SNL update

As reported by the LAT, a parody in Saturday's show that took aim at former Golden West executives Herb and Marion Sandler has been cleansed and reposted on NBC.com. In the original skit, the Herb Sandler character says he made $24 billion off the subprime boom (GW, parent of World Savings, made a ton of questionable loans before being sold to Wachovia). Especially nasty was a graphic appearing under the Sandlers that read "People who should be shot." SNL's executive producer, Lorne Michaels, said he wasn't aware that the Sandlers were real people until after the show had aired.

“When I spoke to them, I can assure you this: They are very, very real. I think they were angry, I think distraught, I think they were not expecting to turn on the television and see that. First of all, I pleaded incompetence, which is not a thing I do often, and the fact that I did not know they were real is 100% my responsibility.” The bit was penned by veteran “SNL” writer Jim Downey, who writes a large share of the show’s political sketches. Downey had heard of the Sandlers and “felt that from what he read and what he was basing it on, he thought it was a fair hit,” Michaels said.

The toned down skit takes out the part about “people who should be shot.” Michaels told the Times that the Sandlers did not request the changes.