Recently departed comedian Norm Macdonald did a lot of things during his brilliant, strange and groundbreaking career, but he’ll always be best known by most people for his time as the Weekend Update anchor on Saturday Night Live. The funnyman ran the segment from 1994 to 1997 until he was unceremoniously fired by an NBC executive, allegedly for his repeated jokes about OJ Simpson murdering people. As such, it only makes sense that Saturday Night Live would feature some Norm Macdonald tributes during its opening episode this season.
Those tributes came primarily in two forms. First, Pete Davidson, who also has a long history of saying whatever he wants, rocked an all-time classic Norm Macdonald shirt during his segment. I mean check this beauty out. It’s like something you’d buy at one of those make your own t-shirt shops. Just tremendous. You can check out Pete Davidson rocking it in all its glory below…
There has been an outpouring of admiration for Norm Macdonald since the former Saturday Night Live star’s tragic death. Many of the remembrances and tributes have been loudest from his fellow comedians, many of whom have expressed appreciation for his originality, willingness to push buttons and the unexpected direction he took many of his jokes. He was never concerned about bombing or crowd reaction, often lingering on jokes and sticking with the same material if the audience wasn’t enjoying it.
There have been numerous popular comedians who have spoken about how much Norm Macdonald shaped their perspectives on comedy. Seth Rogen said all his early acting performances were basically him doing a Norm impression, as an example. During Weekend update, longtime anchor Colin Jost said Macdonald was the only reason he ever wanted the gig. Fittingly, he and co-anchor Michael Che aired some Norm jokes to end the segment. You can check them out below…
Some comedians are able to use Saturday Night Live as a springboard for huge movie careers or their own late night gigs on major networks. Other comedians simply move on to doing other things. That was Norm Macdonald. He made some movies. He had a few TV shows and specials. He made a lot of late night appearances. Mostly he just did comedy his own way. Sometimes that meant doing legendary sets to the roar of audiences. Sometimes that meant bombing because he was trying to do something weird. It may not have made him as famous or as rich as many of his fellow SNL alums, but it certainly earned him a lot of respect.