Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live
Premiere	October 11, 1975
Airs	Saturdays at 11:29PM
Creator	Lorne Michaels
Network/Provider	NBC (USA) Global (Canada)
Style	90-minute sketch comedy
Company	Broadway Video SNL Studios NBC (seasons 1–7), NBC Productions (seasons 8–21), NBC Studios (seasons 22–29), NBC Universal Television Studio (seasons 30–32), Universal Media Studios (seasons 33–36), Universal Television (seasons 37–)
Distributor	Filmways Television (until 1982) Orion Television (1982–?) NBC Enterprises (?–2004) NBCUniversal Television Distribution (2004–)
Seasons	50
Episodes	969 + 42 specials (through season 49)
Status	Currently airing season 50
Origin	USA
Official Site	NBC

Saturday Night Live is a live sketch comedy series broadcast on NBC. It debuted in 1975, making it one of the longest running entertainment programs aired on television. Though it debuted to lukewarm appeal, the series has become a cultural icon and has produced some of the most well known comedic actors in entertainment, including Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler and Chris Rock.

The series' format has remained more or less the same since its debut. After a cold opening (capped with the phrase "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"), the opening credits roll with voice over from announcer Don Pardo and the guest host for the week performs a monologue. Following the monologue, the guest host performs in a variety of sketches with the cast members which typically take on a form of social or political commentary. At several points in the show, the musical guest for the episode performs and Weekend Update gives a comedic take on the news. Occasionally, an episode will also include a prerecorded segment like a commercial parody, TV Funhouse, a short film or a Digital Short.

Saturday Night Live has been broadcast at 11:30PM on Saturdays for the entirety of its broadcast run. Episodes shortened aired on E! and Comedy Central.

Cast (current)

Player	'	Duration
		29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50
Kenan Thompson		o	o	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Colin Jost												o	o	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Michael Che													o	o	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Mikey Day															o	o	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Heidi Gardner																o	o	*	*	*	*	*	*
Ego Nwodim																	o	o	*	*	*	*	*
Chloe Fineman																		o	o	*	*	*	*
Bowen Yang																		o	o	*	*	*	*
Andrew Dismukes																			o	o	*	*	*
James Austin Johnson																				o	o	*	*
Sarah Sherman																				o	o	*	*
Marcello Hernández																					o	o	*
Michael Longfellow																					o	o	*
Devon Walker																					o	o	*
Ashley Padilla																							o
Emil Wakim																							o
Jane Wickline																							o
Orange/Red/o indicates featured player for that season. Dark Green indicates repertory player for that season.

• See the cast listing for a full list of all cast and the seasons they appeared in. Also see each individual season for cast members.

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
NBC
Season One	October 11, 1975	July 31, 1976				24
Season Two	September 18, 1976	May 21, 1977				22
Season Three	September 24, 1977	May 20, 1978				20
Season Four	October 7, 1978	May 26, 1979				20
Season Five	October 13, 1979	May 24, 1980				20
Season Six	November 15, 1980	April 11, 1981				13
Season Seven	October 3, 1981	May 22, 1982				20
Season Eight	September 25, 1982	May 14, 1983				20
Season Nine	October 8, 1983	May 12, 1984				19
Season Ten	October 6, 1984	April 13, 1985				18
Season Eleven	November 9, 1985	May 24, 1986				18
Season Twelve	October 11, 1986	May 23, 1987				20
Season Thirteen	October 17, 1987	February 27, 1988				13
Season Fourteen	October 8, 1988	May 20, 1989				20
Season Fifteen	September 30, 1989	May 19, 1990				20 + 1
Season Sixteen	September 29, 1990	May 18, 1991				20
Season Seventeen	September 28, 1991	May 16, 1992				20
Season Eighteen	September 26, 1992	May 15, 1993				20
Season Nineteen	September 25, 1993	May 14, 1994				20
Season Twenty	September 24, 1994	May 13, 1995				20
Season Twenty-One	September 30, 1995	May 18, 1996				20
Season Twenty-Two	September 28, 1996	May 17, 1997				20
Season Twenty-Three	September 27, 1997	May 9, 1998				20
Season Twenty-Four	September 26, 1998	May 15, 1999				19
Season Twenty-Five	October 2, 1999	May 20, 2000				20 + 1
Season Twenty-Six	October 7, 2000	May 19, 2001				20 + 4
Season Twenty-Seven	September 29, 2001	May 18, 2002				20 + 1
Season Twenty-Eight	October 5, 2002	May 17, 2003				20 + 3
Season Twenty-Nine	October 4, 2003	May 15, 2004				20 + 2
Season Thirty	October 2, 2004	May 21, 2005				20 + 7
Season Thirty-One	October 1, 2005	May 20, 2006				19 + 3
Season Thirty-Two	September 30, 2006	May 19, 2007				20 + 2
Season Thirty-Three	September 29, 2007	May 17, 2008				12 + 2
Season Thirty-Four	September 13, 2008	May 16, 2009				22 + 7
Season Thirty-Five	September 26, 2009	May 15, 2010				22 + 6
Season Thirty-Six	September 25, 2010	May 21, 2011				22
Season Thirty-Seven	September 24, 2011	May 19, 2012				22
Season Thirty-Eight	September 15, 2012	May 18, 2013				21
Season Thirty-Nine	September 28, 2013	May 17, 2014				22
Season Forty	September 27, 2014	May 16, 2015				21 + 1
Season Forty-One	October 3, 2015	May 21, 2016				21 + 1
Season Forty-Two	October 1, 2016	May 20, 2017				21 + 1
Weekend Update Summer 2017	August 10, 2017	August 24, 2017				3
Season Forty-Three	September 30, 2017	May 19, 2018				21
Season Forty-Four	September 29, 2018	May 18, 2019				21
Season Forty-Five	September 28, 2019	May 9, 2020				18
Season Forty-Six	October 3, 2020	May 22, 2021				20
Season Forty-Seven	October 2, 2021	May 21, 2022				21
Season Forty-Eight	October 1, 2022	April 15, 2023				18
Season Forty-Nine	October 14, 2023	May 18, 2024				20
Season Fifty	September 28, 2024	—				—

