'Saturday Night Live' - The TV Series

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Saturday Night Live is one of the most prominent sketch shows of all time. The slang and culture of the United States has been impacted significantly. SNL has given birth to several feature films, including The Blues Brothers and Wayne's World. It also served as a launching pad for dozens and dozens of now prominent stars. To count the shows catch phrases would be an encyclopedia of its own, and to attempt to capture the humor would be impossible.

The show is one of the most classic sketch shows of all time. It is filmed in Studio 8-H in the NBC building. The show's format is simply a dozen or so everchanging cast members that act out short scenes and segments.

Programming History

The Start

In the first season, no one knew what to do with this new show.

In October 1975, first show was hosted by George Carlin under the name NBC's Saturday Night. This first show set the stage for the format of all of the shows following it. It was the first glimmer of great talents of many future stars. These first shows had many extemporaneous adlibs, being a live show, which helped contribute to its chaotic and comfortable nature. The first 'Not Ready for Primetime Players' didn't take anything very seriously, partly because they didn't know what was to become of them.

Chevy Chase said, '...I saw a real looseness there, a devil-may-care attitude. "Who cares if we get the lines right? Let's just be as funny as we can, because we don't know if we'll be on next week."'

Lorne Michaels, the Executive Producer insisted that seven shows be produced before they started so that they could ensure the quality of the show.

Things Pick Up


By the 1976-1977 season, breakout star Chevy Chase had left, and Bill Murray went in to pick up the slack. Even after the star left, SNL started to finally get good ratings and a good buzz around it on its second season. Saturday Night Live became increasingly popular, and held a new standard to its writing and preformances. Other than that, there were few new changes, the cast was almost the same, something that can't be said for later seasons. The style and mood were still still relaxed.

Great Changes


Skip ahead to season six, the cast was completely new, with no remnants from past years, like most seasons tend to have. Old reliable sketches had to be abandoned for a new cast. Old sketches, like Nick the Lounge Singer and Coneheads were left, and season six created almost no new recurring sketches and contributed little to its legacy. In season seven, old traditions, like the "Live from New York..." opening and long time announcer Don Pardo were abandoned. Another almost completely new cast joined.

A New Hope


By season eleven, another completely new cast arose, but it contributed to a rebirth of SNL with a much stronger cast in season twelve, including Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon. Over the next few years, from 1987-1991, the show would make a new name for itself with cast members like Mike Myers, Chris Rock, Chris Farley, David Spade, Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider. These new players would also help catapult SNL into the 90s and a younger audience. This group kept acquiring great new players, like Norm MacDonald and managed to keep most of the talented cast members for many years. Around 1997, though, some of the traditional cast members were replaced by newer preformers, like Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, Molly Shannon, Colin Quinn, Tracy Morgan and Chris Kattan. These players produced some of the most memorable sketches, like Roxbury Guys, Spartan Cheerleaders, the Delicious Dish, and fresher impressions. Unlike in older seasons, in the late 90s, every member of the cast seemed to be a star.

At the Time of this Writing...


A new group of preformers have dominated the show, including the hugely popular Jimmy Fallon, the audience seems to have gotten more and more youth focused, with more jokes about teen and adolescent related subjects. In the twenty sixth season, Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey revitalized the Weekend Update segment that they inherited from departing Colin Quinn.

Great Sketches

The Blues Brothers

The Blues Brothers, Jake and Elwood Blues preformed songs for the crowd and became famous for how they preformed them and the songs themselves. Jake was played by John Belushi and Elwood was Dan Aykroyd. An example would be


"I went balling the other night

I started drinking and got real tight

I blew each and all my friends

I felt so good I had to blow it again


I said Hey bartender

Hey man, looka here

A draw one, draw two, draw three, four glasses of beer


Well I saw a chick sitting on the end

I said Baby can't we be friends

You're looking sweet as you can be

Well come on down and drink with me


I said Hey bartender

Hey man looka here

Draw one, draw two, draw three, four glasses of beer

Elwood!


Well we was having so much fun

I didn't know it was half past one

I turned around to have on more

I looked at the clock and it was half past four


Hey bartender

Hey man look a here

A draw one, draw two, draw three, four glasses of beer


Well jukebox girl is everything

All the cats began to sing

I heard somebody called and said

Last round for alcohol


I said Hey bartender

Hey bartender

Hey bartender

Hey bartender

Draw one, two, three, four glasses of beer."

