Weekend Update: OJ Simpson

From 1994 to 1998, Norm Macdonald anchored Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live. During that time, he waged a one-man comedic campaign against OJ Simpson that would become legendary—and allegedly cost him his job.

The OJ Simpson trial was the biggest news story of the era. Most comedians approached it carefully, aware of the racial tensions involved, the passionate opinions on both sides. Norm approached it differently: he simply stated, over and over, that OJ was guilty, and he made that statement funny.

"Well, it's finally official: Murder is legal in the state of California."

Week after week, regardless of what other news had occurred, Norm found a way to return to OJ. Sometimes the jokes were elaborate. Sometimes they were blunt. Always, they carried the same message: this guy killed two people and got away with it, and isn't that something?

"In a blockbuster trade today, the Buffalo Bills traded OJ Simpson to the Los Angeles Rams for a quarterback to be named later and two bloody gloves."

Legend has it that Don Ohlmeyer, an NBC executive and personal friend of OJ Simpson, grew increasingly frustrated with Norm's jokes and eventually pressured the show to remove him from Update. Whether or not this is exactly what happened—Lorne Michaels has given various explanations over the years—the narrative became part of comedy lore: Norm lost his job because he wouldn't stop telling the truth about a murderer.

When Norm was finally removed from Update, he didn't stop. He made OJ jokes in his stand-up, on talk shows, anywhere he had a microphone. The commitment was total. He wasn't doing it for ratings or controversy—he was doing it because he thought it was right, and because he thought it was funny, and because Norm didn't distinguish between those two things.

The OJ material encapsulates everything Norm believed about comedy: Say what you think is true. Don't back down when people get uncomfortable. Accept the consequences. The joke is more important than the gig.