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223-427: Saturday Night Live ( SNL ) is an American late-night live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC . The show's premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night . The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary American culture and politics, are performed by

446-460: A large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members . Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that is usually based on political events and ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, " Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! ", properly beginning

669-414: A "question-and-answer" format that relied more heavily on sexual innuendo and double entendres . The dating game shows that debuted from 1998 onward (among them Blind Date , The 5th Wheel and ElimiDate ) were known for often pushing the boundaries of sexually suggestive content on broadcast television, and therefore usually aired in late night on the vast majority of their carrier stations. Though

892-769: A "shot of relevance" for the show, according to Vanity Fair . Trump disliked Baldwin's impression, tweeting in 2019 that the Federal Election Commission or the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should look into stopping SNL from "knocking the same person (me), over & over, without so much of a mention of 'the other side.'" In 2021, sources close to the White House told The Daily Beast that in 2019, Trump repeatedly asked his advisers and lawyers to stop his negative portrayals on SNL and other shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live! through

1115-431: A 90-minute length, and sketches that have made it as far as the live rehearsal may be removed. This often results in less than two days of rehearsal for the eight to twelve sketches that have made it to the stage that then may appear on the live broadcast. The opening monologue, spoken by the guest host, is given low priority and can be written as late as Saturday afternoon. According to an interview with Tina Fey in 2004,

1338-454: A CW affiliate) to air Tonight , running there for four years until WTMJ agreed to air the program at its normal time in 1988. Though the few NBC and CBS stations that had delayed Tonight and the Late Show had gotten around to airing them in pattern by 1999, many continued to air their post-midnight network shows (such as Late Night and The Late Late Show ) on a delayed basis—usually running

1561-579: A February 1981 episode, cast member Charles Rocket used the profanity "fuck" during a sketch. Rocket later said he was trying to kill time before the show's close and had not meant to utter the word. Following this episode, Doumanian was dismissed after only ten months on the job. Although some executives suggested SNL be cancelled, the show received a reprieve, and Dick Ebersol was hired as producer. Ebersol's sketches leaned towards more accessible, broad comedy, which alienated some long-time fans, writers, and cast members. His distaste for political humor led

1784-481: A Lame-O ", that had critiqued Silverman's job performance. Unable to secure the deal that he wanted, Michaels chose to leave NBC, and Jean Doumanian was given his position. Almost every writer and cast member, including Michaels, left the show after the May 24, 1980, season finale. Doumanian's rapidly-assembled new cast faced immediate comparisons to the previous cast, and was not received favorably by critics or audiences. In

2007-466: A Monday with a free-form pitch meeting between the cast, writers, producers, including Michaels and the guest host in Michaels's office over two hours. The host is invited to pitch ideas during this meeting. Although some sketchwriting may occur on the day, the bulk of the work revolves around pitching ideas. Tuesday is the only day dedicated purely to writing the scripts, a process that usually extends through

2230-410: A cast member at any time. In the first season of the show the cast was paid $ 750 per episode, rising to $ 2,000 by season two, and $ 4,000 by season four. By the late 1990s, new cast members received a salary between $ 5,000 and $ 5,500 per episode, increasing to $ 6,000 in the second year and up to $ 12,500 for a cast member in their fifth year. Performers could earn an additional $ 1,500 per episode for writing

2453-401: A companion broadcast to Cierre de Edición , utilizing the same part-taped/part-live structure as its rivals' late newscasts. Local news programs have also aired in the overnight slot in various formats; between the 1960s and the mid-1980s, many stations carried "sign-off edition" newscasts of varying length—usually running between five and 15 minutes (sometimes lasting up to a half-hour, as was

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2676-420: A company owned by NBC, Paramount Pictures , and Michaels. The new contracts were reportedly developed after many previously unknown cast members, such as Mike Myers and Adam Sandler , gained fame on SNL only to leave and make money for other studios. In a 2010 interview, Wiig was reported to be contracted to SNL for a total of seven years. The contracts also contain a network option that allows NBC to remove

2899-449: A cost of $ 250,000. By 1975, Michaels had assembled the show's initial cast, including Dan Aykroyd , John Belushi , Chevy Chase , Jane Curtin , Garrett Morris , Laraine Newman , Gilda Radner , and George Coe . The cast was nicknamed the "Not Ready for Prime-Time Players", a term coined by show writer Herb Sargent . Much of the talent pool involved in the inaugural season was recruited from The National Lampoon Radio Hour , including

3122-583: A decision yet at that point. Michaels has worked with Fey several times since her SNL tenure ended, including on 30 Rock . Michaels earlier said in 2021 that the show's fiftieth anniversary would be "a really good time to leave". Kenan Thompson , the show's longest-serving cast member, speculated in 2022 that SNL may come to an end altogether after its fiftieth season, saying that it could make financial sense for NBC. However, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in September 2024, Michaels denied that he

3345-423: A different approach to programming the overnight slot in September 1998; replacing the late newscast NBC Nightside , "NBC All Night" showcased repeats of selected late night, daytime and news programs. Episodes of The Tonight Show and Late Night from the previous week and weekly 90-minute classic episodes of Saturday Night Live (which followed the show's recent episodes in many markets) were prominent parts of

3568-501: A few small-market Fox and MyNetworkTV stations owned by Mission Broadcasting that run Jewelry Television programming overnights each day—continue to employ this practice.) Although typically associated with the Sunday morning timeslot, some time-brokered televangelist programs (such as The Shepherd's Chapel , Inspiration Ministries Campmeeting and In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley ) are also carried by some commercial stations during

3791-853: A format largely similar to his Tonight runs (and carried over some signature Leno-era segments like newspaper blooper segment " Headlines " and the man-on-the-street skit "Jaywalking"). Leno had previously chosen Conan O'Brien (formerly the host of Late Night , another long-running NBC late night franchise) to take over as host of The Tonight Show to avoid a repeat of the 1992 conflict that arose between Leno and David Letterman in their bid to succeed Tonight predecessor Johnny Carson, which saw Letterman leave NBC for his own CBS show; Jimmy Fallon (who would eventually succeed Leno as Tonight host in February 2014) consequently assumed hosting duties for Late Night . Fellow NBC late-night programs Last Call with Carson Daly and Poker After Dark remained as is, and

4014-411: A format that originated on radio and the dominant form of light entertainment during most of the old-time radio era, and in particular incorporates some elements tracing to the 1938–48 weekly NBC radio program The Pepsodent Show , which featured an opening segment in which host Bob Hope delivered rapid-fire, topical and often political observational humor . The first late-night television program

4237-409: A half-hour behind schedule—as late as 2004. ( Houston NBC affiliate KPRC notably delayed Late Night with Conan O'Brien to 2:40 a.m. when it resumed carrying the program after a two-year absence in 1996, an anomaly O'Brien used as the basis for a classic 1997 on-location piece in which he made impromptu stops throughout the city to watch an episode of his own show during its local graveyard slot;

4460-399: A handful that aired in late night, such as Fridays (developed in 1980 as ABC's answer to SNL with a nearly identical format) and MADtv (which served as a partial direct competitor to SNL throughout its initial 1995–2010 run and was Fox's longest-running late night program to date). During the 1970s and 1980s, CBS filled its late-night period with dramatic programming, primarily under

4683-423: A lack of room on their station's schedule to fit them in an appropriate timeslot where the program would otherwise benefit from a higher available audience, or to fill time that would otherwise be taken up by infomercials or reruns of current and past network shows (including sitcoms and drama series ) distributed in off-network syndication. Up through the 2000s, first-run syndicated programs most commonly seen in

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4906-457: A large number of affiliates and was shifted to undesirable later timeslots on stations that kept it, resulting in Arsenio leaving the air at the end of the 1993–94 season . There has not been a successful syndicated late night talk show since that time, and outside of the panel-formatted Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen (2006–14) and the 2010s Arsenio revival, the few that have debuted since

5129-512: A late-night newscast from 1987 to 2011, resumed national news programming in the slot in March 2020; initially conceived as a specialized half-hour newscast focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the country's Hispanic/Latino community, the one-hour news block utilizes the same structure as Univision's late news format (a rebroadcast of the main early-evening edition of Noticias Telemundo in

5352-914: A long-term presence on American Spanish-language television; however a few efforts aimed at Hispanic and Latino audiences have been attempted over the years, including A Oscuras Pero Encendidos ("In the Dark but Turned On"; Galavisión , 1997–2000 and Telemundo , 2000–01), the first to be produced for and longest to air on American Spanish media, which originated in 1995 on independent WJAN-CA / Miami before going national in its third season; Mas Vale Tarde ("It's Better Late"; Telemundo, 2007–08); and Noche de Perros ("Dog Night"; Telefutura , 2011–12). (Interestingly, talk shows that have been produced for Estrella TV 's prime time lineup—including Noches con Platanito ("Nights with Platanito", 2015–19), Nos Cayó la Noche con Alex Montiel ("Nightfall"; 2020) and Tu-Night con Omar Chaparro (2020–22)—have borrowed most elements of

5575-465: A major success. CBS and ABC waited until the 1960s to wade into any major late-night programming efforts. ABC entered the arena in November 1964 with The Les Crane Show , which lasted until February 1965 in its original format; it was then retooled as ABC's Nightlife , which originally employed rotating guest hosts before bringing back Crane as host that June for what would be the final six months of

5798-680: A movie career), but reverted to the Costas-era format in 2000 under final host Cynthia Garrett; though Later ended in January 2001, the banner title remained for one more year to present edited repeats of the 1976–84 Canadian sketch comedy series SCTV (which previously aired after The Tonight Show on Fridays from 1981 to 1983) in the talk show's former timeslot. Except for a two-year period beginning in 2007, Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, 2002–19) had traditionally avoided monologues and comedy bits, although it originally utilized most major elements of

6021-408: A musical guest, a solo act, or a band, who performs two or three musical numbers. Occasionally, the musical guest simultaneously serves as the host, and may also appear in comedy sketches. As of October 11, 2020, Dave Grohl is the most frequent musical guest, performing on fourteen shows since 1992. Michaels does not allow musical guests to perform using lip-synching tracks, believing it diminishes

6244-464: A national show set in Southern California , making it more plausible for real-life celebrities to appear as themselves. The weekly syndicated late-night comedy Night Stand with Dick Dietrick (1995–97) parodied the tabloid talk format—which had reached its zenith in syndication during the late 1980s and 1990s with shows like Downey , Springer , Geraldo , and in its early years, Oprah —with

6467-500: A panel discussing the product or service). Infomercials generate additional revenue for stations on top of the conventional short-form advertising they sell to sponsors, and provide them an inexpensive programming source to fill airtime as opposed to purchasing additional syndicated content in lower-profile time periods. Although they are commonly associated with overnight programming, infomercials are used as filler by some television stations for other timeslots (mostly on weekends or in

