"Saturday Night Live" is a late-night sketch-comedy series which premiered on October 11, 1975 (Host: George Carlin) on NBC. It is broadcast live from Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday nights. Its television season typically begins in late September and ends in mid-May, producing 20 live episodes per season. Reruns and specials are inserted between live shows, with no more than three live shows being done in consecutive weeks.

"SNL" has been the highest rated late-night show in America since 1977, when its ratings surpassed "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." While the cast members have changed over the years, the basic elements remain the same: a celebrity host, musical guest, ensemble of cast members, sketches, commercial parodies, and fake news segment.

"SNL" has seen many fans come and go as the "'SNL' Eras" have changed. Here's the break-down as I see it:

1975-80: "The Not Ready for Prime-Time Era"
This is still referred to by the majority of "SNL's" fans as the best era of the show's life. Stars who emerged from this era include Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Al Franken, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Paul Shaffer, and frequent host Steve Martin.

1980-81: "The Crappy Era, Part One"
Most of the cast and crew joined executive producer Lorne Michaels in jumping ship over the summer of 1980. TV viewers didn't embrace the fresh-faced cast, which included Gilbert Gottfried, Joe Piscopo, Charles Rocket, and a rarely-seen Eddie Murphy. The show's new executive producer, Jean Doumanian, was abruptly fired at season's end, as was most of the cast.

1981-84: "Eddie's Era"
Dick Ebersol came to the helm of the show in 1981, with Joe Piscopo and Eddie Murphy returning as cast members and dominating the show. Murphy, in particular, helped "SNL" rebound with a number of wildly popular recurring characters and impressions. Having become more famous than many of the show's hosts, he left for movie stardom in 1984. Jim Belushi and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were among the cast members who had to live in Murphy's shadow during this period.

1984-85: "The Era of Celebrity Cast Members"
Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, and Martin Short were already well-know when they joined the cast of "SNL" for this one-season era. (Crystal, in fact, had already hosted "SNL" once.) Crystal and Short thrived with a number of popular characters and impressions.

1985-90: "The Return of Lorne Michaels"
Lorne Michaels returned in 1985 to revive the struggling show, which had been faced with rumors of imminent cancellation by NBC. In 1986, after another critically-panned season, Michaels did away with the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, and Randy Quaid, and hired a new cast -- saving only Nora Dunn, Jon Lovitz, and Dennis Miller from the previous season. The new cast included Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Victoria Jackson, Kevin Nealon, and, eventually, Mike Myers. Critics and fans hailed the last four seasons of this era as the best since the first era.

1990-94: "Stuff the Cast with Featured Players, Fa La La La La, La La La La"
Lorne Michaels wanted stars in the wings, so he jammed as many featured players into the ensemble as he could, and it worked beautifully! As cast members Dennis Miller, Victoria Jackson, Jon Lovitz, and, later, Dana Carvey departed, Michaels simply gave popular featured players a raise to cast member status. Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, David Spade, and Julia Sweeney were among those who started as featured players before replacing exiting cast members. The release of a "Wayne's World" movie in 1992 rekindled interest in the show, and ratings were the highest they had been in a decade.

1994-95: "The Crappy Era, Part Two"
This one-season era is referred to by some as the worst in the show's history; Despite the star power of Chris Elliot, Chris Farley, Janeane Garafalo, Michael McKean, Adam Sandler, and David Spade. Popular recurring characters were no where to be found and many sketches seemed to have no ending. One element of this Phil Hartman-less era which critics praised was the "Weekend Update" segment, anchored by then-relatively unknown comic Norm Macdonald.

1995-2000: "The Era of Talented Women"
"SNL's" audience found its way back during this era, and embraced a slew of recurring characters from Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Cheri Oteri, and Molly Shannon. The female ensemble of Oteri, Shannon, and Ana Gasteyer was praised as one of the most talented in "SNL's" history. On the political front, Bill Clinton's various scandals provided Darrell Hammond with plenty of material. (Monica Lewinsky herself showed up in a May 1999 episode.)

2000-present
Having gained attention for their send-ups of the closest presidential election in history, "SNL" is still going strong today. In 2000, Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey became the first co-anchor team in 18 years.

Many movies have been made that feature or star fictional characters who have appeared on "SNL." This list includes "The Blues Brothers" (1980), "Gilda Live" (1980), "Wayne's World" (1992), "Mo' Money" (1992), "Bob Roberts" (1992), "Mr. Saturday Night" (1992), "Coneheads" (1993), "Wayne's World 2" (1993), "It's Pat" (1994), "Casper" (1995), "Stuart Saves His Family" (1995), "Blues Brothers 2000" (1998), "A Night at the Roxbury" (1998), "Office Space" (1999), and "Superstar" (1999).

Visit the FAQ for more information about the show's history.