Bob Odenkirk: It's Easy For Young 'SNL' Writers to Get Ideas Shot Down

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