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Saturday Night Live
The Saturday Night Live inter-title since season 32.
Also known as	NBC's Saturday Night (1975—1977) Saturday Night Live '80 (1980)
Format	Stand-up Comedy, Sketch Comedy, Comedy, Variety
Created by	Dick Ebersol, Lorne Michaels, Herbert Schlosser
Starring	See Saturday Night Live cast
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	34
No. of episodes	655 as of March 21, 2009 (Episode list)
Production
Location(s)	Studio 8H, GE Building, Rockefeller Center New York City, New York
Running time	90-92 minutes
Production company(s)	Broadway Video SNL Studios
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Picture format	480i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV)
Original run	October 11, 1975 – present
Chronology
Related shows	TV Funhouse
External links
Official website

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (November 2008)

It has been suggested that Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late-night 90-minute American sketch comedy/variety show filmed in New York City. It made its debut on October 11, 1975. The show features a regular cast of comedic actors, joined by a guest host and musical act. The show—which is broadcast live in the Central and Eastern time zones (with a time delay in the Mountain Time Zone and Pacific Time Zone) from Studio 8H at the GE Building in New York's Rockefeller Center—has launched careers for many major American comedy stars of the last thirty years. Even while the show usually begins at 11:30pm on Saturday, the Eastern and Pacific Time Zones air the show through Sunday 1am, even though majority of the show airs on Sunday for those time zones. It was created by Canadian Lorne Michaels, who, excluding seasons 6–10, has been with the show throughout, first as producer and writer and later its executive producer. SNL is one of the longest-running network programs in American television history.

Throughout its history (except for season 7 and other rare exceptions), the show has traditionally begun with a cold open that ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

Contents 1 History 2 Saturday Night Live writers 3 Saturday Night Live cast 3.1 Current repertory players 3.2 Current featured players 3.3 Notable tenures 3.4 Announcer 4 Hosts/musical guests 4.1 The "Five Timers' Club" 4.2 Musical guests who simultaneously hosted 4.3 Hosts who auditioned (or were offered the opportunity) to join the cast 4.4 Castmembers who have hosted 5 The SNL Band 6 Films based on SNL sketches 7 The studio 8 Production process 9 When it's not live 9.1 Reruns 9.2 Compilations 9.3 Delays 9.4 Replaced/altered sketches 9.5 Censorship 10 On VHS and DVD 11 Books 12 See also 13 Further reading 14 References 15 External links

[edit] History

History of Saturday Night Live series: 1975–1980 1980–1985 1985–1990 1990–1995 1995–2000 2000–2005 2005–Present Weekend Update

Creator Lorne Michaels in April 2008.

See also: history of SNL by season: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

The show began as a replacement for Best of Carson. Originally, the show was called NBC's Saturday Night, as the current title was in use by rival network ABC. NBC purchased the rights to the name in 1976^[1] and officially adopted the new title on March 26, 1977. After five years, creator Lorne Michaels chose not to renew his contract, and was joined in departure by the cast members and writers. Jean Doumanian took over the show for the 1980 season, hiring a new cast and writers that included Eddie Murphy. Doumanian was replaced after one year by Dick Ebersol, who had hired Michaels as the show's creator. Murphy and Joe Piscopo continued as cast members under Ebersol, remaining with the show until 1984. For fall 1984, Ebersol added several cast members with television experience, including Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Harry Shearer, and Pamela Stephenson. After one season, Ebersol wanted a more significant revamp, which was rejected in favor of bringing back Lorne Michaels.

Michaels' return for the 1985-6 season restored an association with NBC that has lasted nearly thirty years. Since Michaels' return the show has launched the careers of Dennis Miller, Joan Cusack, Robert Downey, Jr., Damon Wayans, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Kevin Nealon, Mike Myers, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Conan O'Brien and Will Ferrell, among others. As head of Broadway Video and SNL Films, Michaels has leveraged the talent he's helped introduce, producing shows and films such as All You Need Is Cash, Wayne's World, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Coneheads.

