Lorne Michaels

(Oct 11, 1975 – Oct 30, 1976)

George Coe (Oct 11, 1975 – Oct 25, 1975)

Jane Curtin (Oct 11, 1975–1980)

John Belushi (Oct 11, 1975–1979)

Garrett Morris (Oct 11, 1975–1980)

Laraine Newman (Oct 11, 1975–1980)

Dan Aykroyd (Oct 11, 1975–1979)

Michael O'Donoghue (Oct 11, 1975 – Oct 25, 1975)

Gilda Radner (Oct 11, 1975–1980)

Tom Davis ( 1975 - 1980 )

Al Franken ( 1975 - 1980 ) & ( 1987 - 1995 )

( 1977 - 1980 )

Don Novello ( 1978 - 1980 ) & ( 1985 - 1986 )

Peter Aykroyd ( 1979 - 1980 )

Jim Downey ( 1979 - 1980 )

Paul Shaffer ( 1979 - 1980 )

Tom Schiller ( 1979 - 1980 )

Alan Zweibel ( 1979 - 1980 )

Brian Doyle-Murray ( 1979 - 1980 ) & ( 1981 - 1982 )

Harry Shearer ( 1979 - 1980 ) & ( 1984 - 1985 )

Denny Dillon ( 1980 - 1981 )

Gilbert Gottfried ( 1980 - 1981 )

Yvonne Hudson ( 1980 - 1981 )

Matthew Laurance ( 1980 - 1981 )

Gail Matthius ( 1980 - 1981 )

Laurie Metcalf ( 1980 - 1981 )

Emily Prager ( 1980 - 1981 )

Ann Risley ( 1980 - 1981 )

Charles Rocket ( 1980 - 1981 )

Patrick Weathers ( 1980 - 1981 )

Tony Rosato ( 1980 - 1982 )

Robin Duke ( 1980 - 1984 )

Tim Kazurinsky ( 1980 - 1984 )

( 1980 - 1984 )

Joe Piscopo ( 1980 - 1984 )

Christine Ebersole ( 1981 - 1982 )

Mary Gross ( 1981 - 1985 )

Brad Hall ( 1982 - 1984 )

Gary Kroeger ( 1982 - 1985 )

Julia Louis-Dreyfus ( 1982 - 1985 )

Jim Belushi ( 1983 - 1985 )

Billy Crystal ( 1984 - 1985 )

Christopher Guest ( 1984 - 1985 )

Rich Hall ( 1984 - 1985 )

Martin Short ( 1984 - 1985 )

Pamela Stephenson ( 1984 - 1985 )

( 1985 - 1986 )

Anthony Michael Hall ( 1985 - 1986 )

Randy Quaid ( 1985 - 1986 )

Terry Sweeney ( 1985 - 1986 )

Danitra Vance ( 1985 - 1986 )

Dan Vitale ( 1985 - 1986 )

Damon Wayans ( 1985 - 1986 )

Nora Dunn ( 1985 - 1990 )

Jon Lovitz ( 1985 - 1990 )

A. Whitney Brown ( 1985 - 1991 )

Dennis Miller ( 1985 - 1991 )

Jan Hooks ( 1986 - 1991 )

Victoria Jackson ( 1986 - 1992 )

Dana Carvey ( 1986 - 1993 )

Phil Hartman ( 1986 - 1994 )

Kevin Nealon ( 1986 - 1995 )

( 1988 - 1989 )

( 1988 - 1995 )

( 1990 - 1993 )

Rob Schneider ( 1990 - 1994 )

Julia Sweeney ( 1990 - 1994 )

Chris Farley ( 1990 - 1995 )

( 1990 - 1995 )

David Spade ( 1990 - 1996 )

Tim Meadows ( 1991 - 2000 )

Beth Cahill ( 1991 - 1992 )

Siobhan Fallon ( 1991 - 1992 )

Robert Smigel ( 1991 - 1993 )

Melanie Hutsell ( 1991 - 1994 )

Ellen Cleghorne ( 1991 - 1995 )

( 1993 - 1994 )

Michael McKean ( 1993 - 1995 )

Jay Mohr ( 1993 - 1995 )

Norm Macdonald ( 1993 - 1998 )

Morwenna Banks ( 1994 - 1995 )

Chris Elliott ( 1994 - 1995 )

Janeane Garofalo ( 1994 - 1995 )

Laura Kightlinger ( 1994 - 1995 )

Mark McKinney ( 1994 - 1997 )

Molly Shannon ( 1994 - 2001 )

David Koechner ( 1995 - 1996 )

Nancy Walls ( 1995 - 1996 )

Fred Wolf ( 1995 - 1997 )

Jim Breuer ( 1995 - 1998 )

Cheri Oteri ( 1995 - 2000 )

Colin Quinn ( 1995 - 2000 )

( 1995 - 2002 )

Darrell Hammond ( 1995 - present )

Chris Kattan ( 1996 - 2003 )

Ana Gasteyer ( 1996 - 2002 )

Tracy Morgan ( 1996 - 2003 )

Jimmy Fallon ( 1998 - 2004 )

Chris Parnell ( 1998 - 2006 )

Horatio Sanz ( 1998 - 2006 )

Rachel Dratch ( 1999 - 2006 )

Maya Rudolph ( 1999 - 2007 )

Jerry Minor ( 2000 - 2001 )

( 2000 - 2007 )

Dean Edwards ( 2001 - 2003 )

Jeff Richards ( 2001 - 2004 )

Seth Meyers ( 2001 - present )

( 2001 - 2008)

Fred Armisen ( 2002 - present )

Will Forte ( 2002 - present )

