Lorne Michaels is a Canadian-American television writer and film producer. He created and produced Saturday Night Live and produced the Late Night series, The Kids in the Hall, and The Tonight Show.
Brandon Tartikoff was an American television executive who was head of the entertainment division of NBC from 1981 to 1991. He was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with several hit series: Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Law & Order, ALF, Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, The Golden Girls, Wings, Miami Vice, Knight Rider, The A-Team, Saved by the Bell, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, St. Elsewhere, and Night Court.
Gail Berman is an American producer and television executive. She is co-owner and founding partner of The Jackal Group, a production entity formed in partnership with Fox Networks Group. The Jackal Group develops and produces scripted, unscripted and factual entertainment programming for FNG's channels, including Fox Broadcasting Company, FX/FXX, the National Geographic Channels, and Fox International Channels. The partnership also provides for opportunities in digital and film, as well as for non-21st Century Fox distribution entities.
Broadway Video is an American multimedia entertainment studio founded by Lorne Michaels, creator of the sketch comedy TV series Saturday Night Live and producer of other television programs and movies. Broadway Video also held the rights to much of the pre-1974 Rankin-Bass library and Lassie from 1988 to 1996 before they sold the rights to Golden Books Family Entertainment.
Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American late-night live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The show's premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary American culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that is usually based on political events and ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show.
Universal Television LLC is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predecessor of the company, NBC Studios, previously assumed such functions, and a substantial portion of the company's shows air on the network.
NBCUniversal Syndication Studios, formerly known as NBCUniversal Television Distribution, Universal Domestic Television, Studios USA Television Distribution and MCA TV is the television syndication division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, in the United States. Its predecessors include NBC Enterprises, Universal Television Distribution, Multimedia Entertainment, PolyGram Television, and Sky Vision. At some point in its history, it was also known as "NBCUniversal Television & New Media Distribution" and "NBC Universal Television and New Media Distribution.” This unit is possibly the parent for the similarly named "NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution" unit.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures, an American film studio, owned by NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast.
Spelling Television Inc. was an American television production company that went through several name changes. It was originally called Aaron Spelling Productions, then Spelling Entertainment Inc. and eventually part of Spelling Entertainment Group. The company produced popular shows such as The Love Boat, Dynasty, Beverly Hills, 90210, 7th Heaven, Melrose Place and Charmed. The company was founded by television producer Aaron Spelling on October 25, 1965. The company is currently an in-name-only unit of CBS Studios. A related company, Spelling-Goldberg Productions, co-existed during a portion of the same time period and produced other well-known shows such as Family, Charlie's Angels, Starsky & Hutch, and Fantasy Island but these series are not part of the modern day library now owned by Paramount Global. Another related company, The Douglas S. Cramer Company co-existed during a portion of the same time period, produced shows like Wonder Woman, Joe and Sons, and Bridget Loves Bernie and television films like Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway.
Viacom Productions was a television production arm of Viacom International. Viacom Enterprises was also a movie production, and a sports production. The division was active from 1971 until 2004, when the company was folded into Paramount Television 10 years following Viacom's acquisition of Paramount Pictures, and led Perry Simon to move itself to Paramount for a production deal.
The twenty-fifth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 2, 1999 and May 20, 2000.
The first season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC from October 11, 1975, to July 31, 1976. The show served as a vehicle that launched to stardom the careers of a number of major comedians and actors, including Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Dan Aykroyd.
Brillstein Entertainment Partners is a talent management firm and television production company formed by the 1986 addition of Brad Grey to The Brillstein Company, founded by Bernie Brillstein in 1969. On September 18, 2023, it was announced that Casey Wasserman's eponymous company had acquired BEP.
de Passe Jones Entertainment (dJE) is an American entertainment content provider led by Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones that sources, develops, acquires, and produces a variety of television, motion picture, theater, new media, and print content. The company was founded by Berry Gordy Jr., in 1968, as Motown Productions, the film and television arm of Gordy's Motown Records label. It became de Passe Entertainment in 1992, then in 2008, joining forces with Jones, de Passe Jones Entertainment.
DreamWorks Pictures is an American film studio and distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994, as a live-action film studio by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen, of which they owned 72%. The studio formerly distributed its own and third-party films. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses of more than $100 million each.
"Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special" is a three-and-a-half-hour prime-time special that aired on February 15, 2015, on NBC, celebrating Saturday Night Live's 40th year on the air, having premiered on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The special was produced by Broadway Video and directed by then-series director Don Roy King. This special generated 23.1 million viewers, becoming NBC's most-watched prime-time, non-sports, entertainment telecast since the Friends series finale in 2004. It is the third such anniversary special to be broadcast, with celebratory episodes also held during the 15th and 25th seasons.
"A Limo for a Lame-O" is a commentary delivered by Al Franken during Weekend Update on the May 10, 1980, episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL). Using the framework of his own desire to have a limousine drive him to and from his job at NBC, the network which broadcasts the program, Franken attacked network president Fred Silverman for NBC's poor showing in the Nielsen ratings during his tenure. It has been called "one of the meanest acts of character assassination in the history of—well, in the history of mean acts of character assassination."
The forty-fifth season of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live premiered on September 28, 2019, during the 2019–20 television season with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Billie Eilish, and concluded on May 9, 2020 with host Kristen Wiig and musical guest Boyz II Men. This season featured the return of Eddie Murphy as host, on December 21, 2019, for the first time in 35 years. Murphy's episode was the most watched episode since 2008.
The first incarnation of Paramount Television was operated as the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, until it changed its name to CBS Paramount Television on January 17, 2006.
