AUSTIN, Texas — A collection documenting decades of one of the longest-running network shows in American history will soon be available for Texans to see in person.
Lorne Michaels, the creator and executive producer of “Saturday Night Live,” has donated his archive to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
The Lorne Michaels Collection documents Michaels’ career from his earliest writing for programs like “The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show” and “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in,” all the way up through nearly 50 years of “SNL.” The Ransom Center says the collection “provides insight into the creative and production processes behind ‘Saturday Night Live,'” which has “made a lasting imprint on American culture” over its decades on the air.
Within the collection are items like behind-the-scenes “SNL” rehearsal notes, an annotated “Mean Girls” script, personal photographs and more.
“Lorne Michaels has kept us up late and laughing for 50 years,” Ransom Center Director Stephen Enniss said. “And I’m confident [that] for years to come, his archive will be studied by students and researchers looking for insight into the social, political and cultural history of our time. We are deeply grateful to him for entrusting this rich legacy to us.”
“Live from New York and now home in Austin has a great ring to it,” UT President Jay Hartzell said. “Lorne Michaels changed entertainment and shaped generations of American culture, and we could not be more grateful and excited that he has selected UT and the Harry Ransom Center as the home to much of his life’s work.”
When cataloging of the collection is complete, the Ransom Center said students, researchers and anyone interested in learning more about Michaels’ career will have access to the materials. The collection is expected to be fully available for research in January of next year.
Before then, the center is preparing a major exhibition, opening this fall, to offer the public a preview into the collection. The center said “Live From New York! The Making of Lorne Michaels” will provide the public a closer view of the “SNL” production process through drafts, correspondence, photos, artifacts and more and will highlight key moments from the show’s history and “its role in reflecting and shaping societal discourse on politics, culture and identity.”
The exhibition is expected to be on view from Sept. 20, 2025, through March 15, 2026.
PHOTOS: The Lorne Michaels Collection at the Harry Ransom Center
More about the Harry Ransom Center
Founded in 1957, the Harry Ransom Center is internationally recognized as a premier institution for humanities research and includes many extensive collections.
According to the center, those include nearly 1 million books, 5 million photographs, 100,000 works of art and more than 42 million manuscripts. Highlights include actor Robert De Niro‘s archive of costumes, scripts and other personal effects; original works by Frida Kahlo; Jack Kerouac’s notebook documenting his writing of “On the Road”; collections dedicated to famed writers, including Arthur Miller, James Baldwin, Oscar Wilde and Tennessee Williams; and one of only 20 complete copies of the Gutenberg Bible in the world.