A hip show whose head writer didn’t know Black doctors existed

Garrett Morris, an original “Saturday Night Live” cast member, said the show was looking for someone to play a doctor. 

He told head writer Michael O’Donoghue he wanted to audition for the role, Morris said in The New York Times’ October 6 edition. 

O’Donoghue said, “Well, Garrett, people might be thrown by a Black doctor.” 

Morris said O’Donoghue’s response left him breathless. O’Donoghue died in 1994.