Bob Odenkirk learned a thing or two from his years as a writer for Saturday Night Live, including “what not to do” when he got his own show.
“At SNL, it was very easy, especially for young writers, to get their ideas shot down very quickly by older writers,” Odenkirk told Variety for its “Know Their Lines” series to promote his new action sequel Nobody 2. “When I went to Mr. Show and I was in charge over there with David Cross, I sort of made it a rule that you don’t shoot anything down. You have to talk about everything,” he continued. “You have to fully understand the writer’s idea before you let it go. So, it was a good thing to learn what not to do from Saturday Night Live.”
The Better Call Saul star worked as a writer on SNL from 1987 to 1991, during which time he wrote for comedy stars Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, and more, before co-creating Mr. Show with David Cross. The critically acclaimed four-season show ran from 1995 to 1999, during which Odenkirk had scores of unused ideas he said didn’t make the cut at his previous job. “Everything that I learned at SNL that I never got to use when I wrote on SNL, I used to make Mr. Show,” he explained.
Odenkirk revealed in 2023 on the Don’t Ask Tig podcast that when he joined SNL at 25 years old, “I was unsure of myself. It was hard. It was existentially dangerous. I had feelings of ‘I should erase myself.’” He went on at the time, “I was too young when I got hired at SNL. That was not a good thing. That could’ve gone wrong. That could’ve gone so wrong. It came this close so many times to going so wrong. You gotta believe me. And it’s hard for kids to believe you when you say, ‘I had no f—ing clue what I was doing and I was scared outta my wits for years.’”
That said, Odenkirk also revealed to People, “I wish I was a sweeter fellow because I had a great opportunity there. I made the most of it. I learned a lot about comedy writing and I made some great friends for life at that show, but I still wish I’d just handled it better, but don’t you always wish that about your young self?”
He elaborated to Entertainment Weekly in June, “I was frustrated by it not representing purely my point of view. I wanted it to be me, my show,” but admitted he was “too hard on it” in hindsight.
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