[edit] Saturday Night Live writers

[edit] Saturday Night Live cast

[edit] Current repertory players

• Fred Armisen (2002–present)
• Will Forte (2002–present)
• Bill Hader (2005–present)
• Darrell Hammond (1995–present)
• Seth Meyers (2001–present)
• Andy Samberg (2005–present)
• Jason Sudeikis (2004–present)
• Kenan Thompson (2003–present)
• Kristen Wiig (2005–present)

[edit] Current featured players

• Abby Elliott (2008–present)
• Bobby Moynihan (2008–present)
• Michaela Watkins (2008–present)
• Casey Wilson (2007–present)

[edit] Notable tenures

Although Saturday Night Live has a rapid turnover of supporting players, some performers have had long tenures with the show. A Y in the final column indicates that the performer has a "Best Of" SNL Compilation:

Performer	Years	Number of seasons	Number of episodes	"Best of" Compilation"
Darrell Hammond	1995–present	14	258	Y
Al Franken	1979–1980; 1986; 1987–1995	10	90
Tim Meadows	1991–2000	10	190	Y
Kevin Nealon	1986–1995	9	175
Maya Rudolph	2000–2007	9	135
Phil Hartman	1986–1994	8	155	Y
Chris Kattan	1996–2003	8	150	Y
Seth Meyers	2001–present	8	138
Horatio Sanz	1998–2006	8	162
Chris Parnell	1998–2006	8	148
Amy Poehler	2001–2008	8	140
Fred Armisen	2002–present	7	118
Dana Carvey	1986-1993	7	125	Y
Rachel Dratch	1999–2006	7	138
Will Ferrell	1995–2002	7	140	Y
Will Forte	2002–present	7	118
Tracy Morgan	1996–2003	7	146	Y
Mike Myers	1989-1995	7	122	Y
Molly Shannon	1995-2001	7	118	Y

[edit] Announcer

Don Pardo has served as the announcer for the series since it began (except for season 7, when Mel Brandt and Bill Hanrahan filled that role). Pardo, who was 57 when the show debuted and who retired from NBC in 2004 at age 86, still flies in from his home in Tucson, Arizona, to introduce the show as of 2009.

[edit] Hosts/musical guests

George Carlin was first to host the show; Candice Bergen was the first female to host the show a few weeks later and again hosted only six weeks after that.

[edit] The "Five Timers' Club"

The following performers have hosted SNL at least five times. A Y indicates that the performers are the subjects of their own "Best of ..." videotape, DVD, or compilation special. If a appears next to a person's name that means they were once a cast member on the show. The Five-Timers Club originates from a sketch which appeared on Tom Hanks' fifth episode. This list comes from raw data compiled and listed from two sources: http://snlmusic.parshaparts.com/snlmusic.php and http://snl.jt.org/).

Performer	Number of Episodes	First Hosted	Most Recently Hosted	Date of Five Timer Membership
Steve Martin [2]	15	October 23, 1976	January 31, 2009	April 22, 1978	Y
Alec Baldwin	14	April 21, 1990	February 14, 2009	December 10, 1994	Y
John Goodman	12	December 2, 1989	November 3, 2001	May 7, 1994
Buck Henry	10	January 17, 1976	May 24, 1980	November 19, 1977
Chevy Chase	9	February 18, 1978	February 15, 1997	November 16, 1985	Y
Tom Hanks [3]	8	December 14, 1985	May 6, 2006	December 8, 1990	Y
Christopher Walken [4]	7	January 20, 1990	April 5, 2008	May 19, 2001	Y
Elliott Gould	6	January 10, 1976	November 15, 1980	February 16, 1980
Danny DeVito	6	May 15, 1982	December 10, 1999	January 9, 1993
Candice Bergen	5	November 8, 1975	May 19, 1990	May 19, 1990
Bill Murray	5	March 7, 1981	February 20, 1999	February 20, 1999
Drew Barrymore	5	November 20, 1982	February 3, 2007	February 3, 2007

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

Musical Guest	Number of Episodes	First Musical Appearance	Last Musical Appearance	Other Notes
Paul Simon	9	November 20, 1976	May 13, 2006	Simon also hosted or co-hosted four shows. He co-hosted with Catherine Oxenberg on May 10, 1986, during the 11th season. He solely hosted the second show on October 18, 1975 where he performed with Art Garfunkel and Phoebe Snow, on November 20, 1976, where, along with George Harrison he was one of two musical guests and on December 19, 1987. Is also best friend of show creator Lorne Michaels. (Also appeared in the original "Five Timers Club" sketch.)
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers	7	November 10, 1979	April 10, 1999
Randy Newman	6	October 18, 1975	October 22, 1988
James Taylor	6	September 18, 1976	November 13, 1993
Beck	6	January 11, 1997	October 28, 2006	He appeared as musical guest two times in 1999 (with hosts Bill Paxton and Christina Ricci). He has also been featured in a sketch about the evils of medicinal marijuana.
Sting	5	October 17, 1987	November 20, 1999	Only non-American performer to appear as a musical guest at least five times; has also performed in at least one sketch during each of his appearances.
Foo Fighters	5	December 2, 1995	October 13, 2007	Lead singer Dave Grohl has actually appeared nine times; he was the drummer for Nirvana in their two performances, as well as for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Tenacious D for one performance each.

