'SNL' player utters obscenity during debut

NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- "Saturday Night Live" boss Lorne Michaels says new cast member Jenny Slate feels terrible about using an obscenity during the U.S. show's season premiere.

This past weekend's 35th season opener also marked Slate's debut on the sketch comedy series.

The Washington Post said the swear word, which was unintentionally uttered during a sketch titled "Biker Chick Chat," had not been heard on the show since cast member Charles Rocket said it 28 years ago.

The word was said again at 12:43 a.m. ET Sunday, but was eliminated from the subsequent West Coast and Midwest re-broadcasts, the Post reported.

After Slate said the word, she blew out her cheeks in apparent acknowledgement of the slip and went on with the skit without further incident.

"It was literally her first time on the show. There was nothing dirty, just a slip of the tongue. It was 'frickin', frickin', frickin' ' and then boom! The pain that Jenny is going through is, I'm sure, (is) considerably worse than that experienced by anybody who saw it," Michaels, the show's executive producer, told the newspaper.

He said NBC has not been flooded with phone calls from outraged viewers regarding the incident.

"It has to be an actor's worst nightmare," Michaels added. "Your first time on 'Saturday Night Live' and this happens. You could sense the mortification in the studio."

Michaels said the show doesn't have a 7-second delay like many other programs do and its performers are held to an honor system not to say anything inappropriate, which has worked for decades.