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October 11, 1975
- When Saturday Night Live first aired on October 11, 1975, it revolutionized television comedy.
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Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American late-night live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The show's premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night.
The long-running American late-night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) first premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, and its fiftieth and most recent season premiered on September 28, 2024.
Oct 14, 2024 · In 1975, Lorne Michaels assembled a talented cast, and the first episode aired with a mix of sabotage and brilliant comedy that would set a precedent for years to come. The show’s format, featuring sketches, musical performances, and weekend news updates, instantly captivated viewers.
Oct 25, 2024 · Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy and variety television series that began airing on the National Broadcasting Company in 1975. It became one of the longest-running programs in television and is a landmark in American TV.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Overview
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- References
Saturday Night Live (commonly shortened and abbreviated to SNL) is an American late-night live sketch comedy show created by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol, beginning as NBC's Saturday Night on October 11, 1975. The show revolves around sketches parodying current events, American culture, and politics.
Every episode has a "host", who is a celebrity guest starring on the show, as well as a musical guest, although a host can be both. At the beginning, a cold open sketch is preformed ending with someone breaking character and usually blurting "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!". (This cold opening was removed for season 7, but quickly returned.) Additional sketches include Weekend Update, which functions as a new show, a digital short, and commercial parodies.
Founding
was born from NBC's desire to place original programming in the 11:30 PM Saturday timeslot. From 1965 until SNL began in 1975, this timeslot was filled with reruns of The Tonight Show (which occupied the timeslot on weekdays). This was dependent, however, on Carson continuing to record shows with sufficient frequency to leave shows available for rerun. By 1974, Carson was hoping for more time off, and asked NBC to stop airing reruns on weekends, so that they could be rerun on weekdays, allowing him further time off. Then-NBC head Herb Schlosser tapped Dick Ebersol to develop a new show for the timeslot. Ebersol approached Lorne Michaels, who pitched the idea of a comedy variety show with musical guests. was the original name sought by Michaels and Ebersol, due to the show's live broadcast, but the name was unavailable - at the very same time, ABC was developing a similar variety show for primetime Saturday, hosted by Howard Cosell, which had already been named Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell. As a result, the new show on NBC debuted under the simpler name Saturday Night. ABC cancelled Cosell's show after eighteen episodes due to poor ratings, and NBC purchased the name, renaming their show Saturday Night Live at the beginning of the second season (although the original title remains in use as part of the famous cold opening announcement, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"). The name was not the only thing taken from Cosell's show- Cosell had a cast of three actors: brothers Bill Murray and Brian Doyle-Murray, and Christopher Guest. They were known as the "Primetime Players". Michaels parodied this name by naming the new SNL cast the "not ready for primetime players". All three actors would also join SNL on NBC later on; the Murray brothers in season 2 (though Brian Doyle-Murray was a writer only until season 5) and Christopher Guest in season 10. All three anchored Weekend Update during their tenures on the show. Needing actors for the new show, Ebersol and Michaels turned to Second City TV, a television show being broadcast from the Toronto wing of the Second City comedy troupe. From SCTV, they poached Gilda Radner and Dan Aykroyd. They also hired John Belushi and Chevy Chase from the National Lampoon's Lemmings (Belushi was also a Second City alumnus), as well as Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin, and Laraine Newman. Rather than having a regular host, SNL was conceived as having a different guest host each week. According to Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, however, having a regular host was briefly considered during the earliest planning stages in 1974 - prior to Michaels joining - with names such as Rich Little, Bert Convy, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin and even singer Linda Ronstadt discussed. The new show debuted on October 11, 1975, broadcast from Studio 8H in 30 Rockefeller Center. The format was uncertain at first; the amount of time devoted to sketches, music, and stand-up varied widely, as well as the inclusion of Jim Henson's Muppets and pre-filmed content by Albert Brooks. One new sketch that remained permanently was Weekend Update, an invention of Chevy Chase. Chase, the original head writer, wrote the segment for himself.
First generation (seasons 1-5)
The show saw little change in its first five seasons. Notable was the departure of Chase halfway through the second season; he was replaced by Bill Murray. Aykroyd and Belushi also left after the end of season 4, to pursue work on their film, The Blues Brothers. To fill their places, several writers were promoted to cast members, including Brian Doyle-Murray, Peter Aykroyd (brother of Dan), Don Novello, Tom Schiller and Alan Zweibel.
