Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a late-night 1 and 1/2 hour American variety show/skit comedy that features a regular cast of comic performers (usually up-and-coming actors) who are joined by a musical act and a guest host. The show is broadcast live at the GE Building in Rockefeller Center. SNL usually begins with someone breaking character and announcing the famous line, "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

History

SNL started airing on October 11, 1975. The weekly show was created by Lorne Michaels who has written for and produced the show (except seasons 6-10) and is currently its executive producer. Bringing hearty laughs to its viewers for 33 years now, SNL is one of the longest-running network shows in the history of American TV.

SNL was originally called NBC's Saturday Night, as Saturday Night Live was being used by NBC's rival network ABC. In 1976, NBC finally bought the rights to the title and officially adopted Saturday Night Live on March 26 in the following year.

The castmembers

SNL has launched the careers of numerous major comedy stars in Hollywood. Prominent castmembers include Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Chris Rock, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Ben Stiller, Dan Aykroyd, Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Tina Fey.

The current repertory players are Fred Armisen, Will Forte, Bill Hader, Darrell Hammond, Seth Meyers, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson, and Kristen Wiig. The shows current featured players are Abby Elliott, Bobby Moynihan, Michaela Watkins, and Casey Wilson.

Although SNL has a high turnover of supporting performers, some players have had long tenures: Phil Hartman and Seth Meyers performed in 8 seasons each, Amy Poehler 7.5 seasons, and Will Ferrell 7 seasons.

Musical guests who also hosted

A number of players have performed a double duty as both hosts and musical guests in one SNL episode. Some of them are: Paul Simon, Ray Charles, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Sting, MC Hammer, Garth Brooks, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Queen Latifah, and Jon Bon Jovi.

Film spin-offs

SNL spawned several films based on popular sketch characters, including The Blues Brothers (1980). Wayne's World (1992), Wayne's World 2 (1993), Coneheads (1993), It's Pat (1994), Stuart Saves His Family (1995); A Night at the Roxbury (1998); Superstar (1999); and Ladies Man (2000). Some did pretty well, while others did not deliver. It's Pat, which got bad reviews, did so poorly at the box office that Touchstone pulled it out only a week after its release.