Looking For the Heart of "Saturday Night"

It's nearly 1 A.M. and Norm Macdonald is in the hallway backstage at NBC Studio 8H, where the Matthew Perry-hosted second show of the season is drawing to a close. Technically, Macdonald should be joining all his colleagues — Molly Shannon, Cheri Oteri, Ana Gasteyer, Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Tim Meadows, Tracy Morgan, Jim Breuer, Darrell Hammond and Colin Quinn — as well as Perry and musical guests Oasis for the curtain call. But Macdonald — a true believer in the Church of Not Giving a Fuck, where he worships forefathers like Dean Martin and, yes, Burt Reynolds — doesn't do curtain calls. Nobody's cheerleader, he prefers to deliver the "fake news" and flee.

Macdonald doesn't generally attend the traditional Saturday Night Live after-party, either. "I never see the point," he explains. "There's all these people you know, and who wants to be with them? Then there's all these people you don't know — and I don't like them, either." Tonight, though, he's thinking of going. He even appears to be in a good mood. This is not because his "Weekend Update" segment went well — much better than last week, when he endured the indignity of sharing his desk with Richard Jewell. ("I fuckin' hated him," Macdonald says. "He was creepy. What the hell did he ever do? Not bomb something?") No, Macdonald is feeling "hot" tonight because his bookie is in the audience and Norm is up $15,000.