To the surprise of many, Saturday Night Live started off as a small-budgeted, 93 minute show where celebrities would make appearances, a cast of relative-unknowns would put on sketches, and live music was featured for fans to enjoy. Since its start in 1975, SNL’s popularity has soared exponentially due to audiences being drawn into the comedic skits, musical performances, political satire, and more. Now, entering its 50th season, the show aims to be even bigger and better for yet another milestone season.
First aired on Oct. 11, 1975, SNL was created and developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol and first hosted by comic legend George Carlin. Unfortunately, many at the time believed that SNL would ultimately fail because of how progressive it was for the time, and that such a daunting idea had no chance of making it in the entertainment world. However, proving disbelievers wrong, SNL succeeded more than anyone could’ve imagined and is now one of the most famous and long-running live shows to ever air.
“I think SNL’s 50th season is off to a really fun start! I loved catching all the current pop culture references in Bowen Yang’s recent Charli XCX and Moo Deng sketches, and I thought the Spirit Halloween one was funny and well done too. I’m excited to see more episodes from this season!” said senior Chiara Amodeo.
Each SNL episode runs live for about 90 minutes, and within that hour and a half there are a ton of skits, musical numbers, and more, all acted out and performed by the cast and celebrity guests. The satirical comedic sketches, often poking fun at contemporary American culture and politics, is what SNL has become known for. But because it’s widely known that said skits are just for entertainment purposes, it’s rare that any “targeted” parties get truly offended.
“SNL has been a staple in the world of comedy for a long time, whether it’s clips from political event recaps or just a skit about something funny. The world of comedy has been greatly influenced by SNL and will continue to be during the coming years,” said sophomore Emma Johns.
SNL has not only produced some incredible episodes, but has also been responsible for the skyrocketing rises to fame for several well known people in Hollywood, such as Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, and many more. This popular show has helped so many deserving and talented minds make it in Hollywood, serving as the boost that they needed to be propelled into the spotlight. A more recent example of this would be comedian Marcello Hernandez, who started out with social media clips and stand-up, but is now a fan favorite.
Clearly, SNL has majorly succeeded in its field and at what it does, the show having run for nearly 1,000 episodes over the course of almost 50 years. To commemorate its 50th season, SNL has a few big things happening in the coming weeks. To start, they’re bringing on some incredible guests to host, including Billie Eilish, John Mulaney, and more. Currently, only 10 guests have been confirmed for this season, but more are expected to be released over the next few weeks.
To celebrate SNL’s milestone, Sony produced a new film called Saturday Night, which is based on the opening night of SNL. The new movie was written and directed by Jason Rietman and stars Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, and Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, among Ella Hunt, Rachel Sennott, Lamorne Morris, Nicholas Braun, and Andrew Barth Feldman, all who play the parts of original cast members from the shows first season. The film’s tagline “experience the revolution” is a clear description of what SNL first set out to be – a comedic revolution. The rated R film was released on Oct. 11, on the 49th anniversary of the very first episode. The film has received excellent ratings so far, and is in discussions for an Oscar nomination.
Saturday Night had a relatively small budget of only $30 million. In addition, Saturday Night was in production right in the thick of the SAG-AFTRA strike of 2023, where very few films were able to make significant production progress. Despite the strike and their limited budget, the movie was still able to thrive in theaters and launch as a complete success.
“Saturday Night was a great movie, and it was one of the best films I have seen in the past year. It captures the heart of SNL so well, it has some well placed humor, and once it comes to streaming I will 100% see it again,” said sophomore Nathan Schlackman.
To say that SNL has been an incredibly influential and successful television show would be an understatement, its 50th milestone has not disappointed, with endless pop-culture references and even a new movie with a star-studded cast. The celebratory season will surely be one of the best yet, carrying out the legacy of the phenomenal show.