6690-609: A regular on the show appeared from another part of the Fox News studios. (By contrast, Gutfeld! , hosted by former Red Eye moderator Greg Gutfeld and converted from a Saturday-only to a weeknightly program in March 2021, hews somewhat closer to a traditional late-night talk format—continuing in that structure even after it was moved to a late prime time slot in July 2023 —albeit while incorporating conservative commentary.) The traditional late-night talk format has largely been unable to maintain

6913-402: A running gag in his show; Ferguson used a robot named Geoff Peterson as his sidekick ( The Late Late Show had never had a house band under hosts Tom Snyder, Craig Kilborn and Craig Ferguson, but with James Corden's assumption of hosting duties, the program features a house band led by Reggie Watts ). Late Night with Seth Meyers —which had employed a band since its February 2014 debut, like

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7136-500: A series of half-hour special reports on the Iran hostage crisis that began in November 1979), Nightline is a nightly half-hour newsmagazine that originally aired immediately after local newscasts on ABC's owned-and-operated stations and affiliates for its first 32 years, before being pushed to a later slot in January 2013, when it switched timeslots with the hour-long Jimmy Kimmel Live! . Under original anchor Ted Koppel , Nightline (which

7359-538: A significant overhaul, including Beck Bennett , Kyle Mooney , and Sasheer Zamata . Longtime head writer and cast member Seth Meyers also exited midway through that season, and was replaced by fellow writer Colin Jost in the Weekend Update segment. The show frequently parodied Donald Trump in and around his first presidency ; an ongoing impression by actor Alec Baldwin led to a significant increase in ratings and

7582-574: A similar purpose in the early 1980s; notably, WFLD utilized the KeyFax service (partially owned by then-WFLD parent Field Enterprises ) for its teletext news service Nite-Owl , which aired until the resumption of regular programming each day from 1981 to 1982, when Keyfax began an attempt to reposition itself as a two-way information service that ended in 1986. Beginning in the early 1980s, many stations (mainly major network affiliates) offered rebroadcasts of their late-evening newscasts, intended primarily for

7805-464: A sketch that made it to air. In 2001, Ferrell became the highest-paid cast member, being paid $ 350,000 per season (approximately $ 17,500 per episode). As of the 2022–23 season, Kent Sublette, Alison Gates , and Streeter Seidell are the show's co-head writers. Seth Meyers became a co-head writer in the 2005-06 season, became the single head writer from 2008 to 2012 , and then left in 2014 . Current Update anchor Colin Jost has himself been

8028-459: A spin-off of the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976–77), starred Martin Mull and Fred Willard in an irony-laden parody of late-night talk shows and locally produced fare found on midwestern American television at the time; the fictional show-within-a-show was retooled in-universe for its continuation series, America 2-Night (1978), changing it from a local Ohio program to

8251-479: A spin-off that parodied political talk shows with host Stephen Colbert 's in-show persona mocking conservative talk show hosts and televised political pundits more broadly, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , which offers a satirical "week-in-review" commentary as well as a seriocomic topical "main story" of interest taking deeper dives into various systemic issues. Red Eye (Fox News, 2007–17), Last Call (first-run syndication, 1994–95; no relation to

8474-602: A syndication service, some affiliates of MyNetworkTV have pushed its schedule to late night or overnights full-time to make room for syndicated and/or local news programs in the service's normal two-hour weeknight prime time slot. Movies, particularly films sold for the syndication market, have been a regular staple of late night programming since the 1950s. Until the late 1980s, many television stations offered nightly presentations of theatrical films in late night; during their respective heights, made-for-television films originally shown on network prime time television (beginning in

8697-471: A type of direct-response advertisement (typically running 30 minutes in length, though a few have had one-hour runtimes) intended to promote or sell mail-order products or other services (such as cleaning products, housewares , fitness products and multi-level marketing services) that is paid for by the sponsor under time brokerage agreements; these are usually structured under various concept formats including demonstration-based advertisements (highlighting

8920-483: A vehicle for launching the careers of some of the most successful comedians in the United States. Originally the producer of the show, Michaels was also a writer and later became executive producer . He occasionally appears on-screen as well, where he is known for his deadpan humor. Throughout the show's history, SNL has been nominated for more than 156 Emmy Awards and has won 36. It has consistently been one of

9143-465: A writer and broadcaster for CBC Radio . He moved to Los Angeles from Toronto in 1968 to work as a writer for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show . He starred with Hart Pomerantz in The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour , a series of comedy specials that ran on CBC in the early 1970s. In 1975, Michaels created (with fellow NBC employee Dick Ebersol and president of

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9366-494: A writer for the show, became the first female to serve as an announcer on a network late-night comedy/talk/variety program, when The Late Show with Stephen Colbert moved her to an off-screen announcing role in 2016. Other late night programs on broadcast and cable television break the standard format. In October 1975, after the network decided to discontinue its Saturday reruns of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson per Carson's request to instead air reruns periodically during

9589-522: A writer since 2005 and was one of the head writers from 2012 to 2015 before being renamed head writer, from 2017 until 2022 . Current Update co-anchor Michael Che has been a writer since 2013 . He temporarily left the show in the summer of 2014, but came back that fall to anchor Update and reclaimed his status as a writer, then serving as a co-head writer alongside Jost for five years. The Weekend Update segment has its own dedicated team of writers led by head writer Pete Schultz (who has been writing for

9812-561: A writer. Michaels and Shuster were married in 1967 and divorced in 1980. He married model Susan Forristal in 1981, a marriage that ended in divorce in 1987. Michaels is married to Alice Barry, his former assistant. The pair wed in 1991. Michaels became a U.S. citizen in 1987 and was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2002. In The Kids in the Hall movie Brain Candy , the character of Don Roritor

10035-437: Is a satire of evening news programs that initially mixed political and pop culture satire during its first three years under original host Craig Kilborn , transitioning to a more political focus—subsequent to Jon Stewart replacing Kilborn—in 1999, which earned acclaim with viewers and critics; the program inspired similar satirical news shows (some of which have been hosted by Daily Show alumnae) such as The Colbert Report ,

10258-487: Is inspired by Michaels. In a different interview, on NPR 's radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! , Baldwin stated that some of his inspiration for Donaghy was drawn from Michaels. Gabriel LaBelle plays Michaels in the 2024 film Saturday Night , about what happened behind-the-scenes leading up to the first episode of Saturday Night Live . In 1999, Michaels was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and

10481-452: Is now CBS Media Ventures ) began offering carrier stations of The Oprah Winfrey Show the option of running late-night rebroadcasts of the show in 2001—have also offered same-day reruns of talk shows already carried in daytime slots (such as Katie , The Kelly Clarkson Show and The Jennifer Hudson Show ) to reach audiences unable to watch them in their primary timeslot. (Incidentally, ABC's first late-night effort, The Les Crane Show ,

10704-557: Is often because of a lack of available space in early access or prime access dayparts, some programs (like ET ) offer an optional same-day rebroadcast—usually incorporating updated material to account for story developments that broke after or production errors that occurred during the initial broadcast feed—in a secondary late night slot. Network programs preempted by their owned and affiliated stations in favor of an irregularly-scheduled special event, special programming of local interest (such as coaches' and team highlight shows shown during

10927-399: Is separated into two half-hour programs (the first half is preempted by local news on many stations, while the second half is treated as the main late broadcast); UniMás, the other major Spanish-language network, does not carry news programming in any form (despite sharing ownership with sister network Univision's in-house news division ). Other than Estrella TV (which airs paid programming for

11150-836: Is the house band for SNL . Academy Award-winning composer Howard Shore served as the first musical director, from 1975 to 1980, appearing in many musical sketches, including Howard Shore and His All-Nurse Band and (backing a U.S. Coast Guard chorus) Howard Shore and the Shore Patrol. Over the years, the band has featured several New York studio musicians including Paul Shaffer (1975–1980), Lou Marini (1975–1983), David Sanborn (1975), Michael Brecker (the early 1980s), Ray Chew (1980–1983), Alan Rubin (1975–1983), Georg Wadenius (1979–1985), Steve Ferrone (1985), David Johansen (performing as Buster Poindexter), Tom Malone (who took over as musical director from 1981 to 1985), and G. E. Smith (musical director from 1985 to 1995). As of 2017,

11373-430: Is the show's longest-serving cast member. Currently, the cast consists of 17 members, with 14 repertory players and 3 featured players: The cast were often contracted from anywhere between five and six years to the show, but starting with the 1999–2000 season, new hires were tied to a rewritten contract that allowed NBC to take a cast member in at least their second year and put them in an NBC sitcom. Cast members are given

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11596-492: The CBS Evening News and CBS News Sunday Morning ). Many stations, including some Big Three affiliates, also filled overnight timeslots with syndicated rolling news blocks from CNN Headline News (until its evening and overnight rolling news blocks were replaced with talk shows in 2005) and All News Channel (until its closure in September 2002)—either in conjunction with or in place of late-night network newscasts—during

11819-505: The CBS Late Movie banner (which debuted in February 1972 as a replacement for The Merv Griffin Show following its return to syndication). Although the time slot did, indeed, feature movies, it also featured a mixture of previously broadcast dramas dating back to the 1960s (such as The Avengers , The Prisoner and Kojak ) as well as first-run series (such as British imports Return of

12042-446: The 1984–1985 season . Though this season was considered one of the series' funniest, it diverged significantly from Michaels' innovative approach. Like Michaels before him, Ebersol informed NBC that he would only return if the show took a hiatus to recast and rebuild, and diverge significantly from the established live format. NBC rejected these requests and instead decided to approach Michaels to return as producer. Michaels returned for

12265-409: The 1985–1986 season ; the show was again recast, with Michaels borrowing Ebersol's idea to seek out established actors. Writers struggled with the cast, and Michaels cleaned house again for the 1986–1987 season , seeking unknown talent such as Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman instead of known names. This new cast was successful at reviving the show's popularity in the eyes of critics and audiences. In

12488-466: The 2005–2006 season . Before the start of the 2006–2007 season , the show suffered budget cuts that led to a smaller cast. The following season was also cut short by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike , which led to several cancelled episodes. Fey later returned to the show during the 2008 presidential election for several critically acclaimed guest appearances as vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin . Writer Robert Smigel later said it

12711-474: The 2020 presidential election ). The fact that this limits accurate coverage of the latest 24-hour news cycle is sometimes the source of ironic humor or notable delays (for instance, the death of Michael Jackson , a frequent butt of late night jokes, on the afternoon of June 25, 2009 came after all but Jimmy Kimmel Live! had taped their shows, and as such, Kimmel was the only one to mention it that night). Until September 2009 and again since March 2010,

