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Saturday Night Live

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SNL redirects here. For other uses of SNL, see SNL (disambiguation).

Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late-night 90-minute comedy-variety show based in New York City which has been broadcast by NBC nearly every Saturday night since its debut on October 11, 1975. It is one of the longest-running network entertainment programs in American television history. Each week, the show's cast is joined by a guest host and a musical act.

Saturday Night Live
File:Snllogo2005-HD.jpg
During SNL's 30th season celebration in 2005, the program introduced an opening title card and several commercial bumpers that highlight the downtown riches of New York City's most acclaimed buildings, located from the stages of NBC studios at Rockefeller Center to Times Square behind the logo's letters in typewriter.
Created byLorne Michaels
Starringsee the Saturday Night Live cast
Country of originUSA
No. of episodes600, as of March 18, 2006
Production
Running time90 minutes (1 hour and 30 minutes) per episode
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseOctober 11, 1975 –
(contracted through 2012)

Originally, the show was called NBC's Saturday Night because Howard Cosell was hosting a show on ABC titled Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell. After Cosell's show was cancelled in 1976, NBC retitled its show. The first show with the new title was broadcast on March 26, 1977.

The show — broadcast from Studio 8H at the GE Building in New York's Rockefeller Center — has been the launching place for some major American comedy stars of the last thirty years. It was created by Lorne Michaels who, excluding a hiatus from Season 6 through Season 10, has produced and written for the show and remains its executive producer (Jean Doumanian producing most of Season 6, and Dick Ebersol 7–10).

In 2005, NBC renewed SNL's contract until 2012.

SNL is satire in art form. On the surface, it is slapstick or abstract. The comedy however is in the way the skits are structured. The show is heavily mired in US current events and can leave international viewers cold.

Format of the show

The show usually follows a standard format. It opens with a cold opening sketch often parodying politics, pop culture, or other current events; this sketch always ends with someone saying "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" The show then segues into the opening credits, which usually open with a shot of the Statue of Liberty and a montage of the cast members cut with various locations around the city. The opening credits are voiced-over by long-time NBC announcer Don Pardo. The show's theme music has been re-arranged many times, but always follows the same basic chord patterns.

Next is the opening monologue performed by the guest host(s), often followed by a TV commercial parody. The show continues with more comedy skits (sketches might feature recurring characters, running gags, celebrity impersonations, movie and TV spoofs, and skits parodying the news issues of the day), followed by a performance by the guest musical act. More recent shows have the second act divided by an animated short by Robert Smigel. The news parody segment Weekend Update marks the show's midway point. The second half of the program continues with more sketches, and in most cases a second performance by the musical guest. Some shows also feature filmed segments, often featuring cast members, or it may feature independent film shorts. In a few rare cases, a third musical performance by the week's musical guest is done at the end of the show, but in most instances this is just a goodbye segment by the host and musical guest. Often times, the show "fades to black", or just blatantly cuts away while the credits roll, most likely a time-saving measure. Also, in some reruns, shows have been edited to contain a mixture of skits, and do not follow this sequence.

History

Cast

Current repertory players


For a full list of past and present cast, see Saturday Night Live cast.

Notable tenures

Although SNL has a rapid turnover of supporting players, some performers have had long tenures with the show. Few have broken the seven-year barrier. Among the longest serving repertory players are:

Featured Players:

Al Franken (12 seasons: 1977-1980 and March 1986-May 1995)

Family connections

Some cast members are related to former staff on the show. The most prominent example is Jim Belushi, younger brother of Not Ready for Prime Time player John Belushi. Before that, Bill Murray's older brother Brian Doyle-Murray was a writer and cast member. When Dan Aykroyd left the show in 1979, he was replaced by a series of short-lived featured players, one of whom was his brother Peter.

