Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade

RE-RELEASE - Laraine Newman

Original Release: November 3, 2025
Guest: Laraine Newman
Theme: A dive into the origins of SNL, early sketch comedy, personal anecdotes from the original cast, and the evolution of comedy through the lens of Laraine Newman’s career, including her Groundlings roots and her legacy in voice work and family.

Episode Overview

Dana Carvey and David Spade revisit their conversation with Laraine Newman, one of the original SNL cast members (1975-1980), exploring the formative days of the show, backstage stories, the atmosphere of creative risk, and the impact of her trailblazing work both in sketch comedy and beyond. The episode is a nostalgic, laughter-filled tapestry weaving personal memories, comedy shop talk, and reflections on the shifting status of women in comedy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Remembering the Early Days at SNL

• Original Cast Dynamics:
  • SNL’s "OG seven" and the sense of being in a lifeboat together—an "extraordinary experience" (16:04).
  • Gilda Radner’s warmth: “She was the person that, you know, made a fuss over your birthday and just very sweet...” (13:51).
• How the Show Started:
  • Behind-the-scenes: All-night writing, tight-knit cast, and improvisational chaos.
  • The nerve-wracking, unglamorous start. Lorraine describes being insecure and young: “I was very young and I was very inexperienced. I did not have a lot of confidence.” (40:40)
• Comparison to Later Eras:
  • Changes in technology, culture, and archiving (mentions of digital systems and rerun accessibility).
  • Spade: "Now it’s 1.6 billion YouTube hits last year for their season, which is extraordinary." (29:52)

2. The Groundlings & Voice Work

• Founding member of Groundlings—improv, sketch comedy background, characters honed in dark backrooms.
• The art of dialects and voices: how early Los Angeles surfer/Valley girl culture inspired her iconic characters.
  • "I started hearing that Valley accent and realizing that it was a very unique accent." (24:04)
  • Lorraine humorously claims credit: "You’re welcome." (23:16)
• Her ongoing career in voice acting and connection to the art ("you have a great voice") (04:00).

3. Iconic SNL Recurring Characters & Cultural Impact

• E. Buzz Miller's "Kristi Kristina":
  • Lorraine reflects: "I never understood why anybody thought that was funny." (05:05)
• Coneheads:
  • The surreal, physically challenging experience of performing in full prosthetics.
  • On working with Dan Aykroyd: “I adored Danny’s writing. I absolutely adored it. And he could do no wrong as far as I was concerned...” (55:35)
• Valley Girl:
  • Her linguistic observations—a breakdown of the accent and its cultural sticking power.
  • "Wouldn’t, shouldn’t, and couldn’t...ging endings were ‘een’—so ‘I’m going there’..." (24:54)
• The importance of writing for the show’s own sensibility: “You let them come to you. You write for us, and you let them come to you.” (58:17)

4. SNL as a Launchpad and Comparative Notes

• Cast Bonds & Legacies:
  • The camaraderie never fades, even as fame and years pass ("Like a lifeboat, where you all survived something") (16:04).
• Fame was instant and disorienting: “Do I deserve this?...What’s going on here?” (17:01)
• The "best cast" myth: It’s always whichever cast you watched as a teen (32:23).

5. Women on SNL & Comedy Evolution

• On being one of three original women; noting the huge growth in opportunity and visibility for women in comedy over decades.
  • “The interesting part about you and Gilda and Jane being the first women...how many women have emerged in such a big way in the last 20 years?” (29:52)

6. Backstage Stories & Personalities

• Mickey Rooney & Absurd Hollywood Encounters:

  • Outlandish stories with Mickey on set: waving guns, telling lewd jokes, obsessing over his fame and money (08:23–10:42).
  • Dana: "He said he had an idea for a show where every character's name was a swear word..." (09:26)

• Celebrity Hosts:

  • Meeting Richard Pryor, Madeline Kahn, and the mind-blowing experience of being greeted by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the 30 Rock lobby:
    • “John goes, hi, Lorraine...Not a 'hi.' 'Hi, Lorraine.'” (44:45)

• Working with Lorne Michaels:

