Saturday Night Live is a popular late-night variety program on television. The weekly program features satire, music, and comedy. It was created by the Canadian-born producer Lorne Michaels. A guest host appears each Saturday night and is usually featured in some of the program’s skits. Guest pop or rock performers provide the music along with a permanent “Saturday Night Live” band. “Saturday Night Live,” often called SNL, is telecast in front of a live studio audience from New York City. The program premiered in 1975 and is still running. It has won dozens of Emmy Awards for excellence in television performance and production.
A major element in SNL is the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players,” who perform comic sketches. Many members of the “Players” have gone on to successful careers in movies. Others have subsequently starred in their own television shows. The original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” consisted of Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner. Al Franken and Harry Shearer were among SNL’s original writers. They also performed in a number of sketches on the show. In the late 1970’s, Billy Crystal and Bill Murray joined SNL. Performers who joined SNL beginning in the 1980’s included James Belushi, Dana Carvey, Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Phil Hartman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jon Lovitz, Dennis Miller, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Joe Piscopo, Randy Quaid, Martin Short, and Damon Wayans. Beginning in the 1990’s, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Farley, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Janeane Garofalo, Norm MacDonald, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, and David Spade joined SNL. Performers who joined the show beginning in the 2000’s included Fred Armisen, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, and Kristen Wiig.