Other family connections are not as obvious. For instance, long-time writer and sometime performer Jim Downey is former cast member Robert Downey, Jr.'s uncle. Cast member Gilda Radner was briefly married to G.E. Smith, who later became the show's bandleader. The same is true for Michael O'Donoghue. He was married to SNL band pianist Cheryl Hardwick. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall were an item during their tenure, and were married in 1987.

Cast member deaths

Although SNL is well-known as the launchpad for many successful careers, a few cast members have died tragically young. The first of these was John Belushi, who in 1982 died from a lethal overdose of cocaine and heroin. Gilda Radner died after a year-long battle with ovarian cancer in May 1989. Jim Henson, whose Muppets appeared in the first year, died in May of 1990, of pneumonia. In August 1994, Danitra Vance died of breast cancer, and in November of that year, Michael O'Donoghue, who long suffered from severe chronic migraine headaches, died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Chris Farley, not unlike his idol, Belushi, also died from an accidental overdose of cocaine and heroin in 1997. Phil Hartman followed just months later in 1998 when his wife, who had been in treatment for her depression, consumed a dangerous combination of alcohol and the prescription drug Zoloft. She shot and murdered Phil that morning as he slept, after months of speculated marriage problems. She later turned the gun on herself. In October 2005, Charles Rocket tragically became the first SNL alum to commit suicide. Local police found him dead in his own yard with a self-inflicted cut to the throat. While not a cast member, SNL writer Eliot Wald [SNL 1981-1985] died of cancer in 2003. This has given rise to a theory known as the "Saturday Night Live Curse".

Contracts

SNL received some negative publicity in 1999 when it was leaked that, henceforth, actors joining the show would have to agree in their five-to-six year contract that, upon request, they would act in up to three movies by SNL Films, for fees of US$75,000, US$150,000, and then US$300,000; and also that, upon request, they would leave SNL and act in an NBC sitcom for up to an additional six years. This appeared to be a reaction to former cast members such as Adam Sandler and Mike Myers going on to movie stardom.

Some agents and managers characterized these long-term contracts as involuntary servitude, saying that almost any young, undiscovered comic would immediately agree to any given set of exploitative contractual restrictions for the opportunity to launch a career via the show. NBC publicly defended the new contracts, saying that SNL was doing a service to young comics by launching so many careers.

It was reported in 1999 that the starting salary for SNL cast members was US$5,000 per episode.

The Studio

Since the show's inception, SNL has aired from Studio 8H, located on floors 8 and 9 of 30 Rockefeller Plaza (usually nicknamed "30 Rock"). Due to the studio originally being a radio soundstage for Arturo Toscanini and his NBC Symphony Orchestra, the layout of the studio floor and the audience positioning causes some audience members to have an obstructed view of many of the skits.

Some shows of the 1976-77 season were shot at the former NBC Studios in Brooklyn, due to NBC News using Studio 8H for Presidential election coverage.

During the summer 2005 shooting hiatus, crews began renovations on Studio 8H. With its thirty-first season premiere in October 2005, the show began broadcasting in High Definition, appearing letterboxed on conventional screens.

On the August 17, 2005 episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien (also aired on NBC), Conan mentioned hearing furniture being moved around in the studio upstairs. When Conan asked if it was a rival show, someone mentioned that it was Saturday Night Live. Conan jokingly responded, "Saturday Night Live? It'll never make it." Late Night with Conan O'Brien is taped in Studio 6A, on floors 6 and 7 of "30 Rock". Conan was a writer for SNL from 1988-1991.

The offices of SNL writers, producers, and other staff can be found on the 17th floor of "30 Rock". Last Call with Carson Daly used the studio until 2005, when the show moved to Studio 9 at the NBC Studios in Burbank, California.

