He’s ruled with absolute power for five decades, forever adding to his list of oracular pronouncements—about producing TV, making comedy, and living the good life.

Pete Davidson knows he was acting like a child when he asked Lorne Michaels to fire him from Saturday Night Live. But if you hear his reasoning, it kinda feels understandable and maybe even a teensy bit relatable — particularly when you consider the fact that Davidson was freshly 21 years old when he joined the cast.

Shelley Duvall, from left, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Lorne Michaels and Laraine Newman pose backstage at "Saturday Night Live" in 1977. The image is among the items in the Lorne Michaels Collection, an archive the series creator has donated to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.