Bob Odenkirk Says It’s ‘Very Easy’ For Young Writers on ‘SNL’ to Get Their Ideas ‘Shot Down’ By Senior Staffers: ‘It Was a Good Thing To Learn What Not to Do’

Bob Odenkirk learned a valuable lesson for “Mr. Show” during his days writing on “Saturday Night Live.”

During a recent episode of Variety‘s “Know Their Lines,” Odenkirk said he and co-host David Cross created an environment of “incredible freedom” for the writers on “Mr. Show.” This was because while working on “SNL,” Odenkirk said it was “very easy” for new writers to get their ideas quickly “shot down” by veteran staffers before they had a chance to explain themselves fully.

“Everything that I learned at ‘SNL’ that I never got to use when I wrote on ‘SNL,’ I used to make ‘Mr. Show,'” Odenkirk recalled. “At ‘SNL’ it was very easy, especially for young writers, to get their ideas shot down very quickly by older writers.”

Odenkirk added that once he went to work on “Mr. Show,” he and Cross made sure to give all their staffers a fair shot to share their ideas.

“When I went to ‘Mr. Show’ and I was in charge over there with David Cross, I sort of made it a rule that you don’t shoot anything down,” Odenkirk said. “You have to talk about everything. You have to fully understand the writer’s idea before you let it go. So it was a good thing to learn what not to do from ‘Saturday Night Live.'”

“Mr. Show” ran for 30 episodes across four seasons from 1995 to 1998. The subversive sketch comedy series earned four Emmy nominations during its run on HBO.

Outside of Odenkirk and Cross, “Mr. Show” also starred Tom Kenny, John Ennis, Jay Johnston, Paul F. Tompkins, Jill Talley and Brett Paesel.

Check out Odenkirks’ entire appearance on Variety‘s “Know Their Lines” below.