58 Fun Facts About SNL

SNL airs live on NBC and, since the 2021–22 season, simultaneously on which streaming service?

Peacock's live simulcasts came months after SNL streamed Elon Musk's May 2021 episode live on YouTube to international viewers.

From which 30 Rockefeller Plaza studio has SNL been broadcast since 1975?

Studio 8H was the home of Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra; when NBC converted it to television in 1950, the orchestra's broadcast concerts moved to Carnegie Hall.

How does a typical SNL cold open end?

"Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" was first said by Chevy Chase in 1975, right after Michael O'Donoghue's teacher dropped dead of a heart attack and John Belushi's student copied him.

Which comedian hosted the very first SNL episode on October 11, 1975?

George Carlin hosted that premiere, which also booked a young Billy Crystal, but Crystal's act was cut and he didn't appear until later that season.

What was SNL's original 1975 cast nicknamed?

The Not Ready for Prime-Time Players name poked at ABC's rival Howard Cosell variety show, whose three-person comedy troupe was billed as the Prime Time Players.

As of 2025, who is the longest-serving cast member in SNL history?

Kenan Thompson, a cast member since 2003, said in 2013 he would stop playing Black women in drag until SNL hired Black women for the cast.

Which Chicago improv theater produced SNL's John Belushi, Chris Farley and Tim Meadows?

The Second City took its self-mocking name from A. J. Liebling's derisive New Yorker articles about Chicago.

Which two SNL cast members created the Blues Brothers?

Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi first sang the blues on SNL in January 1976 dressed as bees, two years before the Blues Brothers debuted in black suits.

Wayne and Garth host their public-access show Wayne's World from a basement in which Illinois town?

Aurora, Illinois is Wayne's World's hometown; Garth's halting voice and tech-nerd streak came from his actor's older brother, Brad.

In the More Cowbell sketch, Christopher Walken's producer oversees which band's session?

Blue Öyster Cult's recording session cracked up the cast, and Jimmy Fallon, playing the drummer, couldn't stop laughing on air.

Which flamboyant SNL nightclub guide told Update about clubs that had "everything"?

Stefon's voice came from a barista Bill Hader knew, and co-writer John Mulaney kept changing his cue cards right before air to make Hader break.

Which actor holds the record for hosting SNL the most times?

He took the record from Steve Martin, and later won an Emmy for his recurring Donald Trump.

Tina Fey returned to SNL in 2008 to play which real politician?

Sarah Palin was the target, and "I can see Russia from my house" was a line written for the sketch and spoken by Fey as Palin.

Which clay children's-TV character did Eddie Murphy reinvent as a morose, cigar-chomping cynic?

Gumby, created by Art Clokey in the 1950s, enjoyed a real-world comeback in the 1980s after the SNL parody.

Which host's December 1990 SNL episode introduced the Five-Timers Club sketch?

Tom Hanks was hosting for the fifth time, and the club sketch welcomed Paul Simon too, though Simon had actually hosted only four times.

Which SNL character's 2004 Disney World breakfast sketch made nearly everyone on camera break?

Debbie Downer grew out of a Costa Rica vacation where Rachel Dratch's small talk froze after someone asked if she'd been in New York for 9/11.

Which future TV star, then an SNL writer, created Chris Farley's van-dwelling motivational speaker Matt Foley?

Bob Odenkirk wrote Matt Foley for Chris Farley, who named the loud, hapless speaker after a real friend of his, a soft-spoken Catholic priest.

The Church Lady, host of Church Chat, was a signature character of which cast member?

Dana Carvey based the Church Lady on women from his childhood church who kept track of everyone's attendance.

Under what title did SNL premiere in 1975, since ABC already had a Howard Cosell show with the later name?

NBC's Saturday Night became Saturday Night Live only after ABC cancelled Cosell's show and NBC bought the rights to the name.

Which comedian replaced Cecily Strong beside Colin Jost at SNL's Weekend Update desk in 2014?