12934-635: The 2021–2022 season , many longtime cast members left the show in a major cast overhaul, including Aidy Bryant , Kate McKinnon , and Pete Davidson ; Michaels said that the pandemic had led to some cast members staying with the show for longer than they may have otherwise. In January 2024, Variety said that "speculation [had] been rampant for years" that Michaels would retire from the series after its fiftieth season , premiering in 2024. Michaels told Entertainment Tonight that month that former head writer and cast member Tina Fey could "easily" be his successor, were he to step down, but said he had not made

13157-574: The Charlotte -based NBC News Channel affiliate video service), ABC's World News Now (debuting in January 1992 as a more conventional newscast, which soon evolved into a more laid-back format, mixing serious news with features and some ad-libbed and intentional humor), and CBS's Up to the Minute (debuting in March 1992 as a replacement for Nightwatch , consisting of a mix of hard news, weather and sports segments as well as feature reports originally featured on

13380-782: The Late Show with David Letterman premiered in September 1993. Networks have also run music programs in the time period, including NBC's The Midnight Special (which featured contemporary music performances conducted on a soundstage) and Friday Night Videos (which originally was formatted as a music video showcase, before evolving in 1991 into a variety program, eventually renamed Friday Night , featuring live music performances; celebrity interviews; stand-up comedy performances; movie reviews ; viewer polls and comedy sketches, and finally to an exclusive stand-up comedy showcase format as Late Friday in 2000), and ABC's In Concert (which featured pre-recorded concert performances from various established and up-and-coming music acts). NBC took

13603-544: The Late Show with David Letterman ); Joel Godard ( Late Night with Conan O'Brien ); Dicky Barrett ( Jimmy Kimmel Live! ); Steve Higgins (from the Jimmy Fallon eras of Late Night and The Tonight Show ); Andy Richter (on both The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and Conan ); and Don Pardo and Darrell Hammond (of Saturday Night Live ). These announcers often have significant career accomplishments outside of their particular shows. Jen Spyra, who previously worked as

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13826-451: The Leno lead-in were in fact realized, NBC announced it would indeed cancel its 10:00 p.m. experiment after a six-month run and move Leno back to his traditional start time of 11:35, originally by moving The Jay Leno Show , before rejoining as host of The Tonight Show outright after O'Brien negotiated an exit from his Tonight contract in opposition to the network's original plan to shift

14049-484: The SNL cast who appear on camera, many of the writers have been able to find their own success outside the show, such as Conan O'Brien , who was brought into SNL from The Groundlings in 1988, went on to write for The Simpsons , and eventually began hosting his own show . Former head writer Adam McKay , along with performer Ferrell, founded the successful comedy website Funny or Die . In 1999, Tina Fey (a year before joining

14272-408: The franchise that has aired since 1993), Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC, 2014–present; the fourth iteration of the franchise that has aired since 1982) and Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC, 2003–present). Famous former hosts include Johnny Carson of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ; David Letterman of Late Night with David Letterman and Late Show with David Letterman (as well as

14495-799: The mid-1990s affiliation switches of several former Big Three affiliates—led by those acquired by New World Communications and SF Broadcasting —to the network saw affected stations in the Central, Mountain and Hawaii–Aleutian time zones delay the network's Saturday late night efforts by a half-hour to accommodate local 10:00 p.m. CT/MT/HT newscasts (many as part of an expanded 90-minute late news block, though KDFW / Dallas–Fort Worth , KTBC / Austin and KTVI / St. Louis , which later became Fox O&Os, would later cut their Saturday late news lineup to just their prime time newscasts); during its 1995–2010 run, this put MADtv in direct competition with NBC's Saturday Night Live , which typically overlapped with it in

14718-431: The " Big Three television networks " (NBC, ABC and CBS) have all begun their late night programming at 11:35 p.m. Eastern Time each night; since June 1994, Fox , the fourth major U.S. network, airs only one day of late night programming—Saturday—starting at 11:00 p.m. ET, a half-hour to one hour after the end of prime time to allow most of its stations to air local late-evening newscasts (or syndicated programs on

14941-471: The " midnight movie ", showcases of low-budget genre films (particularly fantasy , sci-fi and horror movies) that typically aired on Friday or Saturday nights, often featuring comedy skits and sardonic commentary bookending the films, which has its origins in the 1954–55 film showcase The Vampira Show that aired on Los Angeles ABC owned-and-operated station KABC-TV . Some of the better-known late night hosted movie series have included Svengoolie in

15164-860: The "late fringe" daypart leading out of prime time (and typically encompassing the half-hour to 35-minute "late news" slot associated with local and, in some cases, network late-evening newscasts), usually running after 11:00 p.m. and through 2:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time (ET/PT). An informal broader definition of the daypart includes the designated overnight graveyard slot (encompassing programs airing as late as 5:00 a.m. local time). This article focuses on television programs, genres and other programming concepts common in American late night television, primarily focusing on programs typically shown on national broadcast and cable television networks and in syndication . The late-night talk show format traces its roots in early television variety shows ,

15387-427: The 1970s through the early 1990s, partly due to its meager performance in the time period prior to the September 1993 debut of the Late Show with David Letterman (when stations that had previously chosen not to clear the late night lineup in pattern began carrying the program in its assigned 11:35 p.m. ET timeslot). While Fox's pre-1994 late night efforts generally were carried in pattern (at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT),

15610-799: The 1970s.) Popular late night band leaders include Paul Shaffer , leader of the World's Most Dangerous Band during David Letterman's tenures on Late Night and the Late Show , where it was known as the CBS Orchestra; Doc Severinsen , leader of the NBC Orchestra for the majority of Johnny Carson's tenure on The Tonight Show and a member of the franchise's original band under its first host, Steve Allen; Max Weinberg , leader of The Max Weinberg 7 on Late Night and The Tonight Show Band on The Tonight Show during Conan O'Brien's tenures on both shows; Cleto and

15833-505: The 1980s up through the early 2000s) and direct-to-video films (during the 1990s and 2000s) were sometimes featured in syndicated movie packages, especially those presented during the slot. Major network affiliates (mainly CBS and ABC stations) usually scheduled these presentations after the conclusion of their late local newscasts or following syndicated or, if cleared wholly or in part, network late-night offerings; NBC—whose affiliates did not have as much leeway to air movies until deeper into

16056-523: The 1980s, Michaels appeared in an HBO mockumentary titled The Canadian Conspiracy about the supposed subversion of the United States by Canadian-born media personalities, with Lorne Greene as the leader of the conspiracy. Michaels was identified as the anointed successor to Greene. Michaels is also the executive producer of the NBC show Late Night , and was the executive producer of 30 Rock and Up All Night during their runs. On April 3, 2013, it

16279-523: The 1990s also produced live or prerecorded overnight updates, often employing on-duty production staff assigned to their local morning newscasts in lieu of station daytime and evening talent that would normally conduct the segments; one such station, Minneapolis–St. Paul ABC affiliate KSTP-TV , offered live locally produced overnight newscasts in rotation with half-hour news blocks from All News Channel (both owned by Hubbard Broadcasting ) from January 1990 to October 1994. American television stations have used

16502-418: The 1990s and much of the 2000s. (Headline News (now HLN and maintaining a true crime -focused entertainment format) had been syndicating its newscasts to local stations for broadcast in various timeslots since its January 1982 launch.) As of 2024 , World News Now is the only overnight news effort that debuted in 1991–92 which continues to air. Nightside was discontinued in September 1998, and replaced by

16725-615: The 1993 debut of CBS's Late Show with David Letterman .) The Arsenio Hall Show , which was distributed by Paramount Domestic Television from January 1989 to May 1994, was able to pick from CBS, ABC or Fox affiliates (the affiliate makeup of the short-lived 2013–14 revival co-distributed by Tribune Broadcasting and CBS Television Distribution (now CBS Media Ventures ) consisted mainly of Fox, CW and MyNetworkTV stations). When CBS's Late Show with David Letterman and Fox's infamously short-lived The Chevy Chase Show debuted in September 1993, ratings for Hall's program declined after it lost

16948-472: The 1998 failure of The Magic Hour have lacked full national distribution and/or been limited to weekend timeslots. In previous years, network late-night programs were often subject to delay by some "Big Three" affiliates to accommodate syndicated programming in their post-late news slot, allowing them to generate additional revenue from local advertising sales. CBS was particularly susceptible to affiliates preempting or delaying its late night programming from

17171-498: The 2000s (partly due to local news websites, including station-managed sites, and cable news channels filling their intended purpose), being replaced by syndicated programs, extended feeds of overnight network newscasts and infomercials; in 2021 however, NBC's decision to turn over the 1:35 a.m. ET timeslot (which the network had begun regularly programming since the now-defunct Later premiered in August 1988) to its stations following

17394-554: The 2000s, though B movies (mostly of a melodramatic nature) have continued to run in post–primetime slots. By the 1990s, late-night movie presentations (and syndicated film packages in general) were primarily offered by Fox affiliates and independent stations (including those that would become affiliates of The WB and UPN as early as 1995), usually during the overnight graveyard slot, although some BIg Three affiliates (such as ABC's owned-and-operated stations and Cleveland ABC affiliate WEWS ) continued to offer them on weekends into

17617-628: The 2009–10 season. In 2010 the 92-year-old Pardo was reported to be again considering his retirement, but continued to serve as announcer until his death at age 96 on August 18, 2014, following the 39th season. Apart from a brief period in 2006 in which Pardo pre-recorded his announcements at his home in Arizona, he flew to New York City to perform his announcing duties live, until 2010 when he began recording permanently from Arizona. Former cast members Joe Piscopo and Darrell Hammond have also impersonated Pardo and fulfilled his announcing duties during times Pardo

17840-404: The 2010s, even after both shows traded slots in January 2013; Hearst Television was the last of ABC's major affiliate groups to end the practice of delaying its network late-night schedule in January 2019, per the terms of a renewed affiliation agreement that forced them to give up their ability to delay the program for extended local newscasts or syndicated programming. These shows often follow

18063-489: The 39th season (2013–14) had a budget of over $ 70   million, for which it received a subsidy from New York State in the amount of $ 12.3   million. Edie Baskin was the original SNL photographer. She was hired after Michaels saw her photographs of Las Vegas and other work. Baskin helped create the opening title sequence for the show by taking photos of New York City at night. The first episode used publicity photos of host George Carlin as transitional bumpers between

18286-401: The 4:00 a.m. hour during the 2010s. (The practice of network newscasts originally intended for broadcast in the designated early morning daypart— Early Today and predecessor Sunrise , CBS News Mornings and ABC's Good Morning America First Look —bleeding into the tail end of the overnight slot dates to the late 1990s, when stations first began expanding their local morning news into

