For nearly 25 years,The Sentinel Awardshave celebrated television that makes a difference, honoring shows that tackle controversial, socially relevant, and taboo subjects. Television has the potential to educate, inform, and shed light on topics that are usually left in the dark. The Sentinel Awards exist to shine a little extra light on shows that are brave enough to tackle these difficult subjects.
This year, The Sentinel Awards are hosted by Laraine Newman, founding member of The Groundlings and one of the original members ofSaturday Night Live’s"Not Ready For Prime Time Players." A comedy legend in her own right, Newman has spent much of her later career as a voice actor, with tons of credits in animated features (Toy Story 3, The Secret Life of Pets, Despicable Me 4), television shows (Infinity Train, Trollhunters), and video games (Let It Die, Dota 2).
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Screen Rant interviewed Laraine Newman about her work on The Sentinel Awards and her storied career. She spoke about 50 years ofThe Groundlings andSaturday Night Live, and reflected on how Lily Tomlin inadvertently helped get her cast all those decades ago. She shares her thoughts on Jason Reitman’s SNL movie,Saturday Night, and how missing her children inspired her career pivot into voice acting. Finally, she talks a little bit about her favorite sketch comedy programs outside of SNL, as well as some of her favorite current SNL cast members.
Laraine Newman Expounds On The Importance Of The Sentinel Awards
“I love the idea of recognizing shows that deal with subjects that might not have been dealt with before”
Screen Rant: Can you talk a little bit about the Sentinel Awards and what they mean to you?
Laraine Newman: Well, I love the idea of recognizing shows that deal with subjects that might not have been dealt with before, and deal with it in a way that is more impactful because it’s done with humor.
Can you give us a little taste of what we can expect on Thursday night from your hosting?
Laraine Newman: (In a funny voice) Well, a rip-snorting good time, Zak. Lots of laughs, people rolling in the aisles! I realize now that in a transcript this might not play.
I’ll put in parentheses, “in a funny voice.”
Laraine Newman: Okay. You know, I don’t know if they told you which shows are being honored. I mean, The Simpsons, Abbott Elementary, Hacks, of course. The Big Cigar, Gen V, Feud, Expats, Lopez vs Lopez. And they deal with various subjects, you know, addiction, violence, inequality, things like that.
Laraine Newman’s Path From The Groundlings To SNL
“I’m not sure who invited Lily Tomlin to come see the show…”
Looking back at your body of work, I mean, it’s incredible. You’re a founding member of the Groundlings, and an original cast member of SNL. Back then, did you know that you were making these pillars of entertainment that would be culturally relevant for 50 years and more? Or were you just trying to find fun stuff to do so you could be on TV and make rent?
Laraine Newman: Well, with regard to the Groundlings, there was no real sense that it would lead to anything other than the creativity that was being done in the moment. It was just a workshop in the beginning. It was a class. And people that were taking the class, some of them were already established performers and actors who were just enriching their own abilities.
So, we would present these scene nights, which was just stuff that we had created. And we’d invite friends to come and see it. And that was really the extent of it. There was no vision beyond that. And yet, by word of mouth, it started to get popular. There were lines around the block, and we figured, we’d better come up with a name and a company. Which is what we did. And again, you know, I don’t think certainly from my part, I’m so myopic and I’m never someone that sees the big picture, I didn’t even imagine where the work would take me.
How it did take you toSNL? Was there a line for the best of the Groundlings to get to go to SNL? Or what was that process like?
Laraine Newman: Well, I’m not sure who invited Lily Tomlin to come see the show. But Lorne (Michaels) was producing her special at the time, and I was doing a lot of characters in one, which we called Down Left, at the Groundlings. So they invited me and some other people from the Groundlings, I think Archie Hahn and Sandy Holbrook, to be part of her special. And then, when Lorne came back, he saw me doing new characters and new material, and asked me to do SNL. He said it would only be for 13 weeks. Because he also dropped the bomb that would be in New York, which scared the hell out of me. But it was only going to be for 13 weeks with a five-year option, but I thought, “Yeah, like, that’ll ever happen!” You know, it was just, you know, “say yes.” Say yes to whatever, wherever that can take you.
