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Martin Short “was terrified” that ‘SNL’ would be canceled during its run

Martin Short “was terrified” that ‘SNL’ would be canceled during its run

Although Martin Short caused a sensation during his brief career in Saturday night liveI constantly had one foot out the door.

The three-time Golden Globe nominee, who returns to host SNL this weekend with musical guest Hozier, recently admitted that he “was terrified at every show” during his tenure as a cast member of NBC sketch comedy show.

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“This is really strange. “I was a member of the cast 40 years ago,” Short said in Tonight’s show starring Jimmy Fallonexplaining that he “had a one-year contract because it was a very strange year” following the departures of Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo.

“And they thought the show was going to be cancelled,” he continued. “So Dick Ebersol, who was running it then, not Lorne, called it ‘the year of George Steinbrenner.’”

Short added: “I was terrified at every show. I treated it like something special. In fact, during the fourth show, on Tuesday, I went in to try to quit. Because I’m Canadian and I’m smart, I told Dick Ebersol, “I haven’t cashed a check yet.” And he said: ‘Well, you do have a contract, and if you leave now, we will look bad and you will look bad.’ But if you stay until Christmas, I’ll let you out of contract. Because he later told me that if he had made it to Christmas, he would have figured out how to do the show. But it was always stressful for me.”

Short was a cast member on season 10 of SNL from 1984 to 1985, reviving several characters he previously created at Canada’s Second City Television, including Ed Grimley. He has since returned to SNL sometimes.

Created by Lorne Michaels in 1975, Saturday night live will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a primetime special on Sunday, February 16.

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