18509-585: The 5:00 a.m. half-hour for the convenience of pre-dawn commuters .) CBS replaced Up to the Minute in September 2015 with CBS Overnight News , featuring a mix of segments repurposed from the previous day's edition of the CBS Evening News / CBS Weekend News , updated news summaries and additional content; Overnight News was replaced in May 2024 by CBS News Roundup , a more conventional broadcast produced by and partially simulcast on co-owned streaming network CBS News 24/7 (where it airs one hour before

18732-580: The Century , the Bill Rafferty -hosted version of Card Sharks , and High Rollers ), virtually all of which were cancelled after one season due to low ratings exacerbated by undesirable scheduling or declining station clearances. These shows were intended for prime time access slots but by that time, as game shows were saturating the syndication market, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! (as well as magazine shows like PM Magazine and especially towards

18955-1009: The Chicago market ( WFLD , 1970–73 and 1979–86; WCIU-TV , 1994–present), Off Beat Cinema in Buffalo, New York ( WKBW-TV , 1993–2012; WBBZ-TV , 2012–present), Big Chuck and Lil' John in Cleveland ( WJW , 1979–2007), the Creature Double Feature in Boston ( WLVI , 1972–83) and Philadelphia ( WKBS-TV , 1976–79), and Elvira's Movie Macabre in Los Angeles (KHJ-TV (now KCAL-TV ), 1981–86). (Of those mentioned, Svengoolie (since April 2011 on MeTV ) and Off Beat Cinema (since 2008 on Retro TV ) have also been distributed nationally.) Though traditionally found in late-night slots, some broadcasters have aired "midnight movie" packages—like Movie Macabre and

19178-506: The Cletones on Jimmy Kimmel Live! ; Branford Marsalis and Kevin Eubanks , leaders of The Tonight Show Band during Jay Leno's tenure on Tonight ; The Roots , an eclectic hip-hop band turned host-band for Jimmy Fallon's tenures on Late Night and The Tonight Show ; and Jon Batiste and Stay Human (renamed The Late Show Band under the direction of successor bandleader Louis Cato in 2022),

19401-469: The Hall (added as a Friday offering in September 1992, following a three-year, pay-cable run on HBO), most were unsuccessful against their competition on NBC and ABC, consistent with CBS's general underperformance in that timeslot from the 1970s through the early 1990s. The block was supplanted in March 1991 by Crimetime After Primetime , a rotating collection of original crime drama series (including several Canadian-originated productions) that lasted until

19624-509: The Hall which began airing in 1988 on CBC in Canada, debuting in the US market in 1989 on cable television network HBO until moving to CBS in 1993. Whilst on his SNL hiatus, Michaels created another sketch show titled The New Show , which debuted on Friday nights in prime time on NBC in January 1984. The show failed to garner the same enthusiasm as SNL and was cancelled after 9 episodes. In

19847-493: The July 2013 debut of the adult animation block Animation Domination High-Def , which was canceled in April 2014 citing an inability to reach its intended young adult demographic, an issue aggravated by frequent sports overruns (though reruns continued to air on the network until 2016); Fox would last attempt first-run late night programming in any capacity in 2016 with the female-led sketch comedy series Party Over Here , which

20070-463: The NBC News Now streaming newscast Top Story with Tom Llamas and, for stations that carry the syndicated talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show to its affiliates during the early overnight slot.) Among American Spanish-language media, three of the four major broadcast networks— Univision , Telemundo and Estrella TV—typically begin their late night programming with an hour-long network newscast that

20293-629: The Saint and The New Avengers ). The CBS Late Movie block was eventually restructured as CBS Late Night in September 1985 (later revived in October 1989 following the cancellation of The Pat Sajak Show , which had replaced the block eight months earlier), featuring reruns of CBS series, imported and first-run programs. CBS incorporated more conventional first-run fare (such as Sajak and dating game show Personals ) into its late night lineup between 1989 and 1992, though, outside of sketch comedy The Kids in

20516-466: The Snyder/Costas formulae, while featuring a wider range of guests including athletes; politicians; authors; businesspersons; and scientists. Later would adopt a conventional late-night talk format—while maintaining the single-guest interview setup—after Greg Kinnear took over as host in February 1994 (continuing after it switched long-term to enlisting guest hosts when Kinnear quit in 1996 to pursue

20739-467: The United States . The show format has been developed and recreated in several countries, meeting with different levels of success. Successful sketches have seen life outside the show as feature films, including The Blues Brothers (1980) and Wayne's World (1992). The show has been marketed in other ways, including home media releases of "best of" and whole seasons, and books and documentaries about behind-the-scenes activities of running and developing

20962-594: The Weekend Update hosts have gone on to find greater success outside the show, including Dennis Miller , Seth Meyers , Norm Macdonald , Colin Quinn , and Jimmy Fallon . As of Season 49, SNL has featured 164 cast members including, besides the above-mentioned players, Rachel Dratch , Amy Poehler , Chris Rock , David Spade , Will Forte , Julia Louis-Dreyfus , Tracy Morgan , Chris Parnell , Maya Rudolph , Andy Samberg , Molly Shannon , and many others. Kenan Thompson

21185-565: The afternoon; exceptions include Jimmy Kimmel Live! , which finishes taping about an hour before its initial broadcast in the Eastern and Central Time Zones , and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert , which airs live after events of major importance (such as the State of the Union address, party nomination conventions and presidential debates during election years, and selected major federal elections like

21408-460: The availability of either can mean the photoshoot for both occurs as late as Thursday. Matthews employs flattering portrait lighting with hard lights to achieve a Hollywood style. On the lighting, Matthews commented: "I think it just helps the image pop off the screen   ... If you use soft or flat lighting, it becomes not as dimensional   ... The [classic Hollywood lighting] gives a little more contrast, and if I use edge lights and then light

21631-496: The background, it goes farther and farther back. I try to achieve that depth as much as I can." Matthews is also responsible for taking cast photos, behind-the-scenes images, documenting rehearsals, and promotional photos. As of 2010, she has also been involved in directing videos, including the show title sequence. Late night television in the United States In the United States, the late night slot primarily encompasses

21854-511: The band for its opening and closing themes, and segment intros and outros. Often, the show's announcer is also a major part of the show, sometimes serving as a de facto sidekick to the host or participating in comedy bits. Famous announcers include Gene Rayburn and Hugh Downs (both from the early years of The Tonight Show ); Ed McMahon ( The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ); Edd Hall and John Melendez (both of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ); Bill Wendell and Alan Kalter (both of

22077-518: The band is under the leadership of Tower of Power alumnus Lenny Pickett , keyboardist Leon Pendarvis , and Eli Brueggemann, who does not play in the band on the live show. The band plays instrumentals leading in and out of station breaks; affiliates who run no advertising during these interludes hear the band play complete songs behind a Saturday Night Live bumper graphic until the program resumes. The band plays "Closing Theme (Waltz in A)", written by Shore, at

22300-531: The block, though rebroadcasts of Meet the Press (same-day), Dateline (up to one month behind) and even the daytime soap opera Sunset Beach (also on a same-day basis until the series ended in December 1999) were also featured. The "All Night" banner was retired in 2008 as repeats of NBC late-night shows were gradually replaced over the next few years by Poker After Dark (which was later canceled after its sponsor

22523-463: The broader daypart, although some of the stations (along with The CW 's national small-market feed ) that carry the few film packages remaining in syndication continue to run movies in that daypart on weekends. Following the 1984 elimination of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations (established in the 1950s and 1960s) prohibiting program-length advertising on television, the late-night slot has increasingly been used for infomercials ,

22746-481: The camera. Others associated with the show, such as writers, have gone on to successful careers creating, writing, and starring in television and film. Broadcast from Studio 8H at NBC's headquarters in the Comcast Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza , SNL has aired 975 episodes since its debut and began its 50th season on September 28, 2024, making it one of the longest-running network television programs in

22969-449: The cancellation of A Little Late with Lilly Singh allowed some affiliates—including those that previously abandoned the practice—to offer late news rebroadcasts in the vacated slot as a lead-out to network late-night programs. Stations that employed the "24-Hour News Source" concept (which incorporated hourly newsbriefs throughout the broadcast day into the local advertising allotments of syndicated, network and non-news local shows) during

23192-517: The case with Chicago independent WGN-TV 's Nightbeat , which followed the station's early late-night movie presentations from 1958 to 1983)—that provided brief summaries of local (and more prominently), national and international headlines, sports scores and a short- to medium-range weather forecast (often presented using slides and narrated by a station announcer). Independent stations WFLD in Chicago and KTTV in Los Angeles (now both Fox owned-and-operated stations) experimented with teletext to serve

23415-567: The cast and becoming a Weekend Update anchor) became the first woman SNL head writer and successfully made the transition to starring on the show, as well as writing and starring in feature films, ultimately creating and starring in her own show 30 Rock , which was partly based on her SNL experiences. In 2005 Fey was paid $ 1.5   million per season for her dual role as head writer and performer. Writer John Mulaney has also found success outside of SNL through well-received stand-up specials, his Broadway act The Oh, Hello Show , and

23638-451: The cast, causing a divide between the veteran members and the new, younger talent. This led to increased competition for the show's limited screen time, and an increasing reliance on "younger", less subtle humor. The show lost Carvey and Hartman, two of its biggest stars, between 1992 and 1994. Wanting to increase SNL ' s ratings and profitability, NBC West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer and other executives began to actively interfere in

23861-411: The cast. Traditionally, the host of the show ends the opening monologue by mentioning the musical guest for the night and saying, "We got a great show for you tonight, (musical guest) is/are here. So stick around, we'll be right back." Comedian George Carlin was the first to host SNL in the debut October 1975 episode; three episodes later, Candice Bergen became the first woman to host and subsequently

24084-433: The control room, with multiple digital and analog video recorders used to store footage. Graphics are provided by a Chyron Lyric Pro character generator and an Avid Deko character generator. Audio facilities consist of a Calrec T Series digitally controlled analog mixing console, and a Yamaha digital mixing console used for tape playback support and utility audio work. While exact budgets for other seasons are not known,

24307-413: The convenience of late-shift workers who were not awake hours earlier for the broadcast's initial airing, and in many cases, acting as replacements for the "sign-off edition" broadcasts. (During severe weather situations, live cut-ins are sometimes inserted in place of weather segments from the initial broadcast to provide updates on active storms.) Late-night news rebroadcasts declined in prevalence during

24530-501: The current incarnation of Svengoolie —in weekend prime time, sometimes accompanied by another genre film—whether broken up by late-evening news or not, making the second presentation a literal midnight movie—resulting in unique virtual double bills (such as Dr. Heckyl & Mr. Hype and The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave on Movie Macabre ). Horror-themed late-night movie presentations largely disappeared from many broadcast stations by