Wayne's World

Wayne, played by Mike Myers was a young rocker who based a TV Show out of his parent's basement. He dressed as a messy rocker in torn clothes and scraggly hair. His sidekick, Garth played by Dana Carvey, was his best friend.They started every show "WAYNE'S WORLD! WAYNE'S WORLD PARTY TIME! EXCELLENT!" Some of the humor of the sketch seemed to focus on his embarassment of living in his parents basement, and his surprisingly articulate behavior.

Some particularly memorable parts of this sketch are the flashbacks and fantasies, the close-ups and the movie reviews. In the flashbacks and fantasies, Wayne would just wiggle his fingers around his head and say "Doodleoodley doodleoodly" over and over until the screen gets blurry. The closeups are just something that Wayne did on his show where he would cue an "extreme closeup" and the camera would get a very tight closeup on them. The movie reviews are when Garth and Wayne would talk about movies. Usually Wayne would engage into a lengthy intellectual thought and Garth would say "Sucked!"

    A List of Wayne's World Buzzwords
  • Party Time
  • Excellent
  • Bogus
  • Babe
  • Shyeah!
  • Dude

Land Shark

In the earlier years, around the time when the movie Jaws came out, there was a sketch about a shark that went from house to house asking to come in. "Plumber?" "Candygram" "Telegram" "I'm not a shark, I'm just a dolphin" "Mrs. Bowerton" "Telephone man" "Are you double parked? I think you're blocking me" "I left my goggles here" and many others are among the excuses the land shark uses to get you to open the door. When you open the door, you are devoured headfirst.

Samurai

The samurai deli, TV repair, bakery, hotel, and others. In these sketches, a grunting samurai (John Belushi) would service his customers with a knife and a great deal of pointing. Usually he would say little or no words throughout the entire sketch.

SNL Through the Years

Season One

  • Dan Aykroyd
  • John Belushi
  • Chevy Chase
  • Jane Curtin
  • Garrett Morris
  • Laraine Newman
  • Gilda Radner

Season Two

  • Dan Aykroyd
  • John Belushi
  • Chevy Chase
  • Jane Curtin
  • Garrett Morris
  • Bill Murray
  • Laraine Newman
  • Gilda Radner

Season Three

  • Dan Aykroyd
  • John Belushi
  • Jane Curtin
  • Garrett Morris
  • Bill Murray
  • Laraine Newman
  • Gilda Radner

Season Four

  • Dan Aykroyd
  • John Belushi
  • Jane Curtin
  • Garrett Morris
  • Bill Murray
  • Laraine Newman
  • Gilda Radner

Season Five

  • Jane Curtin
  • Garrett Morris
  • Bill Murray
  • Laraine Newman
  • Gilda Radner
  • Harry Shearer

Season Six

  • Denny Dillon
  • Gilbert Gottfried
  • Gail Matthius
  • Eddie Murphy
  • Joe Piscopo
  • Ann Risley
  • Charles Rocket

Season Eight

  • Robin Duke
  • Christine Ebersole
  • Mary Gross
  • Tim Kazurinsky
  • Eddie Murphy
  • Joe Piscopo
  • Tony Rosato

Season Nine

  • Robin Duke
  • Mary Gross
  • Brad Hall
  • Tim Kazurinsky
  • Gary Kroeger
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  • Eddie Murphy
  • Joe Piscopo

Season Ten

  • Jim Belushi
  • Robin Duke
  • Mary Gross
  • Brad Hall
  • Tim Kazurinsky
  • Gary Kroeger
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  • Eddie Murphy
  • Joe Piscopo

Season Eleven

  • Joan Cusack
  • Robert Downey, Jr
  • Nora Dunn
  • Anthony Michael Hall
  • Jon Lovitz
  • Dennis Miller
  • Randy Quaid
  • Terry Sweeney
  • Danitra Vance

Season Twelve

  • Dana Carvey
  • Nora Dunn
  • Phil Hartman
  • Jan Hooks
  • Victoria Jackson
  • Jon Lovitz
  • Dennis Miller

Season Thirteen

  • Dana Carvey
  • Nora Dunn
  • Phil Hartman
  • Jan Hooks
  • Victoria Jackson
  • Jon Lovitz
  • Dennis Miller
  • Kevin Nealon

Season Fourteen

  • Dana Carvey
  • Nora Dunn
  • Phil Hartman
  • Jan Hooks
  • Victoria Jackson
  • Jon Lovitz
  • Dennis Miller
  • Kevin Nealon

Season Fifteen

  • Dana Carvey
  • Nora Dunn
  • Phil Hartman
  • Jan Hooks
  • Victoria Jackson
  • Jon Lovitz
  • Dennis Miller
  • Mike Myers
  • Kevin Nealon

