20 Little-Known "Saturday Night Live" Facts Just In Time For Its 40th Anniversary
Last week marked the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, the iconic sketch comedy show that has helped build the careers of countless of our favorite funny people. Literally, not enough can be said about what this show has done for the world of comedy, and in over four decades there is a lot of history that goes into what has made SNLÂ into the show that will undoubtedly live on forever, but at this point it seems it'll be broadcast (live) forever as well.
Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd had developed these characters separately, but when Martin hosted in 1970 they merged them together.
She was however, quickly picked up for Judd Apatow's Funny People and also landed the role of April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation, so things have gone quite alright for her.
For a week straight he called the SNL talent coordinator letting him know how much he needed this job. Eventually Neil Levy caved and gave him a spot as an extra and an audition. They signed him right away after the audition.
His 2001 contract inked him a deal for $350,000 a year.
You may know him from Law & Order, but Belzer actually got his start in stand-up. He would warm up the crowd with jokes, and even had a few appearance on the live show, including a stint on Weekend Update. However, Lorne Michaels never came through with his promise to get him a spot on the show.
Thompson was born on May 10, 1978.
He was originally hired as a writer with a one-year contract, which is why he was able to leave just a few episodes into the second season. He also was lucky enough to be the first person to say "Live from New York...It's Saturday night!"
40 years later, a few movies and the legend of Wayne still lives on. It seems Myers made the right call going ahead with this character idea.
Howard Cosell had a show on ABC called Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell, but when it was cancelled in 1976, Lorne Michaels took the name.
And was denied twice.
He quit abruptly right before the show was about to air, because he was frustrated with how difficult of a time he was having getting sketches on the air. He then realized how much money he had cost himself and showed up to work on Monday as if it never happened and stayed for the rest of the season.
Paul Reubens later recalled this worked out perfectly for him, because it drove him to the next level. He then created Pee-wee's Playhouse and he says "I had 60 people working for me" after being a SNL reject.
Kevin Nealon says they wrote a whole movie and sold it to Sony, with Scwarzenegger producing it. He apparently got cold feet because he refused to be himself in a movie ever again after Last Action Hero bombed at the box office.
Famously, he wrote one for the "Da Bears" sketch, but a bad year in the press lead to the rule of "no SNL movies" to be laid on those involved with the show. The script for the "Da Bears" sketch turned movie was later read at Montreal Just For Laughs, featuring Mike Ditka!
He said "Not for Ready Prime-Time Players" instead of "Not Ready for Prime-Time Players" and thankfully that line never stuck.
This turned out well for the now famous writer, who was offered a writing gig instead–working his way up to head writer for six years. He later wrote Anchorman, Step Brothers and Talladega Nights. Seems to have worked out just fine for him.
Well half of them. After the band promptly turned down a $230 million deal to reunite in 1976, Lorne Michael made a plea on the live broadcast for them to reunite on the show for a measly $3,000. Lennon recalled that he and Paul were watching the show at the Dakota together when they saw this. They nearly went down to the studio just as a gag, but he recalls they were, "too tired."
In 1974, Johnny Carson asked that reruns of The Tonight Show stop being aired on the weekends so he could take more time off during the weekdays. Enter Lorne Michaels, who was hired to develop a show for those now open weekend slots.