Anybody know why Norm MacDonald got fired from SNL??
 

I remember hearing that he got fired for saying something inappropriate, but I've never heard what he actually said. If it's even true.

I know that he used to mock O.J. Simpson's obvious guilt all the time and that one of the big NBC producers was a good friend of O.J.

Here's what Wikipedia had to say on this subject:

However, his most notable position on SNL was his three-year stint as anchor of Weekend Update. Chevy Chase, the first anchor of WU, has noted that MacDonald is the only anchor since Chevy's tenure to have "done it right." His deadpan style was suited to the segment, although he did rely heavily on running gags, stereotypes, and general outrageousness, including his repeated references to the Germans and their love of Baywatch star David Hasselhoff, regular jokes about prison rape as well as the poor job status of 'crack whores' and some audacious comedic attacks on public figures such as O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson. Throughout the infamous Simpson trial, MacDonald constantly pilloried the former football star and repeatedly suggested that Simpson was guilty of the brutal slaying of his wife Nicole. In the broadcast following Simpson's not guilty verdict, MacDonald opened Weekend Update by saying: "Well, it's official: Murder is legal in the state of California."

In another particularly notorious item circa 1995, MacDonald attacked Michael Jackson after his divorce from Lisa-Marie Presley. He announced that the two had divorced citing irreconcilable differences: "She's more of a stay-at-home type, and he's more of a homosexual pedophile."

He followed this up a few episodes later with during a report about the singer's recent collapse and hospitalization. Referring to a report of how Jackson had decorated his hospital room with giant photographs of Shirley Temple, Norm stated that viewers should not get the wrong idea: "We'd like to remind you that Michael Jackson is, in fact, a homosexual pedophile." The outrageous joke elicited audible gasps of disbelief from some audience members.

On the February 24, 1996, show, MacDonald commented on the sentencing of John Lotter, who was convicted of brutally slaying transgender male Brandon Teena: "In Nebraska, a man was sentenced for killing a female crossdresser [sic] who had accused him of rape and two of her friends. Excuse me if this sounds harsh, but in my mind, they all deserved to die." [1]

Another uncomfortable moment occurred during the April 12, 1997, show (host Rob Lowe, musical guest Spice Girls), where, during a Weekend Update story about Tabitha Soren, he accidentally coughed in the middle of a sentence and, live on the air, muttered, "What the fuck was that?" The audience applauded, and MacDonald laughed the error away (saying at one point "My farewell performance" and, in closing, "Maybe I'll see you next week"). NBC received a mere three complaints about the gaffe, and MacDonald was not punished. In fact, he stumbled on a story the following week and, catching himself, said, very tongue-in-cheek, "Oh, drat!"

A particularly infamous joke never made it to air. Norm showed the famous photo of naked Vietnamese children running from a South Vietnamese napalm attack, and said, "In other news, Woody Allen is dating again!" Norm described the audience as projecting a "pure, crazy hate" directed at him.

MacDonald's time with SNL ended controversially at the end of 1997 when he was sacked from the Weekend Update segment upon the insistence of NBC West Coast Executive Don Ohlmeyer, who pressured the producers to remove him, stating that MacDonald was "not funny." Although it was an opinion shared by some, much of the SNL live audience still greeted him with heavy applause. Although it is only speculation, some believe that Don Ohlmeyer's friendship with O.J. Simpson — a celebrity whom Norm often antagonized on the show — may have fueled Ohlmeyer's decision. To this day, Ohlmeyer denies that, arguing that other NBC late-night comedians (e.g., Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, and other SNL players) also constantly lampooned O.J. with little to no sanction and that his decision was based solely on audience reaction through tapes he had personally reviewed. Despite the incident, MacDonald left the show the following year under decent terms with Ohlmeyer, who originally pushed for producer Lorne Michaels to give MacDonald a shot at the Weekend Update desk in 1994.

Norm certainly made WU very interesting and unpredictable which is something the show could use a whole lot of these days.

Wow, after reading some of those quotes I'm not surprised!!! Correct me if I'm wrong, but Michael Jackson was never convicted of pedophilia or said at any time he was gay. How is it that NBC didn't get their asses handed to them for slander?

Clip of Norm on Letterman discussing his firing (apparently right after it happened): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tudRETrphxk

It's only slander if it's a lie. Thus they didn't sue.

Truth is an absolute defense.

Letterman definitely speaking like:

1. someone NBC screwed out of the Johnny Carson spot;
2. someone with a great long term contract with CBS.

rotfl

Thanks for the link! I always liked him on Weekend Update.

Just for completion's sake, here's a piece of Norm's opening monolouge when he returned to host a year and a half later: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRGvii7pGls

That 'murder is legal in California' might be the funniest thing ever said on SNL. Genius.

:lol: OUCH!!!!

Thanks

I remember those OJ & MJ cracks. Great stuff, especially the OJ one. I think Norm was the last WU anchor that was actually funny. He also seemed like he always enjoyed it as well, everyone since just seems like they are going through the motions.

:lol: rotfl :lol: I hadn't seen that. Good shit.

I'm guessing the last thing Jackson and OJ needed was another trial calling them out.

This is the part of the article that gets me. Chevy Chase was relevant for about 5 minutes over thirty years ago, has been nothing but a joke since, and this asshole still has the balls to comment on the talent of others.

Well since he pretty much set the gold standard for Weekend Update, I think this is one area where his comments are justified.

Exactly. I'm chevy chase and you are not. Jane, you ignorant slut. The man set the standard for every mock news show from there on out.

Norm's main problem is that WU had morphed out of pure political satire to just joke a minute under Nealon (not that he didn't do a great job). In my mind, Nealon was more Colbert (farse) than Stewart (satire).

"Jane, you ignorant slut" was Aykroyd, not Chase.

YOu know more than me about everything lately :D

I'll just contend that Chase wrote the line :)

In the US, the burden of proof is on the person bringing the libel/slander suit -- you have to prove the other guy not only made the statement, but that it's a lie and the other person should've reasonably believed it wasn't true. This is such a high burden that it's very hard to win a libel/slander suit in the US, and losing would make everyone think that the statements are ture. (In many other countries, the burden is on the accused to prove that what he said was true, and in some places like Britain, even that isn't always sufficient.)

Secondly, a slanderous/libelous statement needs to be defamatory. At this point, OJ's and MJ's public images are so bad that it'd be unlikely that an SNL skit could cause them harm.

Good read, thanks. I always thought Norm was great on WU and even on his ABC sitcom. It was definitley a rough transition into Colin Quinn. If my tivo ever grabs an SNL from that era, I always at least watch Norm's WU.

Count on Turd Ferguson to come up with the info on Norm MacDonald.

Oh man, classic!!! rotfl
I miss his schtick on SNL update and "The Norm Show".

Found this:
Norm's appearance on The View before Star Jones had her stomach stapled.