Lorne Michaels Donates Career Archive to University of Texas
Lorne Michaels has donated a collection of his work on Saturday Night Live and more to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.
The collection spans 50 years and includes rehearsal notes for SNL, sketches, annotated scripts, personal correspondence and more. The archive covers Michaels’s early writing on shows such as Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show through Saturday Night Live, as well as on shows such as The Kids in the Hall and films such as Wayne’s World, Mean Girls and Coneheads.
“Lorne Michaels has kept us up late and laughing for 50 years, and I’m confident for years to come his archive will be studied by students and researchers looking for insight into the social, political, and cultural history of our time. We are deeply grateful to him for entrusting this rich legacy to us,” said Ransom Center Director Stephen Enniss.
A special exhibition, Live from New York! The Making of Lorne Michaels, will be on display at the center from Sept. 20, 2025 through March 15, 2026, with a look behind the scenes at SNL and its impact on society.
Michaels created Saturday Night Live in 1975 and remains at the helm. He is also the producer of the Late Night series and The Tonight Show, among other projects.
The Lorne Michaels Collection will complement the Ransom Center’s existing holdings in literature, film, television and the performing arts after its founding in 1957.
The collection will be fully available for research in January 2026.
