The Offer

Earlier that year, on April 24, 1976, Lorne Michaels, producer of NBC's Saturday Night, made an on-air offer of $3000 to The Beatles if they would re-unite and perform on the show. The offer was a hilarious spoof on the absurdly high re-union offers that were regularly making the news at the time, in which The Beatles were offered as much as one hundred million dollars for a single concert.

Needless to say, The Beatles didn't take Michaels up on his offer, but it turned out to be precisely the entrŽe that was needed to get The Rutles onto American television. Lorne Michaels tells the story, in his introduction to the "I Must Be In Love" film. Interestingly, the Rutles clip made its world premiere on NBC's Saturday Night, since the Rutland Weekend Television programme from which it was taken wouldn't air in the U.K. for six more weeks.

The $3,000 Check Lorne Michaels Holds While Making the Offer.

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