Michael Che had just left SNL's writing staff for a brief Daily Show correspondent stint when he was brought back to co-anchor Update.

Which 2005 SNL Digital Short about smuggling cupcakes into a Narnia matinee helped put YouTube on the map?

Lazy Sunday drew five million YouTube views within days, but NBC Universal then had YouTube pull the bootleg copies along with hundreds of other NBC clips.

In 1992 Sinéad O'Connor tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II while performing which Bob Marley song?

"War" was the song, with some lyrics rewritten to call out child abuse, before she tore up the pope's photo and told viewers to "fight the real enemy."

Which singer did a brief jig and walked off SNL's stage when the wrong pre-recorded vocal track began playing?

Ashlee Simpson's plan to lip-sync was news to Lorne Michaels, who said he would never have allowed it had he known.

Who was the first woman to host SNL, on the fourth episode in 1975?

Candice Bergen went on to host five times, and she has since returned in cameos to welcome newer Five-Timers such as Emma Stone.

As of 2025, which musician is SNL's most frequent musical guest, with more than a dozen appearances since 1992?

Dave Grohl drummed with Tom Petty on SNL in 1994, then turned down Petty's offer to join the Heartbreakers and started Foo Fighters instead.

Which SNL announcer voiced the opening credits from 1975 until his death in 2014?

Don Pardo officially retired and moved to Arizona, but Lorne Michaels asked him to stay on, and he kept announcing SNL until his death.

Which SNL star played Roseanne Roseannadanna, whose catchphrase was 'It's always something'?

Gilda Radner later made It's Always Something the title of her 1989 memoir about her fight with ovarian cancer.

Which comedian joined SNL's cast in 1977 to replace Chevy Chase, who had left during season 2?

Bill Murray later came to blows with Chevy Chase backstage in 1978, when Chase returned to host the show.

The Coneheads first appeared in a 1977 episode hosted by which consumer advocate?

Beldar (Aykroyd), Prymaat (Curtin) and Connie (Newman) claimed to be from France; the 1993 film brought them back.

Which producer took over SNL for the 1980-81 season after Lorne Michaels and the original cast left?

Jean Doumanian lasted less than a year before NBC replaced her with Dick Ebersol, who had helped develop the show in 1975.

Norm Macdonald was removed from the Update desk allegedly over jokes about which friend of NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer?

O. J. Simpson was a close friend of Ohlmeyer, and in 1999 Macdonald came back to host SNL and used his monologue to joke about being fired.

In Celebrity Jeopardy!, Darrell Hammond tormented the Alex Trebek parody as which actor?

Sean Connery, in Hammond's hands, was Trebek's arch-nemesis, forever needling him with crude jokes about Trebek's mother.

In 1996 Rage Against the Machine hung inverted US flags on their amps to protest which guest host?

Steve Forbes, a 1996 Republican presidential candidate, was hosting; stagehands pulled the flags just before the song, and the band was sent home after one number.

Which then-unreleased track did Elvis Costello switch to mid-song on Saturday Night Live in December 1977?

Radio Radio replaced the planned 'Less Than Zero' against his label's wishes, and SNL didn't have Elvis Costello back until 1989.

Which Brat Pack star joined SNL's cast for the 1985-86 season?

Anthony Michael Hall was 17, one of the fresh faces Lorne Michaels hired because he wanted actors who weren't reverent toward the old show.

Which 1979 SNL host was banned after upstaging the cast and staging his own standing ovation for 'September Song'?

Milton Berle's episode was kept out of reruns for over two decades because Lorne Michaels felt it brought the show down.

Nora Dunn and Sinéad O'Connor boycotted a 1990 SNL episode over which host?

Andrew Dice Clay's episode aired on a five-second tape delay so NBC could cut anything offensive.

Which 80-year-old grandmother won SNL's 'Anyone Can Host' contest and hosted in December 1977?

Miskel Spillman won the contest over four other finalists, including South Dakota's sitting governor, Richard Kneip.

