Saturday Night Live - just the facts Part 2

Saturday Night Live - just the facts Part 2 ( A article written in 2007 )

Part 1 of the article on Saturday Night Live

Hosts who auditioned (or were offered) to join the cast
The following is a list of guest hosts who had previously auditioned for the show earlier in their careers only to be turned down. This list does not include the names of hosts, like Billy Crystal, who were rejected but eventually joined the cast at a later date. The list of the hosts & dates of their auditions are as follows:

Host SNL Season of Audition First Hosted Last Hosted Other notes
John Goodman 6th (1980–1981) December 2, 1989 November 3, 2001 Hosted once a season for 11 straight seasons
Jim Carrey 6th (1980–1981) May 18, 1996 He made a cameo on the Christopher Walken/Foo Fighters episode, playing his leg like a guitar during the Foo Fighters' second performance.

Catherine O'Hara 6th (1980–1981) April 13, 1991 October 31, 1992 She was actually hired as a cast member towards the end of the sixth season after Jean Doumanian's dismissal & the hiring of Dick Ebersol as executive producer. However, she resigned, due to an incident involving Michael O'Donoghue's harsh treatment of the 1980-1981 cast & writers, before she appeared in any episode. She suggested to then SNL producer, Dick Ebersol, that her good friend Robin Duke replace her as a cast member.
Geena Davis 10th (1984–1985) April 22, 1989
Paul Reubens 10th (1984–1985) November 23, 1985 Hosted as his kids show alter ego Pee Wee Herman in the 1985-1986 season
Lisa Kudrow 16th (1990–1991) October 5, 1996
Steve Carell 21st (1995–1996) October 1, 2005 He is married to former SNL cast member Nancy Walls. In 1995, lost the audition to Will Ferrell. He co-hosted SNL on April 26, 2006, along with Stephen Colbert, as the The Ambiguously Gay Duo. Colbert served as the voice of Ace & Carell voiced his partner, Gary. Carell & Colbert are the first performers to host SNL via voice over work & animation.
Johnny Knoxville 21st (1995–1996) May 7, 2005 Cameoed on the Jack Black/Neil Young episode of season 31 in an Appalachian Emergency Room sketch
Dane Cook 28th (2002–2003) December 3, 2005 September 30, 2006

Four notable names that auditioned for SNL yet never hosted were comedians Dom Irrera & Robert Townsend, who both auditioned to be castmembers for the 1980-1981 season. MADtv comedienne Stephnie Weir also auditioned for SNL for its 1999-2000 season, but lost to Rachel Dratch. Up-and-coming comedienne Maria Bamford auditioned for the show prior to the 2003-2004 season.

Political figures who have hosted
As of March 2007, there have been 11 political figures who have hosted SNL. These public figures include elected officials & /or political activists. The following is a list of such hosts.

Host Office/Occupation Number of Episodes First Hosted Last Hosted Number of Special Cameos Other notes
Al Gore Vice-President (Democrat) 1 December 14, 2002 2 He is the highest elected former public official to host SNL.
George McGovern U.S. Senator ( Democrat ) 1 April 14, 1984 0
John McCain U.S. Senator ( Republican ) 1 October 19, 2002 0 He is the first sitting Senator to host Saturday Night Live.
Ed Koch Mayor of New York City (Democrat) 2 May 14, 1983 May 12, 1984 0 As of March 2007, he is the only political figure who has hosted more than once. The first Mayor of New York to host SNL.
Rudy Giuliani Mayor of New York City (Republican) 1 November 22, 1997 1 The second mayor of NYC to host SNL.
Jesse Jackson Former Presidential Candidate (Democrat)/ Reverend 1 October 20, 1984 1
Al Sharpton Former Presidential Candidate (Democrat)/ Reverend 1 December 6, 2003 0
Steve Forbes Former Presidential Candidate 1 April 13, 1996 0 Musical guest was Rage Against the Machine
Ralph Nader Former Presidential Candidate (Green Party)/ Consumer Activist 1 January 15, 1977 2
Ron Nessen Press Secretary for US President Gerald Ford (Republican) 1 April 17, 1976 1
Julian Bond Civil Rights leader / Georgia Representative & Senator 1 April 9, 1977 0

Sports figures who have hosted
As of March 2007, there have been 26 sports figures who have hosted SNL. These sport figures include athletes, coaches, one team owner, & sports commentators. The following is a list of such hosts.

