History of Saturday Night Live |
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1975–1980 |
seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
1980–1985 |
seasons 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 |
1985–1990 |
seasons 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 |
1990–1995 |
seasons 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 |
1995–2000 |
seasons 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 |
2000–2005 |
seasons 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 |
2005–2010 |
seasons 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 |
2010–2015 |
seasons 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 |
2015–2020 |
seasons 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 |
2020–present |
seasons 46, 47, 48, 49 |
Weekend Update |
Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American sketch comedy series that was co-created by Dick Ebersol and Lorne Michaels, with Michaels also serving as the producer. [1] The series premiered on the American broadcast television network NBC on October 11, 1975.
The 1990–91 season marked a significant period of transition for the series, introducing major cast changes for the first time in four years. Notable additions to the cast included Chris Farley and David Spade.
Following the departure of most of the original cast, the 1994–95 season saw Lorne Michaels attempt to rejuvenate the show with a blend of existing cast members (Kevin Nealon, Mike Myers) and new talent (Janeane Garofalo, Michael McKean). However, this season, along with the 1980–81 and 1985–86 seasons is often cited as among the least successful in the show's history. [2] In response to the criticism, Michaels overhauled the cast once again for the 1995–96 season.
In what has been described as a transitional year, [3] Jon Lovitz and Nora Dunn left the show after the previous season (the latter in a cloud of controversy). [4] Lorne Michaels introduced a number of players who quickly became stars on the show: Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, David Spade, and Julia Sweeney. [5]
Over the next few years, the new cast members introduced memorable characters such as Sweeney's "Pat," Sandler's "Opera Man" and "Canteen Boy," Farley's "Matt Foley," Schneider's office geek "The Copy Guy," and Rock's talk-show host "Nat X." [5] Spade's caustic commentary piece "Hollywood Minute" also became a hit. The popularity of these new cast members helped to offset the departure of several popular long-time players over the first two seasons of this era, including Jan Hooks and "Weekend Update" anchor Dennis Miller, as well as Victoria Jackson after the following season.
The already established cast members (Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, and Kevin Nealon) remained popular with audiences. Nealon succeeded Miller as the anchor of "Weekend Update." For the remainder of his tenure, Nealon often played the straight man during "Update" and other sketches, particularly against the newer cast members. His participation in that role increased after Carvey, Hartman, and Myers left the show. Myers introduced many popular new characters during this period, including Linda Richman, host of the fictional talk show "Coffee Talk." [5]
Meanwhile, Hartman, who had impersonated President Ronald Reagan on the show, began appearing regularly with his impression of Democratic candidate and soon-to-be President Bill Clinton. [6] Carvey continued to perform his impersonation of President George H. W. Bush while also developing an impression of independent presidential candidate Ross Perot.
Sandler, Farley, Schneider, Spade, and Rock would come to be known as the "Bad Boys of SNL" for their more outrageous "frat boy" style of comedy. [7] [8] [9] They remained fairly close in the years after they left the show, often appearing in each other's movies. [7]
Of the new cast members, Farley often used his size and physicality in sketches. [7] In the sketch "Chippendales Audition," he played a shirtless dancer opposite the trim and muscular Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze as they competed in an audition for a position with the Chippendales male dance troupe. [7]
Repertory players | Middle players
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Ellen Cleghorne [10] and Melanie Hutsell [11] were added to the cast. Siobhan Fallon also joined the cast, and Beth Cahill debuted later that fall. [11] This would be Fallon and Cahill's only season on the show. [12]
In the period leading up to the 1992 presidential election, Carvey and Hartman dominated the show with their impressions, creating mock debates. The Myers and Carvey characters Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar from the "Wayne's World" sketch would become household names during the early 1990s following the release of the successful feature film Wayne's World . [5]
Repertory players | Middle players | Featured players
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On October 3, at the end of her second song, a cover of Bob Marley's song "War," musical guest Sinéad O'Connor created controversy by holding up a picture of Pope John Paul II exclaiming, "Fight the real enemy," and tearing the picture to pieces. According to the book Live From New York, this was unrehearsed. [13] The act was condemned by the SNL crew, who refused to light the applause sign after O'Connor's performance; likewise, guest host Tim Robbins, who was raised Catholic, [14] did not thank O'Connor during the closing.
