About the Book

Read the NOTHING LOST FOREVER Press Release

Nothing Lost Forever started as my senior project at Webster University in 2003. But my interest in Tom Schiller began a decade earlier. Schiller’s film Nothing Lasts Forever, which has never been released in the United States, was shown late at night on Dutch television. I was about eleven years old and was captivated by the film. A few years later, I moved to the United States and quickly became a fan of Schiller’s work on Saturday Night Live. I contacted him in 2002 and decided to write my thesis about his work.

After I graduated, I tried to trim my thesis and turn it into an article. I had little luck in adapting the piece into an article, and even less luck in trying to find a magazine that was interested in it. I then entertained the thought of conducting additional research and expanding my thesis into a book. I am very grateful to Ben Ohmart of Bear Manor Media for his interest in the project, and for signing me for a publishing contract. The following nine months I interviewed dozens of people, dug up hundreds of photographs and wrote all 92,000 words of Nothing Lost Forever.

-Michael Streeter

The book features new interviews with Saturday Night Live’s Dan Aykroyd (75-79), Peter Aykroyd (79-80), Chevy Chase (75-76), Tom Davis (writer: 75-80, 85-94; cast member: 77-80), Victoria Jackson (86-92), Lorne Michaels, Bill Murray (77-80), Mike Myers (89-95), T. Sean Shannon (writer: 96-present), and of course Tom Schiller.

Also interviewed are John Belushi’s widow Judith Belushi Pisano, Phil Hartman’s brother John Hartmann, actors Zach Galligan and Teri Garr, The Daily Show’s Ed Helms, producer Laila Nabulsi (Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas), and many others.

Chapter Index:

Acknowledgements
Foreword by Tom Davis
A Word from Tom Schiller
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Door to Directing
Chapter 2: Schiller and Miller
Chapter 3: Saturday Night
Chapter 4: Saturday Night Shorts
Chapter 5: Schiller’s Reel
Chapter 6: Looking Back in Anger
Chapter 7: Star Vehicles
Chapter 8: Lorne’s Movie Deal
Chapter 9: Meet Adam Beckett
Chapter 10: The Making of Nothing
Chapter 11: The Distinguished Derelict
Chapter 12: Riding a Bicycle Blindfolded
Chapter 13: A Trip to the Moon
Chapter 14: Script to Screen
Chapter 15: Out with the Old, In with the New
Chapter 16: Comedy Experiments
Chapter 17: One More Saturday Night
Chapter 18: Television Take-offs
Chapter 19: Once Upon a Time
Chapter 20: Hollywood’s Golden Age
Chapter 21: Pre-tape Delegation
Chapter 22: Schiller Goes Commercial
Bibliography
Appendix I: Tom Schiller Filmography
Appendix II: Bad Theater sketches
Appendix III: Don’t Look Back in Anger scripts
Appendix IV: Tom Schiller’s Broadway Video Newsletters
Appendix V: Complete Nothing Lasts Forever program