Easily the biggest sketch comedy shows of all time has to be Saturday Night Live, also known as SNL. This late night show first premiered on October 11, 1975, under the name NBC’s Saturday Night. Earlier it ran as a Best of Carson replacement from 1965 to 1975 and it wasn’t until 1976 that NBC purchased the rights to the current name and subsequently changed the title of the show to Saturday Night Live in 1977.

Saturday Nigh Live airs weekly and is filmed in New York City. It was created by Lorne Michaels and features a regular cast of comedy actors who are joined by special guest hosts and musical acts.

Some of the biggest names in entertainment have hosted this iconic comedy show and the show itself has helped launch the couriers some of the biggest stars in movies and television.

Saturday Night Live (also known as SNL)has been airing for 35 seasons which makes it one of the longest running television shows in American history. One of the corner stones of SNL is the manner in which the show traditionally begins. It is referred to as a “cold open” which ends with the guest host breaking out of character to proclaim “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

Lorne Michaels left the show through seasons 6-10 and Jean Doumanian took over SNL for the 1980 season. He hired one of the most popular comedian actors of all time, Eddie Murphy, plus a new cast of actors and writers. After just one year Michaels was replaced by Dick Ebersol.  The two big stars of the show, Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo remained as part of the cast under Ebersol until 1984. After their departure, Ebersol brought in several new cast members including Billy Crystal, Martin Short, and Pamela Stephenson.

There has been a long list of hit movies based on SNL characters. The list includes The Blues Brothers, Wayne’s World, Wayne’s World 2, Cone Heads, The Ladies Man, Superstar and A Night At The Roxbury.

You never know what you are going to get out of the Saturday Night Live crew. They basically make fun of any and every public figure imaginable. During the 2008 presidential campaign they restored some of their highest ratings with their sketches of Sarah Palin, the vice presidential hopeful.