Production process

The following is a summary of the process used to produce the show. It is based in part on an August 2000 Writer's Digest article and an April 2004 Fresh Air interview with writer and performer Tina Fey:

  • Monday: The day begins with a topical meeting, identifying the biggest story for the show's opening. This is followed by a free-form pitch meeting with Lorne Michaels and the show's host for the week. According to an October 2004 60 Minutes segment on the show, throughout the week the host has a lot of influence on which sketches get aired. Following the meeting, writers begin to draft the two scripts each must produce.
  • Tuesday: Starting in the afternoon, anywhere from 30 to 45 scripts are written, significantly more than will make it to air. Most writers work through the night. Once a writer's scripts are complete, he or she will often help other writers on their scripts.
  • Wednesday: All scripts get a read-through. After the read-through, the head writer(s) and the producers meet with the host to decide which sketches to work on for the rest of the week, with Lorne Michaels and the host having the final say.
  • Thursday: The surviving sketches are reviewed, word-by-word, by the writing staff as a whole (or in two groups in the case of co-head writers). Some sketches which survived the cut because of their premise but otherwise needed a lot of work are rewritten completely. Others are changed in smaller ways. Thursday is also the day that Weekend Update starts coming together, starting with the news items written by writers dedicated all week to the segment. This is also the first day the crew comes in for rehearsal. The music act is rehearsed as well as some of the larger, more important skits.
  • Friday: The show is blocked. The writer of each skit acts as producer, working with the show's set designers and costumers.
  • Saturday: With the show still far from finalized, the day begins with a run-through, with props, in front of Lorne Michaels. After the run-through, the cast and crew find out which of the sketches are in the dress rehearsal, and which are cut. The writer/producer deals with any changes. This is followed by an 8 p.m. dress rehearsal in front of a live audience, which lasts until 10 p.m. or sometimes later, and which contains around twenty minutes of material which will not make it to the broadcast. Lorne Michaels uses first-hand observation of the audience reaction to the rehearsal, and input from the host, to determine the final round of changes, re-ordering sketches as necessary. The show then begins at 11:35p.m. (11:45 or midnight in some markets).

The status of the show during the week is maintained on a bulletin board. Sketches and other segments are given labels which are put on index cards and put on the board in the order of their performance. The order is based on content as well as production limitations such as camera placement and performer availability. Segments which have been cut are kept to the side of the board. As the broadcast approaches, often the writer/producer discovers the fate of his or her segment only by consulting the bulletin board.

A 60 Minutes report taped in October 2004 depicted the intense writing frenzy that goes on during the week leading up to a show, with crowded meetings and long hours. The report particularly noted the involvement of the guest hosts in developing and selecting the skits in which they will appear.

When it's not live

SNL is one of the few shows on television to have its in- and off-season reruns aired out of its original broadcast sequence. The sequence of the in-season reruns (that is, encore shows that air during the season it originally aired) are usually determined by the episode(s)' popularity. So, for example, if by the midway point of the season in December, a show hosted by Robert DeNiro turned out to be the highest rated show of the season thus far, it would be the first show to be repeated when SNL begins airing its reruns during one of their live breaks. Shows usually air twice during a particular season, but often the highest rated shows of the season have a second encore show towards the end of the off-season.

Encore showings are not always identical to the original broadcast. Frequently, successful sketches that aired later in the show during the original broadcast will be reedited to appear earlier, and segments that did not work well during the original showing are replaced by alternate performances, or sometimes completely different skits that had been taped at the dress rehearsal that preceded the live broadcast.

From time-to-time, SNL airs compilation shows. Such shows will feature the best of a previous season (consisting of skits and musical segments specially selected by the producers), or of a particular cast member (such as Eddie Murphy or Adam Sandler) or guest (such as Tom Hanks), or centered on a particular theme (for example, Halloween, Christmas, or a major news event). Every election year, SNL airs, during primetime, a "Presidential Bash" featuring both classic and new skits involving Presidents and presidential candidates. The 2000 Bash was notable for having self-deprecating skits taped of the actual candidates (George W. Bush and Al Gore) in addition to the skits with the players normally assigned to impersonate them.

