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Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hookup!swrinde!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!news.service.uci.edu!usenet
From: Doug Krause <dkrause@hydra.acs.uci.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.tv.snl,rec.arts.tv,alt.answers,rec.answers,news.answers
Subject: Saturday Night Live FAQ: General Questions
Supersedes: <snl_faq_940220@hydra.acs.uci.edu>
Followup-To: poster
Date: 25 Mar 1994 15:09:24 GMT
Organization: Lido 24 Hr. Pizza and Video
Lines: 234
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU
Expires: 25 Apr 1994 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: <snl_faq_940325@hydra.acs.uci.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: hydra.acs.uci.edu
Summary: This is a list of Frequently Asked Questions for the NBC
television show "Saturday Night Live".
Keywords: nbc snl saturday night faq
Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu alt.tv.snl:2101 rec.arts.tv:41182 alt.answers:2213 rec.answers:4594 news.answers:16825
Archive-name: tv/sat-night-live/faq
Last-modified: 1994/03/25
Posting-Frequency: Monthly
Saturday Night Live FAQ: General Questions
===========================================
Questions answered:
What is SNL?
Is it really live?
Is there an episode guide?
Where is the show broadcast from?
Wasn't Steve Martin a player?
What is a "Five Timer"?
How do I get tickets for SNL?
How can I contact Lorne Michaels?
Gilda married *who*?
Which star has been on the show the longest?
Who were the youngest and oldest hosts?
Weren't The Beatles on the show?
It's only x weeks into the season. Why are they showing reruns?
Didn't somebody get fired for saying "fuck" on the air?
Who is the voice at the beginning of the show?
Didn't somebody else announce in the early 80's?
Who's in the cast?
What else have they been in?
How can I learn more about SNL?
Q: What is SNL?
A: SNL is Saturday Night Live. It is a comedy/music
television show on the NBC television network. It
is usually broadcast on Saturday nights at 11:30pm
ET. The show was originally called NBC's Saturday
Night because there was a show on ABC starring Howard
Cosell at the same time called Saturday Night Live.
The producers later gained permission to rename the
show. The "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" moniker
also came from ABC's Saturday Night Live actors who
called themselves the "Prime Time Players".
Q: Is it really live?
A: Yes, it is broadcast live (except for a few taped
segments such as the fake commercials). There were
also three occasions when it was broadcast on a delay
because of the reputations of the hosts. These were:
Dec 13, 1975: Richard Pryor (5 second delay)
Nov 15, 1986: Sam Kinison (7 second delay?)
May 12, 1990: Andrew Dice Clay (7 second delay?)
Q: Is there an episode guide?
A: There will be one someday. I've been working on an
episode guide since early 1990, but my time gets more
and more scarce. I might be posting finished excerpts
from it in the near future. Please stay tuned.
Q: Where is the show broadcast from?
A: Studio 8-H in 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City. There
have been a couple of exceptions to this. During the 1976
presidential campaigns Studio 8-H was taken over for poli-
tical coverage and the shows of 23 Oct 1976, 30 Oct 1976,
and 13 Nov 1976 were broadcast from NBC's Studio One in
Brooklyn. There was also a special Mardi Gras show that
was done live during primetime from New Orleans on 20 Feb
1977 (which was a Sunday).
Q: Wasn't Steve Martin a player?
A: One word: No. Steve Martin has hosted the most times,
but he was never a regular player. While we're at
it, neither was Buck Henry, although he has hosted
second most often. If you have seen a "Best of Sat-
urday Night" broadcast when Steve was hosting you
would have seen him listed alphabetically with the
players. This has led to some confusion on the topic.
Q: What is a "Five Timer"?
A: People who have hosted the show five times or more.
This was given heavy coverage in a sketch on 8 Dec
1990 when Tom Hanks hosted his 5th show. Five-Timers
Paul Simon, Steve Martin, and Elliott Gould showed
up and inducted Tom into the "Five Timers Club." The
other people who have hosted five times or more are
Candice Bergen, Buck Henry, and Chevy Chase.
Q: How do I get tickets for SNL?
A: You can write to:
Saturday Night Live
c/o NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York City, NY 10112
Their selection process is rather strange. According to Bill
Dennen, your request must be postmarked in August. All other
requests are thrown away. Also, the numbers of requests is
high, so you will be very lucky to receive tickets.
Q: How can I contact Lorne Michaels?
A: Write to:
Lorne Michaels
c/o Broadway Video
1619 Broadway
New York City, NY 10019
Q: Gilda married *who*?
A: GE Smith. Yes, before Gilda Radner married Gene Wilder
she was married to GE (George Edward) Smith.
