Live from New York

A BRIEF HISTORY

  Saturday nights on NBC were a dead zone. With nothing to fill the 11:30 slot, the network would run Best of Johnny Carson for 90 minutes. But Carson wanted to save shows for when he went on vacation and NBC asked producer Dick Ebersol to fill the gap. Ebersol approached producer Lorne Michaels to develop a variety show unlike anything on television. It would be edgy, topical and feature a cast of relative unknowns. Originally titled NBC’s Saturday Night, Michaels’ show went live for the first time on Oct. 11, 1975.

WEEKEND UPDATE

  Since the first episode, Weekend Update has given viewers real news, fake news and a lot of snarky commentary in between. Of the hundreds who have gone through studio 8H, 23 cast members and nine hosts have had the honor of sitting in the anchor chair. Chevy Chase set the standard as the first anchor, in the role of a bumbling correspondent who barelyknew what he was talking about. Currently, head writer Seth Meyers is entering his fourth season of anchoring Weekend Update.

MOVIES

 When something is a hit on television it has to become a movie. From the thousands of characters created on SNL, 10 feature films have been made with mixed results. The Blues Brothers was the first to be released in 1980. Starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, the plot revolves around two brothers searching for redemption while on a mission from God. The film grossed $57 million and received mostly good reviews. Next came 1992’s Wayne’s World about two slackers (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey) who produce a cable access show in their basement. It is the most successful SNL film, grossing $121 million. A new SNL movie will be released April 2010 based on the character MacGruber, a MacGyver spoof that always runs out of time before he can dismantle the bomb. Current cast members Will Forte and Kristen Wiig will star in the big screen adaptation.

DEARLY DEPARTED

  Original cast member John Belushi appeared on the show from 1975-1979. Belushi also found success for his film roles in Animal House and The Blues Brothers. But like many other first-season cast members, Belushi dabbled in heavy drugs.
   In 1982 he was found dead at the age of 33 from an accidental overdose of cocaine and heroin.
   Another original cast member, Gilda Radner, died in 1989 at the age of 42 of ovarian cancer. Her death helped raise public awareness of the disease and Cedars-Sinai Hospital created the Gilda Radner Cancer Detection Program.
   Chris Farley met a fate similar to his idol Belushi when he died in 1997 after suffering a heart attack from overdosing on cocaine and morphine. Over 500 people attended his funeral, including SNL cast members and friends.
   The most shocking SNL death occurred five months later when Phil Hartman was shot and killed by his wife while he was asleep. SNL commemorated his legacy in a retrospective at the end of the season.

MOVING ON

  SNL has become a starting point for many comedic actors. Adam Sandler was hired in 1990. Since leaving the show in 1995, Sandler has starred and produced many films including Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy and Mr. Deeds. Mike Myers has made a name for himself with the many characters he created for the multi-million dollar Austin Powers franchise. He also starred in the Shrek films with another former cast member, Eddie Murphy. Perhaps the most famous female to come out of SNL is Tina Fey. Fey has already won multiple Emmys for her acting and writing in NBC’s 30 Rock and has found fame on the big screen with 2004’s Mean Girls. Other notable SNL cast members include Chevy Chase, Chris Rock, Billy Crystal and Bill Murray.

DIGITAL SHORTS

  Created by writer Robert Smigel, Saturday TV Funhouse skits were short cartoons poking fun at everything from current events to 1970’s style cartoons. Spoofing the slight homosexuality of superheroes, Smigel created The Ambiguously Gay Duo, two male crime fighters who wound up in odd situations causing others to question their sexuality. SNL replaced the cartoons in 2005 for the less costly Digital Shorts created by current cast member Andy Samberg and writer Jorma Taccone.

SCANDAL! INTRIGUE!

  Hosts and musical guests have been banned from appearing on the show again. The most well-known banishment was in 1992 when Sinead O’Connor ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II, yelling, “Fight the real enemy!” Executive producer Lorne Michaels has banned many people for simply improvising and ruining the timing of the show. Milton Berle was banned in 1979 after improvising most of the night. Cypress Hill was banned in 1993 for smoking marijuana on stage. Most recently, Adrien Brody was banned in 2003 for improvising before introducing the musical guest.