Host Occupation Number of Episodes First Hosted Last Hosted Number of Special Cameos Other notes
Fran Tarkenton football player 1 January 29, 1977 0 First football player to host SNL
O.J. Simpson football player 1 February 25, 1978 0 Only living celebrity host who was not invited to the SNL 25th Anniversary special.
Bill Russell basketball player 1 November 3, 1979 0
John Madden sportscaster 1 January 30, 1982 0
Bob Uecker baseball player/sportscaster 1 October 13, 1984 0
Howard Cosell sportscaster 1 April 13, 1985 0
Hulk Hogan wrestler 1 March 30, 1985 0 First wrestler to host SNL. He co-hosted with Mr. T
Joe Montana football player 1 January 24, 1987 0
Walter Payton football player 1 January 24, 1987 0
Tony Danza boxer 2 April 19, 1986 January 28, 1989 0 First boxer to host SNL. Hosted as an actor to promote the show Taxi.
Wayne Gretzky hockey player 1 May 13, 1989 0
Chris Evert tennis player 1 November 11, 1989 0
George Steinbrenner New York Yankees owner 1 October 20, 1990 0
Michael Jordan basketball player 1 September 28, 1991 0
Charles Barkley basketball player 1 September 25, 1993 0
Nancy Kerrigan skater 1 March 13, 1994 0
George Foreman boxer 1 December 17, 1994 0
Deion Sanders football/baseball player 1 February 18, 1995 0
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson wrestler 2 March 18, 2000 April 13, 2002 0 Dwayne's second hosting gig was to promote the film The Scorpion King he had moved on to becoming an actor host.
Derek Jeter baseball player 1 December 1, 2001 0
Jonny Moseley freestyle skiing 1 March 2, 2002 0
Jeff Gordon NASCAR driver 1 January 11, 2003 0
Andy Roddick tennis player 1 November 8, 2003 0
Tom Brady football player 1 April 16, 2004 0
Lance Armstrong cyclist 1 October 29, 2005 0
Jason Lee skateboarder 1 November 12, 2005 0 Jason hosted as an actor to promote the show My Name Is Earl.
Peyton Manning football player 1 March 24, 2007 0 Hosted SNL on the night of his 31st birthday. His mother, brother, & father cameoed in his monologue.

Frequent musical guests
The following performers have been musical guests on SNL at least five times:

Musical Guest Number of Episodes First Musical Appearance Last Musical Appearance Other Notes
Paul Simon 7 October 18, 1975 May 13, 2006 Simon also hosted or co-hosted three shows. He co-hosted with Catherine Oxenberg on May 10, 1986, during the 11th season. He solely hosted the second show on October 18, 1975 where he performed with Art Garfunkel & Phoebe Snow & on November 20, 1976, where he was one of two musical guests. Is also best friend of show creator Lorne Michaels.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 7 November 10, 1979 April 10, 1999
Dave Grohl 7 January 11, 1992 November 12, 2005 He was the drummer for Nirvana in their two performances, was a drummer for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers on one performance, & performed with his most recent band, Foo Fighters four times.
Randy Newman 6 October 18, 1975 October 22, 1988
James Taylor 6 September 18, 1976 November 13, 1993
Beck 6 January 11, 1997 October 28, 2006 He appeared as musicial guest two times in 1999 (with hosts Bill Paxton & Christina Ricci).
Sting 5 October 17, 1987 November 20, 1999 Only non-American performer to appear as a musical guest at least five times.

Musical guests who simultaneously hosted
The following performers have pulled a double duty as both musical guests & host during the same SNL episode:

Musical Guest Date of Hosting/Musical Appearance Other Notes
Paul Simon November 20, 1976 He is the first performer to appear simultaneously as host & musical guest.
Ray Charles November 12, 1977
The Rolling Stones October 7, 1978 Are the only band to host & be musical guests on SNL (even though Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, & Ron Wood were the only band members to appear in sketches)
Frank Zappa October 21, 1978
Deborah Harry February 14, 1981 In addition to hosting & performing, Harry also introduced the rap group Funky Four Plus One, the first Hip-Hop act to ever appear on SNL.
Olivia Newton-John May 22, 1982
Stevie Wonder May 7, 1983
Willie Nelson February 21, 1987
Dolly Parton April 15, 1989
Quincy Jones February 10, 1990 Jones' hosting stint had ten musical guests on one night, an SNL record.
Sting January 19, 1991
Hammer December 7, 1991
Garth Brooks February 28, 1998 & November 13, 1999 He is one of only three performers to simultaneously as host & musical guest more than once. Garth appeared in the second episode as himself as host, & his alter ego Chris Gaines as musical guest.
Jennifer Lopez February 10, 2001
Britney Spears May 13, 2000 & February 2, 2002 At 18, she was the youngest person in SNL History to host & musical guest the same time on May 13, 2000. She is also the only female in SNL History to host & perform in the same episode more than once.
Justin Timberlake October 11, 2003 & December 16, 2006 He became the third simultaneous host & musical guest to appear more than once on the show when he appeared on December 16, 2006.
Christina Aguilera February 21, 2004
Janet Jackson April 10, 2004
Queen Latifah October 9, 2004
Ludacris November 18, 2006

Below is a short list of some of SNL's most popular recurring sketches.