Season Sixteen

>
  • Dana Carvey
  • Phil Hartman
  • Jan Hooks
  • Victoria Jackson
  • Dennis Miller
  • Mike Myers
  • Kevin Nealon

Season Seventeen

  • Dana Carvey
  • Chris Farley
  • Phil Hartman
  • Victoria Jackson
  • Mike Myers
  • Kevin Nealon
  • Chris Rock
  • Julia Sweeney

Season Eighteen

  • Dana Carvey
  • Chris Farley
  • Phil Hartman
  • Mike Myers
  • Kevin Nealon
  • Rob Schneider
  • Julia Sweeney

Season Nineteen

  • Ellen Cleghorne
  • Chris Farley
  • Phil Hartman
  • Melanie Hutsell
  • Michael McKean
  • Tim Meadows
  • Mike Myers
  • Kevin Nealon
  • Adam Sandler
  • Rob Schneider
  • David Spade
  • Julia Sweeney

Season Twenty

  • Morwenna Banks
  • Ellen Cleghorne
  • Chris Elliot
  • Chris Farley
  • Janene Garofalo
  • Norm MacDonald
  • Michael McKean
  • Mark McKinney
  • Tim Meadows
  • Mike Myers
  • Kevin Nealon
  • Adam Sandler
  • David Spade

Season Twenty One

  • Jim Breuer
  • Will Ferrell
  • Darrell Hammond
  • David Koechner
  • Norm MacDonald
  • Mark McKinney
  • Tim Meadows
  • Cheri Oteri
  • Molly Shannon
  • David Spade
  • Nancy Walls

Season Twenty Two

  • Jim Breuer
  • Will Ferrell
  • Ana Gasteyer
  • Darrell Hammond
  • Chris Kattan
  • Norm MacDonald
  • Mark McKinney
  • Tim Meadows
  • Tracy Morgan
  • Cheri Oteri
  • Molly Shannon

Season Twenty Three

  • Jim Breuer
  • Will Ferrell
  • Ana Gasteyer
  • Darrell Hammond
  • Chris Kattan
  • Norm MacDonald
  • Tim Meadows
  • Tracy Morgan
  • Cheri Oteri
  • Colin Quinn
  • Molly Shannon

Season Twenty Four

  • Will Ferrell
  • Ana Gasteyer
  • Darrell Hammond
  • Chris Kattan
  • Tim Meadows
  • Tracy Morgan
  • Cheri Oteri
  • Colin Quinn
  • Molly Shannon

Season Twenty Five

  • Jimmy Fallon
  • Will Ferrell
  • Ana Gasteyer
  • Darrell Hammond
  • Chris Kattan
  • Tim Meadows
  • Tracy Morgan
  • Cheri Oteri
  • Chris Parnell
  • Colin Quinn
  • Horatio Sanz
  • Molly Shannon

Season Twenty Six

  • Jimmy Fallon
  • Will Ferrell
  • Ana Gasteyer
  • Darrell Hammond
  • Chris Kattan
  • Tracy Morgan
  • Chris Parnell
  • Horatio Sanz
  • Molly Shannon

Season Twenty Seven

  • Rachel Dratch
  • Jimmy Fallon
  • Will Ferrell
  • Tina Fey
  • Ana Gasteyer
  • Darrell Hammond
  • Chris Kattan
  • Tracy Morgan
  • Chris Parnell
  • Amy Poehler
  • Maya Rudolph
  • Horatio Sanz

Season Twenty Eight

  • Rachel Dratch
  • Jimmy Fallon
  • Tina Fey
  • Darrell Hammond
  • Chris Kattan
  • Tracy Morgan
  • Chris Parnell
  • Amy Poehler
  • Maya Rudolph
  • Horatio Sanz

The Format


Live From New York... it's Saturday Night!

This is the catchphrase that opened every show1. It was first used in the Season One by cast member Chevy Chase. By his account, the only reason that he opened every show as such was because a competing show, Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell2 owned the rights to the term 'Saturday Night Live'. Chase didn't know that this opening would eventually become a signal that an entertaining hour is ahead.

1Except in the seventh season, when they tried to change the show's format and removed this opening completely.2In fact, when the show first aired, it couldn't be called Saturday Night Live. But when Cosell's show went off the air, they got the rights to Saturday Night Live. Additionally, they were called the Not Ready for Prime Time Players to mock Cosell's 'Prime Time Players'.

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