The Burly Bear Network was an American cable TV channel targeted at 18- to 24-year-old college students founded in 1994. The company was created by four friends from Connecticut — Danny Stein, Brian Nurenberg, Danny Ameri, and James Mairs; and led by CEO Stein. Programming was offered on some university TV stations, including Arizona State University , Louisiana State University , Ball State University , Iowa State University , Northern Kentucky University , Purdue University , the University of Dayton , the University of Missouri , Berry College , Michigan State University , and Indiana University East in Richmond, as well as late nights on TBS .
19-526: The Network was a privately held company, under CEO Danny Stein, who ran the company while Ameri and Mairs led production, and Nurenberg led distribution. The Company became the premier college entertainment television network, ultimately passing 8 million college students at hundreds of colleges and universities in the United States. The network also included an events business that brought its branded entertainment to campuses and through online exploits at
38-427: A vehicle for launching the careers of some of the most successful comedians in the United States. Originally the producer of the show, Michaels was also a writer and later became executive producer . He occasionally appears on-screen as well, where he is known for his deadpan humor. Throughout the show's history, SNL has been nominated for more than 156 Emmy Awards and has won 36. It has consistently been one of
57-470: A writer and broadcaster for CBC Radio . He moved to Los Angeles from Toronto in 1968 to work as a writer for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show . He starred with Hart Pomerantz in The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour , a series of comedy specials that ran on CBC in the early 1970s. In 1975, Michaels created (with fellow NBC employee Dick Ebersol and president of
76-573: A writer. Michaels and Shuster were married in 1967 and divorced in 1980. He married model Susan Forristal in 1981, a marriage that ended in divorce in 1987. Michaels is married to Alice Barry, his former assistant. The pair wed in 1991. Michaels became a U.S. citizen in 1987 and was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2002. In The Kids in the Hall movie Brain Candy , the character of Don Roritor
95-504: Is a Canadian-American television writer and film producer. He created and produced Saturday Night Live (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the Late Night series (since 1993), The Kids in the Hall (from 1989 to 1995) and The Tonight Show (since 2014). He has received 21 Primetime Emmy Awards from 106 nominations, holding the record as the most nominated individual in the award show's history. Lorne David Lipowitz
114-494: Is inspired by Michaels. In a different interview, on NPR 's radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! , Baldwin stated that some of his inspiration for Donaghy was drawn from Michaels. Gabriel LaBelle plays Michaels in the 2024 film Saturday Night , about what happened behind-the-scenes leading up to the first episode of Saturday Night Live . In 1999, Michaels was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and
133-526: The 1980s, Michaels appeared in an HBO mockumentary titled The Canadian Conspiracy about the supposed subversion of the United States by Canadian-born media personalities, with Lorne Greene as the leader of the conspiracy. Michaels was identified as the anointed successor to Greene. Michaels is also the executive producer of the NBC show Late Night , and was the executive producer of 30 Rock and Up All Night during their runs. On April 3, 2013, it
152-571: The Hall which began airing in 1988 on CBC in Canada, debuting in the US market in 1989 on cable television network HBO until moving to CBS in 1993. Whilst on his SNL hiatus, Michaels created another sketch show titled The New Show , which debuted on Friday nights in prime time on NBC in January 1984. The show failed to garner the same enthusiasm as SNL and was cancelled after 9 episodes. In
171-490: The dawn of the commercial Internet boom. Stein led a sale to Lorne Michael 's Broadway Video in May 1997, and then departed in 1999 after the company was integrated into Broadway Video. Howard Handler was hired in 1999 as CEO with Ted Jessup as the head of programming. In September 2002, the company was bought by National Lampoon for an undisclosed amount. This sale corresponded to the end of programming on TBS . The network
190-637: The highest-rated late-night television programs. Michaels has been with SNL for all seasons except for his hiatus in the early 1980s (seasons 6–10). Michaels appeared in the show during the first season, where he offered The Beatles $ 3,000 (a deliberately paltry sum) to reunite on the show. He later increased his offer to $ 3,200, but the money was never claimed. According to an interview with John Lennon in Playboy magazine, Lennon and Paul McCartney were in New York City that night and wanted to see
209-504: The network Herb Schlosser ) the TV show NBC's Saturday Night , which in 1977 changed its name to Saturday Night Live (initially there was a name conflict with an ABC show titled Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell , which debuted September 20, 1975, and was cancelled on January 17, 1976). The show, which is performed live in front of a studio audience, immediately established a reputation for being cutting-edge and unpredictable. It became
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#1732771902364228-551: The show as "the primary satirical voice of the country". Michaels received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in 2006, Canada's highest honor in the performing arts. In 2008, Michaels was awarded the Webby for Film & Video Lifetime Achievement. With the allotted five words allowed to each recipient, his acceptance speech was "Five words is not enough". In 2012, Michaels
247-521: The show. They decided against it though, as it was too late to get there in time, and they were both tired. This near-reunion was the basis for the TV movie Two of Us . On the episode airing November 20, 1976, musical guest George Harrison appeared, but Michaels told him the offer was conditional on all four members of the group showing up. Michaels founded the production company Broadway Video in 1979, which has produced SNL since 1981 as well as other shows such as Canadian sketch-comedy The Kids in
266-538: Was announced that Michaels would be taking over as the executive producer for The Tonight Show . Consequently, The Tonight Show moved to New York in early 2014 as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon . Michaels has three children and has been married three times. During the early 1960s, he began a relationship with Rosie Shuster , daughter of his comedy mentor Frank Shuster of the Wayne and Shuster comedy team, who later worked with him on Saturday Night Live as
285-639: Was awarded a rare Personal Peabody Award . He accepted at a ceremony in New York City at the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel. In December 2021, Michaels was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors , along with Justino Diaz , Berry Gordy , Bette Midler , and Joni Mitchell . In 2022, Michaels received a Peabody Award for his work as an executive producer of the Spanish-language comedy series Los Espookys . He
304-655: Was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Also in 1999, Michaels received an honorary degree from Ryerson University . In 2003, he received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame . In 2004, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Speaking at the awards ceremony, original Saturday Night Live cast member Dan Aykroyd described
323-598: Was based heavily on actor Mark McKinney ’s impersonation of Lorne Michaels. The character Dr. Evil , the antagonist of Austin Powers in three films, has mannerisms and a speaking style based on Lorne Michaels. Dr. Evil was created and portrayed by SNL alumnus Mike Myers , who was at least partially influenced by fellow SNL performer Dana Carvey 's impression of Michaels. In a 2008 interview with Playboy , as well in various other interviews, Tina Fey admitted that Alec Baldwin 's character Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock
342-692: Was born in Toronto, Canada , on November 17, 1944, to Florence (née Becker) and Abraham Lipowitz. Many sources incorrectly state that he was born on a kibbutz in the then- British mandate of Palestine , and that his Jewish family immigrated to Toronto, Canada when he was an infant. Michaels and his two younger siblings were raised in Toronto; he attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute . He graduated from University College, Toronto , where he majored in English, in 1966. Michaels began his career as
361-636: Was folded into the National Lampoon Network around September 2002. Some programming included The commercials and promo videos for the Burly Bear Network were created and produced by Mike Henry and Patrick Henry, whose other work included the FOX television series Family Guy , American Dad! and The Cleveland Show . Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels CC (born Lorne David Lipowitz ; November 17, 1944)
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