[edit] Musical guests who simultaneously hosted

The following performers have pulled a double duty as both musical guests and host during the same SNL episode:

Musical Guest	Date of Hosting/Musical Appearance	Other Notes
Lily Tomlin	November 22, 1975	She is actually the first to host and be in the musical act, but the show was listed without a musical act. So she is not given musical act credit
Desi Arnaz	February 21, 1976	He is the first performer credited to appear simultaneously as host and musical guest.
Paul Simon	November 20, 1976	with George Harrison
Ray Charles	November 12, 1977
The Rolling Stones	October 7, 1978	Are the only band to host and be musical guests on SNL (even though Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood were the only band members to appear in sketches - Bill Wyman did not)
Frank Zappa	October 21, 1978	Zappa's appearance (and general 'mugging') was so notorious he was, legend has it, never invited back.
Ricky Nelson	February 17, 1979	Nelson proved to be a good sport by spoofing his TV sitcom image. He appeared in a Twilight Zone send-up in which, always trying to go "home", he found himself among characters from other early TV sitcoms: Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best and Make Room for Daddy.
Olivia Newton-John	May 22, 1982
Lily Tomlin	January 22, 1983	Appearing in the musical act also technically makes her the first to host and appear in the musical act twice. Though again the show was listed without a musical guest so she was not given credit. Tomlin appeared as Pervis Hawkins
Stevie Wonder	May 7, 1983
Willie Nelson	February 21, 1987
Dolly Parton	April 15, 1989
Quincy Jones	February 10, 1990	Jones' hosting stint had ten musical guests on one night, an SNL record.
Sting	January 19, 1991	Sting also hosted in early 1997. He was not the credited musical guest but he did perform a few numbers.
MC Hammer	December 7, 1991
Garth Brooks	February 28, 1998 and November 13, 1999	He is one of only three performers to simultaneously act as host and musical guest more than once. Garth appeared in the second such episode as himself as host, and his alter ego Chris Gaines as musical guest.
Deion Sanders	February 18, 1995	Bon Jovi was the credited musical guest, but Deion Sanders performed "It's On" and "Must be the Money."
Jennifer Lopez	February 10, 2001
Britney Spears	May 13, 2000 and February 2, 2002	At 18, she was the youngest person in SNL History to act as a host and musical guest the same time on May 13, 2000.
Justin Timberlake	October 11, 2003 and December 16, 2006
Janet Jackson	April 10, 2004
Queen Latifah	October 9, 2004
Ludacris	November 18, 2006
Jon Bon Jovi	October 13, 2007	Jon Bon Jovi hosted, with Bon Jovi performing twice, and Foo Fighters performing once. It should be noted that although Bon Jovi performed, it was the Foo Fighters, not Bon Jovi, that was the credited musical guest
Steve Martin	January 31, 2009	Steve Martin hosted and performed "Late for School" on his banjo from his new album "The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo". Jason Mraz was the credited musical guest. Mraz's second performance also featured Colbie Caillat.

In addition, Christina Aguilera, who had previously appeared as a musical guest twice on April 8, 2000 and March 15, 2003, hosted on February 21, 2004, singing early in that broadcast. Maroon 5 was the musical guest for the episode, with two song performances.

[edit] Hosts who auditioned (or were offered the opportunity) to join the cast

The following is a list of guest hosts who had previously auditioned for the show earlier in their careers only to be turned down. This list does not include the names of hosts, like Billy Crystal, who were rejected but eventually joined the cast at a later date. The list of the hosts and dates of their auditions are as follows:

Host	SNL Season of Audition	First Hosted	Last Hosted	Other notes
John Goodman	6th (1980–1981)	December 2, 1989	November 3, 2001	Hosted once a season for 11 straight seasons; cameoed on the episode hosted by former castmember Dan Aykroyd
Jim Carrey	6th (1980–1981)	May 18, 1996		He made a cameo on the Christopher Walken/Foo Fighters episode, playing his leg like a guitar during the Foo Fighters' second performance. He also was a cast member on the sketch comedy show In Living Color
Catherine O'Hara	6th (1980–1981)	April 13, 1991	October 31, 1992	She was actually hired as a cast member towards the end of the sixth season after Jean Doumanian's dismissal and the hiring of Dick Ebersol as executive producer. However, she resigned, due to an incident involving Michael O'Donoghue's harsh treatment of the 1980-1981 cast and writers, before she appeared in any episode. She suggested to then-SNL producer, Dick Ebersol, that her good friend Robin Duke replace her as a cast member.
Geena Davis	10th (1984–1985)	April 22, 1989
Paul Reubens	6th (1980–1981) and 10th (1984-1985)	November 23, 1985		Hosted as his kids' show alter ego Pee Wee Herman in the 1985-1986 season. Reubens' friend Phil Hartman, who wrote some of that episode's sketches, became a cast member on SNL the following season.
Lisa Kudrow	16th (1990–1991)	October 5, 1996
Steve Carell	21st (1995–1996)	October 1, 2005	May 17, 2008	In 1995, lost the audition to Will Ferrell. He co-hosted an SNL primetime special on April 26, 2006 along with Stephen Colbert as The Ambiguously Gay Duo. Colbert served as the voice of Ace and Carell voiced his partner, Gary.
Johnny Knoxville	21st (1995–1996)	May 7, 2005		Cameoed on the Jack Black/Neil Young episode of season 31 in an Appalachian Emergency Room sketch.
Dane Cook	28th (2002–2003)	December 3, 2005	September 30, 2006