Weekend Update
Pong (Al Franken & Tom Davis)
E. Buzz Miller (Dan Aykroyd)
Fred Garvin: Male Prostitute (Dan Aykroyd)
The Festrunk Brothers ("Two Wild & Crazy Guys")(Dan Aykroyd, Steve Martin)
The Coneheads (Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman)
Leonard Pinth-Garnell (Dan Aykroyd)
The Blues Brothers (John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd)
Olympia Cafe (John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Laraine Newman & Bill Murray)
Samurai Futaba (John Belushi)
The Land Shark (Chevy Chase)
Chico Escuela (Garrett Morris)
Roseanne Roseannadanna (Gilda Radner)
Emily Litella (Gilda Radner)
Nick The Lounge Singer (Bill Murray)
Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello)
Stuart Smalley (Al Franken)
Buckwheat (Eddie Murphy)
Gumby (Eddie Murphy)
Tyrone Green (Eddie Murphy)
Mister Robinson's Neighborhood (Eddie Murphy, Tim Kazurinsky)
Dion & Blaire (Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo)
Pudge & Solomon (Joe Piscopo, Eddie Murphy)
Paulie Herman (Joe Piscopo)
The Whiners (Joe Piscopo, Robin Duke)
Mrs. T (Robin Duke)
I Married A Monkey (Tim Kazurinsky)
Havnagooiim Vishnuuerheer (Tim Kazurinsky)
Dr. Jack Badofsky (Tim Kazurinsky)
Alfalfa (Mary Gross)
Siobhan Cahill (Mary Gross)
Chi Chi & Consuela (Mary Gross, Julia Louis-Dreyfus)
Dwight MacNamara (Gary Kroeger)
April May June (Julia Louis-Dreyfus)
That White Guy (Jim Belushi)
Fernando's Hideaway (Billy Crystal)
Willie & Frankie ("The Guys That Hurt Themselves") (Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest)
Ed Grimley (Martin Short)
Jackie Rogers, Jr. (Martin Short)
Nathan Thurm (Martin Short)
The Pat Stevens Show (Nora Dunn)
The Jones Brothers (Anthony Michael Hall, Damon Wayans
Tommy Flanagan (Jon Lovitz)
Master Thespian (Jon Lovitz, John Lithgow)
Tales of Ribaldry (Jon Lovitz)
That Black Girl (Danitra Vance)
The Stand-Ups (Dennis Miller, Damon Wayans & Jon Lovitz)
Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
Church Lady (Dana Carvey)
Hans & Franz (Kevin Nealon, Dana Carvey)

Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer (Phil Hartman)
The Sweeney Sisters (Jan Hooks, Nora Dunn)
Mr. Subliminal (Kevin Nealon)
Wayne's World (Mike Myers, Dana Carvey)
Sprockets (Mike Myers)
Coffee Talk with Linda Richman (Mike Myers)
Bill Swerski's Superfans (George Wendt, Joe Mantegna, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Robert Smigel)
Rich, the photocopy guy (Rob Schneider)
Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker (Chris Farley)
Bennett Brauer (Chris Farley)
The Dark Side with Nat X (Chris Rock)
I'm Chillin' (Chris Rock, Chris Farley)
Pat (Julia Sweeney)
Total Bastard Airlines (David Spade, Ellen Cleghorne)
Dick Clark's Receptionist (David Spade)
The GAP Girls (David Spade, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler)
The Ladies Man (a.k.a Leon Phelps) (Tim Meadows)
Perspectives (a.k.a Lionel Osbourne) (Tim Meadows)
G-Dog (Tim Meadows)
Captain Jim & Pedro (a.k.a Lionel Osbourne) (Tim Meadows, Adam Sandler)
Canteen Boy (Adam Sandler)
Opera Man (Adam Sandler)
Cajun Man (Adam Sandler)
Stan Hooper (Norm MacDonald)
Queen Shenequa (Ellen Cleghorne)
Zoriada (Ellen Cleghorne)
Scottish Soccer Hooligan Weekly (Mark McKinney, Mike Myers)
Lucien Callow & Fagan (Mark McKinney, David Koechner)
Mary Katherine Gallagher (Molly Shannon)
Passive Aggressive Pam (Ana Gasteyer)
The Delicious Dish (Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon)
Goat Boy (Jim Breuer)
The Joe Pesci Show (Jim Breuer, Colin Quinn)
Gerald Tibbins (David Koechner)
The Spartan Cheerleaders (Cheri Oteri, Will Ferrell)
The Butabi Brothers (Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan)
Celebrity Jeopardy! (Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, Norm MacDonald, Jimmy Fallon)
Mango (Chris Kattan)
Brian Fellow's Safari Planet (Tracy Morgan)
Astronaut Jones (Tracy Morgan)
Pimp Chat (Tracy Morgan, Tim Meadows)
Lenny the Lion (Colin Quinn)
Jarret's Room (Jimmy Fallon, Horatio Sanz)
Barry Gibb Talk Show (Jimmy Fallon), (Justin Timberlake)
The Falconer (Will Forte)
Debbie Downer (Rachel Dratch)
Deep House Dish (Kenan Thompson, Rachel Dratch, Andy Samberg)
The Needlers: The Couple That Should Be Divorced (Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers)
Carol (Horatio Sanz)
Two A-Holes (Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig)
The Blizzard Man (Andy Samberg)
The Target Lady (Kristen Wiig)
SNL Digital Shorts (Andy Samberg)
The Dakota Fanning Show (Amy Poehler, Kenan Thompson)
Bronx Beat (Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph)
The Prince Show (Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph)

