Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live
Also known as	NBC's Saturday Night (1975–77) Saturday Night Live '80 (1980)
Genre	Variety show
Created by	Lorne Michaels
Directed by	Dave Wilson (1975–86, 1989–95) Additional directors: Paul Miller (1986–89) Beth McCarthy-Miller (1995–2006) Don Roy King (2006–present)
Narrated by	Don Pardo (1975–81, 1982–present) Additional narrators: Bill Hanrahan (1981) Mel Brandt (1981–82)
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	39
No. of episodes	755 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Lorne Michaels (1975–80, 1985–present) Additional producers: Jean Doumanian (1980–81) Dick Ebersol (1981–85)
Location(s)	NBC Studios, New York City
Running time	90 minutes (with commercials)
Production company(s)	Broadway Video (1981–present) Additional studios: NBC (1975–1982) Dolphin Productions (1975–82) NBC Productions (1982–96) NBC Studios (1996–99) SNL Studios (1999–present)
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Original run	October 11, 1975 – present
Other websites
Official website

Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a popular American television program. It has been broadcast on Saturday nights since October 11, 1975. It is one of the longest-running television programs in American television. It is broadcast from NBC studios in New York City. The name comes from the fact that the program is aired live on Saturday nights at 11:30 PM EST. This is a rarity in the age of filming and videotape. SNL is shown in re-runs in the summer and on cable TV. The program usually consists of the following:

• Comedy sketches
• A celebrity host, usually an actor or comedian
• A popular band/musician performing a recent song
• Weekend Update, a satirical newscast usually featuring celebrity impressions
• commercials
• Various short movies, animated segments and the like.

Saturday Night Live was created and is executive-produced by Lorne Michaels and started in 1975 as NBC's Saturday Night. Many famous comic actors got their starts being cast members on the program. The show has led to several movies, books, DVDs, and has been the inspiration for a couple of other TV shows.

"Live from New York, it's Saturday night!" is said near the beginning of every episode.

Actors on SNL

Many actors have come and gone in the history of Saturday Night Live. Here is a list of some of those actors and how long they lasted on the show.

• Chevy Chase (1975 to 1976)
• Billy Crystal (1984 to 1985)
• Robert Downey, Jr. (1985 to 1986)
• Jimmy Fallon (1998 to 2004)
• Chris Farley (1990 to 1995)
• Will Ferrell (1995 to 2002)
• Tina Fey (2000 to 2006)
• Eddie Murphy (1980 to 1984)
• Mike Myers (1988 to 1995)
• Amy Poehler (2001 to 2008)
• Chris Rock (1990 to 1993)
• Adam Sandler (1990 to 1995)

Other websites

• Saturday Night Live on IMDb