• Four notable names that auditioned for SNL yet never hosted were comedians Dom Irrera and Robert Townsend, who both auditioned to be cast members for the 1980-1981 season. MADtv comedienne Stephnie Weir also auditioned for SNL for its 1999-2000 season, but lost to Rachel Dratch. Up-and-coming comedienne Maria Bamford auditioned for the show prior to the 2003-2004 season.

[edit] Castmembers who have hosted

Y indicates a castmember with a "Best Of" collection. Castmembers are put into order of when they first hosted.

Performer	Times Hosted	First Hosted	Most Recently Hosted	When a Castmember	Other Notes
Chevy Chase	9	February 18, 1978	February 15, 1997	1975-1976 / 1½ seasons	First former castmember to host and first to host more than five times. He is the first Weekend Update anchor to come back to host.	Y
Bill Murray	5	March 7, 1981	February 20, 1999	1977-1980 / 3½ seasons	Second former castmember to host five or more time times. He is the second former Weekend Update anchor to come back to host SNL. Only castmember to host during Jean Doumanian's tenure as producer.
Eddie Murphy	2	December 11, 1982	December 15, 1984	1980-1984 / 3½ seasons	He is the only performer to host while still a castmember. Also, he was the first of only four hosts who joined the cast when Lorne Michaels was not producing SNL.	Y
Don Novello	2	January 14 , 1984	May 12, 1984	1978-1980 + 1985-1986	Hosted both times as his character Father Guido Sarducci.
Billy Crystal	2	March 17, 1984	May 12, 1984	1984-1985 / 1 season	He is the first performer to join the cast after he had hosted. He co-hosted with Ed Koch, Don Novello, Betty Thomas and Edwin Newman on May 12, 1984. Also, he is one of only four hosts who joined the cast when Lorne Michaels was not producing SNL.
Michael McKean	1	November 3, 1984	November 3, 1984	94-95 / 1½	He is the second performer to join the cast after hosting a show, and also the oldest individual to join the cast.
Martin Short	2	December 6, 1986	December 7, 1996	1984-1985 / 1 season	He co-hosted with Chevy Chase and Steve Martin on December 6, 1986. He is one of only four castmembers hosts who joined the cast when Lorne Michaels was not producing SNL.
Paul Shaffer	1	January 31, 1987		1979-1980 / 1 season	He is the only former leader of the SNL Band to host.
Dana Carvey	3	October 22, 1994	October 21, 2000	1986-1993 / 6½ seasons		Y
Damon Wayans	1	April 8, 1995		1985-1986 / ½ season	He is the first castmember to come back to host SNL after being fired from the show, and the first castmember from In Living Color to host.
Phil Hartman	2	March 23, 1996	November 23, 1996	1986-1994 / 8 seasons		Y
Chris Rock	1	November 2, 1996		1990-1993 / 3 seasons		Y
Robert Downey Jr	1	November 16, 1996		1985-1986 / 1 season
Mike Myers	1	March 22, 1997		1989-1995 / 6 seasons	Has an updated version of his Best Of.	Y
Chris Farley	1	October 25, 1997		1990-1995 / 5 seasons	Made his final appearance on TV with the episode he hosted.	Y
Jon Lovitz	1	November 8, 1997		1986-1990 / 5 seasons		Y
Ben Stiller	1	October 24, 1998		1989-1989 / ½ season
David Spade	2	November 7, 1998		1990-1996 / 6 seasons		Y
Norm Macdonald	1	October 23, 1999		1993-1998 / 5 seasons	He is the third former Weekend Update anchor to come back to host SNL and the only WU anchor to host after being fired from being an anchor on WU (he wasn't fired from the cast).
Dan Aykroyd	1	May 17, 2003		1975-1979 / 4 seasons	He was the fourth former Weekend Update anchor to come back to host SNL, and holds the record for longest time between last appearance as cast member and first time hosting.	Y
Will Ferrell	2	May 14, 2005	May 9, 2009	1995-2002 / 7 seasons	Only castmember to have two Best Of collections.	Y
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	2	May 13, 2006	March 17, 2007	1982-1985 / 3 seasons	First female castmember to host / first women castmember from the Ebersol era.
Molly Shannon	1	May 12, 2007		1995-2001 / 6½ seasons	Second female castmember to host, but first from the Michaels era.	Y
Tina Fey	1	February 23, 2008		2000-2006 / 6 seasons	Fifth former Weekend Update anchor to come back to host SNL, first female anchor to host, hosted first episode back from the Writer's Strike.
Tracy Morgan	1	March 14, 2009		1996-2003 / 7 seasons		Y

