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''Saturday Night Live'' ('''''SNL''''') is a weekly late night 90 minute American Comedy - Variety Show based in New York City that has been broadcast live by NBC on Saturday nights since October 11 , 1975 . It is one of the Longest-running network entertainment programs in American television history. Each week, the Show's Cast is joined by a Guest Host And A Musical Act . Originally, the show was called ''NBC's Saturday Night'' until NBC retitled its show in 1976 (the ''Saturday Night Live'' title having been previously attached to a short-lived Variety Show hosted by Howard Cosell and airing on rival network ABC ). The first show with the new title was broadcast on March 26 , 1977 . The show — broadcast from Studio 8H at the GE Building (called the RCA Building until 1988) in New York's Rockefeller Center — has been the launching place for many major American comedy stars of the last thirty years. It was created by Canadian Lorne Michaels who, excluding a hiatus from Season 6 through Season 10, has Produced and Written for the show and remains its executive producer ( Jean Doumanian produced most of Season 6, and Dick Ebersol Seasons 7–10). In 2005 , NBC renewed ''SNL'''s contract until 2012 . HISTORY
CURRENT CAST The season 33 cast of SNL has not been officially announced, but most of the cast from season 32 will return for season 33. http://www.buddytv.com/articles/saturday-night-live/lebron-james-to-host-season-pr-8418.aspx Of the current cast, Maya Rudolph is the only one who has yet to formally return. http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Snls-Maya-Rudolph/800021495 Repertory Players
As of September 2007 , no new cast members have been announced. Both repertory and featured players can be added to the show at any time. THE STUDIO Since the show's inception, ''SNL'' has aired from Studio 8H, located on floors 8 and 9 of 30 Rockefeller Plaza (usually nicknamed "30 Rock"). Due to the studio originally being a radio soundstage for Arturo Toscanini and his NBC Symphony Orchestra, the layout of the studio floor and the audience positioning causes some audience members to have an obstructed view of many of the sketches. According to NBC, the 8H studio has an almost perfect sound acoustic. The offices of ''SNL'' writers, producers, and other staff can be found on the 17th floor of "30 Rock". During 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 , appearing Letterboxed on conventional screens. Other productions have occasionally used the studio. Three of the first four 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. The first season finale of '' The Apprentice '' and the 5th Anniversary special of '' Late Night With Conan O'Brien '' have used the studio for one night. '' Last Call With Carson Daly '' used the studio until 2005, when the show moved to Studio 9 at the NBC Studios in Burbank, California . PRODUCTION PROCESS The following is a summary of the process used to produce the show. It is based in part on an August 2000 '' Writer's Digest '' article and an April 2004 '' Fresh Air '' interview with writer and performer Tina Fey: Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
The status of the show during the week is maintained on a bulletin board. Sketches and other segments are given labels which are put on index cards and put on the board in the order of their performance. The order is based on content as well as production limitations such as camera placement and performer availability. Segments which have been cut are kept to the side of the board. As the broadcast approaches, often the writer/producer discovers the fate of his or her segment only by consulting the bulletin board. A '' 60 Minutes '' report taped in October 2004 depicted the intense writing frenzy that goes on during the week leading up to a show, with crowded meetings and long hours. The report particularly noted the involvement of the guest hosts in developing and selecting the sketches in which they will appear. WHEN IT'S NOT LIVE Reruns ''SNL'' reruns are aired out of its original broadcast sequence, usually determined by which episodes have not yet been repeated, but had high ratings or acclaim during for its live broadcast. Shows usually air twice during a particular season, but often the highest rated shows of the season have a second encore show towards the end of the off-season, or episodes will be repeated a second or third time to coincide with a new event connected with the person who hosted. For example, the Natalie Portman episode aired in March 2006 to promote '' V For Vendetta '' was repeated August 5 , 2006 , prior to the film's DVD release August 8 . Encore showings are not always identical to