When it's less than live

Over the years SNL has almost always been broadcast live in the Eastern and Central time zones, in spite of the expletive spoken by Charles Rocket in 1981. Exceptions include shows hosted by Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, and Andrew Dice Clay, which were broadcast on a five-second delay.

The episode scheduled for October 25, 1986, hosted by Rosanna Arquette, was not aired until November 8. NBC was broadcasting Game 6 of the 1986 World Series on the evening of October 25; the game entered extra innings, causing that night's broadcast of SNL to be first delayed and then cancelled. The show was performed for the studio audience starting at 1:30 a.m. Eastern Time, recorded, and broadcast two weeks later.

The episode scheduled for February 10, 2001, hosted by Jennifer Lopez, aired on tape delay by almost 45 minutes due to a late-running XFL game that was airing on NBC during primetime. Lopez and the cast were not told by Michaels that they were not being seen live [1].

During Eddie Murphy's last season, he was only available for part of the season, so they recorded a number of extra sketches featuring him that were broadcast in episodes he was not available for, according to the book Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad.

Some live shows may also be altered and edited for the West Coast (where it is broadcast at 11:35 p.m. Pacific Time, three hours after the live broadcast); in some cases recordings of sketches or performances from the program's dress rehearsal have been substituted for the later feed. When Sam Kinison delivered a comic monologue in 1986, NBC removed his plea for the legalization of marijuana from the West Coast broadcast.

Rights to SNL

NBC holds the copyright to every episode of the show made thus far. The syndication rights to the original incarnation (1975–1980) were originally acquired by Filmways Television (later Orion Television and MGM), while the syndication rights to the shows made from 1980 forward (that is, rerun rights beginning two years after its original NBC airings) have been held by Broadway Video, Lorne Michaels' production company.

The home video rights have also been scattered. Warner Home Video originally released several episodes from the original incarnation (1975–1980). Paramount released a "Best Of Eddie Murphy" video compilation in the 1980s (Murphy had a multi-picture deal with Paramount at the time). In the 1990s, Starmaker Entertainment held the video rights. Today, Lions Gate Home Entertainment handles the VHS and DVD releases of SNL under a new license with NBC.

For many years, both Comedy Central and E! Entertainment Television aired SNL reruns under license with Broadway Video and Orion/MGM (respectively). In 2003, full rights reverted completely to NBC, and the E! network acquired the exclusive syndication rights to the series.

The only episodes that have not been included in any syndication package (including the current deal with E!) are the prime-time special at Mardi Gras in New Orleans (the only time the show has originated outside of New York), and the infamous 1990 episode which Andrew Dice Clay hosted.

In Canada, episodes from 1975–1980 are aired in late night programming hours, weeknights on some Global Television Network owned stations such as CHAN, CHCA, and CIII. However, these episodes are edited considerably to fit into to its one hour timeslot, rather than the usual hour and a half.

In Australia, SNL is seen on Pay-TV Channel Arena. It airs late night Weeknights and Saturday as well Premiere Episodes at 6.30pm Saturday for a limited run. However, all episodes are edited considerably to fit into to its one hour timeslot, rather than the usual hour and a half.

Recently, CNBC Singapore dropped SNL from Starhub Cable Vision (SCV). SNL used to be broadcased on CNBC Singapore via SCV on Channel 15, every Saturday at 11pm, with an encore telecast on Sunday in a similar time slot.

Frequent hosts

A separate list of Saturday Night Live hosts and musical guests is available.

There have been many people who have been invited to come back and host SNL again. Some of these hosts (such as Steve Martin, Christopher Walken, Tom Hanks, and Alec Baldwin) have hosted so many times that special episodes of SNL have been compiled and aired as "Best of ..." episodes. The following people have hosted SNL at least five times:

Cast members who have hosted

As of February 2006, there have been 20 performers who have hosted SNL that, at one point in their career, were either a repretory or feature member of the SNL cast. Curiously, none of these hosts were women. Gilda Radner was scheduled to host in 1988 but the episode was canceled due to a writers' strike, and she died the following year. The following performers have hosted SNL either before, during or after their tenure as a member of the SNL cast.

