‘No one has had more influence’ on how we laugh than Lorne Michaels, says biographer

Susan Morrison's new book, Lorne , the Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, is out tomorrow .

Adam Sandler's tribute to the 50th anniversary show began with Lorne Michaels and ended with Michaels .

Morrison : "It is the best biography I have ever read of a living person" Morrison : Michaels so willingly and often self critically turns over his cards.

Lorne has long been this object of obsession with the comedy world.

He's the Wizard of Oz, Obi Wan Kenobi , Jay Gatsby , he's Obi Wan Wan Kenobi .

The idea that he's been able to sustain it over these decades is remarkable.

But what's interesting is that these things were duds, and they were largely written by guys, who were in their 50s and 60s and who were refuges from radio.

There's a Direct Line between those Phyllis Diller interviews and the opening monologue of SNL .

The monologue at SNL that performs the same function, you know, you have a movie star coming onto this TV show, but by just chatting amiably with the audience, everyone is kind of put at ease.