Why Saturday Night Live season 50 will be its 'toughest' season yet

Lorne Michaels had lots of revelations for longtime Saturday Night Live fans. The series creator talked about the upcoming season with the Hollywood Reporter, and confirmed that he would be staying on for as long as he could.

That doesn't mean the job is going to get any easier, however. In fact, James Andrew Miller, the author of the book, Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, believes that SNL will be facing its most difficult batch of episodes yet in season 50.

SNL season 50 will juggle tributes and the election

The reason why? The series will have to juggle multiple cultural events and do them justice while still allowing for cast members to test out their talents. It will also have to prove, Miller's estimation, that it can still draw consistent ratings on NBC:

"It’s hard to imagine a scenario for the show where the stakes could be any higher."

The author noted, to Page Six, that season 50 will have the distinction and the challenge of having to satirize the Presidential election while at the same time paying homage to the five decades of shows that preceded it.

Lorne Michaels has plans to stay on as boss

One of these things would be enough to sustain a full season, but Miller told the outlet that Lorne Michaels will really have to thread the needle in order to not shortchange one of these huge events. "All eyes will be on Lorne to see whether or not it will be his last... in terms of full time presence," the author opined.

It's worth noting that "useful" is the word Michaels used to describe his rationale for staying on. He feels that he should run SNL as long as his guiding hand benefits the show, and whenever he feels like he's become a detriment, he still step back.

"As long as it’s important and I can be useful, I’ll stay," he reasoned. Saturday Night Live season 50 premieres on September 28, so we will find out sooner rather than later if Lorne Michaels is up to the challenge.