24753-827: The debut of Nightline , ABC and CBS each offered late-night newscasts in the form of abbreviated, 15-minute weekend broadcasts. Fed to affiliates starting at 11:00 p.m. ET, the ABC News Weekend Report (debuting in 1965 as the ABC Weekend News , and airing on both Saturdays and Sundays throughout its run) and the CBS Sunday Night News (debuting in 1963) were usually shown immediately following local late-evening newscasts on their owned and affiliated stations; however, some stations opted to air them as filler programming leading into their regular sign-off period. Declining interest from affiliates (stemming in part from

24976-400: The dedicated Weekend Update team, who know those characters better. SNL writers are often also performers or experienced in writing and improvisational comedy. Many are hired from similar backgrounds such as The Groundlings, Second City, Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre , and ImprovOlympic . Comedian Jim Downey was head writer for 10 years, from 1985 to 1995. Downey (who previously joined

25199-425: The early 1990s, much of this core cast began to leave the show, and younger performers such as Chris Farley and Adam Sandler began to be promoted to repertory status. Some of these cast members, such as Sandler, Farley, Rob Schneider , Spade, and Chris Rock , would come to be known as the "Bad Boys of SNL " for their outrageous comedy style. Afraid of cast members leaving for film careers, Michaels had overcrowded

25422-482: The early 2000s in certain markets (some scattering in Pre-Code / Hays Code -era titles—often buried in overnight slots—well into the 1990s, even as cable networks like AMC and Turner Classic Movies were increasingly taking over the mantle of televising classic films). Movie packages sold through the commercial syndication market have steadily declined in volume since the late 1990s due largely to cable television cornering

25645-437: The end of the decade, Entertainment Tonight ) had already cornered the access timeslot. During the 1990s and early 2000s, the dating game show also often filled late night slots in syndication. Two of the earliest successes were Love Connection (1983–94, 1998–99), which incorporated elements of the video dating concept popularized in the 1980s and featured contestants discussing the date they went on; and Studs (1991–93),

25868-519: The end of the show. Since the show's inception, SNL has aired from Studio 8H, located on floors eight and nine of the Comcast Building (formerly the RCA Building and GE Building , now 30 Rockefeller Plaza or "30   Rock"). Three of the shows of the 1976–77 season were shot at the former NBC Studios in Brooklyn, due to NBC News using Studio 8H for presidential election coverage. During

26091-544: The father of the late night talk show and founder of Tonight (now known as The Tonight Show ); Merv Griffin and Dick Cavett , early competitors with Carson; and Jack Paar , the man who followed Steve Allen as host of The Tonight Show and who is responsible for setting the standards for the genre. Networks typically produce two late night shows: one taped in New York City and one in Los Angeles . Most are taped late in

26314-464: The few affiliates that do not air late-evening newscasts). ABC, CBS and NBC all begin their late night schedules with comedy and interview-based talk shows, though programming in the lead-out 12:35 a.m. ET slot differs on each network: only NBC airs an additional lead-out talk show ( Late Night with Seth Meyers ) in the slot, while CBS—which had aired talk shows that ran through the later slot off-and-on from January 1989 to September 1990 and started in

26537-519: The film market, and the prime time expansions of The WB and UPN (and before that, Fox) during that decade reducing available airtime on their affiliates, and more substantially amid the proliferation of streaming platforms (like Netflix , Hulu and Prime Video ) in the mid-2010s, as film studios increasingly resorted to licensing their library titles to that medium; syndicated reruns and paid programming primarily now occupy late-night schedules on most stations outside or in lieu of network offerings made for

26760-604: The first episode to not feature any musical performances since the first episode of season 12 , as well as the third episode in the show's duration to not have a musical guest, due to the rise of the Omicron variant in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic . Charli XCX was planned as the musical guest, but her performance was cancelled due to the new restrictions as the show had a "limited cast and crew" and no audience. The Saturday Night Live Band (also known as "The Live Band")

26983-609: The first half-hour and a live late edition in the second half-hour). Estrella TV has long had a one-hour jump on Univision and Telemundo in airing its flagship late-evening newscast, Cierre de Edición (" Final Edition "), in the final half-hour of prime time (10:30 p.m. ET), which it has done since the network launched in September 2009; it would follow Univision and Telemundo's lead with its own late fringe news offering in January 2022, debuting an hour-long block of its secondary newscast 24 Horas (" 24 Hours ")—a program that originated on co-owned streaming news channel Estrella News—as

27206-595: The first host to return. Guests who have hosted five or more times are sometimes referred to as belonging to the Five-Timers Club , a term that originated on a sketch performed on Tom Hanks 's fifth episode. As of February 11, 2017, actor Alec Baldwin holds the record for most times hosting, having performed the duty on seventeen different occasions since 1990; Baldwin took the record from actor Steve Martin who has hosted fifteen times since 1976. Occasionally, former SNL cast members also host. Each episode also features

27429-449: The format attempted during its short-lived expansion to a one-hour broadcast in 1983), and incorporated pop culture-related pieces alongside stories on current news events, interviews and investigative features. (Episodes focusing on a single topic continue to air occasionally; the program's anchors—which, since 2013, are based entirely out of New York—have since been assigned to rotating duties each night.) The program inspired CBS to create

27652-463: The format.) Most shows in this genre have a house band that plays musical interludes. Late-night talk shows are the last television format to still use house bands, which were common during the Golden Age of Radio on most variety shows and sitcoms but largely faded away in most formats other than variety and late-night in the 1950s. (Variety shows as a standalone format themselves fell out of favor in

27875-487: The franchise's predecessors dating back to original host David Letterman—laid off The 8G Band (led mainly by actor/comedian Fred Armisen since Meyers, who previously worked with him when they were cast members on Saturday Night Live , took over as host) in June 2024, as part of budget cuts coinciding with a four-year renewal of Meyers' contract; beginning with the 2024–25 season, the show will utilize prerecorded music composed by

28098-459: The genre are formatted around political and pop culture -focused topical humor instead of featuring interviews, and music and stand-up comedy performances. Notable examples include The Daily Show (Comedy Central, 1996–present), The Colbert Report (Comedy Central; 2005–14), Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO, 2014–present), Gutfeld! ( Fox News ; 2015–present), and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee ( TBS , 2016–22). The Daily Show

28321-586: The genre largely died off from syndication in 2006 (partly due to effects from tighter content restrictions enforced by syndicators after the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy ), it saw a resurgence in 2011 with the debuts of the elimination-style Excused and Who Wants to Date a Comedian? , followed by the 2012 sale of the Game Show Network series Baggage into syndication; this would prove to be short-lived, as all three shows would exit

28544-569: The highest-rated late-night television programs. Michaels has been with SNL for all seasons except for his hiatus in the early 1980s (seasons 6–10). Michaels appeared in the show during the first season, where he offered The Beatles $ 3,000 (a deliberately paltry sum) to reunite on the show. He later increased his offer to $ 3,200, but the money was never claimed. According to an interview with John Lennon in Playboy magazine, Lennon and Paul McCartney were in New York City that night and wanted to see

28767-422: The house band for Stephen Colbert's iteration of The Late Show . Usually the band leader is a major part of the show, and the band leader and host often exchange playful banter during the monologue and comedy segments; the band leader has thus taken over the part of being the host's sidekick , which in the past was played by an announcer or designated co-host (such as Ed McMahon and Andy Richter ). Paul Shaffer

28990-616: The interference of the FCC or the Department of Justice . In 2021, James Austin Johnson assumed the Trump impression from Baldwin. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , SNL ' s 2019–2020 season was indefinitely halted on March 16, 2020. The season was later resumed in April with three remotely produced episodes labelled Saturday Night Live at Home , and the show returned to Studio 8H in October 2020. After

29213-402: The late 1970s and the 1990s. WTMJ (which had delayed it by a half-hour to air Maude reruns, despite the network vetoing the move, in 1979) began preempting Tonight outright in September 1984, amid a dispute with NBC over the station's request to delay it by an hour so it could air reruns of Trapper John, M.D. after its 10:00 p.m. news; NBC contracted independent station WVTV (now

29436-479: The late night slot on the major Spanish networks, including Contacto Deportivo ("Contact Sports"; Telefutura/UniMás, 2002–2019; Univision, 2015–present), Titulares Telemundo ("Telemundo Headlines"; Telemundo, 1999–2019) and its spinoff Titulares y Mas: Zona Mixta ("Headlines and More: Mix Zone"; Telemundo, 2005–present). ABC's Nightline has long been an exception to the networks' "comedy/variety" formula. Debuting in March 1980 (although it traces its roots to

29659-432: The late-night timeslot to feature syndicated programming designed for the time period, such as late-night talk shows intended to compete with their network counterparts and series (such as dating game shows ) that incorporate more mature material; however, the daypart has also acted as a de facto "death slot" for syndicated programs that either were placed there involuntarily due to low ratings in their original daytime slots,

29882-545: The latter program later by a half-hour to make room for Leno. Of the major broadcast networks, NBC, ABC and CBS program the late night slot on weekdays, but only NBC carries first-run entertainment shows in that time period on Saturdays; none of the major networks air first-run late night shows on Sundays. (NBC does offer its affiliates a same-day repeat of its political talk show Meet the Press on Sunday nights, though—as its overnight programming has informally been syndicated to its stations directly, rather than being part of

30105-519: The latter's 11:30 p.m. ET timeslot. (Affected Eastern Time Zone Fox affiliates moved their late news exclusively to the final hour of prime time, out of competition with their Big Three competitors, allowing its Saturday late-night programming to air at its intended time.) NBC—which preferred that its stations carry as much of its programming as possible and was less tolerant of preemptions than its rivals—has largely had its stations carry The Tonight Show in its network-designated timeslot. Yet despite

30328-405: The latter's idea for a variety show featuring high-concept comedy sketches, political satire, and music performances that would attract 18- to 34-year-old viewers. NBC decided to base the new show at their studios in 30 Rockefeller Center . Michaels was given Studio 8H , a converted radio studio that was home to NBC's election and Apollo moon landing coverage. It was revamped for the premiere at

30551-416: The live aspect of the show. Exceptions are made only when the musical act is focused on intense dance routines instead of vocals, where it is difficult to be both heavily physically active and sing. A 1975 performance by pop group ABBA was the first and only act to feature lip-synching, until the controversial 2004 performance of Ashlee Simpson . The December 18, 2021, episode (hosted by Paul Rudd ) became

30774-468: The longest-running network late news show on American Spanish-language television—in September 1989; the half-hour preceding the newscast's late edition was occupied from 1998 to 2019 by Primer Impacto Extra , a condensed half-hour version of the late afternoon tabloid newsmagazine Primer Impacto (" First Impact "), and since September 2019 by a rebroadcast of Noticiero Univision ' s main 6:30 p.m. ET broadcast. Telemundo, which previously offered