Finesse Mitchell ( 2003 - 2006 )

Kenan Thompson ( 2003 - present )

Rob Riggle ( 2004 - 2005 )

Jason Sudeikis ( 2004 - present )

Bill Hader ( 2005 - present )

Andy Samberg ( 2005 - present )

Kristen Wiig ( 2005 - present )

Casey Wilson ( 2008 - present )

Bobby Moynihan ( 2008 - present )

Abby Elliott ( 2008 - present )

Michaela Watkins ( 2008 - present )

United States

October 11, 1975 – present

TV Funhouse

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‘Saturday Night Live’ was one of the landmark programs of the 1970s, an attempt to bring fresh, often outrageous comedy and the excitement of live TV (from New York) to late-night viewers. It featured ‘The Not Ready for Prime Time players’, a repertory company of wacky comics who presented 90 minutes of topical satire, straight comedy and music every Saturday night. Each week a different guest star served as the host and the person around whom many of the sketches were written. Some of the more familiar guests were George Carlin (host of the first telecast), Candice Bergen, Buck Henry, Elliott Gould, Lily Tomlin, Dick Cavett, Steve Martin, Eric Idle, Richard Dreyfuss and Paul Simon. Some hosts weren’t from the entertainment world at all, such as New York Mayor Ed Koch, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, football star Fran Tarkenton, Georgia legislator Julian Bond and even Presidential Press Secretary Ron Nessen (in a controversial but good-humored appearance). Perhaps most unusual was 80-year-old Mrs. Miskel Spillman, who happened to win an ‘Anyone Can Host’ write-in contest during the 1977 – 1978 season.

Each week also had a musical guest, ranging from some truly offbeat and eccentric musicians to such major rock stars as Blondie and the Rolling Stones.

The chief discovery of ‘Saturday Night Live’ during its initial season was comic Chevy Chase, famous for his opening pratfall and his role as the earnest young newsman reporting preposterous headlines on ‘Weekend Update’. His trademark line was “Good evening. I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not”. Jane Curtin took over the role as newscaster after Chevy left the show in November 1976 and was later joined by Dan Aykroyd when an anchor team was instituted. Other frequent bits included Chevy as bumbling President Ford; Dan as a candidate and later President Jimmy Carter; Gilda Radner as a lisping Barbara Walters (Ba Ba Wawa), a confused Emily Litella making editorial replies on Weekend Update and later as rambling, loudmouthed newscaster Rosanne Rosanna-Dana; John Belushi as a Samurai warrior; Aykroyd and Belushi as the Blues Brothers; Don Novello as Father Guido Sarducci; and practically everyone in ridiculous costumes as the Bees or the alien Coneheads.

Originally Jim Henson’s Muppets were a regular feature, as was a short, offbeat film produced each week by Albert Brooks (later the films were by Gary Weis). Still later came the ‘Mr. Bill’ films, about the hapless little puppet made of dough that was always being squashed or dismembered by Sluggo. These evolved from a short film submitted by a young man named Walter Williams. And of course there were the ersatz ‘commercials’, satirizing everything from the telephone company to milk.

Over the years ‘Saturday Night Live’ developed a large and loyal audience and by the 1977 – 1978 season it was by far the most popular program in late-night television, surpassing the longtime champ ‘The Tonight Show’. With the success of the show came success for its stars and eventually the departure of the entire original cast. Chevy Chase left in the fall of 1976 to pursue a career in films and prime-time specials. Three years later Belushi (a major film star in ‘Animal House’) and Aykroyd left to make a large-screen production based on the Blues Brothers characters they had developed on ‘Saturday Night Live’. By the spring of 1980 producer Lorne Michaels decided to leave and the remainder of the original cast went with him. A new producer, Jean Doumanian, a new cast and new writers took over in the fall of 1980, to generally poor reviews. Declining audiences resulted in considerable behind-the-scenes turmoil; with more cast changes and a new production team taking over in 1981. Michaels returned in 1985.

The major discovery of he recast ‘Saturday Night Live’ was youthful comic Eddie Murphy, whose career exploded with the success of his first feature film, ’48 Hrs’ in 1982. Later favorite characters included Billy Crystal’s oily interviewer Fernando (“Mahvelous, mahvelous!”). A frequent musical guest in the mid-80s was David Johansen as gravelly voiced singer Buster Poindexter.

After considerable turmoil during the early 1980s (42 regulars appeared on the show between 1980 and 1985), things settled down in the late 1980s with a stable cast of nine players: Nora Dunn, Jon Lovitz, Dennis Miller, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Victoria Jackson, Keven Nealon and A. Whitney Brown. Carbey’s ‘Church Lady’ and Lovit’z pathological liar Tommy Flanagan (“That’s the ticket!”) were favorite characters, as was newcomer Mike Myers’ Wayne (spun off into the 1992 hit movie ‘Wayne’s World’). While no program can be expected to recapture the magic of its youth, many felt that ‘SNL’ was once again one of television’s best comedy showcases.

Among the notable comics to emerge from the constantly changing cast in later years were Chris Rock (1990), Adam Sandler (1991), David Spade (1991), Chris Elliott (1994), Janeane Garofalo (1994) and Molly Shannon (1995), the latter best known for her nervous Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher. In the early 2000’s Tina Fey became the show’s first female head writer, a major cast member and half of the first all-female ‘Weekend Update’ team, with Amy Poehler (2004). Among the new popular characters was Rachel Dratch’s ‘Debbie Downer’.

Edited re-runs of ‘SNL’ were telecast in prime time in 1979 – 1980, under the title ‘The Best of Saturday Night Live’.