History Creator / NormMacdonald

Norman Gene Macdonald (October 17, 1959 – September 14, 2021) was a Canadian-born comedian who started on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (though ''SNL'' has had a lot of Canadian cast members, like Creator/PhilHartman, Creator/DanAykroyd, and Creator/MikeMyers, Norm was the only one who was not born in Ontario; he was born in UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}} and grew up in Alberta). Though he appeared in sketches on the show (his impressions of Burt Reynolds and Larry King were hilarious), he was most widely known for the "Weekend Update" segment, which was considered by many critics and viewers alike to be the [[JustHereForGodzilla only reason to watch]] ''Saturday Night Live'' when it was limping to the barn with SeasonalRot during the show's 20th season and rumors spread that NBC was going to cancel ''SNL'' yet again. Creator/ChevyChase, the original host of the segment, has gone on record calling Macdonald the best of his successors[[note]]though Norm's take on "Weekend Update" combined the dry delivery of Creator/CharlesRocket from season six with the cavalier attitude of Creator/BillMurray from season five, which seems like an unlikely mix, but for Norm and his brand of comedy, it works[[/note]].

Macdonald passed away on September 14, 2021, nine years after being diagnosed with cancer. His cancer had not been announced prior to his death. They fought to a draw.

Norman Gene Macdonald (October 17, 1959 – September 14, 2021) was a Canadian-born comedian who started on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (though ''SNL'' has had a lot of Canadian cast members, like Creator/PhilHartman, Creator/DanAykroyd, and Creator/MikeMyers, Norm was the only one who was not born in Ontario; he was born in UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}} and grew up in Alberta). Though he appeared in sketches on the show (his impressions of Burt Reynolds and Larry King were hilarious), he was most widely known for the "Weekend Update" segment, which was considered by many critics and viewers alike to be the [[JustHereForGodzilla only reason to watch]] ''Saturday Night Live'' when it was limping to the barn with SeasonalRot during the show's 20th season and rumors spread that NBC was going to cancel ''SNL'' yet again. Creator/ChevyChase, the original host of the segment, has gone on record calling Macdonald the best of his successors[[note]]though Norm's take on "Weekend Update" combined the dry delivery of Charles Rocket from season six with the cavalier attitude of Bill Murray from season five, which seems like an unlikely mix, but for Norm and his brand of comedy, it works[[/note]].

* CaptainObvious: A founding principal of his comedy is to comment on difficult or delicate issues by making bluntly obvious observations.
** On WebVideo/ComediansInCarsGettingCoffee, in response to Creator/PattonOswalt saying the worst part of the Creator/BillCosby rape scandal was the hypocrisy of it all, Norm suggested that the worst part was actually the ''raping''.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: At the end of one of Norm's appearances on his show, he asks Conan O'Brien if he can attempt to resurrect his "The Perfect Crime" bit. Conan notes that he can have it, because he rehearsed it once backstage when they were both working at ''SNL'', and it didn't get a single laugh. Since this is at the very end of his appearance, nothing more is ever said of it. A few years later the bit was the centerpiece of Norm's ''Me Doing Standup''.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: The accusations from NBC that Norm simply wasn't funny come off this way when you consider this: his first appearance on ''SNL'' after the Weekend Update debacle (note that Norm was only fired from the sketch, not the show, so he had infrequent appearances for months afterwards) was during guest host Creator/SarahMichelleGellar's monologue. He was immediately greeted by a massively positive audience response - interrupting the skit for several moments. And just to hammer it home, Norm wound up hosting an episode himself ''a year-and-a-half'' later.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Many of the characters he played were ManChild jerks, and his style of comedy rarely [[BrutalHonesty held back on jokes at someone else's expense]], but he was said to be one of the sweetest guys off camera. The sheer number of social media and TV tributes he received from his friends and colleagues following his death proves how much they loved him.

** Nearly every week one of his news stories would "support" the conclusion that GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff. The only exception to this was when he got Hasselhoff to appear on the set and read a card saying "Germans love me," which quite reasonably supported his theory.

* RunningGag: Several on Weekend Update. The most memorable ones being observing that GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff, his weird story of the week which involved Frank Stallone, and his "Notes to Self" reminding him to shamelessly exploit stupid things happening in the news.

** He has said one of his favorite kinds of jokes are the sort where the punchline is almost identical to the setup. For instance, this one concerning Julia Roberts' divorce from musician Lyle Lovett:

--->"The punishment for having sex with [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor Princess Diana]] is death; the punishment for having sex with Princess Anne is: having sex with Princess Anne."

