LIVE FROM NEW YORK It’s Saturday Night!

BACKGROUND  Johnny Carson was the host of NBC’s Tonight Show  He wanted to be able to take a couple of weeknights off and use reruns on those nights instead of putting the reruns on the weekend.  He asked the network to figure out something to fill his spot on the weekend

CREATORS  Dick Ebersol- hired by NBC to develop a variety show for Saturday nights  Lorne Michaels- hired to produce the show  The were given Studio 8H, a mostly unused radio studio that had been converted at 30 Rockefeller Center

ORIGINAL CAST MEMBERS

“THE NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME PLAYERS”  Dan Aykroyd  John Belushi  Gilda Radner  Chevy Chase  Jane Curtain  Laraine Newman  Garrett Morris  George Coe  Michael O’Donoghue

NBC’S SATURDAY NIGHT  First episode aired on October 11, 1975  Host was George Carlin  Fall of 2015 started its 41 st season  One of the longest running programs in the US

HOW DID IT GET NAMED?  Was originally called NBC’s Saturday Night because Saturday Night Live was in use by Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell on ABC  They waited until to purchase the rights to the name and changed it to Saturday Night Live at that point

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?  Comedy sketches  Makes fun of culture and politics  Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest

OPENING MONOLOGUE  The guest usually delivers an opening monologue and also performs the skits with cast members  Episode begins with a “cold opening” sketch that then has someone who breaks character and says “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

CAST CHANGES  Chevy Chase left the show during the second season  Replaced by Bill Murray  Show has been a “springboard” to fame

NOTABLE CAST MEMBERS OVER THE YEARS  Eddie Murphy  Billy Crystal  Martin Short  Joan Cusack  Robert Downey Jr  Dana Carvey  Amy Poehler  Phil Hartman  Chris Farley  Adam Sandler  Mike Myers  Will Ferrell  Jimmy Fallon  Tina Fey  Norm MacDonald  Joe Piscopo  Jon Lovitz  Dennis Miller  Jan Hooks  Tracy Morgan  Andy Samberg  Kristin Wiig  David Spade  Seth Meyers

WHO IS THE HOST?  Single host  Popular, novelty  They have a film, album, or other work being released near the time of their appearance on the show  Introduce the musical guest for the night  Some guests belong to the Five-Timers Club (started as a result of Tom Hanks’ fifth episode sketch)

REPEAT HOSTS  Alec Baldwin- has hosted 16 times since 1990  Steve Martin- has hosted 15 times since 1976

MUSIC  Each episode features a musical guest- which can be a solo act or a band  Performs two to three musical numbers  Not permitted to lip-synch (it would take away from the live aspect)  ABBA first and only act to allow it  Ashlee Simpson performance was very controversial because it wasn’t allowed

HOW DO THEY MAKE AN EPISODE?  Monday- pitch meeting (cast, writers, producers, guest host)  Host can also offer suggestions for sketches  Tuesday- write scripts- many times lasts all night  Wednesday- 5 pm- sketches are reading at round table meeting- attended by writers, producers, tech experts, make-up artists (so over 50 people are at the meeting)  Thursday- rewriting and developing chosen skits  Friday- rehearsed  Saturday- rehearsal before a live audience at 8 pm, then to the live show

IMPACT  Considered one the Greatest Shows of All Time  Has changed numbers over the years (was 10 th in 50 Greatest Shows, 25 of 101 best written shows, 18 th of 60 Greatest Shows…)  36 Emmys  Broke record for most award nominated show in 2009 when it received a total at that point of 126 nominations  Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner were only cast members to win Emmy for Outstanding Individual Performance

POLITICS  Huge effect on presidential elections  Voters report that political sketches shown on the program influence them in voting  “SNL Effect”  2008 election- 2/3 of voters said they had seen a broadcast of political sketches on SNL, 10% saying it made a difference to them

POLITICS OVER THE YEARS  Chevy Chase- impression of Gerald Ford (bumbling, falling)  Tina Fey- impression of Sarah Palin (“I can see Russia from my house”)  Politicians have been guests- Gerald Ford, Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, (and even more recent- Donald Trump)

CONTROVERSY  Sinead O’Connor- ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II during her performance  Rage Against the Machine- made a statement about host billionaire Steve Forbes- hung two upside down American flags  Ashlee Simpson lip synching  At times there have been intentional acts by performers as protests- leads to dead air during the show

INSPIRATION  Films have resulted from sketches on the show  The Blues Brothers (1980)  Wayne’s World (1992)  Coneheads (1993)  A Night at the Roxbury (1998)  Superstar (1999)  The Ladies Man (2000)

FAMOUS SKETCHES  night-live-sketches-of-all-time (Rolling Stone) night-live-sketches-of-all-time  skits_n_ html (Huffington Post Top 10 Sketches) skits_n_ html  (Time Magazine Most Definitive Saturday Night Live Sketch Rankings)

 5Wg&list=PLKYHUjv_UNFw_4VLLDTJIG-ja7rGUfdU5 5Wg&list=PLKYHUjv_UNFw_4VLLDTJIG-ja7rGUfdU5 (Saturday Night Live Montage ) (Best sketches of SNL’s 40 years in under 4 minutes) (Watch Mojo Top 10 SNL Sketches) (Another Top 10 SNL Sketches- Watch Mojo)