In her 2011 book Bossypants, Tina Fey lists the things she learned from Lorne Michaels, the creator of Saturday Night Live. One is that the show does not go on because it is ready. It goes on because it is 11:30.
In 2026, discussing a documentary about Michaels, the NPR host A MartÃnez repeated the rule: “He says the show doesn’t go on because it’s ready. It goes on because it’s 11:30.”