I Had No Idea Everyone At SNL Was Terrified Of Getting Sent To 17, But Questlove Explained Why It's 'Worse Than Getting Reported To HR'

Every job has something the employees want no part of. Whether it’s a specific task or a potential consequence, even the healthiest of work cultures have something the workers dread. At Saturday Night Live, that’s apparently getting called unexpectedly to 17. That’s where longtime showrunner Lorne Michaels’ office is located. The cast assembles there every week to meet the host and have the pitch meeting, but getting called back there by yourself brings a whole different level of emotions.

Questlove talked about that this past week. He was apparently minding his own business over at 30 Rock when he got a call to go to 17, and immediately, his mind started racing about what he could have possibly done. He told Deadline when people get called to 17, typically their life is about to change for the better or they’re about to get fired.

It’s very rarely just chit-chat or something unimportant, as Michaels is a very busy man who oversees all aspects of SNL and its upcoming hosts, as well as a variety of side projects. Here’s how Questlove set up the story...

The problem with getting told you're going to a meeting later in the day is that you have all day to sit there and think about it. Let the record show he thought plenty about it. He spent all day speculating about what he could have done or whether he insulted a cast member. By the time he actually went to Michaels' office, Questlove hilariously said he felt like he was doing the Green Mile walk.

Fortunately, in this case, it turned out to be the life changing for the better side of the coin. Michaels said he’d recently watched his first documentary Summer Of Soul and was wondering if he’d be open to working on a project for him. He explained the show wanted to put together a special documentary on the music to run for the 50th anniversary and thought he’d be the perfect person to direct it. After a sense of relief washed over him, he said yes and ultimately produced a music doc fans loved that chronicled the show’s entire run.

Both current and former cast members consistently talk about the presence Michaels has and how intimidating he can be. He rarely laughs out loud as people are pitching comedy bits, and there’s an aura of mystery around him, in terms of what he thinks and how he feels. If you believe former cast members, however, he’s really lightened up over the past decade or so. David Spade said he was shocked cast members are comfortable asking Michaels why their sketches got cut nowadays. He said there was none of that when he worked on the show in the early '90s.

A little softening is probably for the better though. Plus, Michaels needs to eventually let someone in on his process, as he can’t run the shows forever. His biographer told us she thinks he’ll give up responsibility more gradually, rather than quit all at once, but even so, that means someone needs to step into that void.

There have long been rumors that Weekend Update host and former head writer Colin Jost could be that person, but there’s also a chance he could end up leaving the show instead. We’ll just have to wait and see because, at some point, somebody is going to get called up to 17 and despite those initial fears, it’ll turn out to be good news when they’re offered the gig.