You kind of invented the Valley Girl on that show. Maybe not directly, I’m sure there’s inspiration for that, but definitely on the East Coast, I don’t think we had that here until you brought it over!
Laraine Newman: Thank you, and I’m sorry. You’re welcome, and I’m sorry.
Your on-site reporter on Weekend Update was a personal favorite of mine. I loved that.
Laraine Newman: Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. I had observed reporters. When you study any kind of dialect, a lot of dialects have a song to them, and I noticed that the way that reporters spoke had a certain kind of cadence and song to them, so I really wanted to impart that. I had never seen it done, and I wanted to be the one to do it!
I sometimes get to do some on-camera stuff, and I kind of realize that, like, in introducing guests and like announcing, you know, “This is Zak from Screen Rant, blah, blah, blah,” I’m kind of doing a sing-song cadence as well that I didn’t even realize until you just pointed it out.
Laraine Newman: Yeah, oh, that’s so interesting. Yeah, it’s like when you want to billboard certain ideas in what you’re saying, there’s, like, maybe a stop and a hesitation and then going forward so that there’s a space between what you’ve said and that idea that you want to billboard. That’s kind of how it works. I’m glad that you enjoyed that.
Laraine Newman Shares How How SNL Has Changed Since Her Heyday
Do you still watchSNL?
Laraine Newman: Yeah, and for so many reasons. I mean, I love sketch comedy. I watched the Black Lady Sketch Show, and I loved MAD TV and Key & Peele. You know, these shows were just, really, this is my love. I really do love sketch comedy, and so I’ve never stopped watching it. There were times when I couldn’t, like when I had my kids, and you know, I still can’t stay up that late. Thank God for DVR, but you know, when my kids were born, there was no TiVo, so I didn’t get to watch it during that time, like 1991 and 1995.
I watch it, and I love it because partially, you know, to bring back the Groundlings, a lot of the actors that go on from the Groundlings to do SNL, I’ve watched them develop at the Groundlings, so it was so exciting and gratifying for me to see these people do so well. Some of the people that are on now like Sarah Sherman, Chloe Fineman, my kids know them from stand-up.
Yeah, I just got to see Sarah yesterday at New York Comic Con. I didn’t get to speak to her, but she had a panel with the makeup lead of SNL, who’s been doing it for like 30 years, that was a lot of fun.
Laraine Newman: Oh, I love her so much.
There’s so many different eras of SNL, you know, and many of those eras are Boys' Club eras, but I feel like now there are more women than ever on the show. I don’t have the statistic, but I wonder if, like, back in your day, you had to really fight for characters that you wanted to show up, and if you feel the atmosphere is different these days.
Laraine Newman: Well, I’ve always maintained that the show is a meritocracy. It didn’t really matter who was in the sketch or who wrote it. If it was funny, it went on. It was just a numbers game where we had ten male writers and three female writers, so it was just a matter of the amount that was able to be submitted, but Lorne was certainly very encouraging and supportive of the women on the show, and he’s always been that way. So, from my perspective, and, you know, the writers may have a different experience, but from what I could observe, it was not really a “Boys Club” in that sense, in the sense of restricting the content that was coming from women. And of course, once Tina Fey became head writer, it really changed.
Reflecting On Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night
“The movie is definitely a love letter.”
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to seeSaturday Nightyet. The movie has gotten incredible reviews. I can’t wait to go see it.
Laraine Newman: It’s really entertaining. The movie is definitely a love letter. It was written with such love by Jason Reitman and his writing partner, Gil Kenan. During the pandemic, they did some Zoom calls with me. We talked for a long time. The actual movie, the story that’s being told in the movie is kind of a lot of fiction, but it doesn’t really matter because it really captures the spirit of the show, the “by the seat of your pants” energy that was going on, and also the idea that we didn’t know if anybody was watching and we couldn’t believe the material we were able to get on the air. Even that very first sketch with Michael O’Donohue and John Belushi, I remember at the time thinking, boy, there’s nothing like this. Today, that would be referred to as “alternative comedy.” And so I really think that our show is the first alt-comedy show.
