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Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late-night ninety-minute live comedy- variety show which has been broadcasted every Saturday night on the American NBC network since 1975. It is one of the longest-running network entertainment programs in American television history, second only to the 50-season (and counting) run of The Tonight Show.Each week, the show's cast is joined by a guest host and a musical act, forming a repertory company for the week. SNL's ever-changing cast list is a veritable 'Who's Who' of comedy and the show has been the launching place for some of the biggest American comedy stars of the last thirty years.
The list of major stars who had career-making stints on SNL includes John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd ( The Blues Brothers), Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry ShearerHarry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943, Los Angeles, California) is a comedic United States actor and writer who began his career as a child actor in 1950s movies The Robe and television The Jack Benny Program . Shearer played Eddie Haskell in the p ( This Is Spinal Tap), Eddie MurphyEddie Murphy (born April 3, 1961, Brooklyn, New York) is an African-American comedian and actor. Murphy began his comedy career at the young age of 19, as a performer on NBC's Saturday Night Live television show. His characters include a parody of Buckwhe, Martin ShortMartin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is an actor, writer, and producer best known for his comedy work. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. A master of impersonations, Short has created many memorable characters over the years. Perhaps his best, Dana CarveyDana Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American actor and comedian from Missoula, Montana. When he was three years old, his family moved to San Carlos, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. He attended Carlmont High School, and received his Bachelor's and Mike MyersThe name Mike Myers can refer to different people: Mike Myers: an actor Mike Myers: a baseball player See also: Michael Myers. ( Wayne's WorldWayne's World is a 1992 comedy film starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as hosts of a cable access television show from Aurora, Illinois. The movie was adapted from a popular skit on NBC's Saturday Night Live. It was directed by Penelope Spheeris and also), Chris FarleyChristopher Crosby Farley ( February 15, 1964 in Madison, Wisconsin December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian, best known as one of the cast members of the popular Saturday Night Live television series. Farley got his start with Chicago's Seco, David Spade, Chris Rock and Adam Sandler. Although all these actors went on to successful film or TV careers, some died tragically young, notably Belushi and Farley (from drug abuse), Radner (cancer) and Phil Hartman, who was the victim of a murder/suicide orchestrated by his wife. One-season cast member Danitra Vance died of breast cancer in 1995, and one of the original writers and featured players, Michael O'Donoghue (he wrote the classic "Star Trek" spoof in the first season) died of a brain tumor in 1994.
1 The show's structure
The show usually follows a standard format. It opens with a sketch --known as the 'cold intro' -- which begins without any announcement or titles, often features a political parody and always ends with someone saying "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" (however some season premiere episodes have the spiel "Live from New York, for the (ordinal number of season) year, it's Saturday Night!"), followed by the segue into the opening credits, which usually opens with a shot of the Statue of Liberty. Next is the opening monologue performed by the guest host(s), often followed by a TV commercial parody. The show continues with more comedy skits (sketches might feature recurring characters, running gags , celebrity impersonation s, movie and TV spoofs, and skits parodying the news issues of the day), followed by a performance by the guest musical act. More recent shows have the second act divided by an animated short by Robert Smigel. The news parody segment Weekend Update marks the show's midway point. The second half of the program continues with more sketches, and in some cases a second performance by the musical guest. Some shows also feature filmed segments, often featuring cast members, or it may feature independent film shorts.