Guest hosts who had previously auditioned for the show earlier in their careers only to be turned down include Paul Reubens, John Goodman (1980), Geena Davis (1984), Jim Carrey (1980), Lisa Kudrow (1990), Steve Carell (1995), Johnny Knoxville, and Dane Cook (2002).

Frequent musical guests

The following performers have been musical guests on SNL at least five times:

Last-minute replacements/changes

Last Minute Changes on SNL

Recurring characters and sketches

  • See also:

Character Lists: Alphabetical and Chronological

Character Categories:

Below is a short list of some of SNL's most popular recurring sketches.

Films based on SNL skits

The early days of SNL spawned a few movies and low-budget films. However, it wasn't until the huge success of Wayne's World that Broadway Video (Lorne Michaels' production company) became encouraged to feature more film spinoffs, with several popular 1990s sketch characters (and a few unlikely ones) becoming adapted into movies. Producers tried their luck with a revival of 1970s characters The Coneheads, followed by movies based around Pat, Stuart Smalley, The Ladies Man, The Butabi Brothers and Mary Katherine Gallagher. Some did moderate business but others bombed disastrously — notably It's Pat and Stuart Saves His Family, with the latter losing US$15 million despite good reviews.


Trivia

  • Steve Martin was a frequent guest host of the program and even had popular recurring characters. However, contrary to popular belief, Martin was never a regular member of the cast.
  • Mike Myers based his character Dieter, host of the avant-garde German TV talk show 'Sprockets', after a real person, a student whom Myers met in art college. The real Dieter would often say things like "I once had a course where we had to touch tapioca, styrofoam and monkeys. Michael, perhaps we can go to the zoo and touch monkeys." (thus giving rise to the TV Dieter's catchphrase "Would you like to touch my monkey?")
  • A film version of 'Sprockets' was planned, but abandoned after Mike Myers became dissatisfied with his own script. It would have involved Dieter travelling to the USA to rescue Klaus, his pet monkey.
  • Although Darrell Hammond holds the record for longest tenure by a repertory player with 11 consecutive seasons (about 200 episodes), Al Franken has appeared in about 140 episodes over 12 seasons (1977–80) and (1985–95), as a featured player.
  • The recurring character that has appeared the most is Don Novello's Father Guido Sarducci with a whopping 31 appearances over the course of 17 years. Novello was not a cast member for most of these appearances and the Sarducci character was not even created specifically for the show.
  • Morwenna Banks holds the record for the shortest tenure of a repertory player, with only four episodes (April–May 1995). Two featured players appeared for only a single episode: Laurie Metcalf and Emily Prager, on April 11, 1981, the last episode of a strike-shortened season.
  • Eddie Murphy is the only person to have hosted the show while still a cast member; this occurred during season 8 (December 11, 1982), when Murphy filled in for a sick Nick Nolte.
  • The cold opening occasionally varies from the traditional "Live From New York...", either to commemorate the season number (usually during season premieres) or to follow the consistency of a certain sketch. In 1981, the traditional cold opening was done away with entirely (returning the next season).
  • Dan Aykroyd and Michael McKean are the only performers to appear as cast members, hosts, and as musical guests. While a cast member, Aykroyd appeared as Elwood Blues from The Blues Brothers; McKean appeared as David St. Hubbins from Spinal Tap in May 1984, hosted six months later, and became a cast member in 1994.
  • Michael McKean and Billy Crystal are the only two people to join the cast after hosting the show.
  • Harry Shearer and Brian Doyle-Murray are the only two cast members to work under both Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. Shearer in 1979 and 1984, and Doyle-Murray in 1979 and 1981. In addition, Doyle-Murray also worked under one-season producer Jean Doumanian as a writer.
  • The eldest hosts were Ruth Gordon, at age 80 years, 2 months, 24 days, in the episode aired on January 22, 1977, who was 15 days older than Miskel Spillman, aged 80 years, 2 months, and 9 days, in the episode aired on December 17 of that same year.