Doumanian era (season 6)
Michaels and most of the cast were weary of the show's production schedule by the end of season 5. Worrying that the quality was beginning to suffer, Michaels asked NBC to put the show on hiatus for a season, in order to retool. NBC denied his request, and he promptly quit, with the rest of the cast (except for Brian Doyle-Murray) quitting along with him. NBC chose Jean Doumanian, an associate producer on SNL, to take Michaels' place. Her time on the show went poorly- the season started unusually late, the new cast was not well received by fans, and reviews of their performances and the material were largely negative. On the season's 11th episode, cast member Charles Rocket (whom Doumanian was grooming as a second version of Chevy Chase, including installing him on Weekend Update) famously used the "F" word live on-air. By that time, however, NBC was already planning to replace Doumanian, and she was fired after the episode that followed. Her replacement was Dick Ebersol, who had co-founded SNL with Michaels. The show went on a month-long hiatus to retool, and substantial changes were made in the cast and writing staff. Michael O'Donoghue was brought back to serve as head writer. Ebersol wished to fire the entire cast, with the exception of two breakout stars: Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo. However, the existing contracts needed to be paid off, and there wasn't room in the budget. As such, two other cast members remained, six were released (including Rocket), and five new actors were brought in. SNL returned in April, with Chevy Chase hosting the first episode. The episode was well-received, but it came during a writers' strike. While Chase had contributed enough writing to create a good script, the following week's hosts, Franken and Davis, were not producing material that Ebersol felt would make for a good show. Not wanting to lose the momentum gained from the previous week, he cancelled the episode and the rest that were planned for the season.
The Studio
The show takes place in Studio 8H of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, formally known as the Comcast Building (formerly knows as the General Electric "GE" Building or the Radio Corporation of America "RCA" Building). Studio 8H is the biggest studio in the building, as the show puts the most work into a live production. Before 1975, the show has been used for many different game shows, such as the Match Game, Family Feud, Jeopardy, Wheel Of Fortune, etc. (when NBCUniversal was producing the shows). The studio was also used as a sound stage for the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Four of the 1976-1977 SNL shows took place in NBC Studios in Brooklyn, as the presidential debate took place in 8H.
Creating An Episode
Creating an episode involves a six-day work week, starting with a pitch meeting on Monday and ending with the live show Saturday Night. The Monday pitch meeting is between the cast, writers, producers, and the host, who come up with sketch ideas for the episode. The host is invited to pitch in ideas, too, but doesn't have to, only be present and agree with the lineup. The meeting extends over two hours and around 40 sketch ideas are pitched. Tuesday is a day dedicated to writing the scripts. The writers spend most of the day brainstorming the sketches (usually 2-3 sketches to a writer) and writing may not began until as late as 8pm Tuesday. Writers are to pull an all-nighter extending until early-mid Wednesday morning. Tuesday is also the day the two promotional are shot for the upcoming episode, involving the host, musical guest, and two different cast members (one for the landmark shoot and one for the stage shoot, the latter promotional being the only appearance of the Musical Guest). On Wednesday, the cast, host, musical guest (if added in any sketches), writers, producers, the crew come together for a table read of all the sketches. The piano player from the Saturday Night Live Band appears as well for any sketches involving music/singing. After the completion of the table read, usually 3 hours, Lorne Michaels, the guest host, the head writer, and the head of the set crew moves to Michael's office to discuss the layout of the show and which sketches will make the cut. After the decision is made (after an hour), the cast and writers are allowed in to see if their sketch survived. With the show layout complete, Thursday is the development day for the sketches. The sets are built, costumes are made, and sketches are rewritten if needed. During mid-development, sketches become impossible or too stressful to complete and may be scrapped; Sketches that make it beyond Thursday are scheduled for the live show and are rehearsed Thursday and Friday, before moving to a dress rehearsal before a live audience Saturday at 8pm. The dress rehearsal is taped in case a corruption happens during the live production three and a half hours later. After the rehearsal, Lorne examines the lineup to see if it all fits in the 90 minute period. If it crosses over, a sketch that received lesser grace from the DH audience will be cut. Pretaped sketches are usually blocked and filmed first on Friday before rehearsing the live sketches and are shot at the NBC Studio's in Brooklyn, while some are shot on location relevant to their plot (including Studio 8H, if the sketch is supposed to take place there). Pretaped sketches that do not involve the host are usually shot during the show's dark weeks or during summer at the NBC Studios in Los Angeles, California, which has a more professional studio.
•Saturday Night Live Wiki:Miscellaneous Show Trivia
Oct 4, 2024 · Saturday Night tells the pulse-pounding tale of the 90 minutes leading up to the very first episode of Saturday Night Live — then titled NBC's Saturday Night — on Oct. 11, 1975.
Feb 6, 2024 · When Saturday Night Live first aired on October 11, 1975, it revolutionized television comedy. Created by Lorne Michaels, the show introduced a new format that combined live sketches with musical performances. It was an instant hit among audiences who were hungry for fresh and edgy comedy.
