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By Tim Baysinger
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Ready for Primetime...
And Middle Age
On Oct. 11, 1975, SNL’s Not Ready for Primetime Players took
the stage at Rockefeller Center’s famed Studio 8H, launching an
enduring cultural phenomenon that’s now in its 40th season.
FF
RWD
Saturday Night Live
One constant for SNL has
was born out of JOHNNY
been changes in the troupe.
CARSON’s request that
Including this season’s two
NBC stop airing repeats
additions, PETE DAVIDAndy Kaufman doing
of
his
SON
and MICHAEL CHE,
Tonight
Show
on
his ‘Mighty Mouse’
there have been 140 cast memSaturdays (he wanted them
bit on SNL’s premiere
episode.
bers. One of the biggest changes
for weeknights so he could
came this past summer, when for- Host Chris Pratt helped
take time off). NBC president
kick off SNL’s 40th
The original Saturday Night Live cast: (left to right) Newman,
mer cast member DARRELL
HERB SCHLOSSER tasked VP of lateseason on Sept. 27.
Belushi, Curtin, Radner, Aykroyd, Morris and Chase.
HAMMOND was added as the
night DICK EBERSOL with creating a show
show’s new announcer in place of
to fill the slot. The two would hire little-known
the legendary DON PARDO, who died in August at 96.
Canadian TV producer LORNE MICHAELS to build SNL.
The original cast included CHEVY CHASE,
JOHN BELUSHI, GILDA RADNER,
DAN AYKROYD, LORAINE
NEWMAN, JANE CURTIN and
GARRETT MORRIS. Chase (the first
SNL star to rise) left early in season 2 ,
with BILL MURRAY replacing him.
‘Weekend Update’
segment hosts
Bill Murray (above)
and Seth Meyers.
Despite early success, SNL
went through major upheaval, with
Michaels exiting for Paramount
Pictures in 1980. His successor, JEAN DOUMANIAN, lasted only
10 months before being replaced by Ebersol.
Eddie Murphy
playing his Gumby
character; recurring
sketches became a
hallmark of SNL.
Ebersol’s tenure saw commercial triumph, but it was considered
lackluster (even nearing the brink of cancellation) with the exception of breakout performer EDDIE MURPHY. Michaels returned for good in 1985.
Beyond Chase, SNL has launched many big-time comedians, including
Belushi, Murphy, ADAM SANDLER, DANA CARVEY, WILL
FERRELL, AMY POEHLER and TINA FEY.
DON ROY KING, SNL director since ‘06,
says the hectic production schedule remains.
“After nine years, I still think the
show can’t possibly be done this
way,” King said at B&C and Multichann
Many sketches have bee
h
wit
s,
film
into
made
Wayne’s World among the
biggest hits.
1001_FFRWD.indd 3
nel News’ Business of Live TV Summit
on Sept. 30. “There is nothing on
paper until Wednesday afternoon.”
Michaels’ NBC late-night purview expanded over the past year
when former SNL cast member JIMMY FALLON succeeded JAY
LENO at The Tonight Show, while another, SETH MEYERS, took
over for Fallon on Late Night. Other former SNL cast members
on TV include ANDY SAMBERG in Brooklyn Nine-Nine
and NASIM PEDRAD in Mulaney, the
eponymous sitcom from former SNL writer
JOHN MULANEY.
The digital age has given SNL a
new life, as many sketches are now
shared online after the live broadcast.
Last year, Yahoo acquired the
show’s entire library from Broadway Video, a deal Yahoo has
touted at CES and in its upfront
pitches to ad buyers.
Fallon
(Above) Will
Ferrell gives
more cowbell,
rocking with
Queens of the
Stone Age.
At the same time, however, “A
‘sketch that kills’ can go viral now in a flash
and be seen by millions who no longer watch
the show. As a result, SNL has had to face,
from Twitter and elsewhere, a huge new array
of would-be satirists and commentators,” notes SNL
chronicler JAMES ANDREW MILLER. A
revised version of Miller’s book, Live From New
York: The Complete Uncensored History of
‘Saturday Night Live’, has just landed in coordination with the show’s 40th anniversary.
SNL became known for its impressions
of political figures, including
B R O A D CFey’s
A S T I Sarah
NGCABLE.COM
Palin (left) and Poehler’s Hillary Clinton.
OCTOBER 1, 2014
BROADCASTING & CABLE
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10/2/14 12:31 PM