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series
• Cast Listing: A full listing of the cast (past and present) for Saturday Night Live.
• History: An in-depth historic account of the series.
• Recurring Sketches: A full listing of recurring characters and sketches.

DVD Releases

Title			Release			Discs
Season Sets  (Region 1)
The Complete First Season			December 5, 2006	purchase		8
The Complete Second Season			December 4, 2007	purchase		8
The Complete Third Season			May 13, 2008	purchase		7
The Complete Fourth Season			December 2, 2008	purchase		7
The Complete Fifth Season			December 1, 2009	purchase		7
Episode Collections  (Region 1)
25 Years of Music			August 12, 2003	purchase		5
25th Anniversary			February 24, 2004	purchase		1
Bad Boys			August 12, 2003	purchase		1
Christmas			October 28, 2003	purchase		1
Halloween			October 28, 2003	purchase		1
Individual Episodes  (Region 1)
A Very Gilly Christmas			October 12, 2010	purchase		1
Sketch Collections  (Region 1)
The Best of Adam Sandler			November 9, 1999	purchase		1
The Best of Mike Myers			November 9, 1999	purchase		1
The Best of Dana Carvey			February 15, 2000	purchase		1
The Best of Chris Rock			February 29, 2000	purchase		1
The Best of Chris Farley			April 25, 2000	purchase		1
The Best of Steve Martin			April 25, 2000	purchase		1
The Best of Eddie Murphy			August 12, 2003	purchase		1
The Best of Molly Shannon			August 12, 2003	purchase		1
The Best of Will Ferrell			August 12, 2003	purchase		1
The Best of Will Ferrell, Vol. 2			September 7, 2004	purchase		1
The Best of Phil Hartman			February 24, 2004	purchase		1
The Best of Chris Kattan			September 7, 2004	purchase		1
The Best of Tracy Morgan			September 7, 2004	purchase		1
The Best of Christopher Walken			September 7, 2004	purchase		1
The Best of Jimmy Fallon			January 25, 2005	purchase		1
The Best of Jon Lovitz			June 7, 2005	purchase		1
The Best of Tom Hanks			June 7, 2005	purchase		1
The Best of Alec Baldwin			January 24, 2006	purchase		1
The Best of David Spade			January 24, 2006	purchase		1
The Best of Cheri Oteri			May 23, 2006	purchase		1
The Best of Commercial Parodies			May 23, 2006	purchase		1
The Best of Saturday TV Funhouse			October 24, 2006	purchase		1
The Best of Steve Martin, Vol. 2			March 6, 2007	purchase		1
Lost and Found: SNL in the '80s			March 4, 2008	purchase		1
The Best of '06/'07			March 4, 2008	purchase		1
The Best of Amy Poehler			October 20, 2009	purchase		1
The Best of Tracy Morgan New Special Features			July 13, 2010	purchase		1
The Best of Will Ferrell New Special Features			July 13, 2010	purchase		1
The Best of Will Ferrell, Volume 3			August 3, 2010	purchase		1
The Best of Adam Sandler New Special Features			September 28, 2010			1
The Best of Eddie Murphy New Special Features			September 28, 2010			1
Best of '09/'10			September 21, 2010	purchase		1

External Sites

• Saturday Night Live Episodes, TV Listings, News, Photos and More at TVGuide.com
• Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Thursdays Episodes, TV Listings, News, Photos and More at TVGuide.com