[edit] The SNL Band

The Saturday Night Live Band (also known as "The Live Band") is the house band for SNL. It features New York studio musicians including Paul Shaffer (1975-1977, 1977-1980), G.E. Smith, Lou Marini (1975-1983), David Sanborn (1975), Michael Brecker, Ray Chew (1980-1983), Alan Rubin (1975-1983), Georg Wadenius (1979-1985), Steve Ferrone (1985), David Johansen (performing as Buster Poindexter) and Tom Malone, who served as leader of the band from 1981 to 1985. The band is currently under the leadership of Tower of Power alum Lenny Pickett and keyboardists Leon Pendarvis and Katreese Barnes.

[edit] Films based on SNL sketches

The films based on SNL sketches are listed below with their release, budget, gross, and ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. The gross is from Box Office Mojo.^[5] A Rotten Tomatoes score of 60% or higher indicates the film is "fresh" (well-received)^[6]; Metacritic scores from 81-100, 61-80, 40-60, 20-39, and 0-19 indicate universal/near-universal acclaim, generally favorable reviews, mixed reviews, poor reviews, and overwhelming dislike, respectively.^[7]

Film	Release date	Budget	Gross	Rotten Tomatoes rating	Metacritic rating
The Blues Brothers	1980	$27 million	$57,229,890	76% (fresh)	-
Wayne's World	1992	$20 million	$121,697,323	83% (fresh)	53 (mixed reviews)
Wayne's World 2	1993	$40 million	$48,197,805	58%	-
Coneheads	1993	Unknown	$21,274,717	27%	-
It's Pat	1994	Unknown	$60,822	0%	-
Stuart Saves His Family	1995	$15 million	$912,082	29%	-
A Night at the Roxbury	1998	$17 million	$30,331,165	10%	26 (poor reviews)
Blues Brothers 2000	1998	$28 million	$14,051,384	45%
Superstar	1999	$14 million	$30,636,478	33%	42 (mixed reviews)
The Ladies Man	2000	$11 million	$13,616,610	11%	22 (poor reviews)

The early days of SNL spawned several movies, including the successful The Blues Brothers. However it was the success of Wayne's World, that encouraged Lorne Michaels to produce more film spin-offs, based on several popular sketch characters. Michaels revived 1970s characters for Coneheads (1993), followed by It's Pat (1994); Stuart Saves His Family (1995, with the Stuart Smalley character); A Night at the Roxbury (1998, with the Butabi Brothers characters); Superstar (1999, with the Mary Katherine Gallagher character); and Ladies Man (2000). Some did moderately well, though others did not — notably It's Pat!, which did so badly at the box office the studio which made the film, Touchstone, pulled it only one week after releasing it, and Stuart Saves His Family, with the latter losing US$15 million.

In addition, Office Space (1999) originated from a series of Mike Judge animated short films that aired on SNL after appearing on several other programs.^[8]

The character Bob Roberts from the Tim Robbins film of the same name, first appeared on SNL in a short film about the conservative folk singer.

The group The Folksmen first appeared on SNL, performing the song "Old Joe's Place" before later appearing in the film A Mighty Wind. The three members of the Folksmen were the same three comedians- Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, and Christopher Guest who also appeared on the same episode as the rock group Spinal Tap. At the time of the appearance, (the 1984-85 season) Shearer and Guest were cast members. Likewise, Guest's Corky St. Clair character from the film Waiting for Guffman originated in the 1984 "Synchronized Swimming" sketch.

[edit] The studio

Since the show's inception, SNL has aired from Studio 8H, located on floors 8 and 9 of GE Building (30 Rockefeller Plaza, or "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 sketches. According to NBC, the 8H studio has an almost perfect sound acoustic. The offices of SNL writers, producers, and other staff can be found on the 17th floor of "30 Rock."

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 television screens. Though the show is still produced in widescreen, beginning in 2008, many viewers again began seeing the show in a 4:3 aspect ratio due to the DTV conversion.