Films based on SNL sketches
The early days of SNL spawned a few movies & low-budget films. However, it wasn't until the huge success of Wayne's World that Broadway Video (Lorne Michaels' production company) became encouraged to feature more film spinoffs, with several popular 1990s sketch characters (and a few unlikely ones) becoming adapted into movies. Producers tried their luck with a revival of 1970s characters The Coneheads, followed by movies based around Pat, Stuart Smalley, The Ladies Man, The Butabi Brothers & Mary Katherine Gallagher. Some did moderate business but others bombed disastrously — notably It's Pat! & Stuart Saves His Family, with the latter losing US$15 million despite good reviews.

Wayne's World, the highest grossing movie ever based on an SNL sketch.The Blues Brothers (1980)
Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures (1986) Bob Robertson (1992) Mr. Saturday Night (1992) Wayne's World (1992) Wayne's World 2 (1993) Coneheads (1993) It's Pat! (1994) Stuart Saves His Family (1995) A Night at the Roxbury (1998) Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) Superstar (1999) The Ladies Man (2000)

DVD release & controversy On 13 October 2006 it was announced that Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season would be released by Universal Studios on 5 December 2006, in its full, 90-minute uncut format with all musical performances & sketches intact. Also, there will be a raft of bonus material to accompany the set.

After the set was released, it was picked apart by online reviewers & newsgroups of ardent fans, many of whom had original live (not rerun) bootleg copies with which to compare the "complete" episodes against. Each episode has been edited to appear as one continuous 66-minute performance, with the commercial breaks edited out. As such, the bumper art used in each commercial break is missing, save for the final bumper of each episode, which marks the transition to the goodnights & credits. At least two episodes in the set -the Rob Reiner & Dick Cavett shows - are confirmed as being the rerun versions, as opposed to the original live versions. There is one original commercial parody (Wrigley's) missing, from the Rob Reiner show (the parody was cut from the rerun because the show went long live, & there were no goodnights & credits; the parody was cut to allow time for a makeshift credit roll in the repeat. Since Broadway Video used the rerun to master the DVD, they likely were unaware of this omission. This practice would also seem to suggest that Broadway Video defaulted to the repeat version for the majority of this set, though the aforementioned shows are the only confirmed instances thus far. A repeat of the Wrigley's commercial, which aired in a Buck Henry episode later that season, has also been cut. These factors seem to negate the set's claim that the shows are complete & as originally aired.

Besides these issues, no other discrepancies have yet to be found between the original shows & the DVDs. However, the wildly-fluctuating run times of each episode suggests that there's more cut from these shows that has yet to be identified, as the show had a steady, unchanging run time each week of 01:29:30, 00:20:40 of that being designated commercial & station breaks, leaving 01.08.50 for show content (including usually one in-show billboard for promotional services, which would be expected to be cut, though these were never longer than 5 seconds each.) Each episode would have originally contained 9 bumpers at app. 5 seconds each. Since 8 of these are cut from the DVD versions, that trims off about 40 seconds. One can safely add the 5-second in-show promos & excessive black video due to mid-70's video technology would add up to anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds over a show. This 1 minute or so still doesn't explain DVD run times such as the following:

Disc 4 (3:20:02) Buck Henry (1:06:06) Peter Cook & Dudley Moore (1:06:42) Dick Cavett (1:07:14)

Disc 5 (3:15:49) Peter Boyle (1:02:53) Desi Arnaz (1:06:34) Jill Clayburgh (1:06:22)

If the set contained truly complete, uncut episodes, each would have a run time of 01.08.50, give or take a few seconds.

