# Why do SNL people stare offscreen when talking? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253 "2011-01-03T19:54:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/1 "2011-01-03T19:54:53Z")
Are they reading cue cards? Even since I started noticing it a few years ago, it has bugged me. I always thought they memorized their scripts but given their necessity to create about 90 mins of new content a week, I can understand why they wouldn’t have everything memorized. Still, I wish that whenever they talk to each other during a skit, they’d look at that other person, instead of staring offscreen a lot. Maybe they are projecting for the audience? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/2 "2011-01-03T20:01:29Z")
Teleprompters rather than cue cards I believe, but the principle is the same. And you are not the only person it bothers. I can barely watch SNL without getting irritated. The hosts? I get it. The stars of SNL? Learn your goddamn lines or improvise. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/3 "2011-01-03T20:07:30Z")
ditto ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/4 "2011-01-03T20:10:14Z")
When Frank Zappa hosted, he called it out by asking “Am I supposed to read off of those cards?” Apparently it pissed of Dan Aykroid quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/5 "2011-01-03T20:12:34Z")
I’ve read that Lorne Michaels insists that the players _not_ memorize their lines and use the cue cards. I’m not sure of his reasoning behind this. It certainly is a hallmark of SNL. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/6 "2011-01-03T20:22:05Z")
The writers are changing the lines right up to air time. There’s no way for the cast to memorize the lines. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/7 "2011-01-03T21:39:27Z")
I know, it is weird. Only the best actors, like Phil Hartman, can look decent while on that show. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/8 "2011-01-03T21:43:15Z")
Isn’t the point of a teleprompter (however you want to capitalize it) that the words are displayed at the same location of the camera, and thus this problem is avoided? Then it seems odd that cards would be used, since even the lowest budget show has a teleprompter. I’ll bet there’s a doper who has been an audience member. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/9 "2011-01-03T21:46:26Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Isn’t the point of a teleprompter (however you want to capitalize it) that the words are displayed at the same location of the camera, and thus this problem is avoided? Then it seems odd that cards would be used, since even the lowest budget show has a teleprompter. I’ll bet there’s a doper who has been an audience member. Not that I’ve ever been to a taping of SNL, but I would imagine that there are cases where the actor needs to be looking in a direction other than directly at the camera and still be able to read the lines. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/10 "2011-01-03T22:46:34Z")
In a shot where two actors are both seen speaking to each other, the actors will be looking at the cards or teleprompters behind and to one side of the other person. That’s why they don’t appear to be looking at each other when they’re speaking, they’re not. When Seth Myers is doing Weekend Update (or any newscaster on any show), he is reading from a teleprompter which projects his script on a partially silvered mirror in front of the TV camera’s lens, so he can look straight into the lens and read his lines at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/11 "2011-01-03T22:47:27Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Isn’t the point of a teleprompter (however you want to capitalize it) that the words are displayed at the same location of the camera, and thus this problem is avoided? … I believe there is a teleprompter on the camera, for when the actor is talking to the audience, but when the actors are talking to each other, there is only one each to left and right. This often leads to two characters very noticible looking past each other while talking to each other. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/12 "2011-01-03T22:48:32Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Isn’t the point of a teleprompter (however you want to capitalize it) that the words are displayed at the same location of the camera, and thus this problem is avoided? Then it seems odd that cards would be used, since even the lowest budget show has a teleprompter. I’ll bet there’s a doper who has been an audience member. A Teleprompter is usually directly in front of a camera. The text is displayed in reverse on a monitor perpendicular to the lens. The light is reflected off a piece of glass at a 45 degree angle in front of the lens. This allows the person reading the text to look directly at the camera/viewer. In the case of SNL, they are reading off Teleprompters mounted in front of other cameras. They can’t look at the other actor, because for the other actor to be in the right place, they’d be blocking the Teleprompter (or cards, if they use them. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/13 "2011-01-03T22:49:51Z")