Three of the first four 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.

[edit] Production process

The following is a summary of the process used to produce the show. It is based in part on interviews with former SNL head writer and performer Tina Fey in 2000 and 2004.^[9][10]

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. The official name is "The Host Meeting" but all the writers and cast members call it "The Pitch Meeting"
• 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, most of which will not be broadcast.
• 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 are in need of work, are rewritten completely. Others are changed in smaller ways.
• The Weekend Update crew starts coming together, starting with the news items written by writers dedicated all week to the segment.
• The crew comes in for rehearsal, and the music act is rehearsed as well as some of the larger, more important sketches.
• The host and musical guest and usually some cast members shoot two to four promos to play for NBC.

Friday:

• The show is blocked.
• The writer of each sketch acts as producer, working with the show's set designers and costumers.
• Special music is recorded for the show.

Saturday:

• With the show still far from finalized, the day begins with a run-through, with props, in front of Lorne Michaels.
• The Saturday Night Live Band does a mid-morning rehearsal.
• 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 a dress rehearsal performed in front of the studio audience, which lasts from 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. (or sometimes later) and contains approximately twenty minutes of material which will be deleted from the final broadcast.
• Lorne Michaels uses firsthand observation of the audience reaction during the dress rehearsal and input from the host and head writer to determine the final round of changes, re-ordering sketches as necessary.
• The live show then begins at 11:29:30 p.m. Eastern Time, but some markets will delay airing.

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 sketches in which they will appear. Similarly, there has been an A&E episode of Biography which covered the production process, as well as an episode of "TV Tales" in 2002 on E! Entertainment Television.

[edit] When it's not live

[edit] Reruns

SNL reruns are aired out of its original broadcast sequence, usually determined by which episodes have not yet been repeated, but had high ratings or acclaim for its live broadcast. 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, or episodes will be repeated a second or third time to coincide with a new event connected with the person who hosted. For example, the Natalie Portman episode aired in March 2006 to promote V for Vendetta was repeated August 5, 2006, prior to the film's DVD release August 8. Similarly, Jeff Gordon's episode reran following NBC's coverage of the Pepsi 400.

The show is never live in the western half of the USA. There was a short experiment in which it did air live on the west coast in 2001 after live XFL football games.^{[citation needed]} NBC airs a recording of the live show for the Mountain and Pacific time zones, usually exactly as it aired in the East -- mistakes notwithstanding.

NBC and Broadway Video share the copyright to every episode of the show made thus far. From 1990 until 2004, Comedy Central and its predecessor Ha! re-aired reruns of the series, after which E! Entertainment Television signed a deal to reruns.^[11] Abbreviated thirty and sixty minute versions of the first five seasons aired as The Best of Saturday Night Live in syndication beginning in the 1980s and later on Nick at Nite in 1988, VH1, Comedy Central and E! Entertainment Television.

[edit] Compilations

From time-to-time, SNL airs compilation shows. Such shows will feature hand-selected best sketches from the previous season; of a particular cast member or multiple-time host; or centered on a particular theme (eg. Halloween, Christmas). Political sketches are typically culled for a special in presidential election years; the 2000 special was notable for having self-deprecating (though separate) appearances by candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore. During the 2008 presidential race, Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Barack Obama, and Sarah Palin all made appearances on the show.

[edit] Delays

• The show was forced by the network to run on a five-second delay on three separate occasions when Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, and Andrew Dice Clay each hosted.
• The episode scheduled for October 25, 1986, hosted by Rosanna Arquette, was not aired until November 8 due to NBC broadcasting Game 6 of the 1986 World Series; the game entered extra innings, causing that night's broadcast of SNL to be canceled. The show was recorded for the studio audience starting at 1:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and broadcast two weeks later with an "apology" by New York Mets pitcher Ron Darling.
• The episode scheduled for February 10, 2001, hosted by Jennifer Lopez, aired 45 minutes late due to an XFL game. Lopez and the cast were not told they were airing on a delay.^[12]
• During Eddie Murphy's last season, he negotiated to record a number of extra sketches in September 1983 that featured him and were broadcast in episodes for which he was not available. His last live show was with host Edwin Newman on February 25, 1984.^[13]
• When Sam Kinison delivered a comic monologue in 1986, NBC removed his plea for the legalization of marijuana from the West Coast broadcast and all subsequent airings.
• A portion of Martin Lawrence's 1994 monologue concerning feminine hygiene has been removed from all repeats, replaced with a voice-over and intertitles stating that the excised portion "...was a frank and lively presentation, and nearly cost us all our jobs."^[14]
• In a November 21, 1992 Wayne's World sketch, the characters Wayne and Garth (respectively portrayed by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey) made fun of Chelsea Clinton (the-then 12-year old daughter of the then President-Elect Bill Clinton), implying that Chelsea was incapable of causing males to "Schwing!". This joke was subsequently edited out of all repeats and syndication rebroadcasts of this sketch.^[15]

[edit] Replaced/altered sketches

Encore showings are not always identical to the original broadcast. Successful sketches aired later in the show during the original broadcast may be reedited to appear earlier. In the earlier years of the show's history, reruns occasionally replaced weaker sketches with segments from other episodes, usually from episodes that did not have an encore showing at all.