Criticism Notably, the show's quality has been called into question during various points in its history & has been the source of criticism by fans & critics due to its changing of castmembers & writers, starting with Chevy Chase's departure in 1976 & Bill Murray being hired in his place, though this would be short-lived when Bill Murray finally found his niche on the show. This would later resurface when Dan Aykroyd & John Belushi left SNL in 1979, with Harry Shearer, Dan Aykroyd's brother Peter, & several SNL writers such as Alan Zweibel, Brian Doyle-Murray, Tom Davis, Don Novello, & Al Franken being hired as replacements. However, the most well-known change occurred when Lorne Michaels & the remaining original castmembers left SNL in May 1980. Though now a normal occurrence, the cast change that occurred in Fall 1980 is the most infamous because it followed the departure of the original cast & series creator/producer Lorne Michaels. The entire season was dogged with criticism for its poor casting, weak writing, & Jean Doumanian's position as producer. But the real shocker was in the infamous Feburary 1981 episode where new cast member Charles Rocket uttered the word "fuck" on national television. After that, the entire cast, with the exception of Eddie Murphy & Joe Piscopo, & all of the writing staff, except Brian Doyle-Murray, were fired at the end of the season. Dick Ebersol was brought in after Doumanian was fired & remained until spring of 1985. When Lorne Michaels decided to come back for the show's 11th season, most were hoping for a return to the show's quality during his first period as producer (1975–80). Unfortunately, Michaels first season back was dogged yet again with criticism, only the criticisms were directed at the fact that Lorne chose a cast of up-and-coming (or already somewhat known) celebrities who weren't experienced in comedy as a cover-up for the show's waning popularity. Michaels subsequently fired the majority of the Season 11 cast (retaining cast members Jon Lovitz, Nora Dunn, & Dennis Miller, featured player A. Whitney Brown, & longtime writer/featured player Al Franken) & hired new castmembers (Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks, Phil Hartman, Victoria Jackson, & Kevin Nealon) to replace them. Of course, criticisms over SNL's quality haven't stopped. Lorne Michaels would hear them again later in the early & mid-1990s (when Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, David Spade, Rob Schneider, & Chris Rock--a.k.a "The Bad Boys of SNL" were hired & Phil Hartman left the show after the nineteenth season, leaving Season 20 to be yet another critical & ratings low point, much like seasons six & eleven), & once again in early & mid 2000s (after Will Ferrell & Ana Gasteyer left the show). Usually the season after a castmember or castmembers have left, the show is questioned as to whether the upcoming season will be better than the previous. Some critisise the show for being like the Nazis, in the way it attacks people, sometimes seemingly opposing nerds who have certaibnly done them, no harm, just like a nazi, or a gangster who would kill everybody he ever cared about just to make money, just as horrible. Nerds are best best down with people who oppose them. Down with Nazis.

