Let a young Lorne Michaels school you on one of comedy's most important truths

Five years before he created the cultural phenomenon that remains Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels was a guest on the CBC program Luncheon Date. At the time, Michaels was promoting his CBC variety series The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour, which he was the writer, producer and co-star of. Sitting with Luncheon host Elwood Glover, Michaels made it clear during the interview that he was already aware — thanks in part to the legendary Mel Brooks — of some of the comic philosophies that remain evident as SNL continues into its much-discussed 42nd season.

"Mel Brooks once defined comedy as 'polite hostility,'" Michaels said on the program. "And I think once you sort of lose the edge of hostility — the hostility that comes with just existing day to day. Once you lose that, once you limit yourself to saying, 'Well, that's not funny,' or 'That can't be funny' or 'You can't do jokes on that,' then you've limited yourself to the point where you're ineffective as a comedian."

It's hard to argue with the man who helped launch the careers of the hardly ineffective likes of John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Chris Rock, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon. And last week, his contributions to comedy led him to receive America's highest civilian honour last week: the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

For more throwbacks like this one, visit the CBC Digital Archives.