[applause] Kennedy Center told me that I was going
to receive this honor last March, and
that gave me plenty of time to reread
the collected works of Mark Twain. [audience laughter]
I didn't, [audience laughter] but I, I di- I did read The Wit and Wisdom
of Mark Twain on the plane ride down, [audience laughter]
yesterday, and just leafing through the
first few pages, you can tell that he's a
really good writer. [audience laughter]
Other than the fact that I work or have worked with some of
the best comedy writers of this time, I, I
couldn't think of any reason I should
receive this award. And then I thought of
Huckleberry Finn, which I read as a boy,
and as a young man, and again a few
years ago. And I realized that SNL has
always been stuck in adolescenceóthat
time of life when you first begin to
question authority, declare your
independence, a time of risk and adventure
and occasionally bad behavior. [audience laughter]
And as I sat in my box tonight, looking at
everyone during the show, and I realized
how much I love watching people perform.
We did a show, [clears throat] excuse me, we did a show last
Saturday night in New York, and we'll do
a show this Saturday night, as well. And
last weekend in the final production
meeting just before we went on the air, I
looked around the room and saw all the
writers, and the cast, the director, the
designers, the musicians, my fellow
producers, and all of the production
staff, and I thought they have all worked
so hard and so long this week, and I'mó
and are about to go out there and give
everything they have for this week's
show,
and yet, I'm the one getting on the plane
tomorrow with my tuxedo and heading to
Washington to be honored. And I thought,
yes, that's the way it should be.
[audience laughter and applause]
When it comes to being honored, I, I work
alone. [audience laughter] For the last 30 years, I've had the
coolest job in New York City, and I've
been lucky to have been surrounded by so
many talented people. There's no way I
can declare my gratitude to all of them
and to those I worked with in the past
and those I will see in the studio
tomorrow. I can't possibly thank everyone
who performed here tonight, but they are
my friends, and I know that nothing will
mean as much to them as thanking them
individually with a personal phone call Ö
in the next week or two, [audience laughter] or at least
having an assistant leave word. [audience laughter]
I, I think the hardest thing for me to do
after so many years of working around a
comedy show is to try and be sincere, but
let me start. I do want to thank the
Kennedy Center and PBS for honoring SNL
and all the people who've worked on it
over the years.
I wanna thank NBC who, from the very
beginning, has supported this show
through good times and bad, and in
particular, Bob and Suzanne Wright, who
are here tonight and have always seemed
to be there when you need them. I wanna
thank my friends who showed up tonight
to perform and make this night so
special. I realize there are some things
you just can't get out of. [audience laughter] I told you itíd
be hard, be hard to be sincere. And most
importantly, I wanna thank my family: my
wife, Alice; my children Henry, Eddie,
Sophie, to whom I get to share this and
because they're the mostó and best thing
that ever happened to me.
Twenty-nine years ago when I was planning the
very first show of Saturday Night Live, I
was so focused on how we would begin the
show that I didn't really pay much
attention to how the show would end. I'm
not very good at ending things. It turns
out that the only thing that has
remained the same over the years at
SNL is the goodnights: the host thanking
the musical guest, the cast milling
around the stage while credits roll, and
I can't think of any better way to end
this show than to have all of the cast
of SNL who are here tonight join the performers on stage.
This is the way everything should be. Thank you all, goodnight.
[applause]
[music]