9.30.21 Hero of the Day: Norm Macdonald

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A SPECIAL HERO OF THE DAY!

Name: Norm Macdonald
Age: was 61
Occupation: comedian
Last Seen: up there
Awarded For: being one of the funniest men alive... ever
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The world is seemingly less funny these days.

Comedy has always been like a balancing act on a thin string. Sometimes, one succeeds and sometimes, you fall flat on your ass. These days, the jokes one may tell may make one laugh in agony. However, some will cry that they offend. 

Look at "Blazing Saddles". Back in 1974, it broke many barriers. Today, a film like it could never be made. In an age where most movies released it seems are all reboots of superhero franchises and whatever ride is at Disneyland, there isn't much room for laughter. 

But as we all know, bad things come in threes. Jim Breuer is now a grade A asshole for not wanting to play venues that require COVID-19 vaccinations, Jay Leno has once again weasel his way back to television with a shitty reboot of Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life and now, we've lost Norm Macdonald.

Born and raised by schoolteachers in Quebec City, Macdonald rose to fame in the 80s appearing at comedy clubs all throughout Canada. In 1990, he made his TV debut on an episode of Star Search. It led him to a career in writing for sitcoms like Roseanne. However, he got his big break in 1993 when he was hired to be a new cast member of Saturday Night Live. A year later, he was hired to take over Weekend Update from Kevin Nealon, who left a year later. 

Macdonald also was known for his countless impersonations, including former presidential candidate Bob Dole, Larry King and Burt Reynolds on the Celebrity Jeopardy! sketches.

However, his tenure on SNL was not without controversy. In 1998, he was fired from WU not by SNL producer Lorne Michaels, but rather NBC West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer. Ohlmeyer claimed that Macdonald simply wasn't funny and that his ratings during the segment were abhorrent. However, it was revealed that Ohlmeyer was angry at Macdonald for his constant jokes against his friend, former football player and murder suspect O.J. Simpson. After his WU release, Macdonald appeared on The Howard Stern Show where he revealed that Ohlmeyer threw a party for the jurors at the Simpson trial as a thank you for keeping him free. Needless to say, there was plenty of backlash for Macdonald's firing. SNL's ratings plummeted, and competition from Fox's MadTV the syndicated Howard Stern Radio Show on Saturday nights gave that program a message.

But in the long run, Macdonald won over Ohlmeyer. Eventually, he left NBC and returned to ABC to helm Monday Night Football. However, he made the mistake of hiring Dennis Miller and ratings fell. Recently, it was revealed that Ohlmeyer tried to force Conan O'Brien to not book Macdonald on his show. However, Conan won that argument.

Thankfully, losing SNL wasn't the end of the world for Norm. He had movies ("Dirty Work", "Duece Bigalow: Male Gigalo" and "Billy Madison"), TV shows (The Norm Show, Mike Tyson Mysteries and The Middle) and even a podcast. His stand-up act packed theaters and he was a frequent guest on many talk shows.

However, he had one secret: cancer.

When he died on September 14, most people didn't know that he had the disease. Maybe he didn't want sympathy while he was battling it. He just wanted people to laugh at his jokes out of the fact that he was funny and not out of sympathy. Yes, his death came as a shock. But, we'll always have the happy flashbacks of the great characters he gave us. 

Thanks, Norm. We'd to you to say hi to Mr. Ohlmeyer for us, but I don't think you're anywhere near him now.

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