  • The youngest host was Drew Barrymore, at age 7, in the episode aired on November 20, 1982.
  • The longest span of time between two hosting spots goes to Madeline Kahn who returned 18 years after her 1977 spot to host in 1995.
  • The longest span between musical guest spots goes to Prince when he was a musical guest for Steve Martin in 2006. Prince first appeared on the now infamous 1981 episode hosted by Charlene Tilton.
  • The youngest cast member hired was Anthony Michael Hall who was 17 years old when he joined the cast in 1985.
  • The oldest cast member hired was Michael McKean, who was 46 years old when he joined the show in 1994.
  • The oldest cast member to perform is Darrell Hammond, who is 50 years old and still a member of the cast.
  • In 2003, Kenan Thompson became the first cast member born after SNL's premiere in 1975. Bill Hader and Andy Samberg followed two seasons later.
  • The highest rating audience (according to Nielsen) was for the episode aired on October 13, 1979 (Steve Martin/Blondie).
  • During the early years, the format of the show was not completely set in stone. For example, one early broadcast, hosted by Paul Simon, included a reunion with his former musical partner, Art Garfunkel. Only a few comedy sketches were featured during the episode, with others dropped in order to allow Simon and Garfunkel to perform an extended musical set. On another occasion, Beat generation author William S. Burroughs appeared on the program and read passages from his books, to mixed response.
  • During the first season, besides the usual comedy sketches, Albert Brooks contributed short films and a rather adult cast of Muppets acted in a weird setting known as the Land of Gortch.
  • George Carlin was the show's first host. Instead of taking part in skits, Carlin performed snippets of his stand up comedy routines.
  • The first episode in which The Blues Brothers appeared in was hosted by Carrie Fisher. In the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers, Fisher played Jake Blues' ex-fiance, who tried numerous times to kill him and Elwood.
  • Desi Arnaz was a memorable guest host on February 21,1976. He performed with his son, Desi Arnaz, Jr.
  • In issue #74 of Marvel Team-Up (cover dated October, 1978), the Not Ready For Prime Time Players (Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtain, Garrett Morris, Bill Murray, Laraine Newman, Gilda Radner) and Lorne Micheals teamed up with comic book superhero Spider-Man, making them among the few real people to have had a superhero team up.
  • According to his website, Dane Cook (who hosted December 3, 2005) performed the longest opening monologue in the history of the show. It consisted of jokes from his stand-up act.
  • When Kevin Spacey hosted the show in 1997, one pair of skits spoofed the screen tests of Star Wars. Spacey played, among others, Christopher Walken auditioning for the role of Han Solo. Walken really was considered for that role before Harrison Ford was chosen.
  • Chris Parnell is the only cast member to be fired and rehired. He was fired along with Jerry Minor by Lorne during the summer after the 2000-2001 season because Lorne Michaels wanted to hire Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, Dean Edwards, and Jeff Richards, but did not want to go over budget. Parnell was rehired because Will Ferrell was busy shooting Old School and Darrell Hammond was in rehab. Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan convinced Lorne and NBC to allow Parnell to stay in the cast.

See also

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Saturday Night Live.

Fansites

Further reading

  • Cader, Michael. (1994). Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0395708958
  • Hill, Doug, and Jeff Weingrad. (1986). Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. New York, NY: Beech Tree Books. ISBN 0688050999
  • Mohr, Jay. (2004). Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live. New York, NY: Hyperion. ISBN 1401300065
  • Shales, Tom, and James Andrew Miller. (2002). Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. Boston, MA: Little, Brown. ISBN 0316781460
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