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Many of the characters he played were ManChild jerks, and his style of comedy rarely [[BrutalHonesty held back on jokes at someone else's expense]], but he was said to be one of the sweetest guys off camera.

He voiced Pigeon on ''WesternAnimation/MikeTysonMysteries''. In 2015, he starred as the Colonel in UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken's advertising. In late 2016, he authored a book called "Based on a True Story", very loosely based on his life. He also currently supplies the voice for the gelatinous crewman Yaphit on ''Series/TheOrville''.

Macdonald passed away on September 14, 2021, nine years after being diagnosed with cancer. His cancer had not been announced prior to his death.

His most recent series was a sports show on Creator/ComedyCentral called ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Sports Show with Norm Macdonald]]'', essentially a sports-themed version of his "Weekend Update" performances, which was cancelled after one season despite regularly having over a million viewers an episode. His current project is a weekly podcast on Website/YouTube called ''Norm Macdonald Live''.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: His take on JackKevorkian.

Norman Gene Macdonald (October 17, 1959 – September 14, 2021) was a Canadian-born comedian who started on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (though ''SNL'' has had a lot of Canadian cast members, like Creator/PhilHartman, Creator/DanAykroyd, and Creator/MikeMyers, Norm was the only one who was not born in Ontario. Norm was born in UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}} and grew up in Alberta. Though he appeared in sketches on the show (his impressions of Burt Reynolds and Larry King were hilarious), he was most widely known for the "Weekend Update" segment, which was considered by many critics and viewers alike to be the [[JustHereForGodzilla only reason to watch]] ''Saturday Night Live'' when it was limping to the barn with SeasonalRot during the show's 20th season and rumors spread that NBC was going to cancel ''SNL'' yet again. Creator/ChevyChase, the original host of the segment, has gone on record calling Macdonald the best of his successors[[note]]though Norm's take on "Weekend Update" combined the dry delivery of Charles Rocket from season six with the cavalier attitude of Bill Murray from season five, which seems like an unlikely mix, but for Norm and his brand of comedy, it works[[/note]].

After a rather ignominious split from the show (and when the show was starting to become popular again), he did some movies and TV shows, none of which met or exceeded the success he had on ''SNL''. His appearances on late night talk shows were quite popular, for had has a tendency to lampshade the tropes of whatever medium he is currently operating in.

Known as a comedian for comedians, he was foremost a master of AntiHumor. His comedic method can usually be distilled down to a three step process:

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Had one of the most memorable runs on the celebrity version of ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'', where he won half a million dollars for charity, after spending the week as the ButtMonkey in the Fastest Finger contestant row (he was the last contestant to play the main game and the correct order to his solo FF question spelled out his name). He wanted to go for the million dollars, but admitted he was WildMassGuessing and was talked into walking away by Regis so that he wouldn't cost the charity the money he had banked in case he was wrong. [[spoiler:Had Norm chosen the answer he was thinking about, he would have been correct.]]

* TheGadfly: Much like Creator/AndyKaufman, Norm has a history of making truly biting, smart ass remarks in such a way that people aren't sure if he's joking. Doubtless this contributed to his firing from SNL.
* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Norm is often involved in projects with by Creator/AdamSandler, Creator/DennisMiller, and Artie Lange (who was a cast member on ''SNL'''s [[DuelingShows rival show]], ''Series/{{MADtv}}'', until Lange was fired for his cocaine abuse).

** There was also another recurring non sequitur that would pop up almost as frequently. The subject? You guessed it: Frank Stallone.

-->"Which once again proves my theory: GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff."[[invoked]]

-->"The punishment for having sex with [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor Princess Diana]] is death; the punishment for having sex with Princess Anne is: having sex with Princess Anne."

——

Norman Gene Macdonald (October 17, 1959 - September 14, 2021) was a Canadian-born comedian who started on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (though ''SNL'' has had a lot of Canadian cast members, like Creator/PhilHartman, Creator/DanAykroyd, and Creator/MikeMyers, Norm was the only one who was not born in Ontario. Norm was born in UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}} and grew up in Alberta. Though he appeared in sketches on the show (his impressions of Burt Reynolds and Larry King were hilarious), he was most widely known for the "Weekend Update" segment, which was considered by many critics and viewers alike to be the [[JustHereForGodzilla only reason to watch]] ''Saturday Night Live'' when it was limping to the barn with SeasonalRot during the show's 20th season and rumors spread that NBC was going to cancel ''SNL'' yet again. Creator/ChevyChase, the original host of the segment, has gone on record calling Macdonald the best of his successors[[note]]though Norm's take on "Weekend Update" combined the dry delivery of Charles Rocket from season six with the cavalier attitude of Bill Murray from season five, which seems like an unlikely mix, but for Norm and his brand of comedy, it works[[/note]].

