Happy Birthday Lorne Michaels

The creator of Saturday Night Live may be a lot of things (many of them not so nice, some of them downright Evil) but around here he's something of a cross between a genius and a god. And I'm not just saying that to kiss up. (Okay, I am, but only a little. Although... There is a lot more where that came from. And not just a little a lot, either, but a lot a lot.)

Born on this day in 1944 in Toronto (which is apparently a town in Ontario, or something, whatever) he moved to Los Angeles in 1968 to write for such variety shows as Laugh-In and The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show; in 1975 New York City beckoned, and in time it would be very kind to him, giving him what has more or less become his life's work.

Saturday Night Live debuted in October 1975 and, despite a few rocky years in the early 1980s - when he wasn't around and the show lost its way - it's been a cross between a factory and a university, discovering comedic talent, nurturing it, then foisting it upon the world to flourish (or fail) on its own merits.

As if that wasn't enough, he also produced The Kids in the Hall, simply the finest sketch comedy show ever made in Canada...
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