30997-477: The mid-2000s, primarily features sketches performed by a repertory cast of comedians (referred to in its early seasons as the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players") and a celebrity guest host (who also performs a monologue following the opening sketch and title sequence) as well as live performances from a featured musical act. (Occasionally, the episode's musical guest also serves as the guest host.) The program inspired other sketch comedy-focused variety series, including

31220-771: The mixing of audio and video elements by the Senior Audio Mixer, coupled with additional audio feeds consisting of music, sound effects, music scoring, and pre-recorded voiceovers. All sources are stored digitally, with shows captured and segregated into individual elements to reorganize for future repeats and syndication. The production tracking system was migrated from primarily analog to digital in 1998, with live shows typically requiring 1.5 terabytes of storage, consisting of audio elements and five cameras' worth of visual elements. Elements of Saturday Night Live that are pre-recorded, such as certain commercial parodies, SNL Digital Shorts , and show graphics are processed off-site in

31443-453: The morning) not reserved for scheduled network, syndicated or local programming. Simulcasts of home shopping channels (such as the HSN syndication service Home Shopping Spree (later America's Store ), Shop at Home Network and Jewelry Television ) have also been used to fill overnight airtime, more commonly during the late 1980s and the first half of the 1990s. (A handful of stations—including

31666-501: The network Herb Schlosser ) the TV show NBC's Saturday Night , which in 1977 changed its name to Saturday Night Live (initially there was a name conflict with an ABC show titled Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell , which debuted September 20, 1975, and was cancelled on January 17, 1976). The show, which is performed live in front of a studio audience, immediately established a reputation for being cutting-edge and unpredictable. It became

31889-546: The network no longer airs traditional late night programs on any day of the week, and since May 2016, its Saturday late-night slot has been filled by reruns of various unscripted Fox prime time shows. (Fox first repurposed the timeslot for reruns in January 1994 to air edited episodes of the HBO horror anthology Tales from the Crypt in place of the cancelled stand-up series Comic Strip Live ; this continued until MADtv premiered in

32112-487: The network warned its affiliates not to preempt or delay Leno for local news (even threatening then- Boston affiliate WHDH —which would eventually lose its NBC affiliation to network-owned WBTS in January 2017—with possible disaffiliation should it go ahead with plans to simulcast a 10:00 newscast produced for sister station WLVI , resulting in the station abandoning that plan). After fears raised by affiliates of significantly lower ratings for their local newscasts from

32335-531: The network's late-night lineup as late as one hour behind their intended airtime. This would pose an issue for Jimmy Kimmel Live! when it debuted in 2003, as the practice stunted the show early on (making the "Live!" title somewhat of a misnomer), although its ratings markedly improved over the next decade, eventually placing behind Tonight and the Late Show (and just ahead of ABC stablemate Nightline ). ABC would gradually get its stations on board to airing Kimmel and Nightline in their designated timeslots into

32558-445: The network's official schedule, since the graveyard block formerly branded as "NBC All Night" debuted in 1998—it is not cleared by the network's owned-and-operated stations .) Fox carried first-run late night programming on weeknights off-and-on from October 1986 to May 1994 and on Saturdays for most of the time from August 1989 to April 2010; however since the 2010 cancellation of The Wanda Sykes Show with few exceptions thereafter,

32781-630: The night into the following morning. Writing may not begin until 8:00   p.m. on Tuesday. At 5:00   p.m. on Wednesday, the sketches are read by the cast during a round-table meeting in the writers' room, attended by the writers and producers present during the pitch meeting, technical experts such as make-up artists, who may be required to realize certain sketch ideas such as those using prosthetics, and other producers, resulting in attendance of approximately fifty people. At this point, there may be at least forty sketch ideas that are read-through in turn, lasting upwards of three hours. After completion of

33004-534: The night, if they signed off later or not at all, due to the presence of its late-night talk and variety block led by The Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live —syndicated a weekly movie package to its owned-and-operated stations and selected affiliates, the NBC Late Night Movie , which aired on Sunday nights following their late local newscasts from 1977 to 1984. Stations that offered 24-hour programming in some capacity (either on weekends only or throughout

33227-422: The now-defunct NBC program), and both of Bill Maher 's late-night discussion shows, Politically Incorrect (Comedy Central, 1993–96; ABC, 1996–2002) and Real Time (HBO, 2004–present), have used a round table format that incorporates a mix of news discussion and satire, although roundtable is only used in the descriptive sense; in the case of Red Eye , some guests appeared on the program via satellite, while

33450-443: The option of rejecting the first two sitcom offers but must accept the third offer, with the sitcom contract length dictated by NBC and potentially lasting up to six years. The move drew criticism from talent agents and managers who believed a cast member could be locked into a contract with NBC for twelve years—six on SNL and then six on a sitcom. The contract also optioned the cast member for three feature films produced by SNL Films,

33673-518: The original format of Later (NBC, 1988–2001), which had original host Bob Costas and occasional guest hosts interview a single guest for the entire half hour (condensed from a 45-minute to one-hour conversation taped in real time), and to an extent for the syndicated Whoopi Goldberg Show (1992–93) and Lauren Hutton and... (1995–96). Charlie Rose (1991–2017) and Tavis Smiley (2004–17), which were syndicated to public television stations (particularly PBS member stations), also mirrored

33896-462: The original head writer, Michael O'Donoghue . NBC's Saturday Night debuted on October 11, 1975, with an episode featuring Carlin as host. The original title was used because the Saturday Night Live title was in use by Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell on rival network ABC . After the cancellation of Cosell's show in 1976, NBC purchased the rights to the name and officially changed

34119-470: The overnight entertainment block "NBC All Night"; NBC began offering its early-morning news program Early Today (which replaced predecessor NBC News at Sunrise in September 1999) as a de facto overnight newscast in September 2017, after the network shifted its live broadcast and continuous loop feed into the slot previously filled by late-night rebroadcasts of CNBC's Mad Money to accommodate affiliates that had expanded their local morning newscasts into

34342-559: The overnight graveyard slot, particularly on weekends. Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels CC (born Lorne David Lipowitz ; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American television writer and film producer. He created and produced Saturday Night Live (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the Late Night series (since 1993), The Kids in the Hall (from 1989 to 1995) and The Tonight Show (since 2014). He has received 21 Primetime Emmy Awards from 106 nominations, holding

34565-442: The overnight period consisted of daytime talk shows and game shows being burned off due to low ratings. Certain syndicated tabloid talk shows (such as Jerry Springer , The Steve Wilkos Show , Jenny Jones and The Morton Downey Jr. Show ) have also aired in late night—most either in their primary or secondary daily runs—because of their adult content. Some stations—most prevalent when King World (since absorbed into what

34788-407: The overnight slot for the same purpose, allowing their carrier stations to fulfill obligations to air the program without penalty to the syndicator. (Despite the 21st century proliferation of subscription streaming services such as Hulu , Paramount+ and Peacock and network-run apps and video on demand services that enable network shows subjected to local preemption to be viewed at a later time,

35011-447: The post-production facilities of Broadway Video . Studio 8H production facilities are maintained by NBC Production Services. As of 2018, the show uses five Sony HDC-1500 cameras, primarily mounted on Vinten pedestals , although one is mounted on a Chapman-Leonard Electra crane. As of 2014, a Grass Valley GVG 4000-3 digital component production switcher and GVG 7000 digital component routing switcher are used to route visual feeds to

35234-486: The presence of 24-hour cable news channels such as CNN ) and low viewership (mainly resulting from fewer affiliates airing them in their intended late fringe timeslots) resulted in both networks discontinuing their weekend late newscasts during the 1990s: ABC's Weekend Report ended in September 1991, while CBS's Sunday Night News aired its final broadcast in September 1997. The three major English-language networks have also ventured into overnight newscasts that air after

35457-455: The prime access hour in markets with major sports teams), breaking news or severe weather coverage are often rescheduled in overnight timeslots—often but not always during the same broadcast day—to fulfill their contractual programming obligations; in some cases, higher-profile syndicated programs (such as Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune ) displaced from their regular daytime or early fringe slots for similar reasons have also been rescheduled in

35680-571: The prior decade, along with selected major network stations that offered 24-hour programming in some capacity as soon as the late 1970s) in an effort to compete with increased late-night offerings on cable television and more specifically to compete with CNN , which had been lauded for its round-the-clock coverage of the Gulf War in early 1991. During the 1991–92 television season , the "Big Three" networks each premiered their own overnight newscasts: NBC Nightside (debuting in November 1991, and produced by

35903-405: The product in action), "storymercials" (fictional stories that use emotion as a draw to the product being marketed), "documercials" (news- or documentary -based formats typically selling higher-priced products), "brand demand" ads (usually demonstration-based and pushes customers to purchase products by phone, Internet and retail outlets) and talk show-style ads (a low-budget format usually featuring

36126-460: The program (one such interview featured Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ), in addition to showcasing some vaudeville and variety acts. Tonight Starring Steve Allen , the first iteration of The Tonight Show that debuted on NBC in September 1954, developed many modern talk show concepts including an opening monologue, celebrity interviews, audience participation segments, comedy bits, and musical performances; it also incorporated concepts taken from

36349-528: The program's loop feed is made available to local CBS stations), which incorporates reports filed by correspondents from both CBS News and the network's owned-and-operated stations. Most of the major Spanish-language networks have also offered conventional news programming in the late fringe slot. Univision debuted an 11:30 p.m. ET edition of its flagship news program Noticiero Univision —titled for most of its history as Noticiero Univision: Edición Nocturna (" Univision News: Late Edition "), and currently

36572-462: The program's run. CBS joined the fray five years later in August 1969 with The Merv Griffin Show , which began seven years earlier as an NBC daytime program before returning in syndication (with some stations airing it opposite The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ) in 1965; Griffin , whose show was mired in second place behind the dominant Carson, chose to reach an agreement with the network to end his contract early, sensing it would soon cancel

36795-450: The program's success during that timeframe, a handful of affiliates (including KARE / Minneapolis – St. Paul , WVTM / Birmingham and WTMJ / Milwaukee ) had delayed The Tonight Show during the Carson and, except for WTMJ, early Leno eras to run syndicated sitcom reruns immediately following the late news, instead of in-between Tonight and its lead-out network programs, as was common between

37018-412: The radio era, including a vocal group ( Steve and Eydie , who went on to decades of success as music artists after leaving Tonight amid its short-lived 1957 reformatting as Tonight! America After Dark ) in addition to the house band, something that later late-night shows would abandon. The expansion of television stations across the country, and households owning television sets helped Tonight to become

