"Just don’t see it happening": Conan O'Brien "not buying" SNL mogul Lorne Michaels' potential 2025 retirement from sketch comedy show

Conan O'Brien does not believe Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels will ever retire from the longest-running sketch comedy show. In an interview obtained by the Hollywood Reporter published on April 11, 2024, O’Brien touched on Lorne Micahel’s retirement talk while promoting his upcoming TV show Conan O’Brien Must Go.

In 2021, in an interview with CBS Morning, Michaels stunned the world when he said he would potentially consider leaving the iconic sketch comedy show after its 50th anniversary in 2025.

O’Brien, who worked with Michaels for 23 years, briefly as a writer on SNL and then on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, which the latter executive produced, said he cannot envisage the 79-year-old ever leaving the show.

“If you took an X-ray of Lorne Michaels, you would see SNL in his marrow. I just don’t see it happening," O'Brien said.

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Conan O'Brien comments on Lorne Michaels' potential retirement plans from SNL

Conan O'Brien, who maintains a friendship with the SNL creator Lorne Michaels, expressed doubts about the latter ever exiting the TV show which has been more than successful for nearly five decades. O’Brien’s comments were in reference to Michaels pondering his future at the show as the 50th anniversary of SNL approaches. In 2021, Michaels told CBS Morning:

“committed to doing [SNL] until its 50th anniversary, which is in three years. I’d like to see that through, and I have a feeling that’d be a really good time to leave.”

In January 2024, he reiterated his plans to possibly leave the show while walking the red carpet at the Emmys. At the time, Michaels was asked about his retirement plans by ET reporter Nischelle Turner. In response, he talked about potentially retiring in 2025 before bringing up SNL alum Tina Fey's name as a possible replacement.

“We’re doing the 50th-anniversary show in February of ’25, so I will definitely be there for that, and definitely be there until that, and sometime before that, we’ll figure out what we’re gonna do. It could easily be Tina Fey, but you know, there are a lot of people who are there now who are also, you know…”

When asked about Michaels' retirement talk, Conan O'Brien said he’s not buying any of it.

“I don’t think anyone’s anxious for him to go anywhere. When Franklin Roosevelt died suddenly in April of 1945, he’d been president for 13 years. There was a whole generation that only knew him. Lorne is the FDR of comedy. Retiring to his blueberry farm? I’m not buying it.”

Conan O'Brien is not the only SNL alum who has questioned Lorne Michaels' retirement plans. In February 2024, Adam Sandler while promoting his movie Spaceman, said he doesn’t see the SNL creator stepping down from the show any time soon.

"I don't see that happening. I don't, maybe somebody said he might, but I talked to Lorne, and I don't think he's saying enough. He's rocking. He loves it," Sandler said.

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Conan O’Brien returned to The Tonight Show 14 years after leaving over contractual dispute

Conan O’Brien hosted TBS’ Conan and NBC’s Late Night before retiring in 2021. He was one of the longest late-night talk show hosts, who was on-air for 28 years. The comic also had a brief tenure on The Tonight Show.

Earlier this week, Conan O'Brien returned to his old stomping grounds for the first time in 14 years since exiting The Tonight Show in 2010 after a contractual dispute. On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, he told Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon that “it’s weird to come back,” before adding:

“I haven’t been in this building for such a long time, and I haven’t been on this floor in forever.”

After he retired from the Talk Show Circuit, the comic signed a $150 million pact with SiriusXM in 2022. O’Brien has started a few successful podcasts under the Team Coco umbrella. He recently returned to TV with Conan O’Brien Must Go, inspired by his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan where he chats with listeners from around the globe.