Emmys Watch: Don Roy King on Directing \'Saturday Night Live\'

September 14, 2012, 1:53 pm

By JEREMY EGNER

We will be talking to Emmy nominees leading up to the awards show on Sept. 23. First up is Don Roy King, nominated for best director for a variety show for his work on “Saturday Night Live.”

Don Roy King suspects that he had directed more live television than just about anyone before he signed on to helm “Saturday Night Live” in 2006. For more than two decades he was the director of “Good Morning America” and “The Early Show” (now called “CBS This Morning”), overseeing two hours of live TV most weekday mornings. But he soon discovered sketch comedy is a different beast altogether.

The Emmy Awards

More coverage of the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards, including reports, reviews, interviews with nominees and more.

“I spent 21 years telling people whether or not they should take an umbrella to work in the morning,” he said during a recent phone conversation. “Now I'm dealing with comedy and its timing and rhythms, all of it evolving and changing in the three days leading up to show.”

Mr. King is nominated for an Emmy for best director for a variety show, his sixth nomination in a row for his work on “Saturday Night Live.” He won the award in each of the last two years. Mr. King also directed “The Mike Douglas Show” in the 1970s and “Kids Are People, Too” in the 1980s; he won a daytime Emmy for the former.

Mr. King's category is included in the Primetime Emmy extravaganza only in alternating years, so the winner this year will be announced during the lower profile Creative Arts presentation slated for Saturday. (The Primet ime Emmy ceremony will be held on Sept. 23.) Mr. King plans to skip the ceremony â€" not from any prima donna impulse but because “Saturday Night Live” kicks off its 38th season that night.

He does acknowledge, however, that “it's a little more fun to do it in front of the whole country.” He added, “I've been lucky enough to win at both ceremonies, and I got a lot more phone messages when I sat back down last year.”

In a phone interview, Mr. King discussed seat-of-the-pants directing and the things departing cast members take with them. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

You directed live television for decades before joining “Saturday Night Live.” How long did it take you to get the hang of the show?

I'm not there yet.

I realize you're being tongue-in-cheek hereâ€"

[Nervous laughter.] Not totally tongue-in-cheek. If you'd asked me six years ago if a show could be done this way, I would have said absolut ely not. Nobody would try to do this amount of television, with such a high profile, in this little time with as many changes as we make. It's just the biggest, most demanding and by far the most exhilarating show I've ever done.

What's so exhilarating about it? The seat-of-the-pants aspect?

It's partly that. It's also that hearty applause and laughter coming from the audience - I'm part of this joyous event and making this magic that didn't exist three days ago.

What is your role?

It's a writers' show. [The executive producer] Lorne Michaels is a writer and trusts that the person who conceived the idea and wrote the words is the one who has the best vision of what that is. My job is to make that vision come to life, and come to life in a way that can be done live and can be done in three days of preparation. There really is nothing on paper until Wednesday.

Why does the show continue to operate this way? You could you do more in advance, ri ght?

I don't know the answer to that. There are lots of things in our system that I've wondered about and when I ask the question, the answer is, ‘That's the way we've always done it.' The fact that we have a dress rehearsal at 8 on Saturday night that doesn't come down until 10:15 gives us so little time to incorporate all of the changes. I jump into the seat right as we're about go on the air, wishing that we had at least another hour to look at the changes Lorne asked for on the lighting or a camera sequence before we do it live in front of the entire country. There is this sense that Lorne understands the human dynamics involved in how we all work together, and that this is the best way to drive the adrenaline and create the right energy at the right time.

Why do you still use cue cards as opposed to teleprompters?

In many sketches you don't want the actor looking at the lens, and most teleprompters are mounted on camera lenses. It would be possibl e to get them off the cameras and roll them around separately, but that's a couple of big machines that would be out there on the floor. Also, there are so many changes, and those cue card handlers can make those changes more quickly by hand than we could electronically.

Do pretaped things like the digital shorts make your job easier?

Yes. Those are done parallel to our operation and I often don't see them before the audience. They offer nice moments toâ€" well, I was going to say nice moments to sit back and watch a moment of amusing television, but I always use that time for preparation.

Do you have a favorite host?

I love it when old cast members come back. They know the system and they understand how it all works and they fit in, but they don't know how demanding it is to host as opposed to being a cast member. The host is in almost every sketch and it's a whole different set of burdens. Tina Fey has hosted a couple shows in my time, and she i s so sweet and so brilliant. Amy Poehler is a favorite, too. Jimmy Fallon hosted last year and he's remarkable.

Does it affect your job when the cast turns over like this?

One thing about when [Kristen Wiig] or anybody leaves, is they take away their repeating sketches. When we do a Target Lady, it's a lot easier for me because I know how it's done and the prototype is there. The set is the same and the entrances are similar. We lose all of that.

Does that make you more nervous about this new season starting on Saturday?

It's the same intense butterflies every week. I just go on what I'm told by people who have been there for 30 years: every time a major cast member leaves there's been this sense of, ‘Uh oh, the show's in trouble.' But Lorne finds brilliant people and they slide in and we move on.