Norman Gene Macdonald (October 17, 1959-September 14, 2021) is a Canadian-born comedian who started on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (though ''SNL'' has had a lot of Canadian cast members, like Creator/PhilHartman, Creator/DanAykroyd, and Creator/MikeMyers, Norm was the only one who was not born in Ontario. Norm was born in Quebec and grew up in Alberta. Though he appeared in sketches on the show (his impressions of Burt Reynolds and Larry King were hilarious), he was most widely known for the "Weekend Update" segment, which was considered by many critics and viewers alike to be the [[JustHereForGodzilla only reason to watch]] ''Saturday Night Live'' when it was limping to the barn with SeasonalRot during the show's 20th season and rumors spread that NBC was going to cancel ''SNL'' yet again. Creator/ChevyChase, the original host of the segment, has gone on record calling Macdonald the best of his successors[[note]]though Norm's take on "Weekend Update" combined the dry delivery of Charles Rocket from season six with the cavalier attitude of Bill Murray from season five, which seems like an unlikely mix, but for Norm and his brand of comedy, it works[[/note]].

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Norman Gene Macdonald (born October 17, 1959 in Quebec City, Quebec)[[note]]...Or so the Germans would have us believe.[[/note]] is a Canadian-born comedian who started on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (though ''SNL'' has had a lot of Canadian cast members, like Creator/PhilHartman, Creator/DanAykroyd, and Creator/MikeMyers, Norm is the only one who was not born in Ontario. Norm was born in Quebec and grew up in Alberta. Though he appeared in sketches on the show (his impressions of Burt Reynolds and Larry King were hilarious), he was most widely known for the "Weekend Update" segment, which was considered by many critics and viewers alike to be the [[JustHereForGodzilla only reason to watch]] ''Saturday Night Live'' when it was limping to the barn with SeasonalRot during the show's 20th season and rumors spread that NBC was going to cancel ''SNL'' yet again. Creator/ChevyChase, the original host of the segment, has gone on record calling Macdonald the best of his successors[[note]]though Norm's take on "Weekend Update" combined the dry delivery of Charles Rocket from season six with the cavalier attitude of Bill Murray from season five, which seems like an unlikely mix, but for Norm and his brand of comedy, it works[[/note]].

After a rather ignominious split from the show (and when the show was starting to become popular again), he did some movies and TV shows, none of which met or exceeded the success he had on ''SNL''. His appearances on late night talk shows are quite popular, for he has a tendency to lampshade the tropes of whatever medium he is currently operating in.

Known as a comedian for comedians, he's foremost a master of AntiHumor. His comedic method can usually be distilled down to a three step process:

Since 2014, he's been voicing Pigeon on ''WesternAnimation/MikeTysonMysteries''. In 2015, he starred as the Colonel in UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken's advertising. In late 2016, he authored a book called "Based on a True Story", very loosely based on his life. He also currently supplies the voice for the gelatinous crewman Yaphit on ''Series/TheOrville''.

----

Norman Gene Macdonald (born October 17, 1959 in Quebec City, Quebec) is a Canadian-born comedian who started on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (though ''SNL'' has had a lot of Canadian cast members, like Creator/PhilHartman, Creator/DanAykroyd, and Creator/MikeMyers, Norm is the only one who was not born in Ontario. Norm was born in Quebec and grew up in Alberta. Though he appeared in sketches on the show (his impressions of Burt Reynolds and Larry King were hilarious), he was most widely known for the "Weekend Update" segment, which was considered by many critics and viewers alike to be the [[JustHereForGodzilla only reason to watch]] ''Saturday Night Live'' when it was limping to the barn with SeasonalRot during the show's 20th season and rumors spread that NBC was going to cancel ''SNL'' yet again. Creator/ChevyChase, the original host of the segment, has gone on record calling Macdonald the best of his successors[[note]]though Norm's take on "Weekend Update" combined the dry delivery of Charles Rocket from season six with the cavalier attitude of Bill Murray from season five, which seems like an unlikely mix, but for Norm and his brand of comedy, it works[[/note]].

