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While recently honoring Conan O’Brien for receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at a gala event in D.C., Sarah Silverman told the audience that the former late-night host kept her going after she was fired from Saturday Night Live after only one season. That special is available to watch on Netflix. She went into further detail about the turmoil she felt and how O’Brien was her lifeline in an interview with Howard Stern.
“That place,” she said, referring to Saturday Night Live, “it’s so magical, it’s so amazing, but there’s just something about it where they just have this energy that puts you in your place where you feel like a piece of shit. And you’re terrified. … It’s very hard to be, like, zen and chill there.”
She cited Andy Samberg’s song about SNL cast members feeling anxiety about their sketches during SNL’s 50th anniversary special as an example. “It was very honest,” she said. “I thought a lot of people connected to it, that were there. We all feel like losers here for some reason.”
When Stern asked if Silverman felt like a failure for doing only one SNL season, from 1993 to 1994, she described the confusion she felt in the aftermath. “I was totally thrown for a loop, you know, when I was fired, because it never occurred to me that was possible,” she said. “But I think it’s definitely for the best.”
As she was in denial about her dismissal, O’Brien’s fledgling talk show, Late Night With Conan O’Brien — which aired its first episode in September 1993 — started booking her as a guest. “Really, Conan was the best thing for me,” she said. “That was his first year, my first and only year at SNL. And he put me on all the time, even after I was fired … and that was the start for me. And I wouldn’t have been able to be on Conan without SNL. It was an incredible kind of boot-camp experience.”
In 2014, two decades after her dismissal, Silverman took the opportunity to host SNL. Her fame at the time also saw her impersonated on the show, by cast member Melissa Villaseñor. Silverman made 10 appearances on Late Night With Conan O’Brien over the years, according to IMDb.
The season finale for SNL’s 50th season will air Saturday. Scarlett Johansson is hosting, and Bad Bunny is the musical guest.
