It is easy for young ‘SNL’ writers to shoot ideas

Bob Odenkirk learned a valuable lesson for “Mr. Show” during his days of writing on “Saturday Night Live”.

During a recent episode of VarietyS “Know their lines“Odenkirk said that he and co-host David Cross created an environment of” incredible freedom “for the writers on” Mr. Show. “This was because while working on” SNL “, Odenkirk said that it was” very easy “for new writers to quickly” shot “their ideas by experienced staff employees before they had the chance to fully explain themselves.

“Everything I learned at ‘SNL’ that I could never use when I wrote on ‘SNL’, I made ‘Mr. Show’,” Odenkirk recalled. “At ‘SNL’ it was very easy, especially for young writers, to shoot their ideas very quickly by older writers.”

Odenkirk added that he, as soon as he was on ‘Mr. Show ‘went to work, made sure that he and Cross made sure that all their employees give a fair chance to share their ideas.

“When I went to ‘Mr. Show’ and I was in charge with David Cross, I made it a kind of rule that you don’t shoot anything,” Odenkirk said. “You have to talk about everything. You have to fully understand the writer’s idea before you let it go. So it was a good thing to learn what you shouldn’t do from” Saturday night live. “

“Mr. Show” ran 30 episodes in four seasons from 1995 to 1998. The subversive sketch comedy series earned four Emmy nominations during the Run on HBO.

Outside Odenkirk and Cross, “Mr. Show” also played Tom Kenny, John Ennis, Jay Johnston, Paul F. Tompkins, Jill Talley and Brett Paesel.

View the full appearance of Odenkirks on Variety“Know their lines” below.