Editing Harry Shearer (section)

===''Saturday Night Live''===
====Initial run under Lorne Michaels====
In August 1979, Shearer was hired as a writer and cast member on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', one of the first additions to the show's [[Saturday Night Live (season 1)|original 1975 cast]].<ref name="avclub"/> Recommended by [[Al Franken]] to ''Saturday Night Live'' creator [[Lorne Michaels]],<ref>{{harvnb|Shales|Miller|2002 |p=170}}</ref> the acquisition of Shearer was seen as an unofficial replacement for [[John Belushi]] and [[Dan Aykroyd]], who were both leaving the show.<ref name="ign2">{{cite web |title=Interview with Harry Shearer (Part 2 of 4) |url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/035/035861p1.html |author=Plume, Kenneth |website=IGN |date=February 10, 2000 |access-date=April 30, 2009 |archive-date=May 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522132612/http://movies.ign.com/articles/035/035861p1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Shearer describes his experience on the show as a "living hell" and "not a real pleasant place to work."<ref name="ign2"/> He did not get along well with the other writers and cast members and states that he was not included with the cast in the opening montage (although he was added to the montage for later episodes of the [[Saturday Night Live (season 5)|1979–80 season]]) and that Michaels had told the rest of the cast that he was "just a writer".<ref>{{harvnb|Shales|Miller|2002 |p=171}}</ref>

Michaels left ''Saturday Night Live'' at the end of the fifth season, taking the entire cast with him.<ref>{{harvnb|Shales|Miller|2002 |p=176}}</ref> Shearer told new executive producer [[Jean Doumanian]] that he was "not a fan of Lorne's" and offered to stay with the show if he was given the chance to overhaul the program and bring in experienced comedians, like Christopher Guest. However, Doumanian turned him down, so he decided to leave with the rest of the cast.<ref>{{harvnb|Shales|Miller|2002 |p=210}}</ref>

====Return in 1984 under Dick Ebersol====
{{quote box |width=30em |bgcolor=transparent |align=right |halign=left |quote=When I left, Dick [Ebersol] issued a press release, saying "creative differences." And the first person who called me for a comment on it read me that and I blurted out, "Yeah, I was creative and they were different."|salign=right |source=—Harry Shearer<ref name="Shales287"/>}}

In 1984, while promoting the film ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'', Shearer, Christopher Guest and Michael McKean performed on ''Saturday Night Live''. All three members were offered the chance to join the show in the [[Saturday Night Live (season 10)|1984–1985 season]]. Shearer accepted because he was treated well by the producers and he thought the backstage environment had improved<ref name="ign2"/> but later stated that he "didn't realize that guests are treated better than the regulars."<ref>{{harvnb|Shales|Miller|2002 |p=261}}</ref> Guest also accepted the offer while McKean rejected it, although he would join the cast in 1994.

[[Dick Ebersol]], who replaced Lorne Michaels as the show's producer, said that Shearer was "a gifted performer but a pain in the butt. He's just so demanding on the preciseness of things and he's very, very hard on the working people. He's just a nightmare-to-deal-with person."<ref>{{harvnb|Shales|Miller|2002 |p=260}}</ref> In January 1985, Shearer left the show for good,<ref name="ign2"/> partially because he felt he was not being used enough.<ref name="Shales287">{{harvnb|Shales|Miller|2002 |p=287}}</ref> [[Martin Short]] said Shearer "wanted to be creative and Dick [Ebersol] wanted something else. ... I think he felt his voice wasn't getting represented on the show. When he wouldn't get that chance, it made him very upset."<ref>{{harvnb|Shales|Miller|2002 |p=288}}</ref>