SNL original cast member Garrett Morris says show caters to 'too many people' now

[TMC]

https://ew.com/saturday-night-live-a...s-show-8742027

Morris was one of the founding Not Ready for Primetime Players.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Published on November 7, 2024 11:44PM EST

Original Saturday Night Live cast member Garrett Morris is not a fan of the show's current season.

"I don't see the courage, the experimental impulses," the member of the group known as the Not Ready for Prime Time Players told The Guardian. "That was the whole core of what happened the first 10 years. I keep expecting it to attack in a funny way and bring out the foibles not only of individuals, but of the government and all that. And nowadays, although people still check it out, I think they’re catering to too many people too much of the time."

SNL creator Lorne Michaels hired Morris to write for the NBC sketch show in its debut season. Morris was later promoted to cast member alongside Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner.

"I will say to the end of my days: Lorne's writers had a lot of racism going on," Morris told the newspaper in an interview published recently, "Lorne himself? Zero racism. Because, remember, when I was hired, I was the only Black writer. Lorne wanted to have somebody Black on TV at nighttime. People didn't want that. They were clamoring to make it all white. He didn't."

Morris stayed on the show through the fifth season.

In Saturday Night, the 2024 Jason Reitman film about the chaotic premiere of the series, Morris is portrayed by Lamorne Morris (not related), who's known for the TV shows Fargo and New Girl.

Lamorne told EW last month about one of his big moments in the film, when his character sings, "I'm gonna get me a shotgun and kill all the whities I see," just before SNL goes on the air. (The moment actually happened on the 11th episode, as part of a sketch called "Death Row Follies.")

"Garrett told me that that song was the moment he realized, 'OK, I know what I'm doing here. I know what my objective is. I get to bring all of my skill set here,'" Lamorne said. "It's not traditional, and it's groundbreaking for NBC to air something like that. It's nuts! And I'm so very grateful to folks like him who've done things like that to pave the way for entertainers to be able to break the mold a little bit, to push the envelope and to throw caution to the wind when it's time to truly express creativity."

[Chocolate Moose]

He might not be wrong