Occasionally, sketches originally performed in the dress rehearsal (which is recorded as a backup) have replaced the live version in reruns. This is usually due to errors (either technical or by the actors) in the live broadcast. Examples include

• A Peter Sarsgaard sketch from his January 21, 2006 appearance, involving Rachel Dratch's fake newscast, met with technical difficulties during the live broadcast when the in-sketch TV stopped working and a stagehand was seen fixing it.^[16]
• Kathleen Turner's monologue in 1989.^{[citation needed]}
• A sketch involving "butt pregnancy" during the first broadcast of the November 12, 2005, Jason Lee episode was replaced with a musical sketch about cafeteria food during the repeat.^[17]
• A sketch with Roseanne Barr where she played a customer service representative for a fictional credit card company. At the end of the sketch, she accidentally used the name "Master Card" and not the fictional (though very similar) name. The dress rehearsal version has replaced that version in all successive broadcasts.^{[citation needed]}
• A Debbie Downer sketch featuring Ben Affleck was pulled from later rebroadcasts and replaced with the dress rehearsal version. In this case, the replacement is actually referenced by a title card, explaining that the dress version "worked better." The main difference between the two is that in the dress version, the actors broke character and started laughing during the sketch (causing the audience to laugh more), while the live version was performed without laughter from the actors, and less laughter from the audience.^{[citation needed]}
• One of the most notable substitutions was the replacement of Sinéad O'Connor's October 3, 1992 live performance during which she destroyed a photograph of Pope John Paul II, with the dress rehearsal performance from earlier that evening where she holds up a picture of a starving African child.^[18]
• The It's a Match sketch with host Shia LaBeouf was edited so he would not fumble with the rings he pulled out from under his chair, and Casey Wilson's answer to where she was during the murder was "Making mouth whoopie" instead of "Eating pound cake and crying on my waterbed."^{[citation needed]}
• The "I Drink Your Milkshake" sketch involving Bill Hader (as Daniel Plainview) was edited to remove Hader's verbal mistake when saying the city in Wisconsin. The mistake was edited out by showing the restaurant picture earlier, and the verbal mistake completely removed from the sketch in all subsequent re-broadcasts.^{[citation needed]}
• The "VH1 Storytellers: Neil Diamond" sketch in episode 438 February 7, 1998 is edited out in repeats and is absent from the Will Ferrell "Best of" videos despite being recognized by many as one of SNL's funniest sketches.^{[citation needed]}
• The "Michael Phelps Diet" fake commercial from the season 34 premiere episode used a dress rehearsal version in reruns because the live version had a part where Michael Phelps can be seen turning his head to cough just before delivering his line.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Censorship

In some cases, a sketch was censored in repeat broadcasts.

• A sketch featuring a performance of "The Day After Tomorrow" by the Brooklyn Actor's Academy had as its primary joke the thick "Noo Yawk" accent of the actors. The sketch featured many lines using heavily accented forms of the word fuck; "fuggin'," "funkin'," etc. While the curse word proper was never actually used, the "close call" words are bleeped out on broadcasts of the sketch on E!, where the show is run in the daytime.^{[citation needed]}
• On the Rainn Wilson/Arcade Fire episode on February 24, 2007, during the sketch where four men talk about where they were when they first heard "Danny's Song", Bill Hader's character tells the story of how he first heard the song when he was spending time with his father in the park, and concludes that it was the first day that he thought, "I have a dad," instead of, "I have a dad with Down's Syndrome." Due to complaints^[specify], the "Down's Syndrome" part of the line was bleeped out in all NBC reruns.
• When Nirvana played on SNL, at the end of their gig, frontman Kurt Cobain french kissed bassist Krist Novoselic. Cobain later stated, "I did that just to piss off the rednecks and homophobes back in Aberdeen, Washington" {where Cobain was from). NBC decided to edit out the kiss in fear of "complaints".
• On the NBC rerun of the season 34 episode hosted by Anne Hathaway, the CSPAN Bailout sketch was edited to remove references to Herb Sandler and his wife, Marion, and their corrupt banking practices, as days after the sketch aired, Lorne Michaels discovered that Herb and Marion Sandler were an actual couple who were accused of this.^[19]
• On April 10, 1996 the band Rage Against The Machine was scheduled to perform two songs on Saturday Night Live. The show was hosted that night by ex-Republican presidential candidate and billionaire Steve Forbes. According to RATM guitarist Tom Morello, "RATM wanted to stand in sharp juxtaposition to a billionaire telling jokes and promoting his flat tax by making our own statement."^[20]