37241-399: The read-through, Michaels, the head writer, the guest host, and some of the show producers will move to Michaels' office to decide the layout of the show and decide which of the sketches will be developed for air. Once complete, the writers and cast are allowed into Michaels's office to view the show breakdown and learn whether or not their sketch has survived. Sketches may be rewritten starting

37464-775: The record as the most nominated individual in the award show's history. Lorne David Lipowitz was born in Toronto, Canada , on November 17, 1944, to Florence (née Becker) and Abraham Lipowitz. Many sources incorrectly state that he was born on a kibbutz in the then- British mandate of Palestine , and that his Jewish family immigrated to Toronto, Canada when he was an infant. Michaels and his two younger siblings were raised in Toronto; he attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute . He graduated from University College, Toronto , where he majored in English, in 1966. Michaels began his career as

37687-413: The rescheduling option continues as a means to allow viewers that either do not have access to those services or are unable to view recent episodes until as late as eight days after their initial airing due to network restrictions on day-after-air releases on VOD or streaming platforms to be able to record them for later viewing.) Conversely, following its September 2009 conversion from a broadcast network to

37910-708: The rest of the night), the late night and overnight dayparts on the major Spanish-language networks are otherwise filled by reruns of telenovelas and other entertainment programs (Telemundo, in particular, airs same-night repeats of its prime time serials on weeknights), movies and/or infomercials (both latter formats air on Telemundo and UniMás, with movies being limited to weekends on those two networks). Sports news/talk programs—often prominently covering soccer with supplemental coverage of other domestic sports, and serving as counterparts to ESPN 's SportsCenter and local sports "wrap-up" shows that follow late-evening weekend newscasts on many stations—have also been produced for

38133-482: The same canonical format: There have been deviations from this format. Tom Snyder employed a more intimate concept on Tomorrow (NBC, 1973–81) and his 1995–99 run as the original host of The Late Late Show , conducting one-on-one interviews (alternating between hard-hitting questions and personal observations closely resembling genuine conversations) and choosing not to have a studio audience, house band, writing staff or scripted pieces. This style would be replicated for

38356-420: The same day, but will certainly commence on Thursday. Work focuses on developing and rewriting the remaining sketches and possibly rehearsals. If a sketch is still scheduled beyond Thursday, it is rehearsed on Friday or Saturday before moving to a rehearsal before a live audience at 8:00   p.m., again on Saturday, before the live show. After the rehearsal, Michaels will review the show lineup to ensure it meets

38579-668: The scripted dramas it had been airing in the final hour of prime time. Jay Leno, who in 2004 had announced he would step down as host of the Tonight Show franchise at the end of his renewed five-year contract, had reached a compromise to stay with the network and launch a new talk show in the 10:00 p.m. ET hour, ahead of the local newscasts on most stations in a timeslot that competed with CBS and ABC's respective prime time programs (though Fox affiliates would have cut to post-primetime news or syndicated sitcom reruns by this time). Premiering in September 2009, The Jay Leno Show maintained

38802-433: The segment since 2011 ; and has been the segment's head writer since 2014) The segment's previous head writer was Alex Baze (who wrote for the segment from 2004 to 2014 , and was the head writer of the segment starting with the 2011–12 season, until his aforementioned 2014 departure). Scenes on Weekend Update that involve members of the cast acting in-character alongside the host are often written by staff writers outside

39025-514: The short-lived daytime David Letterman Show ); Conan O'Brien of Late Night with Conan O'Brien , The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien , and Conan ; Jay Leno of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (who has taped more episodes than any other late night host); James Corden of The Late Late Show with James Corden ; Craig Ferguson of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ; Arsenio Hall of The Arsenio Hall Show ; Tom Snyder of Tomorrow and The Late Late Show ; Steve Allen ,

39248-430: The show (Richter, now the announcer, was O'Brien's primary sidekick on The Tonight Show and carried on in that role on Conan , whereas new band leader Jimmy Vivino has barely any interaction with O'Brien), and Kevin Eubanks was often the butt of Leno's jokes, particularly regarding drug-related stories. Most notably The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson did not have a house band, and Ferguson often used that fact as

39471-436: The show after the 1978–1979 season to make The Blues Brothers , and as the fifth season ended in 1980, Michaels asked executives to place the show on hiatus for a year in order to allow him time to pursue other projects. Michaels suggested writers Al Franken , Tom Davis , and Jim Downey as his replacements; NBC president Fred Silverman disliked Franken and was infuriated by his Update routine in May 1980, called " A Limo for

39694-446: The show and commercial breaks, the second episode used photos Baskin had already taken of host Paul Simon . It was then that Michaels suggested that Baskin photograph the hosts for the bumpers instead of using publicity photos, beginning a tradition that continues today. Since 1999, Mary Ellen Matthews has been the official photographer of SNL , responsible for devising distinctive photo layouts and aesthetics for still imagery used on

39917-539: The show as "the primary satirical voice of the country". Michaels received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in 2006, Canada's highest honor in the performing arts. In 2008, Michaels was awarded the Webby for Film & Video Lifetime Achievement. With the allotted five words allowed to each recipient, his acceptance speech was "Five words is not enough". In 2012, Michaels

40140-579: The show being discontinued in December 1983. CBS followed in October 1982 with CBS News Nightwatch , which maintained a hybrid traditional newscast and interview/debate format (and, for its first two years, allowed affiliates to include local news updates during the program). More conventional overnight network newscasts debuted in the early 1990s to fill airtime on major network affiliates that had adopted or were planning to adopt 24-hour program schedules (which many independent stations, including those that later became Fox affiliates, had begun instituting since

40363-473: The show had received over 305 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, the most received by any television program. The live aspect of the show has resulted in several controversies and acts of censorship, with mistakes and intentional acts of sabotage by performers and guests. Beginning in 1965, NBC network affiliates broadcast reruns of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on Saturday or Sunday nights. In 1974, Johnny Carson petitioned to NBC executives for

40586-546: The show to largely avoid jokes about President Ronald Reagan during his time as showrunner. Under Ebersol's leadership, Eddie Murphy, who had been underused during Doumanian's tenure, rose to prominence with popular characters such as Mister Robinson's Neighborhood and Gumby . His success was a major factor in the show's resurgence, though it created tensions within the cast. In a break with tradition, producers hired established comedians such as Billy Crystal and Martin Short for

40809-459: The show's first five seasons included Belushi's samurai , the Coneheads (Aykroyd, Curtin, Newman), and Radner's Roseanne Roseannadanna . Drugs were a major problem during the show's first five years, which exacerbated existing tensions. Cocaine had become an "integral part of the working progress" on SNL by the 1978–1979 season , according to Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad. Aykroyd and Belushi left

41032-429: The show's humor, cast, and backstage dysfunction. The show's cast was largely overhauled for the 1995–1996 season with names such as Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri , which was successful at revitalizing the show. The show faced new competition during this period in the form of Fox ' s sketch comedy show Mad TV , which aired a half hour earlier than SNL and featured a more diverse cast. The 2000–2001 season

41255-532: The show's name to Saturday Night Live at the start of the 1977–1978 season . The cast was initially paid $ 750 per episode, and essentially lived at the offices, according to Michaels. The show found its footing by the fourth episode, hosted by Candice Bergen , which featured the cast in most segments. The show developed a cult following , and its humor was seen as refreshing and daring, in comparison to previous sketch and variety shows that would rarely deal with controversial topics and issues. Iconic characters during

41478-408: The show's writing staff in the show's second season in 1977) is not only the show's longest-tenured head writer, but he is also overall the show's longest-tenured writer in the show's history. As he wrote for the show on-and-off for 30 years, formally retiring from the show in 2013 . Experienced writers with backgrounds in television shows are also sometimes brought into the SNL writing room. Like

41701-418: The show, and signed a contract with Metromedia Producers Corporation to continue his program in syndication, where it lasted until 1986. Popular shows within the late night talk show genre include The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC, 2014–present; the seventh iteration of the franchise that has aired since 1954), The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS, 2014–present; the second iteration of

41924-455: The show, recommending that new stars such as Chris Farley and Adam Sandler be fired and critiquing the costly nature of performing the show live. Criticism of the show's writing increased during this period, which reached its peak by the 1994–1995 season , which is considered one of the series' worst. A widely publicized profile of the show in New York during this period was highly critical of

42147-442: The show. In 1980, Michaels left the show to explore other opportunities. He was replaced by Jean Doumanian , who was then replaced by Ebersol after a season of bad reviews. Ebersol ran the show until 1985, when Michaels returned. Since then, Michaels has held the job of showrunner . Many SNL cast members have found national stardom while appearing on the show, and achieved success in film and television, both in front of and behind

42370-593: The show. Throughout five decades on air, Saturday Night Live has received a vast number of awards, including 84 Primetime Emmy Awards , six Writers Guild of America Awards , and three Peabody Awards . In 2000, it was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame . It was ranked tenth in TV Guide ' s " 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time " list, and in 2007 it was listed as one of Time ' s "100 Best TV Shows of All- TIME. " As of 2022,

42593-450: The show. Matthews creates photo portraits of the hosts and musical guests of each episode which are used as commercial bumpers. The limited time frame between the host's involvement in the production process and the Live show requires Matthews to create makeshift photo studios on-site at 30   Rock, with Matthews attempting to shoot the host on Tuesday and the musical guest on Thursday, although

42816-428: The show. Taped material significantly increased in the mid-2000s with SNL Digital Shorts by The Lonely Island , and continued into the following years with videos by Good Neighbor and Please Don't Destroy . The cast continued to evolve significantly into the 2010s as several longtime cast members such as Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig left the series. The 2013–2014 season saw the hiring of seven new cast members in

43039-521: The show. They decided against it though, as it was too late to get there in time, and they were both tired. This near-reunion was the basis for the TV movie Two of Us . On the episode airing November 20, 1976, musical guest George Harrison appeared, but Michaels told him the offer was conditional on all four members of the group showing up. Michaels founded the production company Broadway Video in 1979, which has produced SNL since 1981 as well as other shows such as Canadian sketch-comedy The Kids in

43262-532: The similarly formatted America Tonight , debuting in October 1990, as a direct competitor to Nightline . Despite employing a top-tier slate of anchors that included Dan Rather (then anchor of the CBS Evening News ), Charles Kuralt (then host of CBS News Sunday Morning ) and Lesley Stahl (who also served as a correspondent for 60 Minutes ), America Tonight failed to make a dent against Nightline and NBC rival The Tonight Show , resulting in its cancellation after only six months in March 1991. Predating