Repertory players
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After the end of the 1993-94 season, having already lost cast member Dana Carvey, who left midway through the previous season, SNL's 1994 post-season saw more departures. Julia Sweeney left due to frustration and burnout. [15] Another departure was that of Phil Hartman, whose final moment on the show was at the end of a musical number with the entire cast singing a parody of the song "So Long, Farewell" from The Sound of Music . [16] After all the cast had left the stage, Farley, appearing as his Matt Foley character, was left sitting on the stage with Phil walking back on stage, cuddling next to Farley to sing goodbye and waving at the audience. [5]
Producer Lorne Michaels hired Michael McKean midway through the 1993–1994 season. [17]
Repertory players | Featured players
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Similar to his decision in the mid-1980s to bring in established actors Randy Quaid, Joan Cusack, and Robert Downey Jr., Michaels added Janeane Garofalo and Chris Elliott to the cast. [18]
Other acquisitions were sketch veteran Mark McKinney of the recently wrapped, Michaels-produced Canadian sketch comedy show The Kids in the Hall . [18] Garofalo left in mid-season and was replaced by Molly Shannon. Mike Myers also left in mid-season, as would Nealon after the season's end. Nealon's replacement on Weekend Update was Norm Macdonald.
Much like season 6 (or, to a lesser extent, season 11), season 20 is considered one of SNL's worst-received seasons. [19] [20] [21] The season was home to many cast turnovers and much dissension. Longtime featured player Al Franken quit; Ellen Cleghorne, Kevin Nealon, Chris Elliott, and Michael McKean quit the show as well. Featured player Laura Kightlinger left to join Roseanne Barr's ill-fated FOX comedy series Saturday Night Special . Chris Farley, [22] Jay Mohr, [23] and Adam Sandler [22] were fired. British actress Morwenna Banks was hired as a contract player for the last four episodes of the season but did not return for Season 21. [24]
Towards the end of the 1994-95 season, SNL was in a state of turmoil, [25] [20] with the show enacting the highest turnover rate going into the next season. [26] The 1994-95 season had a total of 14 cast members; only five remained for the 1995-96 season: Molly Shannon, Mark McKinney, Norm Macdonald, David Spade, and Tim Meadows.
Repertory players
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Christopher Crosby Farley was an American comedian and actor. He was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live for five seasons from 1990 to 1995. He went on to pursue a film career, appearing in films such as Airheads, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, Beverly Hills Ninja, and Almost Heroes.
Pat O'Neill Riley is an androgynous fictional character created and performed by Julia Sweeney for the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) from 1990 to 1994. The character was later featured in the film It's Pat. The central humorous aspect of sketches featuring Pat is the inability of others to determine the character's sex.
Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created by Lorne Michaels, who also produced many episodes. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.
Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live sketches, organized alphabetically by title. The referenced date is the date when the sketch first appeared.
Saturday Night Live has long mocked the television medium with many fake commercials and parodies of TV shows themselves. Another of the show's frequently used styles of recurring sketches has been the talk show format. However, anything from cop shows to children's shows has been fair game for the ever-changing cast.
The twenty-second season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 28, 1996, and May 17, 1997.
The twentieth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 24, 1994, and May 13, 1995.
The nineteenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 25, 1993, and May 14, 1994.
The eighteenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 26, 1992, and May 15, 1993.
The seventeenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 28, 1991, and May 16, 1992.
The sixteenth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 29, 1990, and May 18, 1991.
The twelfth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 11, 1986 and May 23, 1987.
David Wayne Spade is an American comedian and actor. After several years as a stand-up comedian, Spade rose to prominence as a writer and cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1996. Following his departure from SNL, he began an acting career in both film and television, starring or co-starring in the films Tommy Boy (1995), Black Sheep (1996), Senseless (1998), Joe Dirt (2001), Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003), The Benchwarmers (2006), Grown Ups (2010) and its 2013 sequel, The Ridiculous 6 (2015), The Do-Over (2016), and The Wrong Missy (2020).
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live (SNL) characters and sketches introduced between September 28, 1991, and May 16, 1992, the seventeenth season of SNL.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 26, 1992, and May 15, 1993, the eighteenth season of SNL.
"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. It is produced by Broadway Video. 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.
The 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, has been parodied on Saturday Night Live (SNL) since 1992. Clinton was in office from 1993 to 2001, and has been portrayed on the show over a hundred times, most often by Darrell Hammond.