Saturday Night Live Debuts: Comedy Rewritten
NBC gave Lorne Michaels a late-night slot and a modest budget on October 11, 1975, to produce a live comedy show. George Carlin hosted. Andy Kaufman performed a Mighty Mouse lip-sync routine. Billy Preston and Janis Ian were the musical guests. The original cast, including Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and Gilda Radner, were billed as the 'Not Ready for Prime Time Players' because the name 'Saturday Night Live' was already taken by Howard Cosell's variety show. The political cold open became a tradition when Chevy Chase began impersonating Gerald Ford's clumsiness. Five decades later, the show has launched the careers of Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, and dozens of others. Every presidential election cycle, SNL sketches become part of the political conversation.
October 11, 1975
51 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on October 11
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The Jin Dynasty and Song Dynasty had been fighting for decades over northern China. The 1142 treaty froze the border along the Huai River. Song agreed to pay Ji…
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Huldrych Zwingli died in 1531 with a sword in his hand. He was a Protestant reformer, a theologian, a preacher — and he marched with Zurich's army as a chaplain…
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