George Carlin was the show's first host. According to some entertainment news sources, Carlin was too high on cocaine to perform in sketches. Instead, he performed snippets of his stand up comedy routines. Carlin returned to host on Season 10 & actually appeared in sketches. Carlin was also the first host of Fridays, an early 1980s sketch show modeled after SNL.
Mike Myers based his character Dieter, host of the avant-garde German TV talk show Sprockets, after a real person, a student whom Myers met in art college. The real Dieter would often say things like "I once had a course where we had to touch tapioca, styrofoam & monkeys. Michael, perhaps we can go to the zoo & touch monkeys." (thus giving rise to the TV Dieter's catchphrase "Would you like to touch my monkey?")
A film version of Sprockets was planned, but abandoned after Mike Myers became dissatisfied with his own script. It would have involved Dieter travelling to the USA to rescue Klaus, his pet monkey. This aborted production would later be the crux of a 2000 lawsuit between Myers & Ron Howard, which was settled by Myers' agreeing to appear in The Cat in the Hat.
Although Darrell Hammond holds the record for longest tenure by a repertory player with 11 consecutive seasons (about 200 episodes), Al Franken has appeared in about 140 episodes over 12 seasons (1977–80) & (1985–95) as a featured player.
The recurring character that has appeared the most is Don Novello's Father Guido Sarducci with a whopping 31 appearances over the course of 17 years. Novello was not a cast member for most of these appearances & the Sarducci character was not even created specifically for the show.
Morwenna Banks holds the record for the shortest tenure of a repertory player, with only four episodes (April–May 1995). Laurie Metcalf holds the record for shortest tenure of a feature player (she only appeared in what's now considered the final episode of the 1980-1981 season, which was cut short due to a writers' strike).
An actress named Emily Prager was credited as a featured player during the last episode of the 1980-1981 season, yet she never appeared in this episode & wasn't brought back for the following season. She was to have appeared in a commentary during Weekend Update, which was cut from the live broadcast. This makes her the only credited cast member to never appear on SNL.
During the rebuilding of SNL in the early 1980s, Dick Ebersol wanted John Candy & Catherine O'Hara (both of whom were on SCTV at the time) to be cast members on the show. John Candy declined, & Catherine O'Hara quit after Michael O'Donoghue yelled at everyone involved with the 1980-1981 season for the lackluster writing & acting.
Eddie Murphy is the only person to have hosted the show while still a cast member; this occurred during Season 8 (December 11, 1982), when Murphy filled in for a sick Nick Nolte ("Live from New York, it's The Eddie Murphy Show!").
The cold open occasionally varies from the traditional "Live From New York...", usually to follow the consistency of a certain sketch. In 1981, the traditional cold opening was done away with entirely (returning the next season) & there are some episodes in the 1984-1985 season that have a cold open (with the Pamela Sue Martin/Power Station episode being an exception since that had no cold opening to begin with), but it doesn't end with someone shouting, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" The 1985-1986 season episode hosted by George Wendt & Francis Ford Coppola is one of the only Lorne Michaels-era episode to have a cold open that doesn't end with someone saying, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" Another was a 2001 episode hosted by Jennifer Lopez, where Tracy Morgan (playing George W. Bush) ended the cold open with "Live from New York, it's Jennifer Lopez's booty!"
Another older example of a different cold open was an episode that began with a McLaughlin Group parody sketch. Dana Carvey (in character) asked the panelists in the skit how the show was opened. They all answered with the show's normal opening, but John (Dana) instead said they were wrong & opened the show with the words, "Show, show, show, here we go!" (A subsequent installment had Carvey's telling everybody they were wrong, only to then say, "I'm only kidding. Start the show!") John Belushi was credited in the opening montage of the Christopher Lee/Meat Loaf episode as Kevin Scott, a continuing gag from the cold open, where he was supposedly "moving up" from SNL to star as Grizzly Adams on the NBC program of the same name. Belushi had to change his name to Kevin Scott because NBC felt that his name was too synonymous with comedy & satire for Grizzly Adams.
The opening montage of the Charlton Heston/Paul Westerberg episode from Season 19 featured the entire cast replaced with apes, a continuing gag from the cold open, where Heston, in preparing for that week's show, lies down for a nap & slips into a deep slumber, & wakes up in the distant future, where apes have taken over SNL. While the cast members' names were all PotA-esque, G.E. Smith & the Saturday Night Live Band were still credited as such (though their photo was modified to fit the theme of apes.) When Heston was escorted, shackled in irons, out to Home Base by the apes for his monologue where he's introduced by Don Pardo as "Captured Human Charlton Heston", the SNL Band & audience in front of Home Base were all dressed as apes. This gag ended with the monologue.
Dan Aykroyd & Michael McKean are the only performers to appear as cast members, hosts, & as musical guests. While a cast member, Aykroyd appeared as Elwood Blues from The Blues Brothers; McKean appeared as David St. Hubbins from Spinal Tap in May 1984, hosted six months later, & became a cast member in 1994. Michael McKean & Billy Crystal are the only two people to join the cast after hosting the show.