To this end, the band hung two upside-down American flags from their amplifiers. Seconds before they took the stage to perform "Bulls on Parade", SNL and NBC sent stagehands in to pull the flags down.^[21] The inverted flags, says Morello, represented:

“

Our contention that American democracy is inverted when what passes for democracy is an electoral choice between two representatives of the privileged class. America's freedom of expression is inverted when you're free to say anything you want to say until it upsets a corporate sponsor. Finally, this was our way of expressing our opinion of the show's host, Steve Forbes.[20]

”

The band's first attempt to hang the flags during a pre-telecast rehearsal on Thursday was stopped by SNL's producers, who "demanded that we take the flags down," according to Morello. "They said the sponsors would be upset, and that because Steve Forbes was on, they had to run a 'tighter' show." SNL also told the band it would mute objectionable lyrics in "Bullet in the Head" (which was supposed to be RATM's second song), and insisted that the song be bleeped in the studio because Forbes had friends and family there.^[20]

On the night of the show, following the removal of the flags during the first performance, the band was approached by SNL and NBC officials and ordered to immediately leave the building. Upon hearing this, RATM bassist Commerford reportedly stormed Forbes' dressing room, throwing shreds from one of the torn down flags.

“	SNL censored Rage, period. They could not have sucked up to the billionaire more. The thing that's ironic is SNL is supposedly this cutting edge show, but they proved they're bootlickers to their corporate masters when it comes down to it. They're cowards. It should come to no surprise that GE, which owns NBC, would find "Bullet" particularly offensive. GE is a major manufacturer of US planes used to commit war crimes in the Gulf War, and bombs from those jets destroyed hydroelectric dams which killed thousands of civilians in Iraq.	”
	— Tom Morello

Morello noted that members of the Saturday Night Live cast and crew, whom he declined to name, "[e]xpressed solidarity with our actions, and a sense of shame that their show had censored the performance."^[20]

[edit] On VHS and DVD

Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season was released on DVD, in the UK, by Universal Studios on December 5, 2006.^[22] Upon the set’s release, some criticism of its authenticity as complete and uncut arose from reviewers and fans.^[23] This was due to the existence of original live copies, which in comparison to the "complete" episodes reveal edits and omissions, which are common among the rerun versions of the shows in the set. ^[24] One such example is a Wrigleys gum parody which originally aired in two episodes live, but was removed for the repeat broadcasts for time, and the DVD uses the repeat versions of these episodes. ^[25]

The complete second season was released in the US on DVD on December 4, 2007.^[22], the third season on May 13, 2008, and the fourth season on December 2, 2008.^[26]

In addition to the full season releases, there have been multiple releases both on VHS and DVD featuring the "Best Of" former cast members and guest hosts in addition to documentaries, musical performances and themed compilations of sketches as well as a release of the show's 25 year anniversary. In 2001, the Presidential Bash 2000 was released on VHS, but it not thus far been released on DVD.

US late night TV
Networks
ABC	Jimmy Kimmel Live!
CBS	Late Show with David Letterman The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
FOX	MADtv Talkshow with Spike Feresten
NBC	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Last Call with Carson Daly Saturday Night Live
Cable
Comedy Central	The Daily Show with Jon Stewart The Colbert Report
This box: view • talk

[edit] Books

The first authorized book for the series was published by Avon Books in 1977. Saturday Night Live (ISBN 0380018012) was edited by Anne P. Beatts and John Head, with photography by Edie Baskin.^[27]; all three worked for Saturday Night Live at the time the book was published. The oversized illustrated paperback included the scripts for several sketches by the Not Ready for Prime Time Players, as the repertory cast was known at first.^[28]

[edit] See also

• Fridays (ABC TV series)
• The Kids in the Hall
• Saturday Night's Main Event
• Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!

[edit] Further reading

[edit] References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references (ideally, using inline citations). Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008)

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Saturday Night Live

• Official NBC website
• Official website for Broadway Video
• Saturday Night Live at the Internet Movie Database
• Saturday Night Live at TV.com
• Saturday-Night-Live.com - Live from the 'Net Since 1997
• SNL Transcripts from snltranscripts.jt.org
• Saturday Night Live Cast and Musical guest database from snlmusic.parshaparts.com

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