Yeah, something that like, you don’t necessarily care if the audience is ready, because at some point they’ll catch up.
Laraine Newman: Yeah, Lorne always said, “Let the audience come to you.” And he’s so right. He has a lot of wisdom and has been right about so many things, but that especially. I think the definition of “hack” is writing for the audience.
Absolutely, I agree completely. Speaking of “Hacks,” your daughter does an incredible job on that show and she even got to be on the SNL stage with Jean Smart introducing musical guests. I can’t imagine you didn’t get a kick out of that.
Laraine Newman: Oh, I sure did! Yeah. There was a monologue that she was involved in, but they cut it before she got there. That would have been really fun. But just seeing her on that stage, I could tell how excited she was. That was really nice.
It’s interesting when people in show business have kids who go into show business because you can’t tell your kid not to do something because it’s going to make them do it. Did you envision that she would become a showbiz person? Did she manifest that as a kid? You’re like, oh, “You’re a really funny kid!”
Laraine Newman: She was! Both my kids are very talented. The thing is, it would have been tragic if they weren’t, but they are! The only thing I really advised them on was to work hard and be kind. That was the only advice I gave them, and I was encouraging because I really did feel that they both had, as I said, the aptitude for the work.
Yeah, I mean, I can’t imagine how proud you must be.
Laraine Newman: I am. Of both of them, I’m so proud.
Newman’s Pivot To Voice Acting Was Well-Considered
“I felt that my real skillset was with characters and voices.”
These days we hear you a lot. There’s a lot of young people out there, kids, even, who recognize your voice because of all the animation you do. I recently got intoGrimsburgand saw you as The Kid Napper.
Laraine Newman: Yeah, I think I’m in about four episodes, but that was such a funny show. And Jon Hamm, God, he’s funny! I mean, you see him on camera, and of course he does well with that, but the craft of vocal performance is so different, and when someone can adapt to that and do it well, it’s really inspiring.
Can you tell me a little bit about when you decided or found yourself being cast for your voice?
Laraine Newman: Well, when I had my kids I found myself, when I was doing on-camera stuff, which is like a minimum of a 12-hour day, feeling really guilty and missing them. Basically, just missing them. I felt that my real skillset was with characters and voices. I was fortunate. I didn’t have to make a demo tape or anything, and I got representation right away thanks to my manager, Laurie Gilbert. And then I took a class with the great Charlie Adler, and after that I never stopped working to this day, and that was, like, 35 years ago.
And I saw online that you did mime as well, way back.
Laraine Newman: That’s on the QT, buddy. (Laughs) I got so much teasing for that! And I just say, hey, you know, David Bowie did mime too, man! But yeah, I did. I really was fascinated by it. The idea of getting laughs without words and with just your body and your face, I thought that was really interesting. And now I’m working in a field where I’m, you know, evoking certain things with just my voice.
You really can do it all! In any circumstances, Laraine Newman will make you laugh.
Laraine Newman: I never thought of that. Oh, bless you. I’ll take it!
More About The 2024 Sentinel Awards
Hollywood, Health & Society, a program of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center, is excited to announce Laraine Newman as the host for the 2024 Sentinel Awards, which celebrate some of the best and most challenging TV entertainment of the past year that made a difference in viewers’ lives.
This year’s red-carpet event will be held on Oct. 24 at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. Entries from broadcast, cable and streaming network shows were all eligible, and represent a range of topics on health, safety and security. The final honorees were selected by judges based on accuracy, entertainment value and benefit to audiences, will be announced at the ceremony.
(fromhollywoodhealthandsociety.org)
Saturday Night Live
Cast
Saturday Night Live is a live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels, premiering in 1975. It features comedy sketches parodying contemporary culture and politics, performed by a rotating cast. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest and includes musical performances.