43485-403: The slot in October 1995. ) The Saturday slot previously occupied by Sykes and before that by MADtv —which has lasted for one hour for most of the time since Fox began programming the slot in 1989, with previous extensions to 90 minutes (2006–08 and 2009–13) and two hours (2008–09, during the expanded hour-long format of Talkshow with Spike Feresten )—consisted only of Fox prime time reruns until

43708-413: The slot itself during the 1995–2023 run of The Late Late Show —airs the comedic panel game show After Midnight (a reboot of the 2013–17 Comedy Central series @midnight ) as the lead-out to The Late Show and ABC airs the newsmagazine Nightline following Jimmy Kimmel Live! . NBC followed a significantly different model for most of the 2009–10 season , following severe audience losses for

43931-518: The special John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch . Don Pardo served as the announcer for the series when it began and continued in the role for all but season seven, between 1981 and 1982, when Michaels had left and Mel Brandt and Bill Hanrahan filled the announcing role. In 2004 Pardo announced that he would step down from his position, but then continued in the role until 2009 when he again announced his retirement, but then continued into

44154-441: The station moved Late Night to 12:35 a.m. in 1998, and finally to its network-designated 11:35 p.m. CT slot in 2005.) Several ABC stations continued to run syndicated sitcom reruns and entertainment newsmagazines in the post-local news slot well into the 2000s, and at least three of them ( WISN /Milwaukee, KITV / Honolulu and KOAT / Albuquerque ) carried hour-long local newscasts for even longer, delaying part or all of

44377-411: The summer 2005 shooting hiatus, crews began renovations on Studio 8H. With its thirty-first-season premiere in October 2005, the show began broadcasting in high-definition television , appearing letterboxed on conventional television screens. The offices of SNL writers, producers, and other staff can be found on the 17th floor of "30   Rock". Production on an SNL episode will normally start on

44600-417: The syndication market in September 2013. The expansion of the entertainment news genre in syndication (influenced by genre pioneer Entertainment Tonight and beginning in earnest with the September 1993 premiere of Extra ) starting in the early 1990s has also resulted in many first-run tabloid and infotainment programs (such as Access Hollywood and The Insider ) occupying late night slots; while this

44823-499: The three- to four-member dedicated Weekend Update writing team will write jokes throughout the week. The host(s) of Weekend Update will normally not work with or read the scripts from the team until Thursday evening after the main show sketches have been finalized. The host(s) will then work on contributing to the script where necessary. With onsite facilities housed on floors eight and seventeen of Rockefeller Plaza, post-production duties on live broadcasts of Saturday Night Live include

45046-427: The titular dimwitted host character ( Timothy Stack , who also co-created the series) presiding over a fictional talk show that mocked the oft-exploitative and sensationalized nature of the format. A brief influx of game shows began to fill the late night airwaves in the mid-to-late-1980s (such as Tom Kennedy 's nighttime Price Is Right , The $ 1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime , the syndicated version of Sale of

45269-672: The traditional late night schedules; airing as a continuous feed of looping 60- to 90-minute-long blocks (intended for affiliates to air in repeated fashion until the start of the next station-designated broadcast day), stations typically preempt some portion of the rolling broadcasts to air local, acquired and/or paid programming following the network late night shows. NBC premiered the first overnight network news effort in July 1982 with NBC News Overnight , an hour-long program that mixed hard news features with incisive topical commentary and light-hearted feature stories; it aired for 18 months until high production costs and limited ad revenue led to

45492-423: The traditional late-night talk format; in 2009, the show deviated even further from the traditional format by taping all hosted and interview segments on-location (the former of which served merely as wraparounds as Daly did not interview the guests) and shooting all interviews and musical performances in the style of a documentary . Late night talk shows often incorporate political satire , and several programs of

45715-476: The training or experience necessary for SNL . The cast is divided into two tiers: the more established group of repertory players; and newer, unproven cast members known as featured players, who may eventually be promoted to the repertory stable. Of the many roles available in the show, one of the longest-running and most coveted is being the host of Weekend Update , a segment featuring one or two hosts, who get substantial screen time performing as themselves. Many of

45938-466: The week to decrease his production workload, NBC replaced the weekend Tonight reruns with a new comedy-variety series, NBC's Saturday Night (permanently retitled Saturday Night Live beginning with its third season ); the 90-minute program, which continues to air as of 2024 and has remained a staple of NBC's Saturday lineup even after the network (and its broadcast competitors) ceased producing original scripted prime time programming on that night in

46161-916: The week) as early as the late 1970s often aired multiple films well into the overnight hours. Many public television stations (like WYIN / Gary, Indiana , the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA), KCET /Los Angeles and WNET / Newark –New York City) have long aired packages of older mainstream theatrical films—syndicated mainly by American Public Television —on weekends (usually Saturday nights) in late prime time and late night; these presentations, however, are regularly suspended during pledge drives held two to four times per year in favor of health and financial advice, and music specials normally shown in place of regular programming (except in daytime slots reserved for children's programming) during pledge periods. One popular late night format found particularly among local stations has been

46384-467: The weekend shows to be pulled and saved so they could be aired during weeknights, allowing him to take time off. In response, NBC president Herbert Schlosser approached the vice president of late-night programming, Dick Ebersol , and asked him to create a show to fill the Saturday night time slot. Schlosser and Ebersol then approached Lorne Michaels . Over the next three weeks, Ebersol and Michaels developed

46607-465: Was The Faye Emerson Show , a 15-minute program that aired on CBS (first on selected East Coast stations and then nationwide beginning in March 1950) from 1949 to 1952. Emerson's show was distinctive from her NBC competition in that she was more openly political (a precursor to the political humor that would become standard in late-night monologues in later decades); Emerson, an avowed Democrat , regularly interviewed political and intellectual figures on

46830-534: Was announced that Michaels would be taking over as the executive producer for The Tonight Show . Consequently, The Tonight Show moved to New York in early 2014 as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon . Michaels has three children and has been married three times. During the early 1960s, he began a relationship with Rosie Shuster , daughter of his comedy mentor Frank Shuster of the Wayne and Shuster comedy team, who later worked with him on Saturday Night Live as

47053-612: Was awarded a rare Personal Peabody Award . He accepted at a ceremony in New York City at the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel. In December 2021, Michaels was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors , along with Justino Diaz , Berry Gordy , Bette Midler , and Joni Mitchell . In 2022, Michaels received a Peabody Award for his work as an executive producer of the Spanish-language comedy series Los Espookys . He

47276-627: Was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Also in 1999, Michaels received an honorary degree from Ryerson University . In 2003, he received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame . In 2004, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Speaking at the awards ceremony, original Saturday Night Live cast member Dan Aykroyd described

47499-594: Was based heavily on actor Mark McKinney ’s impersonation of Lorne Michaels. The character Dr. Evil , the antagonist of Austin Powers in three films, has mannerisms and a speaking style based on Lorne Michaels. Dr. Evil was created and portrayed by SNL alumnus Mike Myers , who was at least partially influenced by fellow SNL performer Dana Carvey 's impression of Michaels. In a 2008 interview with Playboy , as well in various other interviews, Tina Fey admitted that Alec Baldwin 's character Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock

47722-545: Was based out of Washington, D.C. throughout his tenure) originally maintained a single-topic format, featuring live interviews related to the subject discussed in the main story segment. The program began employing multiple anchors (first consisting of Martin Bashir and Cynthia McFadden in New York City, and Terry Moran in Washington) following Koppel's 2005 retirement, began featuring two or three topics per broadcast (similar to

47945-447: Was cancelled after one season. (A six-week test run of a daily talk show hosted by Craig Kilborn failed to be picked up by the network in 2011.) Until the early 1990s, syndicated late-night talk shows were fairly common, due to NBC having the only network shows at the time in that daypart. (Although ABC, CBS and later Fox attempted late-night talk formats at various points, NBC faced no formidable network competition in that space until

48168-620: Was ensnared in a bank fraud and money laundering case ), a Saturday overnight block of lifestyle programs produced by sister company LXTV and, in the early 2010s, weeknight rebroadcasts of the fourth hour of Today (which follows a daytime talk format) and the CNBC financial program Mad Money . (In addition to the Sunday/early Monday Meet the Press replay and the Saturday LXTV block, NBC currently supplies weeknight rebroadcasts of

48391-465: Was notable for its well-received spoofing of that year's presidential campaign between Al Gore and George W. Bush . The show's New York City cast and crew were highly impacted by the September 11 attacks in 2001, and returned on September 29 with an acclaimed appearance by Rudy Giuliani . Political humor was reduced for the following seasons. The show switched to high-definition broadcasting for

48614-546: Was retiring at the end of the season. A three-hour prime-time live broadcast to celebrate the series' fiftieth anniversary will air on February 16, 2025. Those selected to join the cast of SNL are normally already accomplished performers, recruited from improvisational comedy groups such as The Groundlings (Newman, Hartman, Will Ferrell , Jon Lovitz , Kristen Wiig ) and The Second City (Aykroyd, Farley, Tina Fey , Tim Meadows ), or established stand-up comedians (Carvey, Sandler, Macdonald, Chris Rock ), who already possess

48837-432: Was the 1950–51 NBC variety program Broadway Open House , which ended as a result of host Jerry Lester 's decision to leave the show amid frustration with being upstaged by sidekick Virginia "Dagmar" Lewis , burnout from having to go through a large amount of material in a short time, and the lack of enough television sets in American households to make late night programming viable. The first televised late-night talk show

49060-506: Was the first program to follow the format known today as the "daytime talk show".) Talk shows had been satirized on late night television—including in syndication—long before shows like The Larry Sanders Show , Space Ghost Coast to Coast and The Colbert Report gained acclaim amongst audiences for their takes on the format. The first television talk show satire, the Norman Lear -created syndicated comedy Fernwood 2 Night (1977), itself

49283-472: Was the show's "biggest moment since the 70s", and Michaels observed that it made Fey a "huge star" and that "you could see perception changing completely". Armisen played Barack Obama from 2008 to 2012, following which cast member Jay Pharoah assumed the impression. The show began to rely more on pre-recorded material and videos more than it ever had before during this period, to the extent that some commentators said it had sometimes outshined live material on

49506-408: Was unavailable. Hammond took over as full-time announcer starting with season 40 . A typical episode of SNL will feature a single host chosen for their popularity or novelty, or because they have a film, album, or other work being released near the time of their appearance on the show. The host delivers the opening monologue and goodnights, introduces the musical guest, and performs in sketches with

49729-480: Was well known for being a straight man to David Letterman on Late Night and the Late Show . Mort Lindsey was the official bandleader of The Merv Griffin Show , but trumpeter (and established comic and voice actor) Jack Sheldon shared most of the comic material and banter with host Merv Griffin. However, on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien , Max Weinberg rarely spoke during the show, and his interactions with O'Brien were often short and awkward—a running gag on

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