An SNL cue-card guy posted this: > [@](#): > > Holding cue cards is a stressful and physically demanding part of the job. Timing is everything in holding cards. If you flip a card one second too slow or one second too fast, then the actor is screwed. If your hand shakes from being nervous, thus shaking the cue card, then the actor is screwed. If you drop a card then the actor is screwed. If you pull 2 cards at once by mistake then the actor is screwed. There are so many more little things that can go wrong when you’re holding cue cards, especially for a live show. It’s the hardest part of being a cue card person and it’s the hardest thing to teach as well. > > [http://www.tvtix.com/cue-cards/average-day.html](http://www.tvtix.com/cue-cards/average-day.html) And I’m reminded of this scene from My Favorite Year with Peter O’toole. Peter O’Toole played an Errol Flynn-esque movie star about to go on a Sid Caesaresque live television show in the fifties without fully grasping the reality of live television. > [@](#): > > BENJY: You look great. How do you feel? > > ALAN: I feel surprisingly well, Stone. Thank you. In fact, I feel so well I’m going to make a prediction. It usually takes me two or three takes just to warm up, but tonight, I predict I’m going to get it on the first take. > > BENJY: We always get it on the first take. We have to. > > ALAN: You do? > > BENJY: Sure. This is live television. > > ALAN: Live. Live? What does live mean? > > BENJY: It means that at the exact moment you’re cavorting and leaping around that stage over there, 20 million people are seeing it. > > ALAN: Wait a minute. Wait a minute! > > BENJY: Mr. Swann, you’re white. > > ALAN: You mean it all goes into the camera lens and just spills out into people’s houses?! > > BENJY: Yeah. > > ALAN: I don’t know why anyone would have explained this to me before. > > BENJY: There’s nothing to worry about, Mr. Swann. Our audiences are great! > > ALAN: Audience, what audience? Audience? > > BENJY: You knew there was an audience. What did you think those seats were for? > > ALAN: I haven’t performed in front of an audience for 28 years. Audience? I played a butler. I HAD ONE LINE!!!.. I forgot it. > > BENJY: Don’t worry. This is gonna be easy. > > ALAN: For you, maybe. Not for me. **I’m not an actor; I’m a movie star!** ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/14 "2011-01-03T22:56:51Z")
**Telemark** already mentioned this, but it seems to have been overlooked: on SNL, frequently lines are being rewritten and changed up to the last minute before the show goes on. Memorizing the lines would be pointless and possibly counter-productive. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/15 "2011-01-03T23:03:36Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > I’ve read that Lorne Michaels insists that the players _not_ memorize their lines and use the cue cards. I’m not sure of his reasoning behind this. It certainly is a hallmark of SNL. I recall reading that Marlon Brando wanted cue cards all the time and refused to memorize his lines, though I think he did read them in advance. He felt that this style produced a more ad-libbed, impromptu sort of result, and that memorization produced a more stilted, robotic production. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/16 "2011-01-03T23:40:57Z")
> [@RedSwinglineOne](#): > > I believe there is a teleprompter on the camera, for when the actor is talking to the audience, but when the actors are talking to each other, there is only one each to left and right. This often leads to two characters very noticible looking past each other while talking to each other. Except for Weekend Update, they’re not using teleprompters, because the cameras are too far away to see the prompters easily. Everything is written in cue cards for sketches. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/17 "2011-01-03T23:47:53Z")
For people standing on stage delivering lines with other actors, cue cards are still common I believe. Teleprompters are usually for people sitting or standing still who are looking straight into a camera or who are standing at a podium. Teleprompters have to be very close to a person’s eyes, so it’s not as practical for a staged interaction between people. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/18 "2011-01-03T23:55:12Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > **Telemark** already mentioned this, but it seems to have been overlooked: on SNL, frequently lines are being rewritten and changed up to the last minute before the show goes on. Memorizing the lines would be pointless and possibly counter-productive. I agree. There is a SNL thread at [aspecialthing.com](http://aspecialthing.com), a comedy site, that has been going on for 2.5 years and this subject comes up from time to time. There’s a lot of fans and people in the business there and this seems to be the consensus. They have to use the cue cards because nothing is set in stone to be memorized. Some actors are too obvious when they stare at them, a few do it really well. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/19 "2011-01-04T02:22:44Z")
I worked at SNL, albeit many years ago. I just want to confirm that you guys have pretty much gotten it all, and correctly. A TelePromTer (which is a trade name) is mounted on the camera. It can only be used by an actor who is supposed to be looking directly into the camera. On SNL, that’s anybody on Weekend Update, Armisen playing Obama addressing the American people, a spoof commercial or PSA done live, etc. For any sketch that involves two or more actors, cue cards are used. They’re handwritten—quickly—in a wonderful handwriting I’d love to be able to duplicate. And given that changes are made to scripts up to and even during airtime (a sketch slated for 12:45 (EST) might actually be tweaked after the show has started at 11:30), performers ignore the cards at their own peril. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253/20 "2011-01-04T04:32:49Z")
Anne Hathaway hosted recently, and I noticed she hardly ever glanced at the cards. Good for her. Christopher Walken, on the other hand, might as well pull up a chair and put on reading glasses. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snl-people-stare-offscreen-when-talking/566253.md?page=2)