Harry Shearer & Brian Doyle-Murray are the only two cast members to work under both Lorne Michaels & Dick Ebersol. Shearer in 1979 & 1984, & Doyle-Murray in 1979 & 1981. In addition, Doyle-Murray also worked under one-season producer Jean Doumanian as a writer (as did Terry Sweeney, who worked under Doumanian from 1980 to 1981, then become a writer & castmember for Lorne Michaels in 1985). Jim Downey, a featured player & writer under Lorne in 1979-80, was also a writer during 1984-1985 (under Ebersol).
Cast members who have cameoed on SNL before becoming cast members include: A. Whitney Brown (performed stand-up in a 1984 episode), Yvonne Hudson (worked as an extra on some episodes from Seasons 3, 4, & 5), Denny Dillon (appeared in the first season of SNL as a guest performer), Rob Riggle (appeared in Season 29 in a fake promo for a kids' version of Fear Factor), Phil Hartman (was credited as a writer for the season 11 episode hosted by Pee Wee Herman & appeared as a Pilgrim in the Pee Wee Herman Thanksgiving Special sketch), Will Ferrell (appeared in a pre-taped fake commercial on season 19 about a cruise line with basketball player Manute Bol as the captain) & Ben Stiller (appeared in an SNL short film in Season 12).
Other cast members who appeared before being cast members worked behind the scenes on the show, like writers Al Franken, Alan Zwiebel, Jason Sudeikis, Tom Schiller, Tina Fey, Terry Sweeney, Tom Davis, David Spade, Jim Downey, Adam Sandler, Brian Doyle-Murray, & SNL musical director from 1975-80, Paul Shaffer. The eldest hosts were Ruth Gordon, at age 80 years, 2 months, 24 days, in the episode aired on January 22, 1977, who was 15 days older than Miskel Spillman, aged 80 years, 2 months, & 9 days, in the episode aired on December 17 of that same year.
The youngest host was Drew Barrymore, at age 7, in the episode aired on November 20, 1982 (the youngest host before Drew Barrymore was Jodie Foster, who was 14 when she first hosted in the 1976-1977 season).
The longest span of time between two hosting spots goes to Madeline Kahn who returned 18 years after her 1977 spot to host in 1995.
The longest span between musical guest spots goes to Prince when he was a musical guest for Steve Martin in 2006. Prince first appeared on the 1981 episode hosted by Charlene Tilton, which would make it roughly 25 years between appearances.
The youngest cast member hired was Anthony Michael Hall, who was 17 years old when he joined the cast in 1985.
The oldest cast member hired was Michael McKean, who was 46 years old when he joined the show in 1994.
The oldest cast member to perform is Darrell Hammond, who is 50 years old & still (as of April 2007) a member of the cast.
The oldest person (presently) to have ever been a cast member is Garrett Morris, born in 1937.
Some celebrities who were almost cast members on the show were Jim Carrey (1980), John Goodman (1980), Robert Townsend (1980), Paul Reubens (1980), Geena Davis (1984), Lisa Kudrow (1990), Jennifer Aniston, & Steve Carell.
In 2003, Kenan Thompson became the first cast member born after SNL's premiere in 1975 (Thompson was born in 1978). Bill Hader & Andy Samberg (also born in 1978) followed two seasons later.
The highest rated (according to Nielsen) episode aired on October 13, 1979 (Steve Martin/Blondie).
The lowest ever rating/share for the show was 4.2/16 (on November 8, 1975) with host Candice Bergen, & musical guest Esther Phillips.
Though never a credited player on the show, Bruce McCulloch, cast member of another Lorne Michaels/Broadway Video production, Kids in the Hall, has appeared on SNL in various cameo roles over the years, most notably in a fake commercial on the Pee-Wee Herman/Queen Ida episode from season 11 about a teenager being pressured by his peers to join the Army, & in a number of short films he directed which aired during the 1994-1995 season.
During the early years, the format of the show was not completely set in stone. For example, on the second episode, hosted by Paul Simon, included a reunion with his former musical partner, Art Garfunkel. Only a few comedy sketches were featured during the episode, with others dropped in order to allow Simon & Garfunkel to perform an extended musical set. On another occasion, Beat generation author William S. Burroughs appeared on the program & read passages from his books, to mixed response.
The Rob Reiner episode, third show of Season 1, is the only episode thus far to end without any credit/goodnight segment. The original live broadcast ran long, & by the time the last sketch ended & the two minute final internal station break began, there was exactly 2 minutes left until the scheduled programme end. The show didn't come back from break, & stations cut the feed.
Note: In repeats of the show, a slideshow of bumper graphics with the credits superimposed over them, with the ending theme music underneath, was attached to the end of the last sketch.
This has come close to happening from time to time in more recent years, such as the Lindsay Lohan/Pearl Jam episode from Season 31, whose situation was actually identical to the Reiner episode. It was scheduled to end at 12:59:25 EST, but as it returned from the last internal break at 12:59:25, it went until 12:59:37. A 20 second promo scheduled to run & end at 12:59:45 the promo was replaced with a 10 second version, ending the feed at 12:59:47, only two seconds past schedule. Lindsay Lohan in the episode she hosted from season 29Note: Occasionally, the show's ending will take up the net ID time, & some stations will simply cut off at that point, whether the feed has finished or not. The more recent (from the mid-'80s onward) use of terminal "network IDs" (typically, promos for NBC shows) at the end of SNL broadcasts allows for a "safety zone" of sorts for the director, should the show run long.
While SNL has used Commercial bumpers like many other late-night programmes, theirs have, since mid-way through Season 1, been different in both their unique weekly nature & their evolving & engaging art. A typical episode will feature as many as 11 unique bumper graphics, featuring the host & musical guest in a series of inventive poses. These graphics have deviated on a few occasions. The first several episodes featured more standard late-night-style bumpers, with pictures of NYC, rather than the week's host.