Which Justin Timberlake SNL Digital Short won the 2007 Emmy for Original Music and Lyrics?

Dick in a Box aired on NBC with its title word bleeped, but the network posted the uncensored version online, beyond the FCC's reach.

Which future film composer was SNL's first musical director, from 1975 to 1980?

Howard Shore, later the Lord of the Rings composer, is credited with jokingly suggesting the name the Blues Brothers to his friends.

Which SNL cast member hosted the December 1982 Christmas show when scheduled host Nick Nolte fell ill?

Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat was later 'assassinated' in a mock news bulletin, shot as he left 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Which anchor had the longest solo run at the Update desk, six years ending in 1991?

He opened with 'Good evening, and what can I tell ya?' and signed off 'That's the news, and I am outta here!' before scribbling on his script.

Who joined Tina Fey at SNL's Weekend Update desk in 2004, forming its first two-woman anchor team?

Amy Poehler later went into labor on a Saturday show day in October 2008 and had her baby that evening.

What was the name of the monkey that Mike Myers's Dieter kept mentioning in the Sprockets sketches?

Klaus's owner Dieter was headed for the big screen until Mike Myers walked away from the Sprockets film in 2000, and Universal sued him.

Which novelty song did Steve Martin perform on the April 1978 SNL that debuted the Blues Brothers?

King Tut followed Steve Martin's on-air complaint that commercializing the touring Tut exhibit with trinkets and T-shirts was a national disgrace.

In 2001, who became SNL's highest-paid cast member at $350,000 a season?

Will Ferrell still left the cast after the 2001-02 season, going on to star in films such as Old School.

Which head writer's 1985-95 tenure is the longest in the show's history?

Michaels had suggested him as a possible replacement back in 1980; he later co-wrote the SNL50 special.

Who played Lorne Michaels in the 2024 film Saturday Night?

Gabriel LaBelle met Lorne Michaels only briefly, after an SNL taping, because director Jason Reitman steered him away from the present-day man.

As of 2025, which act is the only group to be both host and musical guest of the same SNL episode?

The Rolling Stones' double duty opened SNL's fourth season, with Mick Jagger dropping into a 'Tomorrow' sketch as Tom Snyder tried to copy his moves.

Charles Rocket was 'shot' in a 1981 SNL spoof of which primetime soap's famous cliffhanger, then swore on air?

Dallas star Charlene Tilton was hosting; within weeks NBC put SNL on hiatus, replaced the producer and let Rocket go.

Which pop star opened SNL's 2025 50th-anniversary special singing 'Homeward Bound' with Paul Simon?

Sabrina Carpenter joked she wasn't born when Simon first sang it on SNL with George Harrison in 1976, and neither were her parents.

Toonces, the cat who could drive, always ended his sketches how?

The punch line was always 'See, I told you he could drive! Just not very well!', followed by stock footage of the car going over the edge.

Which late-night host's 1974 request to pull weekend reruns opened the slot that SNL filled?

Johnny Carson wanted his weekend reruns saved to air on his vacation days, and NBC's Dick Ebersol built the new show with Lorne Michaels.

Which SNL sketch inspired a 2011 limited-edition Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor?

Schweddy Balls: the flavor was already in stores when the parents' group One Million Moms protested its name.

In an SNL sketch, what were Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze auditioning to become?

Chippendales dancers: the judges praised Chris Farley's dancing but still picked Swayze's character for his better body.

Which Queen song do Wayne and Garth head-bang to in the car in the film Wayne's World?

Bohemian Rhapsody: the 1992 car scene sent the song back up the US chart to No. 2, higher than its original 1976 peak.

At SNL's Olympia Café, what did customers who asked for fries get instead?

Chips: writer Don Novello said he based the diner on Chicago's Billy Goat Tavern.

Which SNL character is a Catholic schoolgirl who dreams of stardom?

Mary Katherine Gallagher often answers by acting out overly dramatic scenes from TV movies.