A Jovial Jon Hamm Toasts Lorne Michaels at Peabody Awards
A Jovial Jon Hamm Toasts Lorne Michaels at Peabody Awards originally appeared on L.A. Mag.
"Yay, me!" said Jon Hamm when he stepped onto the Beverly Wilshire stage in a lighthearted mood at the 85th Peabody Awards on Sunday, June 1."Wait ... Jeez, guys. Alright, here's the deal," he continued. "No one knows this. I'm telling you for the first time. I will never, ever forget the first time I stepped into Studio 8H [at 30 Rockefeller Plaza]. It's the trippiest, weirdest experience you've ever had.""Hosting Saturday Night Live ... before then, I was known as the guy drinking whiskey in a suit. AND I was on Mad Men. Hold for laugh!" he said. "The first table read, this is what happened: I kept expecting Lorne [Michaels] to say, 'You know what? We changed our minds.' I'm not going to do Lorne's voice — everyone's heard it." (Hamm received more laughs.)
Hamm continued: "He said, 'Don't worry, if this doesn't work, everyone will blame us.' And that is so Lorne: comforting and totally terrifying all at the same time! But under his leadership, SNL has launched the careers of comedy giants: Belushi, Radner, Murphy, Ferrell, Fey, Wiig, Poehler, Armisen, Molly Shannon, everybody, so many more. SNL gave them a home, and gave us them.""And if you've ever found yourself quoting a line like, 'Wasn't that special?' you've felt the impact, right?" Hamm posed. "The Church Lady sketches were hilarious, but they also revealed to us how we police each other's behavior under the guise of morality. And isn't that right now?"
A woman from the crowd called out, "wooh!" Not missing a beat, Hamm pointed into the audience and quipped, "My mom's here!" Then he shook his head and hand. "My mom's dead," he retracted, laughing to himself. "I wish had comedy skills ... I don't!" "Anyway, that has always been the secret sauce of SNL: holding up a mirror and reflecting America's culture to us. Politics, contradictions, all of it, right back at you," Hamm concluded. "Because, yes, SNL is wigs and cue cards and gigs and gags, but it's always something that dares to confront who we really are. And for doing that so well, live, at 11:30 p.m. every Saturday for five decades, this institution honors the institution that is Saturday Night Live!"
After a clip, creator and producer of SNL Lorne Michaels took the stage — along with seminal cast members Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen and Molly Shannon — to accept the Peabody Institutional Award. "I don't really deserve this," Michaels began. "But in a way I do.""During SNL 50 this year, all of those people coming back from the first season on, all being in one room and performing and applauding, I think was one of the most moving experiences of my life," Michaels said.
"And I'm not planning a 60th," he continued, "but I think that getting to do what I get to do, is everything that makes me happy ... it also makes me angry.""The thing that I want to say about the Peabody — because I have won this before," Michaels added, to laughs. "Is that, when you come to the Peabodys and you walk in, unlike other awards shows, you know you're in the right room. And it's really an honor to be here, so thank you."
The winners of the 85th Peabody Awards — which moved to Los Angeles' Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel, last year — were pre-announced. See full winners list here.
They represented the most captivating and inspiring stories released in broadcasting and streaming media during 2024, and included Andrea Mitchell (Peabody Career Achievement Award honoree), Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun), Kerry Washington (Daughters) and Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer).
Other presenters included Anna Kendrick, Kerry Washington, Jurnee Smollett, Linda Perry, Mandy Moore, Marissa Bode, Nava Mau, Randall Park, Stephen Merchant, Uzo Aduba, Van Jones, Jacob Soboroff, Yvonne Orji, and Roy Wood Jr. returned to host the event.
This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
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