  • Impressions of Lorne’s unique management style—his influence and his insistence that the show is not to mimic mainstream comedy (Lauren: "It was alt comedy") (18:55–20:03).
  • Lauren’s mannerisms: “Did he overcome saying absolutely, or ‘no, no, no, no, no, no, no’?” (33:32)
  • Dana’s advice to new cast members: "Seek out a writer that has influence..." (36:28)

7. Writing for SNL & Backstage High-Wire Acts

• The intimidating writing process; learning to collaborate across cast/writer lines.
• Spade candidly on being out of his depth among Harvard writers: "It was very clear I was in over my head." (34:22)
• The pain and unpredictability of sketches bombing on live TV, and the unique humiliation of live sketch comedy (48:39).

8. Her Family and the Next Generation in Comedy

• Lorraine’s daughter, Hannah Einbinder, discussed as a rising comedy talent (star of “Hacks”), and the joy of seeing her children’s own distinct styles flourish (64:07).
  • Dana: "The apple does not fall very far from the tree, you'll find." (66:00)
  • Lorraine, on raising "standup kids": "My only contribution really was...when I was driving them to school…I would play the Sklar Brothers and Maria Bamford and Patton Oswald." (64:28)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

(Timestamps in MM:SS)

• On the SNL Cast Bond:
  “It is an extraordinary experience, and I always liken it to a lifeboat...you all survived something that was very extraordinary.” —Laraine Newman (16:04)

• Describing Gilda Radner:
  “She was the person that, you know, made a fuss over your birthday and just very sweet.” —Laraine Newman (13:51)

• On Nervous Beginnings:
  “I was very young and I was very inexperienced. I did not have a lot of confidence.” —Laraine Newman (40:40)

• On Comedy’s Evolution:
  “The cast that was on when you were an adolescent is the best cast because they’ve always had great casts. Always.” —Laraine Newman (32:23)

• On ‘Valley Girl’ Origins:
  “I started hearing that Valley accent and realizing that it was a very unique accent.” —Laraine Newman (24:04)
  “You’re welcome.” (wryly, when Dana asks if she was the first to do the Valley Girl voice) (23:16)

• On Coneheads' Chaotic Filming:
  “Jane and Danny were in the front seat and they just started smoking weed…we didn’t get permits…” —Laraine Newman (56:56)

• On Writing for Themselves, Not ‘Chasing’ the Audience:
  “You let them come to you. You write for us, and you let them come to you.” —Laraine Newman (58:17)

• Dana on Lauren’s Style:
  “He doesn’t want one side to dominate too much…like the Congress and the Senate getting along.” (36:28)

• On Stage Bombing:
  “The sketch bombs. I mean, it really bombs...and then you have to walk off...through the audience with a big diaper on.” —Dana Carvey (48:39)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:58 | Start of Lorraine Newman's segment | | 12:15 | Lorraine discusses the very beginnings of SNL | | 13:51 | Reflections on Gilda Radner | | 16:04 | The deep SNL cast bond (“lifeboat” analogy) | | 24:04 | Origins of the Valley Girl accent | | 29:52 | The rising prominence of women in comedy | | 34:22 | Navigating the intimidating writing room | | 40:40 | Lorraine’s youthful insecurity on SNL | | 44:45 | The day John Lennon said hi to Lorraine | | 55:35 | Behind the scenes of Coneheads | | 58:17 | On writing for themselves, not 'chasing' the audience | | 64:07 | Lorraine on her daughter Hannah and comedy legacy | | 66:26 | Episode closing and mutual gratitude |

Closing Thoughts

This episode captures the magic, chaos, and vulnerability of SNL’s beginnings, mixing nostalgic humor with the deeper reality of carving out a creative space in a then-unproven genre. Lorraine Newman’s humility contrasts with her status as a groundbreaking performer, celebrating both her past and her children’s innovative futures. True to the show’s title, listeners are granted a true ‘fly on the wall’ perspective on creative risk, friendship, and comedy’s perpetual evolution.

“You let them come to you. You write for us, and you let them come to you.”
—Laraine Newman (58:17)