Q: Which star has been on the show the longest?
A: Phil Hartman started his 8th season of SNL on 25 Sep 1993. Kevin
Nealon has also been around since 1986, but he started as a featured
player. Also, writers and featured players Al Franken and Tom Davis
have been with the show for most of its run.
Q: Who were the youngest and oldest hosts?
A: Technically, George Carlin was the youngest *and* oldest
host on the first show, but let's not get silly. As of
this writing, Drew Barrymore is the youngest host in SNL
history. Here are the ages of the hosts under 18:
Date Host Age
---- ---- ---
27 Nov 1976 Jodie Foster 14y 0m 8d
20 Nov 1982 Drew Barrymore 7y 8m 29d
24 Feb 1990 Fred Savage 13y 7m 15d
23 Nov 1991 Macaulay Culkin 11y 2m 28d
The oldest host was a lady named Miskel Spillman. She was
an 80+ year old grandmother that won the "Anyone Can Host"
contest held in 1977. She and four other finalists (Richard
Canipe, Connie Crawford, David Lewis, and Deb Blair) appeared
on the 19 Nov 1977 show. Viewers were asked to write in and
vote for their favorite. Miskel won and hosted the Christ-
mas show on 17 Dec. The second oldest host was Ruth Gordon
who was 80 when she hosted on 22 Jan 1977.
Q: Weren't The Beatles on the show?
A: Sort of yes and no. On either 17 or 24 Apr 1976, Lorne
Michaels offered The Beatles to appear on SNL and
sing three songs. On 20 Nov, George Harrison showed up
and tried to claim all the money himself. Lorne said
that if it was up to him, George could have the money,
but NBC wouldn't agree. When Paul McCartney appeared on
the show on 13 Feb 1993 he and Lorne were seen talking
about the offer during the monologue. Paul also appered
on 17 May 1980. Ringo Starr hosted on 08 Dec 1984. John
Lennon never appeared.
Q: It's only x weeks into the season. Why are they showing reruns?
A: SNL usually broadcasts three live shows in a row and then
takes a week off. Once in Jan 1976 four shows where done
in a row and it was so stressful they vowed never to do it
again. Sometimes it seems we're lucky to get two new shows
in a row.
Q: Didn't somebody get fired for saying "fuck" on the air?
A: Depends on how you look at it. On 21 Feb 1981 (when the
show was doing very poorly) there was a running "who shot
J.R. Ewing" gag. At the end of the show Charlene Tilton
was on stage with Charles Rocket (who was playing J.R.)
and she asked how he felt. Charles responded: "Oh man,
it's the first time I've been shot in my life. I'd like
to know who the fuck did it." Needless to say, NBC offi-
cials were not happy. On Monday 10 Mar 1981, Jean Doumanian
(the post-Lorne Michaels producer), and most of the play-
ers were fired. Only Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo sur-
vived. There was also a featured player who accidently
mumbled "fuckin'" instead of "friggin'" during a sketch.
It was none other than our good friend Mr. Paul Shaffer on
15 Mar 1980. You can hear a couple of people in the
audience gasp after the mistake, but nothing much else
came of it.
Q: Who is the voice at the beginning of the show?
A: None other than veteran NBC announcer Don Pardo.
Q: Didn't somebody else announce in the early 80's?
A: Yes. Mel Brandt announced the 1981-1982 season with
the exception of 5 and 12 Dec 1981 which were done by
Bill Hanrahan.
Q: Who's in the cast?
A: Please see the posting "Saturday Night Live FAQ: Quick Bios".
Q: What else have they been in?
A: Please see the posting "Saturday Night Live FAQ: Other Credits".
Q: How can I learn more about SNL?
A: See the posting "Saturday Night Live FAQ: References". It contains
a (currently short) list of books and articles about the show.
Thanks to:
The cast and crew of 'Saturday Night'
Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad (co-authors of 'Saturday Night: A backstage
history of Saturday Night Live')
levy michael ( bs cmsc) <mlevy1@gl.umbc.edu>
Jonathan Frome <jhfrome@unix.amherst.edu>
Jeffrey Neau <jeffy@redwood.cray.com>
Philip O'Connell <shaggy@esu.edu>
Bill Dennen <WDENNEN@CCVM.sunysb.edu>
Dave Mackey <davemackey@BIX.com>
Please send any corrections or new information to dkrause@uci.edu.
'Weekend Update recognizes our responsibility to present opposing view-
points whenever we're in the mood.' -Chevy Chase (Saturday Night - 05/29/1976)
--
**** Douglas Krause dkrause@uci.edu One yuppie can ruin ****
**** University of California, Irvine your whole day. ****