Editing Harry Shearer (section)

====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>