Note: Until 1987, musical guests weren't usually featured in bumpers. During the Ebersol era, due to Ebersol's comparatively large number of shows without a host, the cast would be featured in bumpers of host-less episodes.
During the first season, besides the usual comedy sketches, Albert Brooks contributed short films & a rather adult cast of Muppets acted in a weird setting known as the Land of Gorch. The Muppet sketches were not liked by writers Al Franken & Alan Zweibel & only lasted one season.
Two years after leaving the show, Robin Duke made a brief (and unintentional) cameo in the 1985 episode hosted by Pee-Wee Herman, being seen in the audience during Terry Sweeney's performance as Diana Ross on the Pee-Wee Herman Thanksgiving Special sketch.
The first episode in which The Blues Brothers appeared was hosted by Steve Martin (April 22, 1978)
In issue #74 of Marvel Team-Up (cover dated October, 1978), the Not Ready For Prime Time Players (Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Bill Murray, Laraine Newman, Gilda Radner) & Lorne Micheals teamed up with comic book superhero Spider-Man, making them among the few real people to have had a superhero team up.
According to his website, Dane Cook (who hosted December 3, 2005) performed the longest opening monologue in the history of the show. It consisted of jokes from his stand-up act.
When Kevin Spacey hosted the show in 1997, one pair of sketches spoofed the screen tests of Star Wars. Spacey played, among others, Christopher Walken auditioning for the role of Han Solo. Walken really was considered for that role before Harrison Ford was chosen.
Chris Parnell isn't the only cast member to get fired & rehired. Jim Belushi was fired on the 1983-1984 season, then brought back a week later. Tim Meadows was also fired when Lorne was rebuilding his cast for Season 21, but Meadows didn't miss any episodes since the cast overhaul between Seasons 20 & 21 took place during the summer & no new episodes of SNL aired during that time. Parnell is, however, the only cast member thus far to be fired twice, both times by Michaels.
Linda Richman, the host of the recurring sketch Coffee Talk, is based on Mike Myers' mother-in-law. Before Myers began appearing in the sketch as Richman, he appeared in it as host Paul Baldwin.
Comedians who have appeared on SNL to perform between sketches include Joel Hodgson (of MST3K fame), Harry Anderson, Paula Poundstone, Sam Kinison, Steve Wright, Penn & Teller, & Andy Kaufman.
Darrel Hammond holds the record for the number of times opening SNL with, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night."
Don Pardo's announcing booth is located in the exact same spot on which legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini's podium once stood, when he conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra in his famous & long-running series of radio concerts.
In the premiere episode, Dick Ebersol was credited as "Executive Producer for NBC." The credit drew immediate ire from NBC Vice-president of Talent David Tebet, because of a network policy that prohibited any NBC executives from taking any on-air credit for programming. According to the "Backstage History" book, Ebersol told Tebet that the credit was Lorne's idea.
Gerald Ford is the only U.S. President to open the show with "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night", when Ron Nessen hosted.
Conan O'Brien is the only SNL staff writer who was not an official member of the SNL cast to host SNL. However, he did make several appearances in sketches during his tenure at SNL. O'Brien hosted on March 10, 2001.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus & Steve Carell are the only hosts in SNL history to be married to ex-cast members (Brad Hall & Nancy Walls, respectively).
On April 29, 2006, Stephen Colbert, who briefly served as a SNL staff writer during the 1990s, reprised the voice of Ace from The Ambiguously Gay Duo, a frequent role during & after his writing tenure for the show, while hosting a Best of Saturday Night Live TV Funhouse special.
NBC received 4,484 complaints after Sinéad O'Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on air, & received 725 calls supporting O'Connor.
The word "cheeseburger" was spoken 80 times during the Olympia Restaurant Sketch. The catchphrase "Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! No Coke! Only Pepsi!" is coined from what the former owner of the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago would say when someone ordered a cheeseburger.
Roseanne Barr hosted the show three times under three different names: Roseanne, Roseanne Barr, & Roseanne Arnold (she hosted the latter with her then-husband Tom Arnold).
In his 1980 interview in Playboy Magazine, John Lennon said that he & Paul McCartney had been watching the show when producer Lorne Michaels made his famous offer of $3200 for a Beatles' reunion ("...if you want to pay Ringo less, that's your business.") He said the pair considered heading to the studio to "accept" the offer, but had decided they were too tired to do so.
Eight former SNL cast members have been nominated for Academy Awards: George Coe (co-producer of the short subject The Dove, 1969), Dan Aykroyd (Best Supporting Actor, Driving Miss Daisy, 1989), Bill Murray (Best Actor, Lost in Translation, 2003), Joan Cusack (Best Supporting Actress, Working Girl, 1988, & In & Out, 1997), Robert Downey Jr. (Best Actor, Chaplin, 1992), Randy Quaid (Best Supporting Actor, The Last Detail, 1973), Michael McKean (co-writer of Best Original Song, A Mighty Wind, 2003) & Eddie Murphy (Best Supporting Actor, Dreamgirls, 2006). Despite these eight nominations, no cast member has received the award to date.
Three former SNL cast members (Chevy Chase, Billy Crystal & Chris Rock) have hosted the Academy Awards.
On the December 12, 1987 episode, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour appeared on the show performing Ah Robertson, It's You with the SNL Band.