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SNL alum Tracy Morgan on feeling "culturally isolated" on "the whitest show in America" before creator Lorne Michaels eased his concerns.
Posted in: NBC, Peacock, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl, Tracy Morgan
SNL: Tracy Morgan on Joining "The Whitest Show in America," Early Days
SNL alum Tracy Morgan on feeling "culturally isolated" on "the whitest show in America" before creator Lorne Michaels eased his concerns.
You don't get to be an institution that Saturday Night Live has been for the past 50 years without getting some questions about your past. For example, the lack of diversity in front of the cameras and in the writers' room for years, and accusations of "tokenism." The issue stems back to SNL's premiere in 1975 when Garrett Morris was part of the original not-ready-for-prime-time players. It's something that other cast members like Eddie Murphy, Tim Meadows, Damon Wayans, Tracy Morgan, Diedre Vance, Ellen Cleghorne, and Kenan Thompson have discussed in the past. For its part, SNL has done much more over the course of recent seasons to address and rectify the problem. Morgan, who was in SNL from 1996-2003, spoke about his SNL experience in the Peacock docuseries SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night.
SNL: Tracy Morgan on Being on "The Whitest Show in America"
"I wanted to show them my world, how funny it was. But the first three years, I felt like I was being culturally isolated sometimes," Morgan said before adding, "I'm coming from a world of Blacks. I'm an inner-city kid. To be on the whitest show in America, I felt by myself. I felt like they weren't getting it". The actor and comedian's concerns caught SNL creator Lorne Michaels' ear. "Lorne Michaels had that talk with me," Morgan recalled. "He said, 'Tracy, I hired you because you're funny, not because you're Black. So just do your thing.' And that's when I started doing my thing.'"
Morgan created several memorable characters during his SNL run, including Brian Fellow, Dominican Lou, and Benny the Bengal. Following his departure, the actor would go on to have a prolific career in film and TV, including memorable runs on NBC's 30 Rock, Prime Video's Coming 2 America (2021), Adult Swim's Squibillies, and TBS's The Last O.G. All episodes of SNL50: Before Saturday Night are available to stream on Peacock.
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