the original broadcast. Successful sketches aired later in the show during the original broadcast may be reedited to appear earlier, and segments that did not work well during the live broadcast may be replaced by the dress rehearsal version, or entirely new sketches. A Peter Sarsgaard sketch from his January 21 , 2006 episode, involving a TV meant to broadcast Rachel Dratch 's fake newscast, met with technical difficulties during the live broadcast when the in-sketch TV stopped working and a stagehand was seen fixing it. It was replaced with a dress rehearsal version in rerun. A sketch involving "butt pregnancy" during the first broadcast of the November 12 , 2005 Jason Lee episode was replaced with a musical sketch about cafeteria food during the repeat. In the earlier years of the show's history, reruns occasionally replaced weaker sketches with segments from other episodes, usually from episodes that did not have an encore showing at all. Compilations From time-to-time, ''SNL'' airs compilation shows. Such shows will feature hand-selected best sketches from the previous season; of a particular cast member or multiple-time host; or centered on a particular theme (eg. Halloween , Christmas ). Political sketches are typically culled for a special in Presidential Election years; the 2000 special was notable for having self-deprecating (though separate) appearances by candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore . Delays
RIGHTS TO ''SNL'' NBC holds the copyright to every episode of the show made thus far. The Syndication rights to the original incarnation (1975–1980) were originally acquired by Filmways Television (later Orion Television and MGM as respective successors), while syndication of shows made from 1980 forward have been held by Broadway Video , Lorne Michaels' production company. The home video rights have also been scattered among Warner Home Video (during 1975–1980), Paramount (a "Best of Eddie Murphy" video compilation in the 1980s), Starmaker Entertainment (the 1990's), Lions Gate Home Entertainment (2000– 2006 ), and Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2006–present), as Universal Studios and NBC are now owned by the same company, NBC Universal . For many years, Comedy Central aired ''SNL'' reruns, until 2003 , when E! Entertainment Television signed a deal to reruns. In other countries In Canada , episodes from 1975–1980 are aired in late night programming hours, weeknights on some Global Television Network owned stations such as CHAN , CHCA , and CIII . However, these episodes are edited considerably to fit into to a one hour timeslot, rather than the usual hour and a half. In Australia , the one-hour syndicated version is broadcast on The Comedy Channel who air new episodes or reruns of recent episodes 9.30pm Saturdays and episodes from 2002 - 2006 Weekdays at 2.00pm. ''SNL'' originally aired on Arena however moved in November 2006 . In the United Kingdom and Ireland , ''SNL'' is shown on ITV4 in varying 'graveyard' timeslots from around midnight on Saturday night. The 2006-2007 season began showing on February 11 , 2007 . This is the one hour version of the show, sometimes squeezed into 50 minutes. Broadcasting company Channel 4 and Princess Productions produce a UK version modelled loosely on ''SNL'', called The Friday Night Project . Recently, CNBC Asia 's Singapore service dropped ''SNL''. Up until then, ''SNL'' was seen on CNBC Asia every Saturday at 11 p.m., with an encore telecast on Sunday in a similar time slot. Also in Portugal, the show was aired on SIC COMEDIA between April 28th 2005 to the day of the channel cancellation, December 31 , 2006 . It aired every weekdays during the 5.00-6.00 pm slot. Episodes from the 1990/1991 season to the 1999-2000 season were aired and from December 2005 the show re-ran the same episodes. The one-hour version is also broadcast every Saturday night on Sony Entertainment Television Latin America . In the Philippines, relatively recent ''SNL'' episodes can be seen on ETC Entertainment Central on Saturdays at 10 p.m. It used to air classic episodes. In Germany, Season 32 can currently be viewed on Sat.1 Comedy with each episode airing approximately three months after its original US broadcast. The show airs completely without dubbing or subtitles. MUSICAL GUESTS Frequent musical guests The following performers have been musical guests on ''SNL'' at least five times: Musical guests who simultaneously hosted The following performers have pulled a double duty as both musical guests and host during the same ''SNL'' episode: RECURRING CHARACTERS AND SKETCHES See also:
Below is a short list of some of SNL's most popular recurring sketches.
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