Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live
Genre	Variety show
Created by	Lorne Michaels
Written by	See List of Saturday Night Live writers
Directed by	Don Roy King (2006–present) Other directors: Dave Wilson (1975–1986; 1989–1995) Paul Miller (1986–1989) Beth McCarthy-Miller (1995–2006)
Starring	See List of Saturday Night Live cast members
Narrated by	Darrell Hammond (2014–present) Other narrators: Don Pardo (1975–1981; 1982–2014) Bill Hanrahan (1981) Mel Brandt (1981–1982)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	50
No. of episodes	980 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Lorne Michaels (1975–80; 1985–present) Other producers: Jean Doumanian (1980–81) Dick Ebersol (1981–85)
Production locations	Studio 8H, NBC Studios, New York City
Running time	93 minutes
Production company	Broadway Video (1981–present) Other studios: NBC (1975–1982) NBC Productions (1982–96) NBC Studios (1996–99) SNL Studios (1999–present)
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	July 11, 1975 (1975-07-11) – present
Related
TV Funhouse Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a popular American television program. It has been broadcast on Saturday nights since October 11, 1975.^[1] It is one of the longest-running television programs in American television.^[2] It is broadcast from NBC studios in New York City. The name comes from the fact that the program is aired live on Saturday nights at 11:30 PM EST. This is a rarity in the age of filming and videotape. SNL is shown in re-runs in the summer and on cable TV. The program usually consists of the following:

• Comedy sketches
• A celebrity host, usually an actor or comedian
• A popular band/musician performing a recent song
• Weekend Update, a satirical newscast usually featuring celebrity impressions
• Parody commercials
• Various short movies, animated segments and the like.

Saturday Night Live was created and executive-produced by Lorne Michaels and started in 1975 as NBC's Saturday Night. Many famous comic actors got their starts being cast members on the program. The show has led to several movies, books, DVDs, and has been the inspiration for a couple of other TV shows. It has been nominated for 183 Emmy Awards and won 42.^[3]

"Live from New York, it's Saturday night!" is said near the beginning of every episode.

1. ↑ Encyclopedia of Television, ed. Horace Newcomb (New York; London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004), p. 2008
2. ↑ Heritage Music and Entertainment Dallas Signature Auction Catalog #634 (Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2006), p. 194
3. ↑ "Saturday Night Live; NBC". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 24 May 2016.