In 1986, ‘Saturday Night Live’ censored a comedian live on air. Viewers responded by mailing Lorne Michaels envelopes full of shit
NBC briefly censored Sam Kinison during a five-minute Saturday Night Live set in October 1986, cutting away from jokes about drugs and televangelists. The edits prompted confusion and anger among viewers, and the incident highlighted the restrictions comedians faced on network television.
NBC said drug references had to be negative, while Kinison had been asked to remove the religious joke at dress rehearsal but kept it in. SNL producer Lorne Michaels defended the network’s decision; Kinison’s fans responded by mailing human faeces to the show’s headquarters. The following month, Kinison hosted SNL for the first and only time.
In short
- NBC cut away from Sam Kinison’s 1986 SNL set.
- The edits covered drug references and a joke about televangelists.
- Angry fans mailed faeces to the show’s headquarters.
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The case for
NBC had a responsibility to meet broadcast standards and protect its ability to air a live show on a national network. It had warned Kinison about the religious joke, and its stated rules required drug references to be presented negatively; cutting the material could be seen as enforcing clear conditions rather than singling him out.
The case against
Live censorship can confuse viewers and frustrate the expectation that a comedian’s performance will be presented as performed, especially when the edits interrupt the set. Critics could argue that restrictions on jokes about drugs and religion narrowed artistic expression and that viewers, rather than the network alone, should judge challenging material.
Explained simply
Saturday Night Live is a live American comedy programme on NBC, a major US television network. In the 1980s, network broadcasts faced rules about what they could show or say, including restrictions on drug references and religious material.
Sam Kinison was a stand-up comedian known for provocative material, and Lorne Michaels was Saturday Night Live’s producer. The incident drew attention to the limits placed on comedy during a live network broadcast, and to the tension between a comedian’s act and the broadcaster’s rules.