!! Tropes:

-->"The punishment for having sex with Creator/PrincessDiana is death, the punishment for having sex with Princess Anne is: having sex with Princess Anne"

Norman Gene Macdonald (born October 17, 1959 in Quebec City, Quebec) is a Canadian-born comedian who started on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (though ''SNL'' has had a lot of Canadian cast members, like Creator/PhilHartman, Creator/DanAykroyd, and Creator/MikeMyers, Norm is the only one who was not born in Ontario. Norm was born in Quebec and grew up in Alberta) during the show's 19th season (1993-1994). Though he appeared in sketches on the show (his impressions of Burt Reynolds and Larry King were hilarious), he was most widely known for the "Weekend Update" segment, which was considered by many critics and viewers alike to be the [[JustHereForGodzilla only reason to watch]] ''Saturday Night Live'' when it was limping to the barn with SeasonalRot during the show's 20th season and rumors spread that NBC was going to cancel ''SNL'' yet again. Creator/ChevyChase, the original host of the segment, has gone on record calling Macdonald the best of his successors[[note]]though Norm's take on "Weekend Update" combined the dry delivery of Charles Rocket from season six with the cavalier attitude of Bill Murray from season five, which seems like an unlikely mix, but for Norm and his brand of comedy, it works[[/note]].

Norman Gene Macdonald (born October 17, 1959 in Quebec City, Quebec) is a Canadian-born comedian who started on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (though ''SNL'' has had a lot of Canadian cast members, like Creator/PhilHartman, Creator/DanAykroyd, and Creator/MikeMyers, Norm is the only one who was not born in Ontario. Norm was born in Quebec and grew up in Alberta) during the show's 19th season (1993-1994). Though he appeared in sketches on the show (his impressions of Burt Reynolds and Larry King were hilarious), he was most widely known for the "Weekend Update" segment, which was considered by many critics and viewers alike to be the [[JustHereForGodzilla only reason to watch]] ''Saturday Night Live'' when it was limping to the barn with SeasonalRot during the show's 20th season and rumors spread that NBC was going to cancel ''SNL'' yet again. Creator/ChevyChase, the original host of the segment, has gone on record calling Macdonald the best of his successors.

* TooSoon: Invoked. As a guest on ''Series/TheDailyShow'', he unapologetically cracked jokes about the death of [[Series/CrocodileHunter "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin]] just after it happened. Jon Stewart practically begged him to stop... [[ActuallyPrettyFunny while fighting back fits of laughter]].

Norman Gene Macdonald (born October 17, 1959) is a Canadian-born comedian who started on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (though ''SNL'' has had a lot of Canadian cast members, like Creator/PhilHartman, Creator/DanAykroyd, and Creator/MikeMyers, Norm is the only one who was not born in Ontario. Norm was born in Quebec and grew up in Alberta) during the show's 19th season (1993-1994). Though he appeared in sketches on the show (his impressions of Burt Reynolds and Larry King were hilarious), he was most widely known for the "Weekend Update" segment, which was considered by many critics and viewers alike to be the [[JustHereForGodzilla only reason to watch]] ''Saturday Night Live'' when it was limping to the barn with SeasonalRot during the show's 20th season and rumors spread that NBC was going to cancel ''SNL'' yet again. Creator/ChevyChase, the original host of the segment, has gone on record calling Macdonald the best of his successors.

What happens when a DeadpanSnarker and a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} have a kid. Oh, and they're both [[NietzscheWannabe nihilists]]. Well, that or [[Film/TheDarkKnight The Joker]]. [[OverlyLongGag Wait, Norm Macdonald is The Joker!]]

As of late 2014, he voices Pigeon on "WesternAnimation/MikeTysonMysteries". As of 2015, he stars as the Colonel in UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken's advertising. In late 2016, he authored a book called "Based on a True Story", very loosely based on his life. He also currently supplies the voice for the crewman.. er.. blob.. Yaphit on ''Series/TheOrville''.

-->"According to Roberts, she knew that the end was near when she realized that ''she'' was Julia Roberts, and she was married to ''Lyle Lovett''."

** On WebVideo/ComediansInCarsGettingCoffee, in response to the a Creator/BillCosby rape accuser saying that the disrespect was the worst part of the ordeal, Norm suggested that the worst part was actually the ''rape.''