goes what is your father   give me a paper so he gets a favor and he goes  here now write your father's name on the paper everything's funny is that if i said that  hey write your father's name on the paper so he goes and the pen the man needs the pen  you know so i got the pen and the paper you know   so i'm right now my father's a thing and then  all of a sudden i realize that my father's dead that's a problem oh man so i like i panic you know i'm in this  situation my dad's been dead eight nine years   and i got the the paper and the pen you know  yeah and uh so i i know ottawa's area code   you know so i write that and then i'm just  writing down uh like random numbers you know   and then i go uh here you go mr cosby this  is my father's still alive's number here   you know and he's like hey i can get up   so i thought god man that's a stupid thing  i did you know and uh then a couple weeks   later i get a call and it's bill cosby on  the phone and he's like i phoned the number and he was so sweet like he actually  phoned my father's number like what   a great man you know man and he said  the man does not live with the number the man answered and not your father you  know so i'm like uh oh i'm pretty sure cause i couldn't go oh yeah i forgot he's  been dead ten years yeah oh man uh well norm   i hope we've been able to get you through your  darkest hour and that i hope you somehow find   the will to carry on and normally this would be  the time when we'd mention the show on saturday   night but i'm so angry about this and i don't care  about the show saturday and neither should you oh good to see you norman thank you man come back

Channel: Letterman

Views: 942,307

Keywords: letterman, david letterman, dave letterman, interview, letterman interview, letterman official, letterman late show, letterman late night, late night, stupid pet tricks, stupid human tricks, top ten, late show, top ten list

Id: Ki6z4ohppbE

Length: 16min 19sec (979 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 27 2022