Don Novello: I’m not sure of the year, but I would say early eighties. Bill Murray was hosting, I was a guest as a performer, and I really was like a writer for him. And at the end of the show, everyone’s going up on stage to say good night, and there’s a commercial break – two minutes, four minutes, whatever – and during the break, Ebersol suddenly comes running up and says, “It’s on the news, Russia’s invading Poland, and you should announce it.” Bill said, “What should I do?” And I told him, wisely as it turns out, “That’s news thing. This is a comedy show. Why would you want to do it?” Ebersol says, “Come on, we’ve got thirty seconds, you’re going to do it.” Well, I was not going to stand there when he announced it, so I went and stood way in the back, even though I was one of the main guests. So Bill announced it to America that Russia had invaded Poland and “the poor people of Poland, our hearts go out to them.” It was really almost tear-eyed. And it didn’t happen. The “invasion” didn’t happen, at least not that night. But I guess Ebersol wanted this to be the comedy show that broke it to America that Russia invaded Poland.
Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, as Told By Its Stars, Writers and Guests
